Technical > Weather > Good Weather/Meteorology Colleges

Good Weather/Meteorology Colleges

USA Today had a good topic on that link here.

The article has some good links to get you more information.

New Jersey has three AMS chapters.

EDIT - there are some pros lurking here - I'm hoping they'll post some information and experiences for you.

HTH

EG
--
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.

Aristotle

reply to briman27
To be a REAL Meteorologist(as opposed to a teleprompter reader) plan on taking loads of physical and environmental sciences.

Your school counselor would be better with suggestions than a Internet forum.
--
He doesn't have issues, he has a subscription.

reply to briman27
I'll chime in with my opinion here, since I ALMOST have my BS degree in Meteorology (entering my senior year). And sorry for this being so long up front, as I would like to help as much as possible.

I will go ahead and plug my school, the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. Has a great program. Started offering met degrees in the early 90s and is currently one of the top 10 in the nation as far as enrollment goes (around 100 or so). The school itself enrolls around 13,000.

The program really emphasizes operational meteorology, and from what I have read/heard, if you want to work for the National Weather Service in some sort, then South Alabama is THE school to go to (the reason why initially picked this college). A high percentage of the graduates do hold jobs with the NWS, a few with NASA, etc.

Also, they offer a pretty good broadcast program if that is your cup of tea. A lot of graduates are working around the country at various TV stations. However, research is something that is not that stressed yet since the program is still new. However, it is becoming more important, especially hurricane research since we are along the gulf coast.

So, the first thing I would ask myself before really starting to look for colleges, is what type of meteorology do you want to work around. Operational (like the NWS), research, broadcast, climatology, etc. I would go out to my local NWS office (if that is an option) and volunteer some to see the day to day operations, and figure out if that is what you want to do. Or see if you can do some work at the local tv station.

If you are leaning towards the research side of the subject, and think you may want to continue your education with a Masters and/or PhD, then you might need to begin thinking what your favorite part of the weather is. Hurricanes, severe weather, winter, etc.

Most schools in Florida have a pretty good handle on hurricane research. Florida State was my second choice and is hopefully where I will be going to grad school.

If you like severe weather, I would seriously consider the University of Oklahoma. UO and Penn State are usually considered the "best" schools for meteorology, however, they have very large enrollments, which could be bad if you want a more personal student-teacher relationship. Take a trip to the Oklahoma website. They have just built a state of the art weather research facility, which houses several government agencies as well as where the classes are held. They also work very closely with the SPC and NSSL.

And to chime in some more as to what 61999674 was getting at, plan on taking loads of Math and Physics, if you want to be a real meteorologist. At South Alabama, basically a minor in Math is required to get a met degree. If you don't like, or are not that strong in those areas, start working now. Try to take as much math as you can now, as it will only help in college.

And one other thing, and another plug for my school - if you are a good student, getting the grades, and have a good ACT score (27 and higher) then you will get a full ride to South Alabama very easily since it is still a relatively small school.

Good luck, and if you have any other questions let me know
Todd

reply to briman27
Way back when I was in highschool, I was on the same boat as you. I'm still in college at my age but hey, who actually graduates in 4 years anymore? Currently I'm going for Information Technology.

Would I consider majoring in meteorology if I were to start over again? Absolutely.

Todd's advice is very good and I learned some of the same things he just told you when I was looking for schools. At the time I graduated high school, Telecommunications was the first thing on my list, then weather. But when I was 7 (nearly 17 years ago), I have a home movie of me doing the weather at the Canfield Fair. One of the local news stations had a stand set up where they would tape you doing the weather.

Once I started college, it just seemed too far fetched for me. I wanted to try radio first. Didn't like what I learned in College and after doing research it wasn't worth the tuition to go for. I switched to Information Technology hoping that the industry would continue to boom as more things become internet-related.

When I was in 8th grade and we had to choose what we wanted to do when we got older, my choices were radio and meteorology. I wrote to a local meteorologist, if I can find the letter I'll PM you some of his advice.

