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A Geography degree is useful. It's just that a lot of people don't realize how useful it is. One of my professors said Geography is one of the top 10 careers.
I recently graduated with a BS in geology and a minor in GIS. My SO got the same degrees a few years before me. He mapped a quad (made a surface geology map) last year for the Colorado Geological Survey. He was able to go into a GIS and map his polygons as he did his field work. He could look at a series of air photos on the GIS to help with his mapping. He was able to deliver an almost complete geology map to the CGS at the end of the field season. Normally they just submit field maps by then and someone else drafts them up.
We both worked as GIS interns while in school. I worked a year for the BLM and he worked a couple years for the local county.
Currently we are both working as field geologists and we can use a survey grade Trimble GPS to collect data in the field and take it home and put into a GIS.
Geography probably has a greater application to GIS, but we have made much use of it for geology. We don't know anything about the computer science end, but being able to produce useful maps has been a asset for us.
With my B.S. degree, as well as having 2 or 3 progressively difficult GIS courses, I also had classes on aerial photo analysis, satellite mapping & global positioning, telecom, geostatistics, information systems development, GIS programming, and cartography.. these may not be something you need, but you will not get them in a GIS Cert class.
The GIS classes I had for my minor:
Cartography
Intro GIS
Advanced GIS
Remote Sensing
GPS for GIS
Geodatabase Design
Wow, thanks. I wanted to do something that had more of a hands on approach, which means more experience and a chance to learn.
So I take it you take a variety of GIS classes in Geography?
No offense against business majors and all, but so far I've yet to have the same with my business major granted that I need to pass Accounting 200 first.
I had a instructor tell me that its useful to take a few GIS classes, she teaches GIS classes and doesn't even have her certificate. Just a usefull 'tool' to have, i suppose. I'm thinking of maybe getting one, I want to hear what the benefits of being certified are over just having classes in GIS.
I have a BA in Geography and took GIS classes throughout my education. I ended up working for a mining company making maps for them. Others I knew ended up working for the municipal government and the health department. GIS is all about geospatial data.
My suggestion?
Study a field you're passionate about and take some GIS classes along with it. You don't have to study geography to get a GIS job.
I had a instructor tell me that its useful to take a few GIS classes, she teaches GIS classes and doesn't even have her certificate. Just a usefull 'tool' to have, i suppose. I'm thinking of maybe getting one, I want to hear what the benefits of being certified are over just having classes in GIS.
Initially I was just going to take a couple of the most useful GIS classes: Intro GIS and GPS for GIS. Later on I decided it would just be easier to put on my resume that I had a minor in GIS, rather than trying explain about a couple GIS classes taken. So I went and took all of the classes.
I consider my GIS to be supplemental to my geology degree, and a back up job/career option.
I have a BA in Geography and took GIS classes throughout my education. I ended up working for a mining company making maps for them. Others I knew ended up working for the municipal government and the health department. GIS is all about geospatial data.
My suggestion?
Study a field you're passionate about and take some GIS classes along with it. You don't have to study geography to get a GIS job.
I'm adding GIS to my repertoire next semester for this same reason. For one, I can take it as a grad school class paid for by my undergrad scholarship so it will hopefully save me money when I go to grad school. It also makes the perfect supplement to my majors and minors. We don't offer a GIS certificate/minor/major- just two half credit masters classes (I will take both)- but I think it will be a great addition to my studies.
If you get the chance, jump on it. I wish I had known earlier on that the courses were available at my college, now I'm just thankful that I can squeeze them in 2nd semester senior year!
I think a certificate is okay, but a four-year program is really worth it, in my opinion. I work in the industry and GIS is so much more than just knowing how to use software. You really should also understand what the software is doing when you perform analysis, etc. It's so much more than just using menus and pressing buttons -- you have to understand what you're doing. My GIS degree consisted of a few GIS courses that were focused on GIS software, but I also had to take remote sensing, spatial analysis (which basically teaches statistics and how that relates to some of the analysis functions in the GIS software), surveying, and a few other topics as core courses. Also, the general IT stuff and web development stuff is helpful, although not ALL GIS professionals are web programmers. There are many people who do things like site analysis, CAD-type things, modeling, etc.
Hope this helps. I've been out of undergrad for about 5 years now, so I'm not super experienced, but I don't think anyone with only a certificate and no other degree would be hired at my workplace regardless of how well they could use GIS software.
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