Advice on studying Geological Oceanography?

I want to study geological oceanography, and I realize that this subject is rarely offered at the undergraduate level, so it will probably be what I go to graduate school for. Would it be smarter to major in geosciences or marine sciences at the undergraduate level instead? Also, I want to go to a top university, so what are some universities that excel in these particular areas. I know there are the oceanographic institutions like Scripps and WHOI, and I also have found the University of Washington has a school of oceanography.

Any advice on my situation or any other options that I may have overlooked?

Thanks.

It probably doesn’t matter as long as you take the prerequisites necessary to get into graduate school. You can probably get them in either major. Geosciences or earth sciences majors are more common than oceanography/marine sciences majors.

You don’t need to worry about a place with a specific school of oceanography or a top graduate program right now; what you need to find is a place with a good solid undergraduate program (and by that I mean across the board, not just in one field) that also offers geosciences/earth sciences majors that will help you satisfy your requirements. There are lots of different kinds of places that offer majors in that area. Based on your chances thread, you could compete at some tip-top colleges

If you want a small liberal arts college, check out places like Williams, Amherst, Carleton, Pomona, Bowdoin (their program is actually called “earth and oceanographic science”), Oberlin, Haverford (the geology major is at Bryn Mawr), Hamilton, Bucknell, Wesleyan, Washington & Lee, Lafayette, Bates, Colby, Sewanee-University of the South, Whitman, Skidmore, Occidental, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Wooster, University of Puget Sound, DePauw, Beloit, and Earlham.

If you want a larger research university, options include Caltech, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Brown, Penn, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Wash U, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, USC, Cornell, Tulane, Boston College, Tufts, University of Miami, University of Rochester, Notre Dame, Boston U, Case Western, George Washington, Northeastern, Southern Methodist.

Some of those will be better suited to you than others, and of course you may want to concentrate on schools that are nearby coasts and thus have better access to doing research there.

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“Students interested in careers in oceanography should consider concentrations in chemistry or mathematics with supporting courses in geology including [8 courses listed] and biology [1 course listed].”

– Geosciences department website

UW, MIT and UCSD are leaders in this field.

@juillet @merc81 @UWfromCA Thanks, I really appreciate your responses!

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Look at Eckerd College. They have the largest number of NOAA Hollings Scholars in the US. You can get an undergraduate degree in marine science with a concentration in marine geology or marine geophysics. You start your marine science courses as a freshman and begin research projects as a freshman.