Application Process
Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building at Stanford University.
Choosing the school
Criteria
Tens, if not hundreds, of schools offer some sort of environmental engineering graduate programs. To narrow your options down, it is very helpful to have certain criteria in mind. Location, size, master vs. PhD, and cost are all common considerations when people choose the graduate schools they want to apply for. For environmental engineering, it is also very important to find schools in which researches that interests or excites you are being conducted. In general, you want to apply to schools with 2-3 professors whom you would be willing to research for or whose research interests you. Since environmental engineering is such a broad field, look carefully at each professors' websites to determine if you want to work for him/her. You can also email certain professors or graduate students in the lab that you want to work in to find out more about their research.
Qualifications
After finding the schools you want to apply to, it is time to evaluate your own qualifications. For environmental engineering, GRE scores, courses background (including GPA), recommendation letters, and research experiences are all important aspects of your application. If you haven't taken certain courses required for the particular of research area you want to do, perhaps you can take them in your senior year and list them as "intended" courses to take in your application. Think about who you want to ask for recommendation letters as early as possible. It takes time to build a strong relationship with a professor, and that would certainly help for him/her to write a strong letter for you. Add a couple of safety schools to your list if appropriate.
Application time-line
Start planning and researching
Start planning and researching about graduate schools early. Most people start looking at programs in the spring or summer prior to the actual application, but it can never be too early to start. Go on to the websites of different schools and simply look around. Email a few professors that you are interested in and if possible, schedule a visit to the schools that you really want to get in and meet the professors or graduate students personally. You will learn much about the lab and the working environment that way, and if you do your homework beforehand, you might even give your future professor a good impression early on.
Standardized tests
It is common for students to take their general GRE in the summer prior to graduate school application, and the subject GRE in the fall. You can take general GRE anytime of the year so take one earlier in case you need to take it again. Not many environmental engineering programs require specific subject GRE. So only report the scores to your schools if you did well.
Recommendation Letters
As mentioned, it helps to start building a relationship early on with professors whom you may want to ask for recommendation letters in the future. That means not only taking classes with those professors and doing well in them, but also visiting and chatting with them in person. Many students also ask their summer research advisers for recommendation letters. In those cases, it is important to keep in contact with them. It is usually appreciated to let the professors know early in the Fall if you are asking them for recommendation letter. As you solidify your school list and write your statement of purpose, more specific information can be provided to your professors, such as specific instructions for each school, research you want to do in each school, or your future academic and career goals.
Statement of Purpose - write and rewrite and rewrite again
Statement of purpose may not be the most essential element in your environmental engineering application, but people do spend considerable amount of time on it. Try to start early and have as many people reading it as possible.