How do you find the quality of the Geography BA (L700)

what university do you study the course at? do you find the subjects interesting?, difficult? and what is the workload like?

Reply 1

psythelia

I study Geography at Cambridge. I generally find that Human Geography is actually quite doable - not many essays or supervisions, it's mostly reading-based. The human modules can be quite interesting, but a lot of it in 1st year is a bit repetitive and focused on theory (you would hear about the Anthropocene every lecture). Physical Geography is slightly inaccessible here because they pretend you've all done Maths and Sciences at A-level but it's not impossible, you'd just have to do extra work on top of the required work. However, I still find the physical geo topics here more interesting because they're not as repetitive with the content and there is more breadth, studying things previously not studied in school like Quaternary science and Radiometric dating methods like Tephrochronology and Dendrochronology.

One caution here is that their teaching of skills like coding and data handling is quite bad. The coursework and anything related are in shambles.

Reply 2

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Hello,

For background information, I am a 4th-year student at Lancaster University, I studied Geography for my undergraduate degree and now I am doing a separate Masters in Political Ecology.

In my first year, I studied one module of Human Geography (research skills and an overview of different topics within human geography to give you a feel for things), one module in Physical Geography (same structure as human) and a minor in Ecology. Basically, Lancaster has a minor system which allows you to study a different module of a completely different discipline, e.g., a foreign language, economics or marketing (there are many different options for you to choose from). I really like the concept of the minor system as it makes your study a bit different, and at the end of your first year, you can always change onto a dual-honours degree or switch degrees to your minor if you want to. The first year also doesn't count to your final degree so you have the ability to try and figure out what you are interested in and make mistakes along the way.

In the second and third years, the range of modules you can choose diversifies and you get more opportunities for fieldwork abroad. If you prefer, you can take modules associated with your first-year minor, like I did. I really enjoyed the range of topics at Lancaster (from Coral Reef Ecology, People and the Sea, Development Geographies, to, Geological Hazards, Children's Geographies and Africa). I personally liked how many modules involved interdisciplinary aspects or could be quite niche. You essentially pick and choose whichever ones you prefer. The modules I chose in my second and third years were quite varied, I avoided physical geography and opted for ecology modules as they had less maths in them; you have the opportunity to make your perfect degree.

In terms of difficulty, it definitely ranged. Personally, I found modules like Development quite difficult, but so so interesting. When I struggled with certain modules, my lecturers were always there for me and eager to answer any questions I had. The workload also varies; it is definitely higher towards the end of terms with essays being due, but it was mostly manageable - if not LEC as a department were amazing at granting extensions.

Hope this helps,
Tyler (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)

Reply 3

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by Jack_Sul

what university do you study the course at? do you find the subjects interesting?, difficult? and what is the workload like?

Hi @Jack_Sul,
I'm currently in my 3rd year studying Physical Geography at Lancaster.
The modules i've enjoyed the most throughout my degree have been water related modules like rivers, glaciers, coasts and also GIS modules and these are the types of areas I hope to get a career in after university. However, i've also enjoyed the breath of subjects i've been able to study like atmospheric science (probably the hardest module), natural hazards, energy systems as they leave you with a really broad knowledge of physical geography.
I'm currently working on my dissertation which is on coastal erosion along the Holderness Coast using LiDAR data, so i've really enjoyed it as its allowed me to combine knowledge from all of the modules I have enjoyed. The workload through my degree has certainly been manageable with time for social activities and societies to get involved in, though I would say the workload does progressively ramp up towards the end of the degree and there tends to be a higher workload at the the end of terms, but there has been lots of support from my department around this.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!
-Jasmine (Lancaster student ambassador)