| There are 89 reviews of this major. |
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timothy7641 (Akron, OH) |
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October 20, 2014 |
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hadley jostin (India) |
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September 13, 2014 |
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GeographyGrad (Virginia Beach, VA) |
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August 18, 2013 |
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Geography:
A Geography degree is a great major & like others have said, the expansion of GIS technology has revived it as a viable career path for non-academics. My first job out of school was in GIS and I actually got to travel around the country. If it wasn't for that, I would have opted for an urban planning career or moved to D.C. for policy or remote sensing work. The strength of Geography is its ability to synthesize various fields into a coherent whole, which I believe contributes to more intelligent decisions than having a myopic view of just one field.
However, you will face a lot of misconceptions about the degree after you graduate if you are not going into teaching. Many people perceive it as just a liberal arts degree for people who like maps and many universities don't provide a lot of structure on what Geography as a major is and which courses to take to build competence for your future career. As a result, it can take a lot of time to establish a career and gain influence in making decisions on the subjects that matter to you.
Five years out of school, if I were offering advice to myself as a Geography undergrad, here's what I would say: Don't slack on the basics. Learn programming, advanced calculus and statistics,and absorb all the GIS and remote sensing classes you can. This will give you an extremely applicable foundation in policy and science and increase your income and career options in the future. If you don't focus on the technical aspects, be prepared to watch friends purchase houses and take nice vacations long before you ever will...
Also, don't get too caught up in the breadth of Geography and lose sight of what you want to do as a career. Choose a specialty and take classes that will prepare you for it. If you are going into policy, be sure to understand micro and macro economics, finance and management. If environmental science, make sure the classes build on each other and become familiar with applicable laws for careers like floodplain management, etc. Geography departments are often happy to graduate you without specific talents unless you take initiative.
Understand where you are headed and be very sure you are not in the wrong major to achieve your goals. For example, if you are interested in the environment, make sure you don't want to actually be an environmental engineer, as these majors can graduate and have an authoritative role in environmental policy earlier in their careers, while Geography majors may have to wait longer to gain a position of influence even if they have more knowledge of environmental policy. That's the reality of the system.
I would absolutely choose to major in Geography again, but would probably combine it with another degree like engineering or computer science to have more influence in my subject area and better career options coming out of school. Geography majors shouldn't be insecure though - they often will gain a greater perspective of complex social & environmental systems than just a technical degree alone and have more satisfying career applications than others who are just working for a good income. There are some pretty famous Geography majors out there as well. I've noticed many ultra-endurance athletes major in it and my Geography friends tend to be more active, adventurous, all-around interesting people while others settle in to routine lives. So if you go for the degree, you're in good company. |
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| Write an online review and share your thoughts about this major with others! |
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Author: |
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GeographyGrad (Virginia Beach, VA) |
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Date: |
August 18, 2013 |
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Geography:
A Geography degree is a great major & like others have said, the expansion of GIS technology has revived it as a viable career path for non-academics. My first job out of school was in GIS and I actually got to travel around the country. If it wasn't for that, I would have opted for an urban planning career or moved to D.C. for policy or remote sensing work. The strength of Geography is its ability to synthesize various fields into a coherent whole, which I believe contributes to more intelligent decisions than having a myopic view of just one field.
However, you will face a lot of misconceptions about the degree after you graduate if you are not going into teaching. Many people perceive it as just a liberal arts degree for people who like maps and many universities don't provide a lot of structure on what Geography as a major is and which courses to take to build competence for your future career. As a result, it can take a lot of time to establish a career and gain influence in making decisions on the subjects that matter to you.
Five years out of school, if I were offering advice to myself as a Geography undergrad, here's what I would say: Don't slack on the basics. Learn programming, advanced calculus and statistics,and absorb all the GIS and remote sensing classes you can. This will give you an extremely applicable foundation in policy and science and increase your income and career options in the future. If you don't focus on the technical aspects, be prepared to watch friends purchase houses and take nice vacations long before you ever will...
Also, don't get too caught up in the breadth of Geography and lose sight of what you want to do as a career. Choose a specialty and take classes that will prepare you for it. If you are going into policy, be sure to understand micro and macro economics, finance and management. If environmental science, make sure the classes build on each other and become familiar with applicable laws for careers like floodplain management, etc. Geography departments are often happy to graduate you without specific talents unless you take initiative.
Understand where you are headed and be very sure you are not in the wrong major to achieve your goals. For example, if you are interested in the environment, make sure you don't want to actually be an environmental engineer, as these majors can graduate and have an authoritative role in environmental policy earlier in their careers, while Geography majors may have to wait longer to gain a position of influence even if they have more knowledge of environmental policy. That's the reality of the system.
I would absolutely choose to major in Geography again, but would probably combine it with another degree like engineering or computer science to have more influence in my subject area and better career options coming out of school. Geography majors shouldn't be insecure though - they often will gain a greater perspective of complex social & environmental systems than just a technical degree alone and have more satisfying career applications than others who are just working for a good income. There are some pretty famous Geography majors out there as well. I've noticed many ultra-endurance athletes major in it and my Geography friends tend to be more active, adventurous, all-around interesting people while others settle in to routine lives. So if you go for the degree, you're in good company. |
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| Write an online review and share your thoughts about this major with others! |
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| Write an online review and share your thoughts about this major with others! |
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| Write an online review and share your thoughts about this major with others! |
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| Write an online review and share your thoughts about this major with others! |
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| Write an online review and share your thoughts about this major with others! |
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