<p>Argh. This college search process is really numbed by the fact that I cannot find schools that offer Geography majors that are considered 2nd tier. Atleast, I think that's the term? </p>
<p>I want a school in the midwest, preferably. I have a 26 ACT (which I am in the process of raising, slowly but surely. I will get a 30 for colleges to see. I'm motivated like that). I'm very active in ECs and a leader. </p>
<p>My GPA isn't the greatest -- 3.3 at the moment. I've already calculated it -- 3.48 w/ this semester's grades and my independent study course over the summer. 3.55 for colleges to see after first semester next year. I'm on this "A" streak -- and I'm not in easy classes, either. Only one AP, but I'll have 3 next year. Hopefully more because I love the discussions that AP classes thrive on. I think that's why my GPA has gone up this year (straight B's to straight A's) -- one AP class has made me think differently. I like it.</p>
<p>Anyway, the only Ivy I'm aiming for is University of Chicago. Actually, that's probably not considered an Ivy? Eh?</p>
<p>What ARE 2nd tier/1st tier school examples? Should I be aiming for 2nd tier?</p>
<p>And back to the original subject, what are some good Geography schools? I want to double major in geography/political science. </p>
<p>Oh, and on top of being in the Midwest- it has to be a small school. I don't even care where it's located too much (urban/rural/suburban). I can be in a huge city, I just don't want a campus town by any means. Maximum number of students I can stand ... maybe 7,000. Below 5,000 is better.</p>
<p>I have to say, I think in the Midwest, it's a lot more likely that small schools will have smaller towns. Not always the case, but often, in my experience.</p>
<p>I don't know whether these have Geography majors or not, or what your chances are, because the chances thing is so weird. But yeah.</p>
<p>Just wondering, what do you mean by "the chances thing is so weird"? Do you mean at LAC or in all colleges?</p>
<p>Strangely enough, I have all of the ones you mention on my list to possibly visit this summer. Specifically Macalaster, which I believe is the only one on that list that has a Geogrpahy major. What a neglected major, sniff.</p>
<p>Oh, I meant at all colleges. No one can predict where you will get in and where you won't. GC's are better because they know you in real life, but it's still a crapshoot. </p>
<p>I mean, I am not saying that you cannot group them into "safety", "match", and "target", because of course you can, but I am no good at that. Although some people must be, I guess.</p>
<p>P.S. I live in the Midwest, too, so maybe it is just our Midwestern-LAC-minds uniting as one that means the lists are similar :)</p>
<p>Take a look at the below. NRC ranks graduate programs, but most of these schools also have good undergrad programs. </p>
<p>If you're really interested in Geography, I'd be happy to answer your questions. I majored in geography and economics as an undergrad, and my graduate degree is in economic geography (location theory, etc.).</p>
<p>
[quote]
National Research Council (NRC). As quoted from the New York Times (Wednesday September 13 1995, p. B7), the NRC researchers "studied 3,634 academic programs at 274 institutions....More than 8000 faculty members participated in evaluating academic programs on the basis of scholarly quality, educational effectiveness and change in program quality over the past five years." The list of rated geography departments follows: </p>
<ol>
<li>Pennsylvania State University </li>
<li>University of Wisconsin-Madison </li>
<li>University of Minnesota </li>
<li>University of California-Santa Barbara </li>
<li>Ohio State University </li>
<li>University of California-Berkeley (tie for 6) </li>
<li>Syracuse University (tie for 6) </li>
<li>University of California-Los Angeles </li>
<li>Clark University </li>
<li>University of Washington </li>
<li>State University of New York-Buffalo </li>
<li>University of Colorado </li>
<li>Rutgers </li>
<li>University of Texas-Austin </li>
<li>Arizona State University </li>
<li>University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign </li>
<li>University of Iowa </li>
<li>Louisiana State University </li>
<li>University of Arizona </li>
<li>University of Kentucky </li>
<li>University of Georgia </li>
<li>Univeristy of North Carolina-Chapel Hill </li>
<li>Johns Hopkins University </li>
<li>University of Florida </li>
<li>Indiana University </li>
<li>University of Kansas </li>
<li>Boston University </li>
<li>University of Oregon </li>
<li>University of Maryland-College Park </li>
<li>University of Hawaii-Manoa </li>
<li>University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee </li>
<li>University of Nebraska-Lincoln </li>
<li>Oregon State University </li>
<li>University of Utah </li>
<li>Kent State University </li>
<li>University of Cincinnati
<p>Geography can be a fascinating major and lead to a variety of interesting careers, but it is not a common major at small schools. However, it is available at several small Midwest schools that I know of, and if you check out Midwest LACs you will have some choices. (As noted above, midwestern Big 10 unis have superb graduate programs in Geography. . .5 of the top 6 listed above.)</p>
<p>Macalester has a great Geography program that without excluding other areas of study emphasizes urban and economic geography. If you keep improving your GPA and bump your ACT to 30+ you will have a chance at admission, but unless you are a talented athlete or URM your current stats are low for Mac, which is very selective. </p>
<p>Kind of a sleeper LAC in Minnesota is Gustavus Adolphus College. Very solid faculty overall and they offer Geography. Also in Minnesota is St. Thomas College. It is a mid-sized university with more of a career focus than an intellectual focus, but they have a Geography program. As part of their career focus they often have adjunct professors that work in the appropriate fields and they do a good job helping students get internships. The Twin Cities would be a good place to find a geography-related job, too. Your stats are plenty good for Gustavus or St. Thomas.</p>
<p>As for Mac, I believe there is some discussion at the school about ending its program. If I recall, there is only one full time faculty member. I looked at it with my son last year, and although I thought the school terrific (and my son applied), the geography program was lacking. The state schools in middle america (geographically speaking) offer much broader programs. (but, sadly, not the Mac experience).</p>
