Majoring in Geology?

[drdiscouraged]

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Do you Geology is a good major to choose?

I chose it because I would like to have a viable career that I could fall back on if I can't cut it in medicine. Also it takes care of diff, integral, and multivariable calc, 2 semesters of physics, and 3 semesters of inorganic chem. So I would have 2 sem. of orgo and bio left for prereqs right?

The only problem is that I hear upper division geology classes are serious GPA killers, but maybe I could do the caribbean route or postbacc or just pursue a MS in geology and work for an oil company like my dad 🙁

Anyway, what do yall think of this major?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Hmm if you do this you'll have a back up. But like with engineering majors it'll likely tank your gpa. So if medicine is your main interest look for a major you know you can get a better gpa in.

 

[wristbandMD]

I have a friend who majored in Geology and had a great GPA. He wasn't a very smart guy, to be honest. Also, he went to Central Washington University (a joke school that just about anyone can get into), so that may have had something to do with it.

If it's something you're interested in, do it. Also, it does have a great fallback career.

Have you actually been able to talk to students at your school who are taking upper-level Geology classes, or is it just rumor/guessing that the classes are difficult?

 

[drdiscouraged]

I have a friend who majored in Geology and had a great GPA. He wasn't a very smart guy, to be honest. Also, he went to Central Washington University (a joke school that just about anyone can get into), so that may have had something to do with it.

If it's something you're interested in, do it. Also, it does have a great fallback career.

Have you actually been able to talk to students at your school who are taking upper-level Geology classes, or is it just rumor/guessing that the classes are difficult?

No I go to a pretty respectable school and I looked at the grade breakdown percentages on MyEdu for the upper-div geology classes I would have to take and they are all like 7% As, 60% Cs. And that is for like ~ 24 hours of credit or something.

That is good news about your friend though

 

[drdiscouraged]

bump... good plan or should I major in something else I enjoy like english to try to get a higher GPA?

 

[Hurricane95]

They call geology "rocks for jocks" for a reason no? Not exactly a very challenging major...or very impressive at all at only the bachelor's level at least. That's the college football player's science major.

I'm also not quite sure how this major would give you a backup career in case medicine doesn't work out, either...

 

[wristbandMD]

No I go to a pretty respectable school and I looked at the grade breakdown percentages on MyEdu for the upper-div geology classes I would have to take and they are all like 7% As, 60% Cs. And that is for like ~ 24 hours of credit or something.

That is good news about your friend though

Ahh, well in that case...unless you have a genuine interest in it, you should avoid it (in my opinion).

There are plenty of other majors that you could have a viable career in if medicine doesn't work out. However, if you find geology interesting then you should pursue it. To me, it doesn't seem like it's worth the trouble if you're likely to get Bs and/or Cs. I'm not saying that you should only take easy classes or an easy major, but taking a major that is sure to give you a crappy GPA is NOT worth it.

Also, I had never heard of MyEdu. I looked it up and it looks really helpful. Thanks!

 

[tweek125]

Randy Marsh is a geologist. 'nuff said.

 

[CompSciMath]

Pick a major that you can do well in. If you like geology, go for it. In my personal opinion I would jump off a bridge if I had to major in geology, but hey what ever floats your boat. Have you considered a major in comp. sci? Good ratio of jobs to graduates after graduation.

 

[Ischemic]

Randy Marsh is a geologist. 'nuff said.

hell yeah dude, 👍👍👍

 

[drdiscouraged]

They call geology "rocks for jocks" for a reason no? Not exactly a very challenging major...or very impressive at all at only the bachelor's level at least. That's the college football player's science major.

I'm also not quite sure how this major would give you a backup career in case medicine doesn't work out, either...

"Rocks for jocks" refers to the into to geology class not the major itself.

At my school geology has the lowest average GPA of all schools so not exactly easy..

http://www.utexas.edu/academic/ima/sites/default/files/SHB09-10Students.pdf

^p. 29


If I love to read and enjoy english would that me an easier major to get a high GPA in?

