Geography/Earth Sciences Degree

[starfleet]

I'm trying to fish for info for DS. He has decided that he wants to do either a Geography/Earth Sciences/Geosciences degree at uni.

He is in Yr 12 and he has started looking at unis and registering interest for open days.

If you have DC's who are doing/have applied for this type of course what kind of typical offer did they receive and where do they study.

Uni's he is looking at:-
Manchester/Sheffield/Leeds/Newcastle/Durham/Liverpool/York

Any info would be most helpful. Ta.

[Turmerictolly]

I know this is a zombie thread but did your Ds end up doing Earth Sciences @starfleet? Any ideas on what careers it leads too?

[starfleet]

@Turmerictolly he did a Human Geography degree and is just completing his MSc in Global Business Marketing. He has recently started work in Data Analytics and Digital Marketing.

[Turmerictolly]

Thank you @starfleet, so glad to hear he has done so well! Hope he enjoyed the course.

[Wouldloveanother]

Plymouth is an excellent uni for these types of courses. My brother did a similar course there and has landed a really good job.

[Wouldloveanother]

argh zombie 🧟‍♀️

[Piggywaspushed]

Pretty sure Southampton is very good for human geography. They specialise in population studies...whole degree in it.

[Piggywaspushed]

Oh poo.

[Mumofnowgrownkids]

DS studies Earth Sciences at Keele but was quite surprised by how little face to face lecturing there was. There was quite a bit of "go away and read these papers" involved.

[Mumofnowgrownkids]

studied, to studies. This was 15 years ago!

[Fruitygal]

@Turmerictolly my DS1 did geology/geosciences and graduated from degree in 2020 and masters in October 2021 now working as a geologist. DD did geography A level so was considering geography at one point so have looked at that too! Ask away ...

[Turmerictolly]

Thank you all. Ds is not doing Geography for A level but the courses seem to ask for chemistry , maths and another science or Geog or biology so hopefully he'd be able to apply. We weren't sure whether the degree would be 'vocational' enough but from pp experience it doesn't sound like that will be a problem. He's also looking at chemical engineering and physics courses but earth sciences seems more interesting.

[Issummeroveralready]

Swansea, Aberystwyth are good for these subjects, they are based in ideal environments and the offers are not crazy.

[Fruitygal]

@Turmerictolly what are his predicted grades and what A levels?

[Turmerictolly]

He's just starting 6th form @Fruitygal. Did very well at Gcse (10 x 9, 1x8) but he's already had an email about uni open days. Would be looking at a couple of aspirational uni's and some comfortably achievable I hope. He's very outdoorsy so would like the field work element.

[Turmerictolly]

I think he likes that it's a course that's not as competitive as, natural sciences, for example so if he finds his A levels difficult, he could afford to drop further maths as it's not needed.

[Fruitygal]

@Turmerictolly oooo well geology and engineering geology are both interesting courses for him.

Things I’d ask are around are options and breadth of options for study in 2nd and 3rd year. Is there plenty of choice in modules so he can find things he likes to learn about.

Where is field work and is the cost included in the degree tuition fees. DS1 went to Ullapool, France, Cyprus and Sicily ( last one cancelled due to covid) plus lots and lots of day trips and one local trip to cheddar gorge area in first year to bond that was just food on one night. Paid for 1 flight and 2 lots of food costs across first three. So everything else covered. Many make you find money for the whole lot.

End of second year into third there is normally a 6 week field study that gives you data for final year project. Some unis have links and you can do it in South America etc others expect you to organise yourself.

Do they have third year placement links to particular companies for ease of a placement.

Look at unis with good research reputations.

DS1 is a scout leader and enjoys walking around in shorts and walking boots in all seasons. Enjoys climbing, sea kayaking etc - talked about computing as course in gcse years but came into geology as 4th a level and by the January wanted to do the degree in it.

Other A levels - included Chemistry which is very useful

Unis aren’t fussed about geology or geography a level but it does show interest and passion. Chemistry and or physics is very helpful.

1st year is the basics plus catch up physics and chemistry - if you’ve done it at a level you get 2 extra hours of free time per week.

my DS1 loves his job … as he’s gone to a middling uni for Geology he stayed and dud a masters to give him a lift in the jobs market and a specialism he loves geological hazards - 🌋!

Unis that impressed were:

Exeter Penryn - we thought grades too high for DS1 ( however as very remote often in clearing so might have been one to drop grades) - own mine!!?! Less nightlife but beach life big thing - small campus

Cardiff - friendly place and good research - cheap rents - good nightlife

Leicester - 1st place we went as had an early open day - surprisingly good and strong research - friendly

Birmingham - had a museum at uni with a dinosaur 🦕 Can’t remember much else

Royal Holloway - lots of courses - nice campus - research good - yr2 rentals close by weren’t cheap

Portsmouth - Solid mid range - research and equipment investment - friendly - seaside location and nice restaurants and historic dockyard for parent visits plus town location so lots of nightlife

[Fruitygal]

@Turmerictolly Keele forgotten ooops - very much a campus uni - research was strong and pigs 🐖 buried in campus grounds to support practical skills?!!! Just ask them x

[Fruitygal]

@Turmerictolly when we were looking 6 years ago

Exeter and Birmingham in top ten
Cardiff, Keele, Royal Holloway and Leicester top twenty
Portsmouth top of top thirty

Also looked at Derby ?!?? No

obviously imperial Uni, Scotland and Oxbridge are in the top five but DS1 didn’t want to be in London and grades weren’t good enough for Oxbridge

[Turmerictolly]

That is so helpful @Fruitygal - thank you! We live in London so will definitely be looking at Ucl, Rhul and Imperial but would also like him to experience living away. He doesn't want to go too far at the moment (anxious) so I think we'll have to probably rule out Durham and we think a smaller campus would suit him. Exeter Penryn looks interesting. Another main consideration is job prospects afterwards (he wants to earn a lot!).

[Fruitygal]

@Turmerictolly ask a lot of questions! See past the advert and find out real prospects from the uni.

Weirdly DS1 is the only one of my three who doesn’t care about money 😂 but you can earn mega bucks if you want to work abroad and get the necessary breaks early on. DS1 wants to do some travel in the next role but took something for experience which is varied and he loves to earn money while covid was still hampering foreign travel.

DD just about to go to Durham - our last one! And yes a long way! Is this your first one?

[dreamingofsun]

Manchester also good with great field trips - they have invested a lot of money in the uni recently. And Bristol hasnt been mentioned (they wanted to highest grades and were a bit snooty for us). Most jobs wanted a masters when my son started working.