<p>I will be graduating with a B.S. in Geography in about 1-1.5 years and I am completely lost as to what to go to Grad School for. I was lucky enough to get through undergrad debt free, thanks to a college fund set up by my grandparents when I was born; so now I feel it is completely justifiable to take some loans to continue my education. I have no idea what to get a graduate degree in however. Here our my problems with getting a M.S. in Geography:</p>
<p>1.) In the United States, Geography is disrespected. It is under taught in schools and is looked down upon by other fields of science. I am so sick of people asking me if all I do is "read maps" all day, I am also sick of people only thinking that Geography is a humanity...to an extent it is, especially if you go to a LAC. However, my degree is technical and scientific.</p>
<p>2.) Even I am not sure what I will do with a Geography degree. I have tons of skills in quantitative and spatial methods, cartography, GIS, remote sensing etc. but there aren't many jobs that call for a "geographer". </p>
<p>So I think I want to get a degree in something else, but I'm not sure what. Does anybody have any idea of a different degree where a Geography background would be a plus? I have considered Public Health, Emergency Management, and Earth Science but none of these seem that appealing to me. I am just looking for any other suggestions. Thank You</p>
<p>If you don’t know what you want to get a graduate degree in, you’re not ready to apply for graduate school.</p>
<p>Take some time to explore employment opportunities, work in the real world and get an idea of where you want your future career direction to go. Then think about graduate school.</p>
<p>Attending graduate school just because you are currently debt-free is not a good reason. I think you are fortune to be graduating with no debt, and should take advantage of that by obtaining a job after graduation and getting some work experience. Your interests may change once you are in the workforce and outside of academia. You may find you want to pursue another field, or you may find a job you enjoy and rise up with the company rather than returning to school. </p>
<p>No graduate program will want to admit a student who has no clear career goals. Perhaps in another year these goals will be more clear, but if they are not, you are better off exploring job opportunities with your BS, perhaps in the fields you mentioned, to see what interests you most.</p>
<p>I too graduated with a degree in Geography. Are you looking for a career in the technical side of things (GIS, CAD, etc)? If so, I have heard that a master’s degree may not be particularly helpful or necessary. SO many groups and agencies use GIS, get on some mailing lists and apply, apply, apply. No, there aren’t many jobs calling for “geographers” . . . but there ARE jobs open for people skilled with remote sensing, and the rest. (Often with titles like “Data Management”.)</p>
<p>Have you picked the minds of the professors in your department? If not, do so!</p>
<p>As for people asking you “Oh, you’re a Geography major? What’s the capital of Tajikistan?”, tell them geography isn’t about memorizing lists. It’s about studying WHY people do things WHERE they do them. Even most GIS questions boil down to this. “There are more traffic accidents at this intersection. Why?”</p>
<p>Thank you all for your responses, and yes Naturally my degree is more technical and focused on a broad range of things like GIS, Remote Sensing, Cartography etc. After listening to comments on here I am now thinking gaining work experience and more maturity is the best way to go. Also I am curious Naturally…what field do you currently work in with your Geography degree?</p>
<p>Quick comment from a non-geographer, but someone currently in grad school in the field of emergency management. There has definitely been a significant increase in the importance of GIS in the past few years. Often, jobs are connected to large agencies that have the budget to do their own mapping. I was in DC with the Red Cross this summer, and I know that they had GIS interns working with their international GIS mapping group. Various fire agencies (particularly wildland fire) and groups like USGS may also have positions that would be interesting to you. However, it is unlikely for you to find pure GIS/geography jobs in some of the more typical emergency management jobs- it’s a skill you would find useful, but emergency managers tend to be jacks of all trades. I would definitely suggest finding a good internship for this summer, since you still have some time, and figure out how much you enjoy the work before worrying about grad school.</p>
<p>If you don’t want a PhD in Geography, then I recommend these other professional programs:</p>
<p>Architecture
Environmental Engineering
Natural Resources and the Environment (if you’re interested in sustainability)
Urban and Regional Planning</p>