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nurocks
Sep 15, 2004, 11:36 AM
Post #26 of 39
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Registered: Jul 19, 2003
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Thanks to all who have posted. I am looking into several sugestions people have offered, and will continue to look into any future sugestions.
Like the last poster said, with a 3.3 I probably wouldn't get into UCLA or Caltech. To be truthful, I have a 3.389...closer to a 3.4 that a 3.3; but regardless, I wouldn't hold out high hopes of getting into either of those schools, or University of Colorado @ Boulder like a pervious poster sugested. However, If any of you guys "know someone" hehe and could pull strings...(in this case it is more like restringing, than just pulling strings) I can't say that I wouldn't want to go to any of these schools.
I guess what I am saying is that I am not looking necessarily for a school with a top 10 World Weekly News Rating, but a school that has motivated faculty(that want me to go there) ,many research options and maybe is a little underated but a quality program none the less. That in addition to what I listed as innital crieria would be the perfect place for me.
I take the GRE's in 52 hours 54minutes from now...( it's not in the front of my mind...is it?) I will have a better idea of what places I have a chance in getting into after that.
Thanks agian everyone,
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dancesonrocks
Sep 15, 2004, 3:52 PM
Post #27 of 39
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Registered: Sep 25, 2002
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In reply to: Like the last poster said, with a 3.3 I probably wouldn't get into UCLA or Caltech.
Best of luck whichever school you choose!
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dingus
Sep 15, 2004, 4:12 PM
Post #28 of 39
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I'm sure you're aware of John PcPhee's geology series. One of the stars of his books, Eldridge Moores, is a professor at UC Davis Geology program.
Davis is in the middle of the state. It is 15 miles from the nearest bouldering and over an hour from decent roped climbing. The immediate vicinity is a flat plain, hotter than the gates of Hell in summer (but not as hot as Lower Hell, ie Phoenix) and its a foggy bog in winter for a couple of months most years.
The town itself leans way left, despite its agriculture heritage.
I'm not well versed in their grad program, but it's easy enough to find out about it.
A blurb on their web page:
" One of the top 25 Geology programs in the country, according to
America's Best Graduate Schools by U.S. News and World Report. "
http://www-geology.ucdavis.edu/
There is a climbing gym in Davis and lots of potential partners.
Not exactly to your specs, but I assure you, a climber can get by in the Central Valley and you do get used to the heat.
Cheers
DMT
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gretchino
Sep 15, 2004, 4:21 PM
Post #29 of 39
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Registered: Feb 17, 2003
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Try UCSB :D I loved that school. I graduated with a Geography degree (awesome Geography department) but their geology dept was awesome as well.
Best of luck!
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old_skool
Sep 18, 2004, 5:50 AM
Post #30 of 39
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Registered: Jul 8, 2004
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san diego state has a great geology program. They pick up great prof's dude to the great location, so the program is actually really good. I only got my BS there but I learned a lot, and got to do a ton of real world research projects, i really felt like I knew my stuff when I graduated
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hack
Sep 18, 2004, 6:34 AM
Post #31 of 39
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Registered: Apr 5, 2003
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Moores is no longer an actively teaching professor at Davis, he still does research there though.
UC Davis is a great school. If you are leaning toward the Hydro field you may want to look into the Land Air Water Resources Department instead of the Geology Department though.
The town is also great, very friendly and safe as can be. There is a variety of climbing within a hour to two hours drive from the town that could keep you entertained on short weekends. Then you have the Sierras to explore on longer breaks. The only downer is that summer can be a bit hot (100's), but that can be fixed by working in a field area that is in a cool part of the world during the summer.
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nurocks
Sep 18, 2004, 3:56 PM
Post #32 of 39
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Registered: Jul 19, 2003
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Thanks for the info all. I don't know how this will affect your replies, but I just took the GRE's yesterday and upon finishing was greated with the mediocre score of 1120. I am debating retaking them, but at 4 hours and $115, 1120 just might have to do.
Thanks a lot,
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nurocks
Oct 7, 2004, 7:12 PM
Post #33 of 39
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I got the paper printout explaining my scores and telling me how I did on the writing portion of the exam in the mail yesterday. I'm feeling ok about them: 530 Verbal, 590 Quantitative and I got 4.5 out of 6 points on my writing. Combine that with a 3.4 GPA and that is how my transcript should look at graduation.
With this information, can anyone offer more sugestions for appropriate institutions? I know I am no genious but I hope to get into an a school that I would enjoy (accademicaly/social/generaly) and that meets the following;
1 Geology Program/Active research
2 Hydro and/or Stratigraphy focus
3 Good Climbing close
4 No WICKED HOT SUMMERS (idealy <80-85F)
5 And a place a 23yr old would want to live.
Thanks again,
p.s. I am looking into USDSMT, UC Boulder, Oregon State University, U MASS Amherst, UVM and maybe Central Washington University as well, currently.
