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So I went to graduate school with the intention of getting a degree in Geography and GIS certificate.
Wow, have I been mistaken and thrown a complete loop.
Suburban sprawl and demographics are a major interest.
I always wanted to know why, where areas get developed.
However, I really am miserable in my program due to a couple of things.
The biggest is taking GIS.
This is an absolutely terrible waste of time class. It takes hours weekly to complete labs, which I do hap-hazzardly and mostly guessing.
The requirements are absurd, they demand near perfection, and it is very tough to be remember what you did each week in lab.
I feel like Homer Simpson on a nuclear reactor.
The department does not offer tutoring, just a poorly written text, an instructor you have to seek out/approach, and the saying "well just play with it."
Bad too is how, at least were I go, Geography is quantitative and obsessed on being a wannabe hard science like stats/biology.
They make you feel like if you don't do GIS or stats your just doing pleasure reading.
I find this insulting and wanted to gather if others have had a similar experience.
I wanted to have a career in either
1) Planning
2) Land Conservation
3) Demographics
I was interested in figuring out what is rural/suburban, who lives in say the NY or Hartford market and their spheres of influences, and if Orange County, NY is rural and what can be done...those kinds of issues.
In order for me to have a career will I need to get my MA and will have to do GIS/Stats/quantitative work daily?
I prefer to have stats already calculated and explain/summarize.
I'd like to know so I can cut my losses if needbe.
Thanks.
Stop whining and work hard -- a GIS certificate will get you a J-O-B when you are done. Work stinks -- if it were fun, they wouldn't pay you for it!
Don't tell me to stop whining.
It's not about hard work.
It is a horrible subject which is not taught well.
I would LOVE to have a tutor explain and walk me through.
How I am a whinner and not a hard worker when I DO NOT UNDERSTAND the subject?
Do you sit in front of a computer for 5 hours trying to figure it out?
That's not effective learning...simply spending time endlessly does not work.
You sound like one of the arrogant computer geeks who had it all come natural and has no comprehension of what it is like for us NON technical people to have to learn.
It would be like you learning to ride a bike (or do push ups) with limited instruction.
Oh...and what is the value of a GIS Certificate if YOU just enne menne moe the labs and forget it the next week?
So I went to graduate school with the intention of getting a degree in Geography and GIS certificate.
Wow, have I been mistaken and thrown a complete loop.
Suburban sprawl and demographics are a major interest.
I always wanted to know why, where areas get developed.
However, I really am miserable in my program due to a couple of things.
The biggest is taking GIS.
This is an absolutely terrible waste of time class. It takes hours weekly to complete labs, which I do hap-hazzardly and mostly guessing.
The requirements are absurd, they demand near perfection, and it is very tough to be remember what you did each week in lab.
I feel like Homer Simpson on a nuclear reactor.
The department does not offer tutoring, just a poorly written text, an instructor you have to seek out/approach, and the saying "well just play with it."
Bad too is how, at least were I go, Geography is quantitative and obsessed on being a wannabe hard science like stats/biology.
They make you feel like if you don't do GIS or stats your just doing pleasure reading.
I find this insulting and wanted to gather if others have had a similar experience.
I wanted to have a career in either
1) Planning
2) Land Conservation
3) Demographics
I was interested in figuring out what is rural/suburban, who lives in say the NY or Hartford market and their spheres of influences, and if Orange County, NY is rural and what can be done...those kinds of issues.
In order for me to have a career will I need to get my MA and will have to do GIS/Stats/quantitative work daily?
I prefer to have stats already calculated and explain/summarize.
I'd like to know so I can cut my losses if needbe.
Thanks.
I think someone did you a disservice when you talked to your admissions counselor. Based on what you wrote, it sounds to me, that you want an Urban planning degree, this is more understanding the big picture, with the cultural elements, rather than stringing the dots together! There are a lot of top schools that offer urban planning degrees. (Also, I too, had a culture shock when i took a geology class to get a bio degree. Huge slabs of math!! involved. I couldn't hack it! So, i had to get a liberal arts degree instead.) I understand your need to shoot back at these people and get mad, but in the end, you will be unhappy, if you are stuggling!! And you know, a B gpa, is not very good!! when you start job hunting! against the other people who got A's and completed lots of projects!)
Get out of this program. Apply to another school. And cut your losses!
Go to a better school, where the teachers actually have office hours or Teaching assistants who help you. Although, even at a top 50 school, no one will hold your hand.
What i did was put an ad on craigs list for a tutor for 25 bucks an hour! There are a lot of unemployed attorneys out there, so i had no problem getting a tutor!!
I have a master's in planning, and GIS and statistics were required classes. I didn't like them, either. But having those skills will help you land a planning job whatever your degree is. Even though planner jobs are not all technical, and involve report writing, public outreach, etc., those that have the technical skills will get a job first, especially in this economy. If you really don't like the technical work you may want to consider other degrees, such as public administration or public policy. I realized that too late and while I have the planning degree, I am not working in the field.
I have a master's in planning, and GIS and statistics were required classes. I didn't like them, either. But having those skills will help you land a planning job whatever your degree is. Even though planner jobs are not all technical, and involve report writing, public outreach, etc., those that have the technical skills will get a job first, especially in this economy. If you really don't like the technical work you may want to consider other degrees, such as public administration or public policy. I realized that too late and while I have the planning degree, I am not working in the field.
Totally agree with you, but when i worked i Portland Oregon's zoning department, the planners were "and involve report writing, public outreach, etc., " doing this kind of stuff. Not the statistics, gis sort of stuff....
so do you really think that urban planning is a bad choice versus a GIS degree. One degree you get to take 2 or 3 unlikable courses, where with the GIS degree, you get to take 10 to 30 unlikeable courses, which is where he is now.
And everyone has to take statistics, including sociologists and psychology majors! You just have to grin and bear it!
Totally agree with you, but when i worked i Portland Oregon's zoning department, the planners were "and involve report writing, public outreach, etc., " doing this kind of stuff. Not the statistics, gis sort of stuff....
so do you really think that urban planning is a bad choice versus a GIS degree. One degree you get to take 2 or 3 unlikable courses, where with the GIS degree, you get to take 10 to 30 unlikeable courses, which is where he is now.
And everyone has to take statistics, including sociologists and psychology majors! You just have to grin and bear it!
just a thought!
You're right, you can qualify for a number of different types of jobs with a planning degree and yes, it was only a few courses. I barely passed those courses but stuck with it, and was not a kid when I got the degree (41) so it was an accomplishment. So the OP should go for the planning degree. BTW, I was in Portland at the time, but unfortunately live on the east coast for now.
You're right, you can qualify for a number of different types of jobs with a planning degree and yes, it was only a few courses. I barely passed those courses but stuck with it, and was not a kid when I got the degree (41) so it was an accomplishment. So the OP should go for the planning degree. BTW, I was in Portland at the time, but unfortunately live on the east coast for now.
I did the same thing... move west to east! I have to say that I am making more money out east! if only I had known, i might have made a few different decisions...
I hope that perhaps in the future you get to use your planning degree, if you want!! Perhaps Pres. Obama would hire you to implement some green energy strategies!!
Last edited by gea12345; 04-16-2009 at 09:14 AM..
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