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North American grad Geography programs with suburban campus

I've been looking for good grad programs for Geography, mainly in the U.S. and Canada, that would have a suburban campus. Just outside a city or close to a city large enough to have good job prospects. A smaller "town" would also work but I've yet to find one within driving distance of a metro's economy.

I'm going to be focusing on GIS, visualization, digital cartography but have a research focus on resource exploration so a
good Geology department would be necessary also.

Inevitably most of the universities I see are huge, and most are inside big cities. I could entertain a program in the UK or Europe but I tend to think that's a fantasy for various reasons.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Cheers,

Berserker
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Berserker1
I've been looking for good grad programs for Geography, mainly in the U.S. and Canada, that would have a suburban campus. Just outside a city or close to a city large enough to have good job prospects. A smaller "town" would also work but I've yet to find one within driving distance of a metro's economy.

I'm going to be focusing on GIS, visualization, digital cartography but have a research focus on resource exploration so a
good Geology department would be necessary also.

Inevitably most of the universities I see are huge, and most are inside big cities. I could entertain a program in the UK or Europe but I tend to think that's a fantasy for various reasons.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Cheers,

Berserker


In the US, I think Clark University has a good graduate program in Geography and it is located in Worcester, Massachusetts which is about a one hour drive away from the city of Boston.

Geography department of Clark University: http://www2.clarku.edu/departments/geography/

When you say driving distance is an one or two hours drive ok?

Hope this helps somewhat :smile:
Reply 2
Moonwolf,

Clark is one of those handful of schools that isn't in the middle of a big city. It's pretty close to what I'm looking for in that it's not 'downtown' Worcester and there are jobs in that city. But yeah, driving to Boston or it's suburbs for work wouldn't do. Though I think they have rail service to that area.

I'm sure I could find colleges that have the location I would like, but finding any with a good Geography program is quite hard.

Thank you,

Berserker
Reply 3
Try Berkeley (Bay Area) and UMD-CP (near DC). The cost of living in the Bay Area is admittedly horrifically high.

College towns:

University of Colorado-Boulder
University of Georgia
University of Illinois-Urbana–Champaign
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Small/medium cities:

Arizona State University
Syracuse University
University of California-Santa Barbara

Of course, how "urban" a university feels can be highly dependent on its location. For example, Columbia and NYU in NYC feel much, much more urban than UCLA or USC in Los Angeles. I wouldn't necessarily dismiss universities in large cities, especially great schools in fun cities (e.g. UT Austin and Ohio State).

Berserker1
Just outside a city or close to a city large enough to have good job prospects.

Why is this important? If you're a PhD student, you're likely going to be fully funded either through a fellowship (no strings attached money!) or an RAship or TAship (more work but also more experience). There's no need to work an outside job and usually very little time to do so anyway.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 4
Devil,
It's important to me b/c I'm tired of campuses located in 'too urban' an area. I know I'll be dealing with a huge university for a top program. At least here in the U.S. Boulder is really hard to get into and doesn't sound like the faculty is what I'm looking for. Urbana-Champaign would fit the bill, not sure yet how hard getting into their program would be. Hadn't seen Georgia in anything touting their chops for GIS, visualization or even cartography but NCSU Raleigh is 'good' it's just that they are also right in the middle of a city. Chapel Hill's program is lightweight re: GIS. Madison is vy good but also in the middle of a city, although a nice city.

AZ ST has some pros and cons but I've read that their grads aren't as respected, plus I hate the desert. Syracuse is an urban campus but I also haven't investigated their grad program as of yet. SB is interesting in that their program seems to fit the bill, and I've lived north and south of SB, and like the size of the city, but like the Oregon schools it's really far away.

But I appreciate your feedback. I just read up on some Canadian schools and like the U.S. it's hit or miss. More information is always useful.

Thank you,

Berserker
Original post by Berserker1
Moonwolf,

Clark is one of those handful of schools that isn't in the middle of a big city. It's pretty close to what I'm looking for in that it's not 'downtown' Worcester and there are jobs in that city. But yeah, driving to Boston or it's suburbs for work wouldn't do. Though I think they have rail service to that area.

I'm sure I could find colleges that have the location I would like, but finding any with a good Geography program is quite hard.

Thank you,

Berserker


That's because geography was all but wiped out in the US for some reason. Most private schools don't have geography departments; though if you are focused on GIS, you may find that under geosciences or some similar label.

As far as traditional UK-like geography departments go - the best are at UCLA, Kentucky, Clark, Berkeley and maybe Washington. Kentucky might work for you in terms of the location, the others not so much if you are not keen on how far Clark is from Boston.

