I will be transferring to achieve a degree in Geography or Urban Planning. I have done research on schools offering these majors, as well as graduate programs. I am currently enrolled at a CC with a 3.5 GPA. Are there any suggestions as to schools with a great program for these majors? I would prefer a school of at least 10,000 undergrad students and located in at a fairly populated area, unless it is an A+ college town. Thank you for your time, guys!
What is your home state? What can you afford? Have you already taken GIS courses or will you need to begin them when you are there? Do you want to emphasize in any particular aspect of geography (eg, historical, regional, economic, etc)?
I am from NC. My cap is 18K. However, I am already beginning to accumulate scholarships toward my education. I know I need to be realistic financially, but my focus is to find a school I know I can get into, be challenged and be successful. I will be taking a GIS course this summer st the CC I am enrolled at. Political and environmental geography are greater interests of mine.
Look into ECU, Appalachian State, and for a reach UNC Chapel Hill. UNC has by far the best program of the three although Appalachian State is a phenomenal school for all things environmental science and presumably environmental geography. I know @warblersrule used to TA at ASU and has worked in remote sensing so perhaps he could offer more guidance regarding their department.
If you want to do an interdepartmental comparison, the AAG (Association of American Geographers) lists every program in Canada and the US along with particularly notable features and facilities that individual schools offer.
http://www.aag.org/cs/publications/guide
Although it’s grossly simplified, I’ve found it quite useful, especially when students have a particular focus they want to pursue.
I really appreciate your incite! Thank you.
If your cap is $18K then you probably need to stay inside of NC for an affordable education with your constraints, unless you can transfer to a university that has excellent financial aid for transfer students (not many of them).
A friend of mine got her PhD in geography from Arizona. Apparently it’s one of the top 10 programs in geography, according to the National Research Council. The full list is [url=<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124734//%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124734//]here[/url] (S-rankings are based on characteristics of programs and R-rankings are based on the similarities of programs to programs that faculty ranked very highly. Both are equally valid and usually pretty close to each other). Don’t worry about the rankings for an undergrad program, though; I’m just sending this for you look at grad programs.
Consider also related majors if you’re having a hard time finding a school you like with a geography or urban planning major. My friend actually majored in comparative literature as an undergrad. There are several social sciences that could serve as a substitute, like urban studies or sociology. If you’re more interested in the environmental side, an environmental studies or sciences major could suffice if there are faculty teaching and doing research in the intersection between geography and environmental studies.