Geography as a degree
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Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
Right...
As probably the only person here who has taught university-level geography and who also did a history degree, I can probably give you better advice than most...
A simple point: what you get out of any degree you do will reflect the effort you put into it. You can probably be a complete waster and come out with a 3rd, but then you probably would be better off not going to university if this is what you plan to do.
Geography courses generally come in 2 flavours: BA and BSc. The latter will tend to concentrate on physical geography and GIS (and will be more like environmental or earth sciences), whereas the former tend to be more human geography-based (and closer to sociology and politics). You can mix and match more in some universities than others, and there are many 'Geography and...' courses these days. You can probably specialise of continue to be a generalist as much as you wish, but remember that if you really want to specialise, this generally happens at graduate not undergraduate level. All undergraduate education is relatively 'general' (or wishy-washy, if you prefer...).
History degrees are massively varied. Modern History at the traditional universities tends to mean everything after the Romans left Britain, whereas in others it will mean the last couple of centuries or even post-WW2. Combined History and Politics degrees seem to be increasingly popular, and give you more options.
Look at what else each university offers: terms or years abroad in reputable institutions overseas, good library and computer facilties (or labs if you're involved with physical geography), a good number of contact hours. Academics hate these lists, but do take a look at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/universityguide for example. Oh, and think about which city or place you would like to be. You will spend at least 3 years there, it makes sense to chose a place that will make you happy (for me, somewhere you can get out into decent cycling countryside, with hills, for a start... like York, Newcastle, Sheffield etc.)
And finally, you won't get to be a planner doing geography, you'd be better off doing err... planning, and more importantly a planning course accredited by the RTPI... if you were that way inclined.
As probably the only person here who has taught university-level geography and who also did a history degree, I can probably give you better advice than most...
A simple point: what you get out of any degree you do will reflect the effort you put into it. You can probably be a complete waster and come out with a 3rd, but then you probably would be better off not going to university if this is what you plan to do.
Geography courses generally come in 2 flavours: BA and BSc. The latter will tend to concentrate on physical geography and GIS (and will be more like environmental or earth sciences), whereas the former tend to be more human geography-based (and closer to sociology and politics). You can mix and match more in some universities than others, and there are many 'Geography and...' courses these days. You can probably specialise of continue to be a generalist as much as you wish, but remember that if you really want to specialise, this generally happens at graduate not undergraduate level. All undergraduate education is relatively 'general' (or wishy-washy, if you prefer...).
History degrees are massively varied. Modern History at the traditional universities tends to mean everything after the Romans left Britain, whereas in others it will mean the last couple of centuries or even post-WW2. Combined History and Politics degrees seem to be increasingly popular, and give you more options.
Look at what else each university offers: terms or years abroad in reputable institutions overseas, good library and computer facilties (or labs if you're involved with physical geography), a good number of contact hours. Academics hate these lists, but do take a look at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/universityguide for example. Oh, and think about which city or place you would like to be. You will spend at least 3 years there, it makes sense to chose a place that will make you happy (for me, somewhere you can get out into decent cycling countryside, with hills, for a start... like York, Newcastle, Sheffield etc.)
And finally, you won't get to be a planner doing geography, you'd be better off doing err... planning, and more importantly a planning course accredited by the RTPI... if you were that way inclined.
Flying_Monkey said:Right...
As probably the only person here who has taught university-level geography and who also did a history degree, I can probably give you better advice than most...
A simple point: what you get out of any degree you do will reflect the effort you put into it. You can probably be a complete waster and come out with a 3rd, but then you probably would be better off not going to university if this is what you plan to do.
Geography courses generally come in 2 flavours: BA and BSc. The latter will tend to concentrate on physical geography and GIS (and will be more like environmental or earth sciences), whereas the former tend to be more human geography-based (and closer to sociology and politics). You can mix and match more in some universities than others, and there are many 'Geography and...' courses these days. You can probably specialise of continue to be a generalist as much as you wish, but remember that if you really want to specialise, this generally happens at graduate not undergraduate level. All undergraduate education is relatively 'general' (or wishy-washy, if you prefer...).
