MeanderingPhD

Unless you're a programmer, GIS/cartography are really just just tools... You really need to be able to apply these tools to a real world problem.

During a visit to one school, two professors asked to speak to me to tell me not to work with Dr. X. At another university, multiple students told me not to work with Dr. Y. If the research adviser was really bad something like what I had mentioned would have happened.

Why even bother getting a PhD to teach at a community college?

Look in your graduate handbook. You will not get credit for the course. Some professors still make you participate.

I highly doubt you will have to pay out of pocket for a masters in an environmental-related field. I have friends in various departments at a number of schools in this field and they all got a RA or a TA. When I applied for my masters program every school I applied to offered me funding so I am not sure why there is this notion that funding is so unheard of... Get the masters first and then decide if you want a Ph.D. A few months before you submit you application start emailing professors you might like to work with. This way you get to pseudo know the professor, find out if there is funding, and if that professor really wants you they can make deals to ensure that you get funding.

I think it might be helpful if you say the general field you're interested in. I have a masters in a physical science and I was fully funded.

A 3.3 GPA isn't that bad. I had similar and got in to a top 10 program for my master's and am now in a PhD program. As long as your recommendations are good and the other components of your application are good, I wouldn't worry about the GPA.

I'm not sure if you're in a hydrology/hydrogeology program but they're fairly structured so you have a competent background to call yourself a hydrologist/hydrogeologist. Soils classes are not 'wasted' credits. Look at the NRCS- they're mostly older guys that are retiring soon and they need to fill those jobs with people who have a few courses of soils. The more advanced maths with help you understand the derivation of equations. If they scare you, you can always take them pass/fail. I had to take Physics II, Calc II, Calc III and differential equations for my masters deficiencies and still got out in two years. Stats would be beneficial too. I'm in a PhD program now.

I have a MS in hydrology. I would recommend taking at least one soils class. I took a soil physics course, if you can add/subtract/divide and know how to use a calculator then you should be fine. I had Calc I and II when I took my soil physics class. My master's program required Calc I, II, III and differential equations. It might not be a bad idea for you to take Clac III or differential equations since it is a top 10 school for hydrology and they're standard classes for hydrology programs... Take the classes that you want but keep in mind there will be classes you're not excite to take that will help you to be an informed hydrologist.