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Jun. 14th, 2005 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mirajeSo I have started looking at potential graduate schools in the last week or so. My basic criteria for finding the good ones were:
a) Does it have a meteorology/atmospheric sciences program that lists hydrology or hydrometeorology as one of its research interests?
b) Is it a school I've heard of within the realm of meteorology and/or the research community?
c) Is it close to a National Weather Service field office? (this has rammifications as far as whether Jeremy and I will have a chance in hell at living together in the next three years...not to mention the remote possibility that I could work there while going to school)
d) Is it somewhere that I would consider a nice region to live in, and would the cost of living be affordable? (the central part of the country is obviously the best choice since all of our family is here and it's relatively cheap living. I suppose second choice would be somewhere in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic region.)
So I went to gradschools.com and perused its list to see which ones I found to be most attractive, and then I did a google map distance between the schools and their respective NWS offices. Here's what I have so far (in no particular order):
Penn State
a) Yes, it does have a meteorology program, and I believe that they do have research in hydrometeorology.
b) Yes, it's a very well-known school for meteorology and research. Its website also showed that well.
c) Heck yeah! The office is like two blocks from campus! You don't get any better than that!
d) The school is in State College, PA, which looks to be a moderately sized community of about 38,000 (which makes it actually smaller than Ames by a good 10,000). The closest metro would be Harrisburg at around 86 miles away. I can't imagine that the cost of living could be that high with such a distance from sizeable civilization, and the distance doesn't bother me at all. I'm used to living in remote places and usually don't feel that I need anything from the larger cities that I couldn't already get locally.
University of Maryland
a) Yes, it does have a meteorology program, and yes, it has stuff that I would be interested in across the board.
b) Very good research facility. I toured it the first time I flew out to see Jeremy, and I was very pleased with what I saw.
c) Um...well, here's the thing. Sterling is only like 40 miles from College Park, BUT traffic is fucking insane near DC. It would take me well over an hour to get there almost any time of the day on a weekday. HOWEVER, DC and Maryland are also home to NOAA and NWS headquarters, and most of their research facilities are there as well. Jeremy works at one of them now. Therefore, it is not a necessity to have the field office nearby.
d) I don't have a problem with Maryland. It's way more urban than central Iowa, which is a bit of an adjustment for me, but I love the area for its natural beauty and a wide range of things to do. There are two major drawbacks. The length of the commute is one (Jeremy wants to live in suburban Maryland for the community atmosphere, and you have to get at least an hour from the DC metro in every direction to come even remotely close to that. The other drawback is the INSANE cost of living there. Jeremy's in a tiny efficiency apartment at the moment in Montgomery County, and he's paying $900 a month for it! Granted, Montgomery County's one of the ritzier parts to live in and his apartment IS nice, but fucking hell. I'll be paying less than half of that here for a LARGER place starting next fall.
Iowa State
a) Ahh, the alma mater. Of course it has meteorology, and there's buzz around the department that the next faculty person hired will be a hydrologist. Squeee!
b) I'm extremely pleased with this department. I know all the faculty and feel that I have a very cozy niche here. We were ranked third in the nation for meteorology programs by the Gourman Report, so the force is very strong with us. ;)
c) The Des Moines office is 30 miles south of here. The commute is not bad at all except when the winter weather gets nasty, but it's totally manageable. Jeremy drove it every day while he was an intern there, so it's ok.
d) The Ames area is actually considered to be pretty expensive to live in by Midwestern standards, but it's more than reasonable compared to something like the DC suburb. Plus, rent prices dramatically decrease when you get into the little satellite towns like Gilbert and Slater, which are less than ten miles away. I've also kind of noticed that food is cheaper here, too, after perusing the grocery stores in Maryland.
University of Oklahoma
a) It's the meteorology heavyweight with more grant money for research than probably several other meteorology departments combined. And yes, they do some hydro research.
b) I guess since I don't go to Oklahoma right now, I have this inclination that the department is overrated...for the undergrad at least. I imagine it would offer lots of opportunities in the graduate realm, though.
c) There is a new meteorology facility under construction just a few blocks from campus that will house not only the NWS office, but SPC and NSSL too. It's a very nice setup for someone who is interested in either forecasting or severe weather research. I'm not sure if the met department will move out there, too. I think it might be staying on campus, which would make sense.
d) I've lived in Oklahoma before, and it was insanely cheap in my experience. We lived in a two-bedroom farmhouse on 160 acres of land INCLUDING two fishing ponds and tons of outbuildings for a whopping $300 a month. It was also only 20 miles from Stillwater and Oklahoma State University. That was ten years ago, though, and I don't know how much prices change over time in an area like that. I don't know what prices are like either once you get closer to the OKC metro.
SUNY Albany
a) Yes, it's pretty well-known for meteorology. I believe one of you even went to school there, so you could testify for me. I believe I also saw hydro on the website.
b) I've seen it around the research world on papers and journal articles, so I believe the department does a healthy amount of research work that is well-recognized.
c) The Albany weather office is like four miles from campus, so totally doable.
d) I have absolutely no idea. Does anyone have insight about upstate New York that would be helpful?