Best of luck,
-Sean
--
"You're as worthless as a screen door on a submarine!" Check out my Internet Radio Station & DJ Service, »www.thebomb102.com.

reply to rdncktodd

said by rdncktodd:

I'll chime in with my opinion here, since I ALMOST have my BS degree in Meteorology (entering my senior year). And sorry for this being so long up front, as I would like to help as much as possible.

I will go ahead and plug my school, the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. Has a great program. Started offering met degrees in the early 90s and is currently one of the top 10 in the nation as far as enrollment goes (around 100 or so). The school itself enrolls around 13,000.

The program really emphasizes operational meteorology, and from what I have read/heard, if you want to work for the National Weather Service in some sort, then South Alabama is THE school to go to (the reason why initially picked this college). A high percentage of the graduates do hold jobs with the NWS, a few with NASA, etc.

Also, they offer a pretty good broadcast program if that is your cup of tea. A lot of graduates are working around the country at various TV stations. However, research is something that is not that stressed yet since the program is still new. However, it is becoming more important, especially hurricane research since we are along the gulf coast.

So, the first thing I would ask myself before really starting to look for colleges, is what type of meteorology do you want to work around. Operational (like the NWS), research, broadcast, climatology, etc. I would go out to my local NWS office (if that is an option) and volunteer some to see the day to day operations, and figure out if that is what you want to do. Or see if you can do some work at the local tv station.

If you are leaning towards the research side of the subject, and think you may want to continue your education with a Masters and/or PhD, then you might need to begin thinking what your favorite part of the weather is. Hurricanes, severe weather, winter, etc.

Most schools in Florida have a pretty good handle on hurricane research. Florida State was my second choice and is hopefully where I will be going to grad school.

If you like severe weather, I would seriously consider the University of Oklahoma. UO and Penn State are usually considered the "best" schools for meteorology, however, they have very large enrollments, which could be bad if you want a more personal student-teacher relationship. Take a trip to the Oklahoma website. They have just built a state of the art weather research facility, which houses several government agencies as well as where the classes are held. They also work very closely with the SPC and NSSL.

And to chime in some more as to what 61999674 was getting at, plan on taking loads of Math and Physics, if you want to be a real meteorologist. At South Alabama, basically a minor in Math is required to get a met degree. If you don't like, or are not that strong in those areas, start working now. Try to take as much math as you can now, as it will only help in college.

And one other thing, and another plug for my school - if you are a good student, getting the grades, and have a good ACT score (27 and higher) then you will get a full ride to South Alabama very easily since it is still a relatively small school.

Good luck, and if you have any other questions let me know
Todd

It is a good thing that you will be taking pre-cal and then calculus your Senior year. That will really give you a leg up on the math. Some colleges may even wave calculus I for you, depending on your grades.

It is also a good thing that you are taking chemistry. Some schools do require at least an entry level chemistry class for a met degree (South Alabama does not, but I believe they are changing that soon). However, I would strongly recommend, if you can find room at all, to take physics.

While in high school, I took a physics class, and it really helped out once I took my college level physics (which I must say have been my hardest classes thus far). Physics and math both end up being very important for Meteorology - regardless if you want to do broadcast or something else.

Since you are looking at broadcast, I would really try to call local tv stations to at least get some kind of tour, or maybe to volunteer, anything to get your name out there early. I have come to find out the meteorology is a very competitive field, so anything that you can do early on, while in high school and in college, to promote yourself, is always a good thing.

reply to briman27
Actually if you don't mind freezing your butt most of the year, Lyndon State College in VT, probably still has a pretty good BS program.

When I was there in the late 70's they made the mistake of not giving the department head tenure.... so he said FU and moved to Atanta and started the the Weather Channel....

