<p>Any thoughts on a non-petroleum focused geology-related BS (leading to an MS), and a good school known for it? My son just decided he wants an applied science career but not engineering, so we are now taking his search in a new direction. We're in Texas, looking at OOS if necessary, hoping for some scholarship money for his ACT 32 composite score and 3.7 GPA. He likes chemistry, physics not so much, biology doesn't thrill him, and math is a bit of a struggle (36 on Science, 26 in Math on his ACT) and just not his favorite thing although he's a hard worker and will do what it takes.</p>
<p>Geology, Geoscience, Geochemistry, Hydrogeology, Environmental Geology, Hydrogeochemistry (not kidding) or....</p>
<p>UT Austin and Texas A&M are both pretty solid for in state geoscience majors. For Geology, you probably have to get through at least calculus 1 and 2, and I wouldn’t be all that surprised if they made you take the whole calculus sequence including differential equations. All of the disciplines you mentioned are all subsets of Geology (you take courses on geochemistry, hydrogeology, etc. in a geology program). Some schools may have those specializations as an actual major, but I don’t know that for sure. I would possibly also look into Colorado School of Mines.</p>
<p>Thanks, aGGieENGiNeer. Not sure he can get in to those two schools - he’s in the top 25% but not top 8% (UT) or 10% (A&M) and we’ve been told that even if he was admitted to the school it’s unlikely he would know if he was admitted to his major for at least a year while he was taking general ed courses. I’m a Longhorn and my son spent a week at A&M this summer at a leadership camp… also just hoping for a bit smaller size public or even a private we can afford. Looking at Oregon State, Arkansas, and some others. We’re finding that many BS geology programs are oriented to oil & gas, and he’s more interested in environmental and water resources.</p>
<p>You might look into some of the UC schools. Quite a few of the California schools have great geology programs, not oil-focused, and offer merit aid (although probably fairly competitive given the current state of their finances). Look into San Diego, Santa Barbara, Davis, UCLA, Berkeley maybe for a reach… University of Washington, Wisconsin, and Michigan are also well-respected geology schools to think about without a strong oil focus.</p>
<p>For a mid-sized school, you might look into Rice in Houston (more oil present here than the others). A variety of the small liberal arts schools are strong in geology as well - Wooster, Colorado College, Whitman, Earlham, and Beloit come to mind. These schools may not be as generous with merit aid, but are often much more generous on the need-based side to compensate.</p>
<p>It’s good that you recognize that your son would need at least some graduate work for geology to work out. In general, it is best not to get the graduate degree from the same school as the undergraduate - it’s done occasionally, but it is looked on better if you broaden your horizons a bit after college. The B.A./B.S. divide only matters in schools that offer both - many of the small schools only offer the B.A., which is widely known and understood on the grad school circuit.</p>
<p>My oldest son is a Geology major at California State University Sacramento and is very happy with the program there where you can earn a BS and MS in Geology. It is not petroleum oriented but does concentrate heavily on Hydrogeology since water resource utilization and flood hazard mitigation are key concerns in Northern California in general and the Sacramento area in particular which sits at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers. Minimum requirements for a BA in Geology include one semester of Calculus for Math, Physical Science and Engineering majors as well as two semesters of Physics. To be admitted into the MS program three semesters of Calculus and three semesters of Calculus based Physics are required.</p>
<p>The down side for you is that OOS tuition has really increased lately at California public universities and there is little or no financial aid for OOS students.</p>
<p>Lemaitre1 - yes, it was quite a shock yesterday to see the OOS tuition. Wow! Our EFC is around $12,000 and I have a college savings plan which will pay about $8,000 a year, but we’re still a long way from affording even such a great sounding program.</p>
<p>The University of Wyoming would offer about $6,000 in automatic scholarships based on the the GPA/ACT you provided. Additionally, there are competitive scholarships that may be added.</p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> Program | Department of Geology and Geophysics ? University of Wyoming](<a href=“http://geology.uwyo.edu/undergraduate-program]Undergraduate”>http://geology.uwyo.edu/undergraduate-program)</p>
<p>[Non-Resident</a> Freshmen Scholarships | Admissions | University of Wyoming](<a href=“404 - Page Not Found”>http://www.uwyo.edu/admissions/scholarships/non-residents/index.html)</p>