What are good schools in GIS?

[ScarlettJ]

I'm currently a bachelor student in Sweden, and my major is GIS. I'm thinking about applying for a geography MA in the US next year. But geography field is so diverse and I don't know really which schools fit my interests.

I am definitely extremely interested in GIS, spatial analysis, cartography, economic geography, and I have no interest at all in areas like hydrology, climate. Basically I am more interested in the "engineering" aspect of geography. My current GPA is around 3.7 (from a not that famous university though). I have not taken GRE yet, will do that this autumn.

Is there anyone that can tell me which schools out there might fit my interest? I definitely want a relatively good one. Is there anything else except UCSB, Penn State, U of Maine, and U of Baffalo?

Thanks so much!

[geodrake]

Granted, I did my undergrad there in 2005, but since then SDSU's added even more GIS faculty, if that helps any. That, and sunny San Diego doesn't hurt any . There are also Masters of Applied Geography programs, if you want more of a GIS focus without all the theory (bah) stuff that goes along with it. So that's another option as well... (supposedly (who knows) they're supposed to equate to something like a BFA, but in Geography instead of Art, and more like an MS than an MA. Why it's not an MS is beyond me *shrug*)

I'm currently a bachelor student in Sweden, and my major is GIS. I'm thinking about applying for a geography MA in the US next year. But geography field is so diverse and I don't know really which schools fit my interests.

I am definitely extremely interested in GIS, spatial analysis, cartography, economic geography, and I have no interest at all in areas like hydrology, climate. Basically I am more interested in the "engineering" aspect of geography. My current GPA is around 3.7 (from a not that famous university though). I have not taken GRE yet, will do that this autumn.

Is there anyone that can tell me which schools out there might fit my interest? I definitely want a relatively good one. Is there anything else except UCSB, Penn State, U of Maine, and U of Baffalo?

Thanks so much!

[xonglennao]

Texas State has one of the best programs for GIS. Both the Journal of Geography, and Association of American Geographers rank Texas State among the best in the country.

[GIS_GURU]

Though this is an old thread, but I hope my input might help others who are reading this forum.

If you're considering going to schools for GIS, here's a list of schools you may want to consider:

- University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. They tend to focus on urban planning and growth in addition to GIS modeling.

- University of California, Santa Barbra - The very famous Dr Michael Goodchild is there. He is the author of many GIS books (many of which are used as texts for GIS courses).

- University of California, Berkley - They are pretty good in Remote Sensing.

- University of Connecticut

- University of Buffalo -SUNY - Wonderful faculty there I must say.

- The Ohio State University - Plenty of GIS Professors to work alongside. Dr Mei-Po Kwan (former President of the American Association of Geographers) is a tenured faculty there.

- University of South Carolina - If you are interested in Social Vulnerability, this is the place to go. Dr Susan Cutter is there!

- University of Redlands - They only have a Masters program. But they have a top notch department. They are the ones who maintain "Ecosystem Management Decision Support".

- Texas A&M University

- Penn State University

I'm sure there are many other schools that I have not included in the above list. If you have other information on schools with GIS programs, please response to this thread.

Hope this helps.

[HMC]

I realize this post is quite old, so I will give some advice to people in your position.

Given your high GPA, (and if you can manage decent GRE scores), I would look into the possibility of doing your master's degree at a ranked PhD program. That way, if you decide to move forward with your education, you will spare yourself the stress of developing new contacts. For example, I did my M.A. at an institution where a PhD was not offered, mostly because, like you, I was planning on walking out with a graduate degree in geography/GIS so that I could work in the GIS field. Two years later, I had decided to pursue a PhD, and I found myself writing to professors with whom I had never shared a conversation, essentially trying to squeeze my life story into a couple paragraphs while simultaneously begging them to be on my prospective committee. Luckily, I was able to find acceptance and a fellowship/TA spot, but I was also rejected from many places despite my very high grades and GRE scores. I'm not saying pick a school and go for 6-7 years - but it would be nice to be very familiar with faculty because it will give you an edge. Many ignorant people on here write that they have a "safety" school in mind for a PhD program - but unless you know for certain that YOU are in demand, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if a school is ranked 15th or 50th - you're not safe just because you've got good grades and high scores; you're competing with a hundred other people for like 5 spots.

