I’ve been looking around but I can only seem to find graduate listings. What schools are the best for undergrad?
What are your stats?
Top 20 in class, 4.3 gpa. I’m looking for upper and middle schools.
Cost constraints?
Small schools with big geology departments include the “mines” or “mining” schools in SD, NM, and CO.
For just about all careers in the sciences, it’s the graduate degree that’s going to matter.
I would just go for a big state school. That should be more than good enough. The important thing to do is get your studies under control for at least the first year or two and then go talk to some professors conducting research that interests you (and that is relevant to what you think you want to pursue at the graduate level).
Like GMT plus7 stated, do not pursue this degree unless you intend to go on to the graduate level. The graduate degree is the professional degree for geology.
In terms of job placement after grad school, going to the big state schools (UT, Texas A&M, LSU, etc) is your best bet in oil and gas. Mining is a different story. Some western schools focusing on hard rocks would be better in that case (University of Arizona or University of Wisconsin). Environmental on the other hand probably as a much more diverse list. I don’t know where you think you want to end up. You really shouldn’t know at this point because your interests will change as you continue further through school, like most students. Also, at some point I would consider looking at doing your undergrad thesis to really set you apart. The field can get pretty cut throat when applying to graduate programs (next paragraph).
I can tell right now that geology enrollment at the moment has drop in a big way over the last year due to the oil and gas market. If you are in this for the money you may want to go a different route. My experience is that students pursuing this degree for the money tend to do much worse in general than the students who have a true passion for the subject. Geology can be extremely qualitative to quantitative depending on the route you choose to take.
There are a lot of BS geologists employed in site assessment and remediation (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Life-Physical-and-Social-Science/Geoscientists.htm, http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=geologist&l=). Per the BLS: “The need for energy, environmental protection, and responsible land and resource management is projected to spur demand for geoscientists in the future.” At http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor_of_Science_%28BS_%2f_BSc%29%2c_Geology/Salary are some interesting details, including “Popular Schools”.
Hamilton, Colgate and Colorado College are examples of good programs.