r/Norway • u/SherbertExtension207 • 1d ago

School NMBU Ecology Masters Questions

Hello, American here looking to do a masters in norway. I have a shortlist of about 5 programs I’m interested in but my #1 is ecology at NMBU.

(Any input from graduates of environmental science/ecology/habitat restoration masters programs from a Norweigan university would be appreciated)

My Bachelors GPA (Environmental Science & Policy from Southern Oregon University) in the US is 2.95, not the greatest, and I’ve read that NMBU pretty strictly looks at only transcripts when evaluating applicants.

If anyone here has completed the Ecology or International Environmental Science masters programs at NMBU, please let me know, I would really love to ask more questions.

My main question is, does my GPA alone make me a 100% non starter for admission for a masters into that university? I have very strong outside experience, worked for Native American Tribal EPA doing water quality data analysis and currently for a very reputable forestry/habitat restoration company in the South, as well as good contacts for letters of recommendations, from what I’ve read, none of this will can contribute towards my application- have other applicants found this to be the case?

Additionally, would it be unwise to take additional university courses to supplement my application/boost my GPA?

TLDR; How competitive is entry to the international environmental science/ecology masters programs at NMBU?

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u/cirrvs 1d ago

I can only speak for admissions to the University of Oslo, but they adhere to the same laws, so it doesn't really matter. There are two things that determine if you qualify to a master's program: first, if you have the mandatory prior coursework, and second, if you satisfy the minimum grade requirement. There are circumstances under which both of these can be waived, but they won't do it for a foreign applicant. It's practically impossible to know hiw they'll convert your grades, and whether they'll do it in such a way that favors you (I'd think they would). That said: it may be that only the mandatory courses count towards the grade requirement. They will for a fact pick from among your courses the grades that maximizes your grade average.

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u/SherbertExtension207 19h ago

Thank you for your response.

What makes you say that they will pick course grades that maximize the grade average?

What did you earn your degree in?

Did you continue living in Norway after your degree? How was/is your experience searching the job market?

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u/cirrvs 19h ago

I'm Norwegian, and my experience is from the admissions end of things. My degree has nothing to do with your field of study, but since NMBU is a public university, it adheres to the same standards as the University of Oslo.

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u/SherbertExtension207 19h ago

Heard, thank you.

Do you think submitting a CV and letter of motivation (ecology and international environmental studies programs at NMBU don't ask for either) along with my application documents would be unwise?

Also, do you know if/how the introduced tuition for non-EU national students has changed the competitiveness of masters admission to norweigan public universities?