<p>If the OP wants a mid-west school, Wisconson-Madison has an excellent program, and is a relative bargin. If the requirement includes an LAC experience, I would suggest Clark is worth a look, even though it's not a mid-west school. (And b/t/w, Worcester, MA will provide an ideal geographical laboratory within which to work. Also, it's the closest thing to a rust belt city east of Buffalo.)</p>
<p>It is worth looking carefully at each school, its faculty and its course offerings. Geography is a term used to define a number of unrelated disciplines, from physical geog, to cartography, to political, medical, humianistic, economic, etc., etc. Many of the geog programs focus on the physical, so be careful.</p>
<p>Wow-- that's sad about Macalester. And discouraging that the major/class is becoming so phased out. </p>
<p>Do you know how University of Chicago's program is? I was actually really exciting to see that Mikesell (sp?) is the coordinator (or a teacher or something...). Just because I remember in the first paper I wrote for AP Human Geography, my introduction was a quote that he said. </p>
<p>I'm interested in human geography much more than physical geography. Particularly economic, urban, and political...</p>
<p>I've had my whole plan to double major in Geography/Political Science since maybe.... er... January. So this is a relatively new idea.... but I'd really like to have that option in colleges, and with my stats and so little choices to begin with... the options are really narrowing down. I pretty much need a small school (I think my school of 2,500 is too many people... anything more than 5,000 is pushing it for me) and the geography major just doesn't seem to exist at small schools...</p>
<p>I don't have much time right now, but I wanted to answer a couple of your question.</p>
<p>Regarding Chicago, this is the type of program I referred to in an earlier post. A department with 3 or 4 professors; very little breadth. Again, compare it with a real program from the top 10 of the list I provided. Look at Penn State, or Clark if you want a smaller school. If I recall, Clark's full-time department has over 20 faculty members, and the undergarduate student body for the entire school is under 2000 (but one of the tow most popular majors is geography, so you have the best of both worlds -- a small student body, but a large group of cohorts).</p>
<p>As for human geography, it really is a seperate discipline. Economic, political, and urban stand on their own. All worth exploring, but not a subset of human.</p>
<p>If you're really interested, I'd be happy to help you wade through all of this. I fully enjoyed my undergraduate and graduate work, and even though I do not earn my living as a geographer, my background colors the way I analyze everything.</p>
<p>Hm -- I guess I assumed economic, urban, and political geography were a branch of human geography because those are some types of geography we surveyed in AP human geography. Guess I don't even understand the subject yet... even after I took the class! Hah. </p>
<p>Clark does sound good... but I can't see myself going Northeast. That's one thing that's very important to me in searching for a college -- I would really prefer staying in state (Illinois) but as I am beginning to see that's nearly impossible -- I'd atleast like to stay regional if at all possible. The other thing that's important is small school, as mentioned. Then the majors thing, of course.</p>
<p>You say many of the geog programs focus on physical -- how do you know? I mean, can that information be found on a school's website? That would be a nightmare -- applying and finding out that the disipline isn't what I was looking for. While I enjoy geography as a whole, I'm not the biggest fan of the physical side. </p>
<p>Another thing is, I'm planning to double major in political science and geography... so I don't necessarily want one department to be lacking, I'd LIKE both to be strong, but I know I'm asking for a lot already. :X</p>
<p>Good point about Macalester. . .as I made the earlier post I made a note to check on the faculty, as I believe the outstanding dept chair may be close to retirement, and I'm not sure there are any other tenured professors in the dept. I'm actually going over there this week and will check it out. Political science is strong there. </p>
<p>I suspected it would be tough to find a highly selective LAC or mid-sized uni with a Geography major, but using the search function on another site I did come up a mideast (PA) school: Bucknell. Good political science department there, too. Less-selective small schools closer to Illinois include Ohio Wesleyan, Miami (Ohio) and Wittenberg. Colgate, an excellent New York state LAC also offers the major.</p>
<p>You wouldn't have a hard time getting into University of Minnesota. If you decided to stay they have the best PhD program in geography in the US, I believe.</p>
<p>If you like these big flagships, check out UW-Madison and UM-Ann Arbor. Also, there's one school people have really overlooked here:</p>
<p>U.Illinois Urbana Champagne.
In the geography ranking above it's 16th and you will have many of the same opportunities there as in any large "prestigious" university.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you like these big flagships, check out UW-Madison and UM-Ann Arbor.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You wouldn't get far studying Geography at U-M. Don't really have a formal department for it anymore, although there are Geological Science faculty and Arch & Urban Planning faculty who teach some Geography courses.</p>
<p>Wisconson has a first-rate program. Better, in my opinion, than other state schools. Go to their web site and take a look at the faculty. Very impresive. (Robert Sack is an excellent thinker.) They all teach undergrad courses, too.</p>
<p>makeyourselfxo, what is your home state? Might help with the analysis. Also, have you considered any of the Canadian schools? Canadians (as well as the British) have a higher regrad for the discipline.</p>
<p>McMaster University has a very good program, reasonably priced (compared with US), and is in Hamilton (near Toronto). Some might consider it mid-western (depnding on your geographical bent). McGill, too, but farther away in Montreal.</p>
<p>Folks, the OP is pretty clear about wanting a small school. I agree that the Big Ten schools mentioned are excellent options (and the poster is in Illinois, making U of Illinois an affordable option) but they are BIG!!!</p>
<p>If the OP wants a real geography program in the mid-west, he'll have to look at the larger schools. For a smaller top school, he'll need to come east. If it's just some geography courses he wants, throw a dart.</p>