tommy421

You might consider Indiana University. Although it is not directly through the geography program, you can get a P.hD. minor from the Russian and East European Institute and it looks like there are several geography faculty members with strong ties to the center. I am also in the same boat as you and have had only one undergraduate course in geography. From what I have read on many department websites and heard from other people, it is not necessary to have a geography major and a lot of the students listed on the website do not have geography backgrounds. In fact, if you look at a lot of professor bios, many of them do not have geography degrees. This speaks to the fact that it is a very broad discipline that requires people and skills from many areas. What I have noticed is that it seems to help tremendously if you have a background in the social sciences (anthropology, sociology, etc. seem to be the most common), as there is a lot of overlap and the skills you already have will translate well. From what I have heard from professors and admissions officers I have talked to is that they are interested in bringing in a variety of people who are truly interested in geography and are willing to work hard and learn, so a good and focused statement and relevant research possibilities can go a long way (my professors have all told me to be very precise about what I want to study and why I want to be a geographer and not a sociologist, historian, etc.). They are also interested in bringing in people that will help the department grow, not just a bunch of GIS majors and people that can quote David Harvey all day long. They also tend to give more weight to the quantitative section of the GRE, even if you do not plan to focus on mathematical applications. They also are looking to see that you have some knowledge of statistics, although most will allow you to take this when you arrive, but it certainly helps out to be set with it when you are coming in. This is most of what I know about it, if you have any suggestions, please share them because I to want to make sure I am doing everything right.

Hi, I am just wondering what my chances are to get into a few programs. My undergrad GPA was 3.62 (3.83 junior/senior) from a well-regarded liberal arts school and My GRE's were 640 q, 620 v and 4.0 a (yeah, that one is bad). The programs that I would specifically like to know about are Clark and Washington. I am looking to study the United States and its role in shaping global cultural and economic trends. Specifically, I am interested in using semiotics (Richard Peet at Clark!) to examine perceived notions of what it means to be American. I am also applying to Rutgers, Penn State, Arizona, Kentucky, Minnesota and Syracuse. I would also like to know which of those would be best for this sort of thing and if there are any other schools you would recommend. Thanks.