Which of the WUE schools should we look at for Geology?

[Greta]

So, in one of those "never say never" turn of events, my daughter, who I was absolutely certain would become an artist, is giving serious thought to a career in paleontology. She's thinking of getting her bachelor's in geology (as far as I know, there aren't any paleontology undergrad programs, but please correct me if I'm wrong) and then pursuing paleontology specifically in graduate school.

 

We're looking at Northern Arizona University. She is also interested in schools in Colorado, but neither Colorado School of Mines nor UC Boulder participates in WUE. Does anyone know if any of the other schools have good geology programs? She would also be interested in west coast schools, though her dad and I are a little less certain about her going that far from home (NM). But I do want to consider all the options.

 

And just in case she ends up changing back to art, it would be extra great if anyone could recommend a school with good programs in both geology and art!

 

Thanks for any help!

[Corraleno]

Just a heads up that jobs in paleontology are few and far between. DS used to go on digs with grad students and post docs from some of the top programs in the country, and they were all just living hand-to-mouth with postdoc after postdoc. These were guys with major publications, who literally discovered new dinosaurs, made the cover of Science, etc, and AFAIK only 2 out of 6 ended up with decent academic jobs. One works for the National Park Service in a very low-paying job, and one went to work for a petroleum company (which is where a lot of paleo PhDs seem to end up when they can't get academic jobs). I assume the others are still eking out a living with post docs. The career prospects for a paleo PhD are seriously grim.  :sad:

[Vida Winter]

U Alaska Fairbanks

AZ State

U of AZ

Boise State (ID)

Colorado State

U of Colorado

Eastern Washington

U of Idaho

U of New Mexico

New Mex. Inst of Miing & Tech

U of Oregon

Oregon State

U of Washington

Western Washington

Cemtral WA

Fort Lewis (CO)

U of Montana

U of Nevada - Reno

U of Nevada - Las Vegas

New Mexico State U

Northern AZ

Northern CO

Portland State (OR)

Southern OR

Western State CO

U of Wyoming

 

Double check this list against the WUE list - I think most of these are WUE. They have Geology programs.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Vida Winter

[Greta]

Just a heads up that jobs in paleontology are few and far between. DS used to go on digs with grad students and post docs from some of the top programs in the country, and they were all just living hand-to-mouth with postdoc after postdoc. These were guys with major publications, who literally discovered new dinosaurs, made the cover of Science, etc, and AFAIK only 2 out of 6 ended up with decent academic jobs. One works for the National Park Service in a very low-paying job, and one went to work for a petroleum company (which is where a lot of paleo PhDs seem to end up when they can't get academic jobs). I assume the others are still eking out a living with post docs. The career prospects for a paleo PhD are seriously grim.  :sad:

 

 

Thank you so much Corraleno.  I was worried about this very issue, but the picture you paint is even more grim than I imagined!   :crying:

 

Obviously it's something that I really need to discuss with her.  One thing she has mentioned, rather than a career in academia, is working at a natural history museum.  I'm not imagining that pays very well, and I don't even know what kind of degree one needs to do that sort of work.  She's going to start volunteering at our museum as soon as she turns 18 (this fall) so I hope that will give her an opportunity to see what the work is really like, and to talk to the people who work there about how they got trained and educated for their jobs.

[Greta]

U Alaska Fairbanks

AZ State

U of AZ

Boise State (ID)

Colorado State

U of Colorado

Eastern Washington

U of Idaho

U of New Mexico

New Mex. Inst of Miing & Tech

U of Oregon

Oregon State

U of Washington

Western Washington

Cemtral WA

Fort Lewis (CO)

U of Montana

U of Nevada - Reno

U of Nevada - Las Vegas

New Mexico State U

Northern AZ

Northern CO

Portland State (OR)

Southern OR

Western State CO

U of Wyoming

 

Double check this list against the WUE list - I think most of these are WUE. They have Geology programs.

 

 

Thank you so much!  The list is longer than I imagined.  If you have any tips for me on narrowing it down, I'm all ears!   :001_smile:

[Corraleno]

Thank you so much Corraleno.  I was worried about this very issue, but the picture you paint is even more grim than I imagined!   :crying:

 

Obviously it's something that I really need to discuss with her.  One thing she has mentioned, rather than a career in academia, is working at a natural history museum.  I'm not imagining that pays very well, and I don't even know what kind of degree one needs to do that sort of work.  She's going to start volunteering at our museum as soon as she turns 18 (this fall) so I hope that will give her an opportunity to see what the work is really like, and to talk to the people who work there about how they got trained and educated for their jobs.

