keylimekai

Yay geography! You might repost this question in the Geography forum here: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/37-geography/ I am in a similar position as you, although looking at nature-society geography. From what I understand, you should have absolutely no problem getting into a geography program w/o geography undergrad. I am an Environmental Studies major and have only taken 2 geography courses, but framing my SOP/research interests in geography terms explains how/why geography is relevant to me and what I can add to the department. When you're looking at any of these programs, just take a glance at how many of the Ph.D. students were undergrad Geography majors. Very few. Masters programs in geography are weird, and if you're considering a Ph.D. or sticking in academia, it might be beneficial to just go that route. Most of the programs I'm looking are just straight up Ph.D. programs or combined 5-6 year M.A./Ph.D. programs. The terminal M.A. seems to be less useful and less likely that you'll get funding, especially in this economy... I also have a question for you - can you link me to the AAG guide thing? It sounds like I could really use one of these...

The question only allows responses in the "first class honours, second class, etc." format....

So if I have a 3.75 undergrad GPA, should I write that I'm first class?

a more specific question - what's the deal with qualifications? what do these things mean, and how do I compare? First Class Honours Pass Second Class, Division One Second Class, Division Two Third Class Unclassified

tip top, I want to hear more about this...thinking about applying to oxford

hmm, I have to do these too, for Minnesota and the UC system. I'm planning on talking about geography (growing up in rural South Dakota), working through high school and college so I could afford it, and how these things helped develop my work ethic and sense of creativity. Still, my essay feels sort of lame...

This is extremely helpful. Thanks a lot to 92nats and JNGD25. If it is indeed true that I can get funding for an MA geography program (or a feeder program) then I am much less hesitant to go that route. If there are indeed problems at the U of MN, Arizona, or a number of these other schools, I can always complete my PhD elsewhere. I am not shooting for CUNY under any circumstances...Although the faculty and program look amazing, I'm a small town kid, and New York scares me.

JNGD25, do you have any recommendations of faculty I should contact based on my interests outlined above?

The worst is not getting a response...I'm stuck right now

Thanks, yeah I've heard similar things about Clark but I definitely need to take a harder look at Rutgers...they sound pretty solid.

Thanks for the recommendations. The programs I listed are based entirely on faculty whose work I love/who I have connections to through undergrad advisers (faculty in question are Jake Kosek at Berkeley, Bruce Braun at Mn, Bill Cronon at Wis, Paul Robbins at Arizona). Also forgot to mention I'm looking at Oxford w/Sarah Whatmore. I'm hoping to put off the money questions until after I apply...but we'll see. As far as region of interest, I have an American studies focus in undergrad, and would like to keep that up. With the environmental studies background, I tend to veer more towards the critical theory/poststructuralist end of geography (sometimes political ecology...). Maybe this narrows things down as far as programs go. I'll do some research on this list.

Awesome, this is helpful. I hadn't heard that there is funding for MA programs...I know that some of the ones I listed (Arizona, Minnesota) have the MA - PhD feeder thing, so it's good to hear I won't be left on a limb like most MAs I've heard about. I know that Berkeley no longer has an MA program though, and *sometimes* admits students w/o MAs, so I'm hoping I have some luck there.

The GRE site says that "Official Verbal, Quantitative and Analytical Writing scores will be sent to you and the score recipients you designated within 10 to 15 days after you take the test." Most programs I've been looking at say to allow for 6-8 weeks for scores to come in. Personally, I'm shooting for mid-October. Really, though, it comes down to how much you think you can realistically get your scores up. Maybe others can chime in on that...

Hi all, first post here...cool forum y'all have. I am an Environmental Studies major coming out of undergrad at Macalester College in St. Paul (high GPA, great LORs). I'm currently looking into PhD programs in Geography, and am looking for some advice... 1. Do you know of any programs that have great reputations for nature-society geography? Already looking into Minnesota, Madison, Berkeley, Arizona... 2. Is there any reason I should be hesitant to apply to grad school straight out of undergrad? Are these schools comparable to my stats? Am I ok w/o an MA? Obviously, this involves a lot more than these numbers (looking for good adviser matches, POS, etc.), but I just want some reassurance that I'm not aiming too high. More info: GPA 3.75, 3.9 in the last two years of undergrad Research/writing - two summer research positions (one for professor, one independent), pursuing honors project GRE testing V:~700, Q:~650-700 Thanks!