Non traditional Candidate

[Mamba558]

Hello!

As of a week ago, I decided to follow my dream and apply to MS Geology programs. I currently work as a number cruncher in a cubicle for a prestigious bank. I dislike it. All my hobbies involve being outdoors...hiking, camping, kayaking, etc...and I am stuck in a windowless ro all day.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a geologist and play in the dirt. My end goal is to become an exploration geo for a mining/petroleum company and travel all over the world.

I've also been stuck in the same upper Midwest town for my entire life, and I need to get out and into the sun. I am targeting only schools in the southwest and hope that I can stay there when I'm not traveling.

I have a strange background: I started as Pre-Med so I have a good science background...calc 1, calc 2, chem 1, chem 2, bio 1, physics 1, tons of stats. I have never taken a college level geo course, unfortunately. I ended up graduating in Economics (I wrote an undergrad thesis) and went on to get a MS in finance. These are both from top 20 schools in business. Undergrad was a 3.2 and Grad was a 3.5.

I am taking the GRE this month. I scored a 90% on the GMAT, with a perfect verbal score. I hear the GRE math is easier, so I hope to be able to beat my previous percentile.

I want to apply to;

UT Austin

U Arizona

Stanford

UCLA

UCSD?

Maybe Colorado School of Mines

Am I delusional here, or do I have a chance at some of these?

I should also add I have tons of hobbies and extracurriculars and helped found a multimillion dollar startup.

What happens if I apply but I haven't taken any geo courses? Do they say OK, we'll teach you along the way? Or do they give me conditional acceptance pending completion of select courses? Or do they let me roll them into my masters program in a sort of bridge semester?

I am ready to be outside!

[GeoDUDE!]

I think the lack of science courses will make you a tough sell, but i'm not really too sure. I went into grad school with no geology classes, but I was a Physics major. I've only met one or two people that weren't science majors, and they ended up in geography. Those are very competitive schools, perhaps it would be wise to also apply to lower ranked programs.

[Usmivka]

Would you consider taking a few night courses at your local community college or university? I suspect a couple geology courses (and maybe more chemistry or physics if you want to work for a petroleum company) would make for a little bit easier sell to programs. I think at least some of the schools you listed have more PhD-centric programs--they mostly aim for PhD students, even if they nominally offer an MS. If you do find a program that will accept you for an MS as a terminal degree, you will probably not be funded, so you'd need to pay tuition, which can be very pricey as an out of state student. While extracurriculars/hobbies are nice, I don't think anyone cares much for grad school, except perhaps as they demonstrate some other quality like leadership or ability to do independent research. Test scores are nice, but the least important aspect of a successfull application. Your personal statement and prior research experience/papers will be much more important. If you have not done laboratory or field research, perhaps you can volunteer with a local lab for a year or two?

 

Answering your questions specifically:

1. "Am I delusional here, or do I have a chance at some of these?"

As GeoDUDE! pointed out, these are top-tier geology schools, so your chances aren't as good as they could be if you can demonstrate research potential.

2. "What happens if I apply but I haven't taken any geo courses? "

You are unlikely to be accepted, but this all depends on the specific program and advisor, so you can target places where this will be less important. Conditional acceptances for graduate school are not something I've heard of. A bridge semester is highly unlikely. A MS is already very short, 1-2 years, and largely filled with coursework and research. There is no time to be playing catch up, and no one wants to pay for the extra time that takes--even if you are paying your tuition, the PI or department still has to sink a lot of money into you to cover research and overhead costs and will be losing money on you.

 

So in summary, I think you can make this happen if it is really important to you, but you need to play the long game. Applying this season is not likely to pan out.

[geographyrocks]

I highly recommend taking a few GEO based courses at a local community college.  I doubt you'll have any problem with the science given what you've taken so far.  Your past statistics will play in your favor.  The biggest problem you have is that most Masters programs will expect you to know the basics of earth processes.  If you want to work in the mining/petroleum field (still a top paying field for Geologists), you'll have to know how natural resources are made, how to obtain them, and (especially) where to look for them.  You're gonna be using GIS programs and Remote Sensing. Classes on GIS are generally mandatory and Remote Sensing is highly useful in your chosen field. 

You also want to look at schools that focus primarily on Masters programs such as the CO School of Mines.  The University of Arizona is big on research so they'll probably want their candidates to be interested more on research and less on industry. 

 

I've been looking at all of the options in the SW/West as well, but my field is hydrology. 

