GeoDUDE!

Thank you for the interview opportunity, but I will decline your offer.

It depends on what you want to do. I think taking the programming is a good idea. How are you going to analyze all that data without python/matlab scripts ? Taking at least 1 formal programming class will give you much stronger footing for the maybe more complex scripts you might have to write in the future. Though, if you want to go into industry, unless you are a very good programmer, I'm not sure how much "a little programming" will do for you in terms of job prospects. S&T students at my uni tend to be very technical. So all of them have taken linear/differential equations, and upper division statistics. However, these are all PhD students (we have few S&T master students). That being said, I think just taking Linear is a bit of a mistake. Linear is a core mathematics course that gives you the tools to do much more advanced mathematics: such as Analysis and Differential Equations (and Partial). I'm a bit surprised that Linear is not prereq for that Diff EQ course. Sometimes linear is even a pre req for Calc 3. But with out taking those other courses, I feel it will be too abstract for you to really help you in your career, or even research. Unless you plan on going onto a PhD, I think taking the math courses is a non-starter. This is of course unless you major advisor tells you to take these courses. Something else you might ask is maybe that grad level stat course teaches R or Matlab. For example, at my MS program, our earth science stats class was done entirely in matlab, so people who took that course became decent matlab users. If your goal is going into industry, I think Intro to Remote Sensing makes the most sense. You will learn about all the measurements Earth Scientists take, from seismology to spectroscopy: Remote Sensing is O&G's bread and butter. The fossil fuel class seems good too. that's just my 2 cents.

The GPA cutoff is a real thing, depending on schools. Most schools require the department to petition the graduate school to admit someone with a lower than their cutoff GPA. That is extra paperwork and it doesn't always work. The larger problem is that professors might not even see your application, depending on the # of applicants, as they might sort by GPA. I got a MS in geology, from a very small relatively unknown program. I had LOR from a research internship i did at a top 5 program in my field, and 2 other LOR from professors I did research with. I had been doing research since the 2nd semester of my freshman year. One thing that might have been a problem was that I did them in physics, however physics majors going into my field is very common. My GRE scores were 320+ (I forget the exact score, you can find it somewhere on here). Here is the thing. Personal Statement, LoR, GRE scores are the biggest differentiators these days. And in reality, there are more than enough students to fill the top programs with great LoR, GRE GPA and personal statements. A masters thesis really can help get you ahead, but even then, there are more than enough people to fill those programs with stellar stats. You really have to get lucky. What did you expect? You could be mediocre for most of your college education and get into the top programs without a real struggle? People who were much more consistent than you still struggle to get in.

Thats pretty common for lower ranked programs, to be honest. I went to my MS institution without ever visiting the city. I feel like you need to calibrate your expectations, based on what you are asking for. This is true, however, there is still a shortage of science teachers in almost every state (and a serious drought in CA... hahaha), so if you are going to get hired, its going to be if you can teach math and science. I'm not saying its a good option, more of that you need to try a bunch of things in this job market. If you are set on one particular type of job and aren't the top of your game its going to be very difficult.

I have no idea how competitive materials science is... however, your GPA is low. Most people applying to masters programs will be in the 3.5 range. I had a 3.05 GPA coming out of undergrad and managed to get into a funded masters program, albiet at a unranked program. However, my lowest grades were as a freshman and sophomore, and my highest as a junior and senior. Your road is likely to be difficult... I suggest really focusing on getting into a masters program, acing the classes there will really be your only shot at a PhD. The other question is... why do you want a PhD? If you plan on only going into industry, it should be possible because it won't matter as much where you get your phd from. However.... if you want to go into academia, you will need to get into a top program for your best shot at becoming a professor. That will require a bit of luck.

There are also things like emergency teaching credentials: states are always looking for more science teachers.

Having trouble getting jobs. The only people I know who are doing OK are the geophysics people, but hiring there has stagnated significantly. A lot of my geophysics friends who have recently graduated and are not going for postdocs or are getting masters end up in finance or tech. They leverage their strong computational skills into a data science job. I know geology undergraduates go back to school sometimes to take a few programming classes as well. It just really depends on the skills you build during your degree. If you don't learn how to do something unique you are going to hard time in general.

Then don't be picky. You are putting your life on hold longer just to get in than the entire degree! I'm just trying to help you be realistic. I find it pretty odd that 1) you would apply to somewhere you wouldn't go if you got funding and 2) that you limit so your choices so much despite your significantly flawed application. Something has got to change, for your sake. I'd look at the rules of applying to departments for a 3rd time: a lot of universities won't consider your application after a 2nd time without a stellar reason. I doubt the two departments that accepted you last time (with funding) will accept you again unless you can convince them you won't bail on them this time if you are indeed accepted.

Have you thought about just not going to graduate school ?

I'm sure you have reasons for not studying abroad... but calgary has a very big Oil and Gas industry, so its worth looking at if it is at all possible to study abroad. You've been on this board a while trying to get into graduate school, if you keep on trying the same thing over and over you are likely to experience the same result.

I would call the schools that you are interested in and ask them. You can also check their websites. The departments usually arnt the ones who closely look at GRE, but the overriding graduate school, which seems to encourage departments to accept students with high gre scores.

The truth is that if you get a good seismology PhD it wont matter if your uni has connections: I'm sure people from Columbia get hired by O&G no problem. I'd be more worried about coming from smaller/unranked programs. However, I think GeoMex is mostly right. It is probably best to go to a school like stanford/UT/mines

I have no idea. I think it would be a big flag, masters or not, that your math and physics performance is bad. Most of the atmospheric science programs I know take many physics and math majors because atmospheric science is a heavy modeling field. You'd need to be able to address that and show you have the quantitative ability to not just get through a PhD program but contribute to the overall literature of your field. I am not sure if that masters degree with help you: I had a low GPA but did a Masters in Geophysics and that helped me a ton. But I was also going directly into geophysics. The name of the degree doesn't matter: will the research you do be relevant to what you want to do for a PhD? Will you build skills that are interesting and unique to masters program that will be valuable to potential advisors in a atmos PhD program? I have no idea.

If you do a quick search on the topic online, you'll find the same answer: yes. but transferring is like reapplying to graduate school. They will probably also want letters from your original program, and you'll need to give them a good reason why. Also, I'm not sure if the NSF fellowship is transferable if you are not switching degree types.

I'd also recommend buying bare 'minimum, then building up, even if you can afford to get more. Me and my roomate stil ldon't have a couches in the living room.... we found we like sitting on the floor !