Geology a good decision in this economy?? (skills, degrees, schools)
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What are geo/physical science careers looking like these days? I understand more and more places are "going green" and the climate is becoming more active. Does this make this a booming field now? How is pay? Is the research tedious/boring?
Are people scrambling to find geologists and other earth science majors? I really like what I've learned about earth sciences in school so far. I was hoping I'd be a be able to find something besides stuck on an oil rig.. how about research?
What are some good schools (that I could actually stand a chance of getting into) for earth science? What are the top fields now? (ex. marine & oceanography, meteorology, geology, environmental..)
Also I have never considered this until reading a thread on here, but are any schools worth traveling to outside of the US for earth science?
If you like volcanoes, the University of Auckland in New Zealand is supposed to be really good- I have several friends who have studied there and really enjoyed it.
I was a geology minor and pursued theater professionally, but many of my friends from the program are still working in geo. Most of them went on to grad school (5 of them have ended up at Brown for planetary geo- they all worked at NASA over the summer during undergrad) and they are all very satisfied with their field of study. One of them wants to continue in academia and the rest are planning on going back to NASA or something equivalent.
If you want to stay outside of oil, it's not a great paying field (though not too bad either) but my friends really enjoy their jobs and do make enough for a modest life.
To have a good shot at getting decent money, you'll probably have to go to grad school. If you're serious about geo, you'll figure out what you're interested in and go to the school that specializes in that. A friend is obsessed with marl and the Lake Bonneville sedimentary deposits, so she applied to the University of Kansas because the professor there literally wrote the book on her interests. On the bright side, because geo is a hard science, you'll have a much easier chance of getting fully funded so you don't have to go into debt to keep studying. One of my friends took two years off and worked as a lab tech while he figured out what he wanted to do and then went back to school- he spent two years getting paid to go camping.
So, my conclusion is that while the money isn't the greatest, it is generally enough to live comfortably and there is a high incidence of job satisfaction. This is based on my friends and other geologists I've met at conferences and lecture series.
My advice is to stay the heck away from science degrees. You can expect 4 to 6 years, if you get an MS, of some of the most difficult academic training and long hours in the lab and when you graduate companies will pay you $15 to $20 with no benefits. I doubt geology is that much better than biology or chemistry. I'd say a science degree is worthless, but given the tuition money and lost income while you are a student, It would be more accurate to say it is far less than worthless.
My advice is to stay the heck away from science degrees. You can expect 4 to 6 years, if you get an MS, of some of the most difficult academic training and long hours in the lab and when you graduate companies will pay you $15 to $20 with no benefits. I doubt geology is that much better than biology or chemistry. I'd say a science degree is worthless, but given the tuition money and lost income while you are a student, It would be more accurate to say it is far less than worthless.
That is your experience but it is not typical. Most scientists I know make in the $100,000 range, give or take depending one experience.
Geology is a great field and if you are good you can pretty much write your own ticket. A neighbor of my sister's son went into Geology and is now in year 2 or 3 working for a company where he works for 3 weeks and is off for 3 weeks. During his off weeks they pay for a plane ticket to and from anywhere he wants to go. He has been all over the world. He started at close to $100,000/year. Not a bad deal for a 24 year old kid right out of college.
My advice is to stay the heck away from science degrees. You can expect 4 to 6 years, if you get an MS, of some of the most difficult academic training and long hours in the lab and when you graduate companies will pay you $15 to $20 with no benefits. I doubt geology is that much better than biology or chemistry. I'd say a science degree is worthless, but given the tuition money and lost income while you are a student, It would be more accurate to say it is far less than worthless.
This is not typical for the geologists I know AT ALL. Then again, I went to a top school with a good geology program. None of my classmates had any problems getting jobs or getting paid to go to the best schools and they won't be making $15 when they graduate. One of my friends was complaining about her low salary of $50K with full benefits. Heck, I went back to visit friends and professors and one of my profs said if I wanted to go back into geo, he'd make some calls and get me into a great program with full funding.
Now, if you're a mediocre student at a mediocre school, you're not going to make much money, but that's true of any major. If you're good at what you do and go to a good school, you'll be in much better shape.
All I can speak to is the O&G side of the degree. For most oil and gas companies, the working level for geoscientists (at least just out of school) is a masters. Also, most of them never even see a rig anymore. It's in the office. However, many of the larger oil companies only recruit from a handful of universities. The money is however, excellent.
I'm afriad Lou speaks the truth about science. The same thing happened to me and many of the people I know. A science degree works out fairly well for some. However, it seems for a large portion like me, you need a career change for any reasonable standard of living. I'm currently working on a functional resume to attempt to argue transferable skills to try and get a nonscience job.
All I can speak to is the O&G side of the degree. For most oil and gas companies, the working level for geoscientists (at least just out of school) is a masters. Also, most of them never even see a rig anymore. It's in the office. However, many of the larger oil companies only recruit from a handful of universities. The money is however, excellent.
this is true from what I've read. You have to decide if you are going into "rocks" or "oil and gas." The later I've read has very high starting salaries right now, petroleum engineers being the highest at over $100,000 and they are hiring.
this is true from what I've read. You have to decide if you are going into "rocks" or "oil and gas." The later I've read has very high starting salaries right now, petroleum engineers being the highest at over $100,000 and they are hiring.
Very true, with entry level geologists and geophysicists very close behind.
omg im geological engineering student in turkey,that science is really incredible bad,nothing interest to me,omg sorry but one ****ing stone,if i finish this uni,what will i able to give for the humanity,nothing,just search the silly stones,and create comments about it,and it is million times harder than other sciences and engineerings,and people,they never respect to that jobs,if i say someone 'im geology student' he or she saying me 'hmm ok well' but when my friend says 'im civil engineer' they are acting like my friend is god,wuaaaaw ohhhh incredible bla bla bla,money is such bad in this job,if you wanna get so much money you have to be best of best about it,also everybody will go to their job with good clothes bla bla bla,and geologist will go to jobs with bad dirty structure clothes because your life will finish inside of silly stones and sand stones,come onnn people however we will go under of sand stones after of DEAD,WHY WE ARE LOOSING OUR TIME INSIDE OF THIS SILLY THING 'GEOLOGY',also what is geologist doing` nothing,do something come on,tell me onetime earthquake time for future,is it possible?,nooo soo why goverments give money for that job,i couldn't understand during 3 years,can you imagine?,now im third class geology student inside of one silly somewhere,and my exams points average zeroooo,why? Because i dont love this job,just my family wants it,if i stopping this silly education,what can i do? Nothing, Both is nothing,my family will understand that in nearly time...
Whatever listen to me and never select this job,
because absolutely one empty DISGUSTING JOB...
Last edited by khanturk; 11-28-2012 at 02:58 PM..
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