University of Minnesota: St. Paul
a) No meteorology, but it has something called Water Resources Science that has a hydrology emphasis. It focuses mostly on groundwater, so I'd be going balls to the wall into hydrology. My tendency is to want to keep my degree under the safety flag of meteorology and dabble in hydrology as my research interest. I'm sort of afraid that going into a program like this will get me too far away from meteorology, and I'd be forced to relearn a lot of fundamentals of another area of study instead of focusing on moving myself forward. Employers will also look at my education and go..."how exactly does one go from meteorology to water resource science??? how are they related?"
b) I haven't seen much from it in the research realm either, but of course I wouldn't since I'm in meteorology. There is one faculty member there that is well known and has received awards, though.
c) The weather office is in Chanhassen, which is a suburb on the southwest side of Minneapolis. The St. Paul campus is located more in the north central part of the metro, so the commute's about an hour long. This is where Jeremy really wants to be since his family is there, so I'm keeping it open as an option.
d) The cost of living on the west and south side of the metro is pretty pricey, almost as much so as DC. However, I love the area. I love the city of Minneapolis as well. I like Jeremy's family, too, and it would be comforting to be near people that we know.
University of Colorado: Boulder
a) Yes, it has a graduate meteorology program, and I think they do a little hydro too.
b) Not only does the university do extensive research, but the major national research facilities NCAR, UCAR, and FSL are all located in Boulder. I would have opportunities to possibly work there for assistantships and stuff.
c) The weather office is located in Boulder and is only blocks from campus. Jeremy has worked there as a student worker, though, and was not impressed at all with the people there.
d) The cost of living in Colorado has skyrocketed in the last ten or fifteen years. I wouldn't be surprised if it rivals DC and Minneapolis.
Now that I've narrowed it down to good schools that I would be comfortable attending, a lot is now riding on where Jeremy's career takes him. If he wants us to live together soon, he'll have to consider this stuff when applying for jobs, and I think that it is something that he definitely is considering. We've talked about it often.
I know this was extensively lengthy, but I was wondering if any of you had any insight that would be helpful. Your opinions mean a lot to me.
a) Does it have a meteorology/atmospheric sciences program that lists hydrology or hydrometeorology as one of its research interests?
b) Is it a school I've heard of within the realm of meteorology and/or the research community?
c) Is it close to a National Weather Service field office? (this has rammifications as far as whether Jeremy and I will have a chance in hell at living together in the next three years...not to mention the remote possibility that I could work there while going to school)
d) Is it somewhere that I would consider a nice region to live in, and would the cost of living be affordable? (the central part of the country is obviously the best choice since all of our family is here and it's relatively cheap living. I suppose second choice would be somewhere in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic region.)
So I went to gradschools.com and perused its list to see which ones I found to be most attractive, and then I did a google map distance between the schools and their respective NWS offices. Here's what I have so far (in no particular order):
Penn State
a) Yes, it does have a meteorology program, and I believe that they do have research in hydrometeorology.
b) Yes, it's a very well-known school for meteorology and research. Its website also showed that well.
c) Heck yeah! The office is like two blocks from campus! You don't get any better than that!
d) The school is in State College, PA, which looks to be a moderately sized community of about 38,000 (which makes it actually smaller than Ames by a good 10,000). The closest metro would be Harrisburg at around 86 miles away. I can't imagine that the cost of living could be that high with such a distance from sizeable civilization, and the distance doesn't bother me at all. I'm used to living in remote places and usually don't feel that I need anything from the larger cities that I couldn't already get locally.
University of Maryland
a) Yes, it does have a meteorology program, and yes, it has stuff that I would be interested in across the board.
b) Very good research facility. I toured it the first time I flew out to see Jeremy, and I was very pleased with what I saw.
c) Um...well, here's the thing. Sterling is only like 40 miles from College Park, BUT traffic is fucking insane near DC. It would take me well over an hour to get there almost any time of the day on a weekday. HOWEVER, DC and Maryland are also home to NOAA and NWS headquarters, and most of their research facilities are there as well. Jeremy works at one of them now. Therefore, it is not a necessity to have the field office nearby.
d) I don't have a problem with Maryland. It's way more urban than central Iowa, which is a bit of an adjustment for me, but I love the area for its natural beauty and a wide range of things to do. There are two major drawbacks. The length of the commute is one (Jeremy wants to live in suburban Maryland for the community atmosphere, and you have to get at least an hour from the DC metro in every direction to come even remotely close to that. The other drawback is the INSANE cost of living there. Jeremy's in a tiny efficiency apartment at the moment in Montgomery County, and he's paying $900 a month for it! Granted, Montgomery County's one of the ritzier parts to live in and his apartment IS nice, but fucking hell. I'll be paying less than half of that here for a LARGER place starting next fall.