I would agree with you that UCSB is also a very strong school, and Penn State might be right for you. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Clark University are also strong programs for someone interested in cartography and advanced GIS analysis. If you are interested in the engineering/economics side of it, I also suggest University of Illinois.

[sadareen]

Hello Members.

I found this post while searching for the 'best GIS programs in US'. I have been searching all over the internet for quite some time about a Master's program in GIS.

I don't have any specialization preference in GIS as of now. I wanted to find such a GIS program which basically covers all areas of specialization in general so that later on i can figure out which specialization i should go into. Needless to say the school be highly ranked with the best faculty, resources, labs, internship opportunities connections etc. Funding too.

Decaf i went through your posts which are quite informative. Do you know of any programs in GIS which has an integrated Masters + Ph.D.?

-james

[sadareen]

sorry, i thought 'decaf' is a member's name i meant HMC.

[homie]

I realize this post is quite old, so I will give some advice to people in your position.

Given your high GPA, (and if you can manage decent GRE scores), I would look into the possibility of doing your master's degree at a ranked PhD program. That way, if you decide to move forward with your education, you will spare yourself the stress of developing new contacts. For example, I did my M.A. at an institution where a PhD was not offered, mostly because, like you, I was planning on walking out with a graduate degree in geography/GIS so that I could work in the GIS field. Two years later, I had decided to pursue a PhD, and I found myself writing to professors with whom I had never shared a conversation, essentially trying to squeeze my life story into a couple paragraphs while simultaneously begging them to be on my prospective committee. Luckily, I was able to find acceptance and a fellowship/TA spot, but I was also rejected from many places despite my very high grades and GRE scores. I'm not saying pick a school and go for 6-7 years - but it would be nice to be very familiar with faculty because it will give you an edge. Many ignorant people on here write that they have a "safety" school in mind for a PhD program - but unless you know for certain that YOU are in demand, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if a school is ranked 15th or 50th - you're not safe just because you've got good grades and high scores; you're competing with a hundred other people for like 5 spots.

I would agree with you that UCSB is also a very strong school, and Penn State might be right for you. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Clark University are also strong programs for someone interested in cartography and advanced GIS analysis. If you are interested in the engineering/economics side of it, I also suggest University of Illinois.

Thanks for your advice! It provides more insights on choosing a master program. 

[shariful]

A better view of the recent geography school ranking can be found at http://www.justinholman.com/2015/01/13/2015-rankings-top-graduate-geography-programs-for-spatial-careers/HERE

 

[shariful]

On 10/13/2016 at 11:45 PM, shariful said:

A better view of the recent geography school ranking can be found at http://www.justinholman.com/2015/01/13/2015-rankings-top-graduate-geography-programs-for-spatial-careers/HERE

 

 

Can not edit the previous post of mine..

 

Best Overall Programs

Tier 1

• UC Santa Barbara – http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/
• Ohio State – http://geography.osu.edu/
• Penn State – http://www.geog.psu.edu/
• Wisconsin – http://www.geography.wisc.edu/

Tier 2

• Arizona State – https://geoplan.asu.edu/
• Clark – http://www.clarku.edu/departments/geography/
• Colorado – http://geography.colorado.edu/
• Oregon – http://geography.uoregon.edu/

Tier 3

• Arizona – http://geography.arizona.edu/
• Buffalo – http://www.buffalo.edu/cas/geography.html
• Illinois – http://www.geog.illinois.edu/
• Kentucky – https://geography.as.uky.edu/

Tier 4

• Michigan State – http://geo.msu.edu/
• Minnesota – http://www.geog.umn.edu/
• North Carolina – http://geography.unc.edu/
• South Carolina – http://artsandsciences.sc.edu/geog/

—

Human Geography

• Berkeley
• UCLA
• Syracuse
• Washington

Physical Geography

• Boston
• Maryland
• Oregon State

GIScience/Computation

• University of Texas at Dallas
• San Diego State
• George Mason
• Maine (Orono)
• Iowa

Cartography/Visualization

• Wisconsin
• Oregon
• Penn State
• Kansas
• Oregon State

Remote Sensing

• Boston
• Maryland
• Georgia

Spatial Analysis/Statistics

• University of Texas at Dallas
• Arizona State
• Buffalo
• Ohio State

Medical/Health

• Buffalo
• Illinois
• Iowa
• North Carolina

On-Line/Hybrid (Master’s only)

• USC Spatial Sciences Institute
• Penn State World Campus

Edited October 17, 2016 by shariful