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What Colleges Have Horticulture as a Major?

So as much as I love California State University of Northridge, They just don't offer anything plant related. The school doesn't really care much for it's botanical garden and greenhouse facilities. SO I decided I'd like to get out of LA and move up north to Washington, Oregon, or Somewhere in Northern California to pursue a degree in Horticulture.

The problem is, I can't really find any schools that offer Horticulture. I was looking forward to transferring to CSU Chico to major in musical theatre but they have no horticulture major that I'm aware of.

I need some help of finding school in those three states.

So far, I've found:
Washington State University
Oregon State University
CSU Pomona
CSU San Luis Obispo

and that's it. I was surprised CSU Humboldt or Chico didn't have horticulture but was especially surprised UC Berkley, Davis, Santa Barbara and Portland State University did not offer it.

If you can find a college with Musical theatre and Horticulture as a major as well, elt me know!
 
I think that University of Oregon does. My school, Evergreen State College, doesn't have majors but does offer a number of good courses in sustainable agriculture, microbiology and environmental biology/chemistry/ecology, which can definitely be assembled into a horticultural degree. If you're really self-motivated and like smaller classes, it might be a good choice. We've definitely got a lot of theatre/communications stuff going on too, but I don't know how much of it is specifically musical theatre.
You're not missing anything special at Portland State. I'm also surprised that Humboldt, Chico and the other CSU schools don't have it, but I guess majors are something that schools have to be kind of particular about.
~Joe
 
Are you sure UCD doesn't have one? That would be awfully surprising. It might have a different name or be offered by another department.
 
Are you sure UCD doesn't have one? That would be awfully surprising. It might have a different name or be offered by another department.

Ditto. Isn't Davis in the middle of a bunch of farmland?
~Joe
 
UC Davis has plant sciences and Environmental Horticulture & Urban Forestry.

I'm not interested in working in just forest and I don't want it to just be environmental.

And most of the school just have agriculture.

Which isn't totally my thing since I don't like just working with farm plants such as corn, tomatoes, and potatoes.

With Horticulture, I want to have a job where I can be a knowledgeable nursery staff or botanical garden staff that will able able to answer questions with the right information. Also get down and dirty with mother nature to teach people how to properly cultivate plants. Keep them in shape and be able to solve any problems that surround them.
 
Woot go Cornell! They have anything and everything you could imagine to do with plants.

If I recall I also applied to Rutgers in NJ. I think they have a plant program too but not nearly as extensive as Cornell.
 
Well, it may turn out not be your thing, but you should look into Evergreen. If you find the right professor to work with you can do pretty much whatever you're interested in with independent work. There are a lot of plant-types and also a masters in education program. I've found myself wishing that I had gone and introduced myself to the biology department staff a little better when I first came up here.
Sustainable Agriculture
Environmental Analysis
Molecule to Organism
Plants, People and Phytochemicals
Some previous programs I'm thinking of are on reforestation, wilderness education, etc. You would probably want to a year of independent study on nursery work. There's a lot of support for internships - you could do one at a local nursery, of which there are many, or you could even probably get away with moving to any nursery that would agree to sponsor you. I knew a guy that did two years of independent study doing film work in Seattle. He only came to campus like six times to meet with his professors the whole time. That might not sound very serious to some, but that's kind of an extreme example. Like I said before, if you're serious about your education, Evergreen can offer a lot for you.
~Joe
 
Come to Oregon for Botany

I am attending Southern Oregon University and I am a biology major emphasis in Botany. I know Oregon State University offers one aswell as a masters program!! Oregon is a diverse location full of all sorts of plants. We even have Drosera Rotundfolia growing in Mt.Hood National park and Darlingtonia Californica all over the southern portion of oregon and central coast. wonderful country!
 
  • #10
People with jobs like that come from all kinds of backgrounds.

To add a note of caution, I know someone who's planning to take early retirement in 2009 and plans to work at a nursery doing the same kind of work you hope to do. He said he knows others who plan to do the same and figures a lot of retirees will be looking for similar part-time jobs. Short of having all the work sent overseas, nothing would be worse for a career choice than to have a bunch of older people wanting to do the same work on a part-time basis.
 
  • #11
To add a second note of caution..
I know someone who got a bachelors degree in Horticulture..in 1963.
She worked at few nurseries and garden centers over the years, and is today retired and VERY poor..

sometimes getting a college degree in "something you love" isnt the best choice..

When I was in college, I was amazed at the huge number of Theatre majors..
what do all those people do for jobs when they graduate?
probably 1 out of 1,000 theatre majors actually make a decent living in theatre/TV/movies/etc.

some degrees are useless...just something to keep in mind.

Scot
 
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