 

[gravitywave]

They call geology "rocks for jocks" for a reason no? Not exactly a very challenging major...or very impressive at all at only the bachelor's level at least. That's the college football player's science major.

LOL. what rubbish. where did you learn to say things like that?

OP, would you be interested in chemistry or physics? you can get very close to geology with either of those, and still be well prepared for geo grad programs if med doesn't work out.

the curve on upper level english courses is usually pretty soft, but it's a LOT of b*******ting too.

 

[wristbandMD]

"Rocks for jocks" refers to the into to geology class not the major itself.

At my school geology has the lowest average GPA of all schools so not exactly easy..

http://www.utexas.edu/academic/ima/sites/default/files/SHB09-10Students.pdf

^p. 29


If I love to read and enjoy english would that me an easier major to get a high GPA in?

That depends...can you write? Look at the required classes for an English major and determine the percentage of As in those classes. I'm assuming that The upper-level classes are dominated by English majors, all of which most likely enjoy to read and write.

 

[drdiscouraged]

LOL. what rubbish. where did you learn to say things like that?

OP, would you be interested in chemistry or physics? you can get very close to geology with either of those, and still be well prepared for geo grad programs if med doesn't work out.

the curve on upper level english courses is usually pretty soft, but it's a LOT of b*******ting too.

lol the thing about chemistry and physics is that i'm pretty sure they are way harder than geology conceptually, so if the average GPA is higher, then it must be because the profs give some crazy curves.

The geo classes like sedimentary and igneous rocks for geo majors have the highest workload rating I have ever seen on myedu; a whopping 8.9! But I think it is just tons of rote memorization.

I am starting to lean toward business as a major because my school has a good program with opportunities for graduates and it also has a high average gpa, I will just study my ass off for the MCAT

 

[tylerg9496]

They call geology "rocks for jocks" for a reason no? Not exactly a very challenging major...or very impressive at all at only the bachelor's level at least. That's the college football player's science major.

I'm also not quite sure how this major would give you a backup career in case medicine doesn't work out, either...

That is not the case at all when it comes to Geology. I am a geology student , and it is very difficult. The case is that the intro is easy, but that changes as soon as you get into the first 200 level class. You have to have calculus and 12 hours of physics or at least that's at my school. I don't know and athlete that has ever finished the geology program at my school.

 

[flatbear]

I've heard of premed people successfully majoring in physics although not geology. Perhaps similar?

 

[123456123456]

Do not do the Caribbean route and I would not already be planning on having to do a postbacc already if you are just picking a major.

If you think you can get a great GPA in a Geology major then do it. Just gets your pre-reqs done, at least 2 upper level science classes like biochem, genetics, or immunology, starts on your ECs/shadowing early, and take a few psych/sociology courses. However, it does not sound like you are confident you can do well in this major and if you think you will have a bad GPA choose a different major you think you will enjoy (anything) and follow the advice regarding the additional classes to take above if they are not included in your major

 

[AlteredScale]

This is a 6 year old thread!

 

[Turkishking]

Do you Geology is a good major to choose?

I chose it because I would like to have a viable career that I could fall back on if I can't cut it in medicine. Also it takes care of diff, integral, and multivariable calc, 2 semesters of physics, and 3 semesters of inorganic chem. So I would have 2 sem. of orgo and bio left for prereqs right?

The only problem is that I hear upper division geology classes are serious GPA killers, but maybe I could do the caribbean route or postbacc or just pursue a MS in geology and work for an oil company like my dad 🙁

Anyway, what do yall think of this major?

Geology is lame 😛

 

[maxwell_edison]

My friend is studying it, but not as pre-med. My dad almost majored in it, but all the classes were 8AM. It seems my friend's are too (at WWU). The way he put it is "Hard math is fine. Early mornings are fine. But hard math early, sucks."

It's a very cool subject. I took a seminar on it which I enjoyed a lot. Don't take it for granite either; with oil exploration, there's a good job market outside medicine as a backup plan. Good money, but requires travel to middle of nowhere or unstable places often. Sometimes you end up in real deep schist.

"Rocks for Jocks" is just an easy intro class that they use for football players and such to pass their science requirement.