I’m a junior in high school who wants to do meteorology. FSU is my top choice, as I hear it has the oldest and one of the top programs in the country. Is anyone in, or at least has a friend, in the meteorology program?
What would you like to know about the program?
FSU’s Meteorology program is one of the best in the country, and depending on where in meteorology your interest lies, it is either the best in the southeast or the second-best, behind U of Miami.
It is also one of the most difficult met programs in the US. It’s one of the few programs that requires undergrad students to take a second course in each of atmospheric physics, dynamics, and synoptic meteorology. Most programs only require a first course in those subjects, with the second level being saved for grad students, and if you aspire to go to grad school it can give you a leg up on your competition.
Any questions about the program let me know. While I didn’t graduate from it, I was a meteorology major for two years and even after changing majors I was involved in some aspects of the meteorology program.
@Pasbal Thanks! I’m from NY and am visiting this summer, checking out FSU because I’ll have a chance for the OOS tuition scholarship depending on my ACT score. I think I’m going to fall in love with the school and program. Here are some questions I have?
- All schools I have visited (Penn State, UAlbany) have small programs in relation to school size and other programs (Penn State was 60 and Albany was 30). How many are at FSU. I don't a huge program, as I want it to be easy to make friends and be a close-knit group.
- Is there a student run campus weather service?
- Meteorology is in the Love Building from what I know. Closest and best dorm in your opinion would be what? If I did honor college (I might) I know Landis and Gilchrist but if I don't do honors and just want the closest and best dorm to Love, which?
-
I don’t know an exact number of undergrads but there are usually 25-30 or so graduates each year. This year’s sophomore class is especially small though, with the last number I know being about 15 that were still in the program at the end of this past semester.
Trust me, no matter how big or small the program, you’ll have those friends and it’ll be a close-knit group. EVERYONE in the upper-level met classes helps each other because of the difficulty. There’s also a local chapter of the American Meteorological Society/National Weather Association that almost all of the meteorology majors join at FSU. That’s a good way of making friends (and some similar groups exist at Penn State and most other colleges with a met program). -
There is FSU Weather, which is completely student-run. It’s a 30 minute (15 minutes during the summer) completely student-produced LIVE weather show that airs every weeknight at 6pm during the semester. As of last check it was the only one of its kind (usually the “completely student-produced” part isn’t the case with most others). FSUWeather is on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Livestream. Here’s the Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/fsuweather
FSU has a really high placement rate for grads into jobs. For broadcast, I know that the rate last year was nearly 100% for those that wanted to go that route, and this year already 2 grads have gotten broadcast jobs. There’s an equally high rate of placement for grad school. It’s not quite 100% but it is very high.
- The closest dorm buildings are Smith and Kellum, though Kellum is supposed to be torn down in December. After that the next closest is Salley, then I’d say that it’s a toss-up between Wildwood and the new Dorman/Deviney buildings, though Wildwood is probably a tad bit closer. Dorman/Deviney are probably nicer than Wildwood because they’re brand new. But the distance between any of the dorms to Love isn’t that far. Landis and Gilchrist aren’t but about 8-10 minutes away from the Love building. It’s a couple minutes further than Wildwood (I walked from Wildwood to Love in about 5-6 minutes as a freshman).
I wouldn’t necessarily focus on what dorm you live in as a freshman though, because your first year will mostly be spent with liberal studies with classes that may be all over campus. The most you’d get in terms of meteorology classes are MET1010, the intro class, and maybe the Weathercasting class if you want to go into broadcast/try it out.
@Pasbal why thanks so much! I remember reading not such great things about Salley/Kellum in general, despite their proximity to meteorology. I’d probably want a nicer dorm and more centralized during freshman year anyways.
I’m taking a lot of credits Junior and senior year so I think I’ll be way ahead freshman year. I took the APUSH/AP Lang exams this May, which could be 3 or 4’s and I know FSU takes 3’s (checked their websites). I am taking College Spanish (local college credits) which will most likely be transferrable. Plus taking AP Gov, AP Chem, College English, College Calc, College Eco and possibly College Psych/Soc next year so hopefully they all transfer over.
So is there 200 Meteorology undergrads in total or not that many? Definitely not 200 per grade level right? I don’t want to be in a huge program, considering have small and close-knit Albany and Penn State’s are.
How do they place you in a broadcast job? Do they help you find one? Seems most people who want broadcast and graduate from FSU get it!
I don’t know if the program totals 200. There were about 200 people registered for MET1010 this past semester (intro Met class) but a number of them aren’t met majors, or are but drop within the first year or so. A lot of them end up in one of the environmental science programs (which last I heard had almost 350 entering students this year, though I do find that one hard to believe). It’s not 200 per grade though, no.
It’s also not really a big program. There’s only 1 class (about 40-50 students max) for the senior-level classes, and you will find it’s really close-knit because everyone’s got the same things going on.
There’s really no departmental support for finding a job in broadcast, because no two stations are the same. A friend of mine got told that she would never be hired in TV by a station a year ago but was hired by another (in a better TV market) only a few weeks later.
There are some connections, and graduates will keep the department updated on openings that they have. There are sites like TV Jobs and Medialine and of course company career sites (Raycom, etc.) where you can find jobs but aside from that a lot of the hunt is basically what you find, apply to, and who likes your demo reel.
TV’s a tough business, and the pay isn’t that great. If you want to go the route of broadcast meteorology, you have to do it because you love the job, not because of the pay (though the pay for any meteorology job isn’t stellar at the start).
As for other jobs, you’re really on your own for private-sector or National Weather Service. The department is co-located with NWS Tallahassee but entry-level jobs there are uncommon. The NWS just got out of a hiring freeze and the push right now is towards Master’s degrees being a requirement for an NWS job. While you can get a job with just a BS, if you want to go with the NWS you’re really going to have to think about grad school.
@Pasbal Yeah, even at the other meteorologt schools I visited, in the upper level classes there were environmental science majors in the classes.
I’ve always wanted to go into Broadcast Meteorology. I know FSU has had a lot of grads go into that field. I know the pay isn’t great, but it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I have thought about private-sector, such as airlines, etc., and I have been very interested in weather risk management, which has become popular after storms like Sandy. I know that requires some business classes but I like the idea of minoring in business as a backup.
I know NWS pays best, and I’ve always thought they had a lot of jobs (at Albany the NWS just hired a grad), but I don’t like the prospect of more schooling. I really just want to build up a working repertoire right out of college.
If you’re looking to go into broadcast, then FSU has a good placement rate, but the meteorology program isn’t broadcast-focused. There’s just the weathercasting class and FSU Weather. It’s a program that’s more focused on being NWS or grad school ready than sending people into broadcast. It’s still very strong in broadcast and just saying you’re with FSU can be enough to get your internships back home at some places, I’m sure (it’s happened before).
If you want to go into the broadcast field then FSU is a good place to get experience while in school.
I don’t want to dissuade you from FSU at all, but being from New York have you looked at Lyndon State? I believe their students won a number of broadcast-related awards at the 2014 National Weather Association conference. I do know that at least one of them won a scholarship from the NWA at least.
Of course, FSU is where I’d hope you attend. And FSU’s students win plenty of awards from the NWA and the American Meteorological Society. One of FSU’s students won multiple scholarships from the NWA a couple years ago.
@Pasbal Lyndon State is in Vermont, not NY. Also, I want a large school with many opportunities not necessarily related to meteorology (decent business program, large city, etc.). Even more importantly, I want a school with football and specifically a marching band (I love being in marching band). Clearly FSU has that. In state, I visited Albany and liked it.