Guess he showed them

For the first five years or so they were on the air I personally knew most of the meterologist on air talent as they were largely LSC graduates, likely still may be a good number of them.
--
»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)

reply to rdncktodd

I would go ahead and take the honors level courses, as they will only push you harder, and get you better prepared for college.

Once again, good luck, and if you have any other questions, I'll be happy to give my opinion on it.

Meteorology is a very exciting field!

When I began college, I was hoping to get a job right out of school with the NWS, so operational. I love forecasting the weather. However, almost all my teachers have recommended to me that I should continue to get my masters and maybe PhD due to my grades - so I'm going to grad school and I have recently began getting interested in the research side because of this.

So, research and operational I suppose.

Weather class wise (these are both classes I have already taken and some which I have left) - Atmospheric Processes (which is similar to Intro to Meteorology), General Meteorology, Climatology, Severe Weather, Atmospheric Dynamics I & II, Meteorological Instrumentation, Radar Meteorology, Physical Meteorology, Hydrology, Tropical Meteorology Seminar, Satellite Meteorology Seminar, Synoptic Meteorology I & II, Mesoscale, Weather Forecasting I & II, and I think that might be it - there may be a couple of electives I'm missing....

Out of those, Dynamics I & II have been the hardest and ones I've had to put a lot of time into. It is basically one class that is spread out over two semesters and the topic of the class is the equations that govern the atmosphere, so it is where all the math and physics starts to really tie into the subject. We derive all the equations, and simplify them so that we are able to solve them, and then put them to use.

reply to briman27
I always wanted to be a tornado or hurricane chaser! The thrill of seeing a hurricane and tornado almost everyday would be awesome!

The best thing ever would be up close and personal with a F5 Tornado and a Cat. 5 Hurricane! I would be so excited I would jump up and down lol!

Does anyone know if you need a college degree to be a tornado or hurricane chaser ? I am guessing yes ?

The reason I am asking because I always see people as tornado or hurricanes chasers as people with their own equipment and such.

Like for example on Discovery, I think it was, they had these sisters who did Tornado chasing, this guy who wanted to go inside a tornado, and a bunch of other chasers!

reply to briman27
I had it down to South Alabama, Florida State, and University of Alabama in Huntsville. UAH does not offer an undergrad degree in meteorology, but rather you can get a Mathematics degree with an atmospheric science minor. They do however, have a graduate program in atmospheric science.

So because they didn't strictly offer an undergrad degree in met, I decided against them. I live in Alabama, however, Florida State offered to waive out of state tuition for me, but the entire package was not enough. South Alabama gave me a lot more money.

Also, Florida States program is much larger than USA, which is both good and bad. They are a big research facility, so they kind of cater to the students which are there for graduate school. In my opinion, student-teacher relationships would probably not be very good, as class sizes are pretty large. When I started at South, the met program was still pretty new (only around 9-10 years old), so class sizes were relatively small, and that is a good thing to me.

That, plus out of high school my main goal was operational, and everything I heard was South is the best place to go if you want to work for the NWS. Their entire program was designed around the requirements to work for the NWS, and it was designed by professors who used to work at various levels in the NWS.

reply to imtim83
You do not HAVE to have a college degree to chase, as anyone could technically go out and chase if they wanted - however that is not advisable!

It is good to have some kind of knowledge about what you are doing, i.e. you know the ins and outs of radar, upper level/surface maps, just all things that relate to the situation, so that you know where to be at the right time, and in order to not be placed in a situation that is dangerous - and these are usually things that you receive through education or experience.

And a lot of those people that you see on TV or hear about that chase who have their own equipment are sometimes sponsored through a university or government agency, as that equipment is pretty expensive. And I would imagine they just don't sponsor anyone.

However, I know that if you wanted to chase tornadoes and such, there are companies/businesses which will take you out with them for a week or so and chase so you can observe, however it can get pricey. They usually make you sign some sort of wavier also, so as they are not held liable for anything that might happen - which goes to show you just how dangerous it is.

reply to rdncktodd