Maryland is strong on physical geography and is out in the DC suburbs - so take a look at that. UT Dallas and George Mason are good for GIS, and both suburban.
Reply 6
Appreciate the information madamemerie. I'd have to really think about UCLA since I lived on the westside a long time ago. Big city and attendant attitudes are exactly what I want to get away from. Kentucky has registered but I'll need to look into their research and hiring stats. I like that Louisville is a smaller metro but the campus is in the middle of town. I don't like the Worcester area but Clark has a great rep. Don't think I'd get into Berkeley but if I spent the money to apply (assuming my GRE score ,etc. is good enough) I'd probably choose it hands down due to the school, overall. But I'd check into what professors are doing research wise, again.

Haven't heard Washington mentioned in any of the sources re: graduate geography. The latter two schools are both commuter colleges but UTD is apparently well thought of for gis science/computation. What I need to do is look into relevant info for foreign graduate programs.

Thank you very much.
Original post by Berserker1
Appreciate the information madamemerie. I'd have to really think about UCLA since I lived on the westside a long time ago. Big city and attendant attitudes are exactly what I want to get away from. Kentucky has registered but I'll need to look into their research and hiring stats. I like that Louisville is a smaller metro but the campus is in the middle of town. I don't like the Worcester area but Clark has a great rep. Don't think I'd get into Berkeley but if I spent the money to apply (assuming my GRE score ,etc. is good enough) I'd probably choose it hands down due to the school, overall. But I'd check into what professors are doing research wise, again.

Haven't heard Washington mentioned in any of the sources re: graduate geography. The latter two schools are both commuter colleges but UTD is apparently well thought of for gis science/computation. What I need to do is look into relevant info for foreign graduate programs.

Thank you very much.

No problem. Washington I only know as a human/cultural geography department, so it may be that it's no good for you anyway.

As far as whole-school rankings and reputation go this is something to keep in mind: because geography is such an unusual field, with almost no private schools offering it, the reputation of individual departments matters WAY more than overall school name. I wouldn't choose a Berkeley just because it's a Berkeley. Look in more detail at department stats for the jobs you want.

Also, if you are willing to compromise on location - live in the suburbs, go into the city a couple times a week for school- then a lot more options open up. BU might be an interesting option, and it's easy enough to live out in Newton or Waltham and commute in to school.

Also wanted to add - I'm not a geographer; I work in an interdisciplinary field and use geographical theory in my research, so I read in the field and have a somewhat good sense of strengths in my areas (political, cultural and urban geography) but I'm by no means an expert, and it would probably help you to either email one or two profs whose careers and/or work you admire and who are in your very specific sub-field or to talk to one of your own previous professors. They will, hopefully, be able to give you a better sense of sub-field reputations and how to evaluate job prospects for different programs etc.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by madamemerle
No problem. Washington I only know as a human/cultural geography department, so it may be that it's no good for you anyway.

As far as whole-school rankings and reputation go this is something to keep in mind: because geography is such an unusual field, with almost no private schools offering it, the reputation of individual departments matters WAY more than overall school name. I wouldn't choose a Berkeley just because it's a Berkeley. Look in more detail at department stats for the jobs you want.


Berkeley does have a really solid Geography program from what I heard.
Original post by Berserker1
Appreciate the information madamemerie. I'd have to really think about UCLA since I lived on the westside a long time ago. Big city and attendant attitudes are exactly what I want to get away from. Kentucky has registered but I'll need to look into their research and hiring stats. I like that Louisville is a smaller metro but the campus is in the middle of town. I don't like the Worcester area but Clark has a great rep. Don't think I'd get into Berkeley but if I spent the money to apply (assuming my GRE score ,etc. is good enough) I'd probably choose it hands down due to the school, overall. But I'd check into what professors are doing research wise, again.

Haven't heard Washington mentioned in any of the sources re: graduate geography. The latter two schools are both commuter colleges but UTD is apparently well thought of for gis science/computation. What I need to do is look into relevant info for foreign graduate programs.

Thank you very much.


Have you looked at UBC? I heard they have a World Class Geography program.
Original post by wolfmoon88
Have you looked at UBC? I heard they have a World Class Geography program.


Seconded, UBC have a really outstanding program.
Reply 11
Well thanks for the interest. Boston is just unimaginable to me but UBC would be unreal if I could afford to live there. Isolated on the peninsula surrounded by parks and Whistler just up the road - OMG. Maybe an assistantship wouldn't count as 'working' in Canada if no wages, I dunno.

Again, I should look into foreign schools so as to not limit myself. Also allows me to gauge vs. domestic programs. Plus Canadian economy is heavily focused on natural resource extraction so some departments might be feeders.


Thanks again,

Berserker

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