 

If she's interested in museum work, she should check out Arizona State, as I believe they are unusual in offering an undergrad degree in Museum Studies, so she could potentially double-major in either geology & MS or art & MS. She might be interested in careers like exhibition design and/or natural history/scientific illustration, which could combine her interests in art, science, and museums.

 

ETA: One good thing about exhibition design and museum work is that it's relatively easy to get unpaid internships in small museums, where you can get experience as well as having a chance to build a portfolio by donating your time and artistic efforts.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Corraleno

[Dmmetler]

Eastern NM has a really awesome archaeo/anthropology department-they own the Blackwater Draw site, so it's become a niche area for them, and undergrads can do some pretty impressive field work and museum preservation work. That might be a good choice, especially if she adds a geology double major to it. And ENMU is fairly inexpensive (and at least used to be very generous with merit aid).

[Greta]

If she's interested in museum work, she should check out Arizona State, as I believe they are unusual in offering an undergrad degree in Museum Studies, so she could potentially double-major in either geology & MS or art & MS. She might be interested in careers like exhibition design and/or natural history/scientific illustration, which could combine her interests in art, science, and museums.ETA: One good thing about exhibition design and museum work is that it's relatively easy to get unpaid internships in small museums, where you can get experience as well as having a chance to build a portfolio by donating your time and artistic efforts.

  

 

Thank you, I will check into Arizona State! The only college that I personally knew of which has a Museum Studies program is UC Colorado Springs, and unfortunately they don't accept the WUE tuition for that particular program. I hope that ASU does!

 

I had mentioned scientific illustration to her before because it seems like the perfect combination of her interests, but she surprised me by saying nope. Go figure. Exhibition design, though, I think that's exactly what she'd like to do.

 

Eastern NM has a really awesome archaeo/anthropology department-they own the Blackwater Draw site, so it's become a niche area for them, and undergrads can do some pretty impressive field work and museum preservation work. That might be a good choice, especially if she adds a geology double major to it. And ENMU is fairly inexpensive (and at least used to be very generous with merit aid).

I'm not familiar with ENMU at all, so I appreciate you pointing it out! We live in Albuquerque, and I'm afraid my knowledge of the rest of the state is limited!

[Julie of KY]

Does it have to be a WUE school? Sometimes out of state public or private schools are comparable or even cheaper than local state schools. I'm not sure this is the case for you, but I'd at least take a look and run some net price calculators.

[Greta]

Does it have to be a WUE school? Sometimes out of state public or private schools are comparable or even cheaper than local state schools. I'm not sure this is the case for you, but I'd at least take a look and run some net price calculators.

Well, her preference would be to go out of state, and WUE schools would certainly be one affordable way for us to make that happen. It's not the only option, but it's such a big discount that it would be very nice if it did work out! I'm certainly open to other suggestions, though!

[JanetC]

Lots of WUE options for a geology major, but only SD Mines has paleontology as a major.

 

I presume you've used the WUE degree search tool, right?

 

http://wue.wiche.edu/search1.jsp

 

From Corraleno's list, I know Washington State has merit aid. The recruiter from UNevada at Reno said the geology department had money, too. Not sure how much paleontology at these schools, my rising senior is in a different niche.

 

Try the net price calculators at Macalester and Lawrence, a couple from my older, artsy DDs list that are also good for geologists. Lawrence also has museum studies.

[Greta]

Lots of WUE options for a geology major, but only SD Mines has paleontology as a major.

 

I presume you've used the WUE degree search tool, right?

 

http://wue.wiche.edu/search1.jsp

 

From Corraleno's list, I know Washington State has merit aid. The recruiter from UNevada at Reno said the geology department had money, too. Not sure how much paleontology at these schools, my rising senior is in a different niche.

 

Try the net price calculators at Macalester and Lawrence, a couple from my older, artsy DDs list that are also good for geologists. Lawrence also has museum studies.