History degrees are massively varied. Modern History at the traditional universities tends to mean everything after the Romans left Britain, whereas in others it will mean the last couple of centuries or even post-WW2. Combined History and Politics degrees seem to be increasingly popular, and give you more options.
Look at what else each university offers: terms or years abroad in reputable institutions overseas, good library and computer facilties (or labs if you're involved with physical geography), a good number of contact hours. Academics hate these lists, but do take a look at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/universityguide for example. Oh, and think about which city or place you would like to be. You will spend at least 3 years there, it makes sense to chose a place that will make you happy (for me, somewhere you can get out into decent cycling countryside, with hills, for a start... like York, Newcastle, Sheffield etc.)
And finally, you won't get to be a planner doing geography, you'd be better off doing err... planning, and more importantly a planning course accredited by the RTPI... if you were that way inclined.
You sound like a very useful man to have around!!Just give me a cyber slap when my PM's full of quieries get too annoying
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
montage said:
Just give me a cyber slap when my PM's full of quieries get too annoying
Feel free to PM me once you're further down the road to deciding...
Actually there is one piece of advice I'd give when it comes to contact hours. Don't necessarily believe what the department says. Find out how many credits a course is, they vary from course to course and university to university, they can be 10, 12,15,20,30, 40 and so on. A standard undergraduate bachelors degree is 360. Also ask how many lectures/seminars/tutorials there are with that particular course. You'll then be able to work out how many hours contact time you have per 10 credits, per term, per year and how this compares with elsewhere and whether you are happy with it. Departments have been known to exaggerate numbers of contact hours .
.
Erasmus is brilliant...just don't get involved in any sexual shenanigans with other Erasmini! The Brits don't use this enough, but many universities seem to think that you need to speak a foreign language to go - this isn't true as most of the other Europeans go with no previous experience of the local language.
Holland is a good place to go for students who aren't good at languages as most of the lectures are in English.
Don't forget to make sure there is decent cycling terrain nearby (and a club as we have discussed before).
Holland is a good place to go for students who aren't good at languages as most of the lectures are in English.
Don't forget to make sure there is decent cycling terrain nearby (and a club as we have discussed before).
Joe24
More serious cyclist than Bonj
- Location
- Nottingham
Headgardener said:
Wrong.
Im the only person in my geog class that can read maps(except the teacher), And everyone else got as and bs in geog at GCSE.
They got my teacher to explain 6 figure grid references, then looked at her blank and said, i dont get it.
One of them also thought that Jerusalum and Bethlehem were made up places and didnt exist.
Dave5N
Über Member
- Location
- Outside The Little Nibble
No point anymore. We know where everywhere is now.
Buy a SatNav and get a job.
Buy a SatNav and get a job.
Joe24
More serious cyclist than Bonj
- Location
- Nottingham
Dave5N said:
No need for a sat nav. Just get a map book.
The youth of today! I've noticed even among student peers that some are very ignorant to the world around them - they are stuck inside all day and can tell you all about the latest gossip on trash TV like Big Brother and Hollyoaks, but not current affairs stories or do practical outdoors activities such as using a compass or map.Joe24 said:They got my teacher to explain 6 figure grid references, then looked at her blank and said, i dont get it.
One of them also thought that Jerusalum and Bethlehem were made up places and didnt exist.
Better add compulsory DofE participation to list of activities for the youth of tomorrow...
Joe24
More serious cyclist than Bonj
- Location
- Nottingham
The annoying thing is geography isnt about finding your way and knowing how to get from one place to another.
You do work on land stuff, like Glaciers, rivers, the coasts, volcanos/earthquakes.
And even though they had been shown 6 figure grid references since about year 7, still didnt understand it
You do work on land stuff, like Glaciers, rivers, the coasts, volcanos/earthquakes.
And even though they had been shown 6 figure grid references since about year 7, still didnt understand it
I don't think it is general ignorance, merely overestimating the value and applications of GCSE to studying at higher levels. Getting an A or B at a subject in GCSE doesn't say a great deal at all about your abilities either way when it comes to A-level or higher.
No... please, not more talk of DofE, it is torture listening to other people talking about it!
No... please, not more talk of DofE, it is torture listening to other people talking about it!
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