[wwzzxx]

How is your result?

[Geologyisawesome]

You can be a non traditional student in geology, but most universities require a few courses. These probably include: 

Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Sedimentology and Strat, Structural Geology, Petrology, and Mineralogy. Pretty much all grad schools require Field Camp, but some will accept you and let you make it up while you are there or the summer before you start. You could also probably take 1/2 of these mentioned above, but these are all pretty much required for field camp anyway. 

 

Geology programs also typically require 2 semesters of calculus, 2 semesters of calculus based physics, and 2 semesters of chemistry, but if you are a non traditional science major you probably have these anyway. 

 

Mamba 558 I would set my sights a little lower those programs are really hard to get into. You don't really need to go to a top program to get into the mining or petroleum industry, unless you want to work for a really prestigious company. I would recommend going back to undergrad for a couple years (1-2), then applying to some less prestigious schools. 

Also if you are interested in the outdoor aspects of these fields, you could probably get a job now after taking a couple of undergrad classes (and maybe even with the experience you have). I worked as a geologist in a mine for an internship with 0 economic geology experience. You also might be able to get a job as a mud logger in the petroleum industry (most of the training is on the job anyway). There are also a lot of environmental consulting firms (at least in Arizona) that hire geologists straight out of undergrad for entry level positions in field work positions. These careers probably don't pay what you are used to ($35,000-$45,000) but they are entry level. Also the hours probably suck. But there is a lot of outdoor work involved in that is what you are interested. You probably won't get to see the world but you will get to see the USA. 

Edited May 5, 2014 by Geologyisawesome

[GeoDUDE!]

You can be a non traditional student in geology, but most universities require a few courses. These probably include: 

Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Sedimentology and Strat, Structural Geology, Petrology, and Mineralogy. Pretty much all grad schools require Field Camp, but some will accept you and let you make it up while you are there or the summer before you start. You could also probably take 1/2 of these mentioned above, but these are all pretty much required for field camp anyway. 

 

Geology programs also typically require 2 semesters of calculus, 2 semesters of calculus based physics, and 2 semesters of chemistry, but if you are a non traditional science major you probably have these anyway. 

 

Mamba 558 I would set my sights a little lower those programs are really hard to get into. You don't really need to go to a top program to get into the mining or petroleum industry, unless you want to work for a really prestigious company. I would recommend going back to undergrad for a couple years (1-2), then applying to some less prestigious schools. 

Also if you are interested in the outdoor aspects of these fields, you could probably get a job now after taking a couple of undergrad classes (and maybe even with the experience you have). I worked as a geologist in a mine for an internship with 0 economic geology experience. You also might be able to get a job as a mud logger in the petroleum industry (most of the training is on the job anyway). There are also a lot of environmental consulting firms (at least in Arizona) that hire geologists straight out of undergrad for entry level positions in field work positions. These careers probably don't pay what you are used to ($35,000-$45,000) but they are entry level. Also the hours probably suck. But there is a lot of outdoor work involved in that is what you are interested. You probably won't get to see the world but you will get to see the USA. 

 

This advice is pretty good, though I have managed to get a masters in geology without having taken a single geology course, and also be admitted into multiple PhD programs in geology. There are a lot of CS, Chemistry, Physics, Math people who go into the numerical/theoretical side of geology without ever taking a course. That being said, learning geology is still required, just on one's own time.  

[Hanyuye]

This advice is pretty good, though I have managed to get a masters in geology without having taken a single geology course, and also be admitted into multiple PhD programs in geology. There are a lot of CS, Chemistry, Physics, Math people who go into the numerical/theoretical side of geology without ever taking a course. That being said, learning geology is still required, just on one's own time.  

 

Though, I'm on the bad-luck end of a math major wanting to get into Geophysics, I usually browse all the grad students and their bachelor backgrounds and math isn't popular among the admitted students.. Why is that?? Or do grad comms prefer physics majors?

[GeoDUDE!]

Though, I'm on the bad-luck end of a math major wanting to get into Geophysics, I usually browse all the grad students and their bachelor backgrounds and math isn't popular among the admitted students.. Why is that?? Or do grad comms prefer physics majors?

 

Math isn't a popular major, period, but you seem to be going towards a more industry driven degree. My guess is that non traditional canidates are more common among PhD students. 

 

There are less "math majors" that become professors in the geosciences, were as there are plenty of physics majors. That might also be a reason, that because there is a critical mass of physicist that became geophysicists, they tend to take other physicist.