Iowa State
a) Ahh, the alma mater. Of course it has meteorology, and there's buzz around the department that the next faculty person hired will be a hydrologist. Squeee!
b) I'm extremely pleased with this department. I know all the faculty and feel that I have a very cozy niche here. We were ranked third in the nation for meteorology programs by the Gourman Report, so the force is very strong with us. ;)
c) The Des Moines office is 30 miles south of here. The commute is not bad at all except when the winter weather gets nasty, but it's totally manageable. Jeremy drove it every day while he was an intern there, so it's ok.
d) The Ames area is actually considered to be pretty expensive to live in by Midwestern standards, but it's more than reasonable compared to something like the DC suburb. Plus, rent prices dramatically decrease when you get into the little satellite towns like Gilbert and Slater, which are less than ten miles away. I've also kind of noticed that food is cheaper here, too, after perusing the grocery stores in Maryland.
University of Oklahoma
a) It's the meteorology heavyweight with more grant money for research than probably several other meteorology departments combined. And yes, they do some hydro research.
b) I guess since I don't go to Oklahoma right now, I have this inclination that the department is overrated...for the undergrad at least. I imagine it would offer lots of opportunities in the graduate realm, though.
c) There is a new meteorology facility under construction just a few blocks from campus that will house not only the NWS office, but SPC and NSSL too. It's a very nice setup for someone who is interested in either forecasting or severe weather research. I'm not sure if the met department will move out there, too. I think it might be staying on campus, which would make sense.
d) I've lived in Oklahoma before, and it was insanely cheap in my experience. We lived in a two-bedroom farmhouse on 160 acres of land INCLUDING two fishing ponds and tons of outbuildings for a whopping $300 a month. It was also only 20 miles from Stillwater and Oklahoma State University. That was ten years ago, though, and I don't know how much prices change over time in an area like that. I don't know what prices are like either once you get closer to the OKC metro.
SUNY Albany
a) Yes, it's pretty well-known for meteorology. I believe one of you even went to school there, so you could testify for me. I believe I also saw hydro on the website.
b) I've seen it around the research world on papers and journal articles, so I believe the department does a healthy amount of research work that is well-recognized.
c) The Albany weather office is like four miles from campus, so totally doable.
d) I have absolutely no idea. Does anyone have insight about upstate New York that would be helpful?
University of Minnesota: St. Paul
a) No meteorology, but it has something called Water Resources Science that has a hydrology emphasis. It focuses mostly on groundwater, so I'd be going balls to the wall into hydrology. My tendency is to want to keep my degree under the safety flag of meteorology and dabble in hydrology as my research interest. I'm sort of afraid that going into a program like this will get me too far away from meteorology, and I'd be forced to relearn a lot of fundamentals of another area of study instead of focusing on moving myself forward. Employers will also look at my education and go..."how exactly does one go from meteorology to water resource science??? how are they related?"
b) I haven't seen much from it in the research realm either, but of course I wouldn't since I'm in meteorology. There is one faculty member there that is well known and has received awards, though.
c) The weather office is in Chanhassen, which is a suburb on the southwest side of Minneapolis. The St. Paul campus is located more in the north central part of the metro, so the commute's about an hour long. This is where Jeremy really wants to be since his family is there, so I'm keeping it open as an option.
d) The cost of living on the west and south side of the metro is pretty pricey, almost as much so as DC. However, I love the area. I love the city of Minneapolis as well. I like Jeremy's family, too, and it would be comforting to be near people that we know.
University of Colorado: Boulder
a) Yes, it has a graduate meteorology program, and I think they do a little hydro too.
b) Not only does the university do extensive research, but the major national research facilities NCAR, UCAR, and FSL are all located in Boulder. I would have opportunities to possibly work there for assistantships and stuff.
c) The weather office is located in Boulder and is only blocks from campus. Jeremy has worked there as a student worker, though, and was not impressed at all with the people there.
d) The cost of living in Colorado has skyrocketed in the last ten or fifteen years. I wouldn't be surprised if it rivals DC and Minneapolis.
Now that I've narrowed it down to good schools that I would be comfortable attending, a lot is now riding on where Jeremy's career takes him. If he wants us to live together soon, he'll have to consider this stuff when applying for jobs, and I think that it is something that he definitely is considering. We've talked about it often.
I know this was extensively lengthy, but I was wondering if any of you had any insight that would be helpful. Your opinions mean a lot to me.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 03:31 am (UTC)http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/nws/schools_map.htm
It's just a map of schools in the country with undergrad/grad/both programs in the US, with clickable dots to each school's website. It's probably the same info I've seen on gradschools.com and this site, but it might show you something you missed.
It's crazy to see my home (Maryland) through outside eyes. Good luck! I've got to figure out my interests and my willingness to relocate and a billion things with this grad school thing...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 04:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 10:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 04:52 pm (UTC)Basically, upstate NY if you like cold, winter weather :P