Advice from a current career holder or studier of the environment/living organisms needed!!

[quixoticdreamer]

Hi, I am a junior in high school, and I'm super indecisive about what specific degree I want to pursue in college. I believe I'm a decent student, I got a 29 on my ACT, but I expect a higher score as I am going to retake it a couple of more times in the future, and to this day, I have an unweighted 3.7 GPA. I also will be graduating with around 8 AP credits. (Only sharing this to get a very personalized answer! ) I want to know what colleges with environmental programs will be best for me, but I have little knowledge of what route to take. I've been looking at Humbolt State in CA for this type of degree, but it is far from home- I am wondering if that would be a good place to get a lot of hands-on experience since it seems to have strong biology background. I live in Illinois, which doesn't have too many opportunities available in this field, well, at least I don't think it does. I'd like to know what schools any of you have went to and if you recommend them for studying the environment/living organisms. I've been trying to do a lot of research about which specific path to take and I am getting nowhere because of conflicting information I have found online the past few months. I would appreciate it if someone could please explain the difference between these majors I am interested in: Environmental Biology, Environmental Science/Studies, Ecology, Wildlife Biology, or if I should just get a general Biology degree? I originally wanted to go to HSU for a Wildlife Biology degree, but then I started to think it might be too specific to get a job after schooling. I think I am mostly going in the direction of Environmental Biology, but I know this is a unique degree that isn't offered at most schools. To my understanding, I've also noticed that many people say that having a lot of hands-on experience makes the biggest difference for finding a career afterwards. Also, I want to know the realistic outcomes of going down one of those paths, as in the availability of jobs after college. I would love to research and interact with ecosystems for a living- I like studying both the plants and animals of various environments I am more into the studying of living organisms instead of environmental policy/law, energy issues, or urban planning. If anyone would like to share their experiences it would be GREATLY appreciated!! I have no one in person to recive advice from, so it would be amazing to get any realistic feedback from somebody on here. Thank you so much and have a good day