<p>My passion is in the earth and enviromental sciences (everything from atmospheric physics to ecology, nothing political though). I originally wanted to major in earth science/ geology, but talked to people who said due to everything becoming more computer based, I should major in CS and maybe minor in geology. Is this good advice? Im thinking 3D geomodeling would be fun, but then worried that an undergraduate in CS would limit graduate program entry into other feilds. Im also worried about job availability moreso than pay, because I have a family to support. Any advice is much appreciated.</p>
<p>There’s no such thing as “limit graduate program entry into other fields.”</p>
<p>If your main goal and interest is in environmental science, I would say major in that. The computer part is that it is becoming an essential tool for scientific research. My approach was to minor in computer science, and also learn computer/programming things on my own, online, and in the lab.
If you are worried about jobs, though, computer science definitely has more job opportunities than environmental science.</p>
<p>zairair, would I still be able to get into, say, a geophysics graduate program with an undergrad in CS?</p>
<p>You probably do want to take as electives some of the core physics and geology undergraduate courses if you have an interest in geophysics for graduate work. Take a look at graduate geophysics department web sites for their undergraduate recommendations.</p>
<p>[Earth&Planetary</a> Science, UC Berkeley - Graduate Education](<a href=“http://eps.berkeley.edu/education/graduate.php]Earth&Planetary”>http://eps.berkeley.edu/education/graduate.php) says:</p>
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<p>ok thank you! that’s what I was trying to find out. I’ll defiantly take my year of university physics, along with calc 2 (I’ve already taken calculus 1 and year of chemistry), ODE/Linear Algebra, along with as much earth science classes as I can.</p>
<p>Another question: would computational physics be a better choice over CS?</p>
<p>You could major in geology and minor in computer science. This is relatively common from what I’ve seen.</p>
<p>Geology is a high-earning degree according to the large salary surveys out there, but mostly working for petroleum/mining companies, not really doing anything “green”. Just a warning.</p>
<p>You could try a Geographic Information Systems emphasis which is computer-based environmental/mapping work but I’m not sure it would be what you’re looking for since it would probably be part of a geography program/department and add some social science curriculum of very questionable value.</p>
<p>Or a technology-centric environmental science program. A good example is the Environmental Science (Geospatial Science) program at Humboldt, which combines a core dealing with basic environmental policy and ecology with upper-division coursework in digital cartography, remote sensing, database management, etc. These are popping up here and there, however, they basically skip the chemistry, so they’re actually closer to a CS/GIS degree than to an environmental science degree despite being a BS in environmental science. Confusing so far…</p>
<p>CS will get you a job in virtually any field and is very versatile in grad school. It pays better than anything. However, do you even like it? Upper-division CS classes can get pretty hectic if you’re someone who doesn’t even enjoy programming (and some mandatory knowledge of hardware). Burning out half way through a degree is more tragic than anything. By graduation/employment you will be expected to be a knee-deep OCD computer nerd, not just someone who dabbles in it.</p>
<p>I see what your saying. I cant say for sure if I’m into computers like the way I am with the earth sciences. Before I transfer out of community college, I will try to fit in a computer science class (they don’t really transfer for credit unfortunately) and my university physics 1 & 2, and see how that goes.</p>
<p>What are you really interested in? Are you interested in programming, and better yet have you ever tried it? </p>
<p>I am a junior physics major who is planning on going to grad school for geophysics. I love the outdoors and learning about the earth but physics is the most fundamental foundation so that’s why I chose to major in it. I’ve been told by my geology professor that physics majors are more sought after for geophysics than geology majors because geology isn’t too difficult to pick up in grad school. I can’t speak much for computer science but at my geophysics REU last summer there were two computer science/math double majors and they seemed to do very well. Geophysics is a very computationally based discipline.</p>