[planetearth]

I'll be applying for Uni this year and I'm still unsure really about what to course to apply for. My passions lie really with focusing on the energy industry. I greatly enjoy reading about fossil fuels alternative energy, have read a lot about Nuclear and Renewable energy and in complete contrast to almost all other subjects, I actually love writing essays about the energy industry and its huge importance in everyday life.

Now logically many people say do an engineering degree and then go into the energy industry. The thing is I am only intersted in specific parts of mechanical and energy engineering. The rest about civil, chemical, aeronautical, electronic engineering etc.... (which is compulsory to study in most Engineering degree courses) is hugely unexciting for me. Although I am rather strong at Physics and Maths, I find the largely mathematical content and rigour of an engineering degree incredibly dull.

I am currently doing Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Geography at A-level and have highly enjoyed studying Geography at AS level especially a whole unit devoted specifically to the subject of energy and its importance which I excelled in particularly.

So rather than doing an engineering degree and going straight for a job, would it also viable to do a Geography degree and later specialise in a relevant Masters degree such as this one: http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgra...ml=details.php in Sustainable Energy Systems?

Because here:http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/research/IES/msc/ it says the requirements for this masters are: "The MSc is designed to accommodate graduates with differing first degree backgrounds, e.g., in science and engineering or with appropriate professional experience. The course is primarily delivered by expert staff from the University of Edinburgh and, where beneficial, from other industrial or educational bodies."

This specifically mentions science and engineering. Would a Geography degree also be an "appropriate/relevant" requirement?

Sorry if this is long, but I would aprreciate any help if you took your time to read through the post. Thanks.

[Tabers]

Have you tried searching UCAS for purely energy degrees?
I did a quick search just by typing in energy and came up with this:
http://coursefinder.ucas.com/CourseFinderWeb/result.htm

You need to look at the course content of geography degrees to check that they are interesting and do have a module on energy I would think. Check the master degrees (which it looks like you have) to check that it is a suitable degree. Maybe contact them to check.

Sorry I cannot be of much help.

[cardine92]

I do Geography at university and although you will probably learn about energy which will be useful if you want to get into policy and stuff like that but if you really want to get into the industry I don't think you could go wrong with a degree in engineering. For a start my uncle works for an oil company and he say these days they pretty much exclusively recruit engineers. A geography degree might get you in but I wouldn't take that risk and if you're good at maths, why waste it? Also, why not do chemistry?

[Procerus]

I would suck it up and grind out the engineering degree and then get onto that masters course undergrad will flash past and you will have a solid degree behind you with the best background to get onto that masters or into industry as you may change your mind.

Also if you want to get into research/journalism publications/think tanks like those with engineering/science backgrounds, I know that the BBC for example is trying to beef up its environment/science reporting staff with more engineers/scientists instead of traditional journalism trained people

[cuckoo99]

Chemistry or Chemical Engineering will get you into the Energy industry

[greenfly125]

Geophysics?

[Michaelking]

If your interested in nuclear physics, you probably won't meet that in geography. Try geophysics or just a physics degree, both can lead to the energy industry and a suitable masters.