 

 

Thank you Janet!  Yes, I have been using the search tool to find schools, and that's very helpful.  I just don't know much about these schools, and it's not always easy for me to get a feel from them from their own websites either.  So I thought I'd see what insights the hive had to offer.   :001_smile:

 

I had forgotten to mention that SD Mines was on our list, because of that possible paleontology emphasis at the undergrad level.  (My understanding is that it's still a B.S. in Geology, but paleontology is one possible area of concentration).  NAU offers a paleontology concentration with a geology degree as well, and so far those are the only two I've found.  Thank you so much for mentioning UN Reno, Macalester, and Lawrence -- I will take a look at those!

[Plateau Mama]

My mother works, at Hallmark, with a girl who has a degreen in palentolegy. I didn't pay super close attention when my mother was talking about it but basically if you don't go to one of a handfull of schools it is next to impossible to get jobs in that field. I cant remember which but I am sure it was places like NM, SD where there is a lot of good dig sites.

[JanetC]

To get into a job in any scientific field, you usually need a graduate degree. Undergrad won't matter as much, as long as you are well-prepared for grad school admissions at the handful of schools in your niche.

[Greta]

Check out Wyoming, too.

The one in Laramie? It's very inexpensive, and the crime rate there is really low, which is an important consideration for this very protective mama! Don't know much else about it, but I've added it to the list!

 

Also, Western State Colorado University has a good geology department, along with archaeology. They take WUE. It's now WSCU not Western State College.

Thanks!

[Greta]

Thank you, Margaret! I appreciate your help!

[Guest]

Boise State is part of WUE.  I currently attend there so feel free to ask questions :)

[Greta]

Boise State is part of WUE.  I currently attend there so feel free to ask questions :)

 

 

Oh, that's great, thank you!  If you happen to know anything about the geology program, that would of course be helpful.  And regarding campus life:  is the campus and the surrounding area pretty safe?  I've never even been to Boise - is there much to do there?  (My daughter is a museums, art galleries, and parks kind of person, not a night club and party kind of person.  :) )

[Guest]

Oh, that's great, thank you!  If you happen to know anything about the geology program, that would of course be helpful.  And regarding campus life:  is the campus and the surrounding area pretty safe?  I've never even been to Boise - is there much to do there?  (My daughter is a museums, art galleries, and parks kind of person, not a night club and party kind of person.   :) )

 

The geology program is an emphasis within the geoscience major.  I actually looked into a year ago; I wasn't able to do it because they had a lot of overnight trips.  Here is the main dept website: https://earth.boisestate.edu/degrees/undergraduate/ FWIW, I've never had a bad interaction with any professor or administrative person at the school; it's very much a large school, but incredibly personal.  I don't know if your daughter would be interested in the honor's college, but the associate dean is absolutely incredible.

Downtown Boise is pretty safe; below the national average.  Obviously, there are better parts and dumpier parts.  You can see the campus crime logs here https://security.boisestate.edu/crimelog/

There is A LOT to do if you like parks and the outdoors.  Taking a bridge across the river that runs next to the campus will get you to the museums.  There is a big "culture" scene here, whether it's music performances or ethnic activities.  And Boise was #12 on top 100 places to live in the U.S. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise,_Idaho

 

I kind of rambled, sorry!

 

[Greta]

The geology program is an emphasis within the geoscience major. I actually looked into a year ago; I wasn't able to do it because they had a lot of overnight trips. Here is the main dept website: https://earth.boisestate.edu/degrees/undergraduate/ FWIW, I've never had a bad interaction with any professor or administrative person at the school; it's very much a large school, but incredibly personal. I don't know if your daughter would be interested in the honor's college, but the associate dean is absolutely incredible.

Downtown Boise is pretty safe; below the national average. Obviously, there are better parts and dumpier parts. You can see the campus crime logs here https://security.boisestate.edu/crimelog/

There is A LOT to do if you like parks and the outdoors. Taking a bridge across the river that runs next to the campus will get you to the museums. There is a big "culture" scene here, whether it's music performances or ethnic activities. And Boise was #12 on top 100 places to live in the U.S. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise,_Idaho

 

I kind of rambled, sorry!

No, don't apologize, I appreciate all the information so very much! This was really helpful - thank you! It sounds like a very nice place. :)

[Greta]

Lots of "parks" at WSCU--85% of the county is fed land: BLM, Nat'l Park, Forest Service, etc. Museums and art galleries? Nope. Well, unless you count the museum of mountain biking!

 

 

I love unusual little museums like that!  Albuquerque has a rattlesnake museum.  :lol:

 

It sounds nice!  Colorado is so beautiful, I know she would love that part of going to school there.