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padge
Oct 7, 2004, 7:52 PM
Post #34 of 39
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Registered: Feb 18, 2004
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I recieved my BS in Geology in 2000, and got a job right away. The market is pretty good in Northern California. Therefore I would suggest the masters program at UC Davis or University of Reno. I have been toying with the idea of going back to school at Reno. The weather isnt bad and you have great climbing and skiing about an hour away. However with geology you don't need a post grad degree to recieve your certification, and it might be a good idea to work in the field for a bit first. I know a few people who got their masters then came to work at my company and started at the same level that I did.
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winter
Oct 8, 2004, 5:33 PM
Post #35 of 39
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Registered: Apr 9, 2003
Posts: 2961
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I still can't believe you are not considering University of Calgary. The city has everything you are looking for, it's fun, good climing, great climate.
The job scene upon grad is excellent. I know of several US students who came here for grad school.
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nurocks
Oct 8, 2004, 6:04 PM
Post #36 of 39
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Registered: Jul 19, 2003
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Now that he NHL is a wash...I guess living in another hockey town, other than that of my beloved B's, would not be total sacralige.
Tell you what, I will "check it out" and then speak with as many people as I can about the implications of getting a masters outside of the US, yet indending to live/work in the US after school.
Thank you for your persistance,
p.s. you aren't on the "take" from that school are you?
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j_from_the_307
Oct 8, 2004, 7:17 PM
Post #37 of 39
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Registered: Mar 2, 2004
Posts: 30
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I'm a big fan of the University of Wyoming. Its at 7200 feet in Laramie, WY, so the summers hardly ever get past 80, yet we still get a bunch of 50-60 degree days at Vedauwoo in December.
We have a good Graduate Geology program and you have access to tons of different geological formations and huge aquifers with much more room for research left. The oil and gas companies are starting to make a bigger move into Wyoming now too, so there should be more and more jobs here when you get out. My step-mother got her masters in geology here, and has nothing but good things to say about it (although she's now a high school science teacher in "no-kids-you-can't-see-any-topography-from-here--thats-the-curvature-of-the-earth"" south south Texas)
As for climbing, Vedauwoo is just at the top of the hill 15 minutes away. Just because every other crack is a flaring offwidth doesn't mean the climbing isn't fun. The Snowy Range is about 45 minutes away with a bunch of snow climbs during the winter and 800-1200ft quartzite rock faces during the summer. The climbing community here is awesome, and as long as you're reasonably social you can usually catch a ride to some new climbing destination almost every weekend. Boulder and Denver are just 2.5 hours away, Fort Collins is 1 hr, RMNP is about 3.5, Rifle is about 4, Moab is 7, Lander (sinks canyon, wild iris, Wind River Range) is 3.5, Devils Tower is about 5 hours, Needles/Rushmore about 5.
Laramie is about as open-minded politically as you can get in Wyoming, but really nobody here cares enough to throw fits over politcal views unless you want to get into it. We do have our fair share of narrow minded "cowboys", but they always congregate and can be avoided easily. If you can't stand their type though, it pretty much ruins the bar scene here in Laramie, but a lot of people head down to Fort Collins/Denver which has a ton. Most people here are "chill", and to illustrate that, I've never felt like I need to lock my doors -- we actually never have in our new apartment. The population is only 26k, + 10k at the University, so we're still a "small town" compared to a lot of these other schools. That's expected though when you live in a state with an entire population <500k.
--J
Tips for climbing at Vedauwoo (truth behind the sandbagging myth):
1. Just because it's got a 5.9+ offwidth section doesn't mean its more than 5.6
2. 5.9+ means "plus a few grades, but we can't call it 5.11 because its only 1962"
3. Ratings here up to about 5.10 are based on the amount of profanity it will take to complete the route, rather than the technical difficulty.
4. You'll thrutch and curse less on anything over 5.11, even if you're only a 5.9 climber looking to do a 5.6.
5. The first 10 feet of any route doesn't count towards its rating.
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fortfun
Oct 8, 2004, 7:32 PM
Post #38 of 39
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Registered: Jul 21, 2004
Posts: 57
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In reply to: Boulder and Denver are just 2.5 hours away, Fort Collins is 1 hr, RMNP is about 3.5, Rifle is about 4, Moab is 7, Lander (sinks canyon, wild iris, Wind River Range) is 3.5, Devils Tower is about 5 hours, Needles/Rushmore about 5
From Fort Collins it is not more then 45min to RMNP so Laramie to RMNP=1.5hrs not 3.5 :wink:
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dookie
Oct 8, 2004, 7:33 PM
Post #39 of 39
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Registered: Nov 25, 2003
Posts: 3528
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although not the best town in the world, my best college buddy got a masters in geology/hydro from Wash. State in Pullman Washington. He's just taken his PG test and so will hopefully be a certified professional geologist in a few months. He didn't have that easy of a time finding a job, though, since he didn't want to live in No. Ca. In all honesty, it's because of the geology job outlook that I didn't go on and get my masters, and probably won't. Many of the folks I know of have had a helluva time finding employment in the geological sciences. So I left it with a BS in Geol, and have done everything from travel, to teach - but I did get 'in' with a great job I hope to keep.
I work for the American Geological Institute, and we have tons of resources when it comes to this stuff, so if you have any questions or anything feel free to pm me. You can check out their page at http://www.agiweb.org
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