catoctin wx

Unfortunately this is very true, and it is taking me some serious thought about whether it is best for me to major in this, even though I love it.

If you love your job, you will never work a day in your life.

I would recommend (and reiterate what many many others have said in this thread) that you diversify your degree. If you major in metereorology, see if you can minor in math, or computor science, or oceanography, or anything else. It will be hard, but worth it

I believe Rutgers and Millersville offers forecasting classes. Partial derivations was mixed into the beginning of Thermodynamics.

When I was at Millersville there wasn't a forecasting class (don't see one listed in the couse list). I don't forecast for a living now, but I was involved with the campus weather service for 8 semesters. It involved map discussions and short and medium range forecasting for 3 shifts each day.

we also gained a little forecasting experience through our meso class

For me, it's not that I don't care, it's just Math does not come easy for me. I really have to work hard just to earn my C-. I will try to work even harder so I can get maybe a C+ in Calc. 2 this semester but I heard it is the most challenging out of the 3 Calc. courses.

when there is a will there is a way man. I did horrible in my college math courses, just scraping through on the curve or a decent grade on the final. I eventually failed calc 3 and retook it over the summer and got a C+. I took calc 1 in the spring semester my freshman year and got a C. That summer I went home and took it at a community college, not for a better grade, but to relearn the material so that I could do better in calc 2. I also found tutors and a great study group to work with. It can be done, just don't get discouraged

Let me say this. Every successful meteorologist, meaning every meteorologist that was happy with his/her career, that I have ever met, has known since they were young that they wanted to be a meteorologist.

If you're doing it because it's interesting, you probably don't love it enough to persist. I find it's a calling, if you think of it as a hobby, maybe keep it a hobby.

I guess I am the exception to this. I always liked the weather, but I never considered it a career option until my junior year of HS. Until I took a 1/2 year course on it, I was planning on going into early childhood education

Yeah, the paid positions at SUNY Albany went from 12 down to 6 for fall 2009. Don't know what it was this year. 3.5 should be more than enough. I applied to four schools in total (NC State, SUNY Albany, Penn State and Univerisity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and only got accepted to NC State (without funding no less!). It was a tough year for met majors.

Thanks for sharing the info, catocin. Networking does help a lot as well if you can talk to the right people

I should have also mentioned that I applied to SUNY Albany, Wisconsin, and NC State and I didn't get into any of them.

The grad classes can be easier or harder, depending on what kind of study habits and mental retention you have. Most of it is old stuff rehashed and more deeply investigated. The classes you take can also make a big difference, which are tailored to which part of meteorology you want to concentrate in.

What kind of GPA got you into your grad. program, if you don't mind me asking? I only ask because I had a 3.31 GPA (and something like 28 or 29 GRE), and I struggled getting into grad school. Of course, part of it was the fact that last year was one of the hardest years to try to get into grad school. When I applied in fall 2009, most colleges had cut back on the number of paid graduates. For instance, SUNY Albany cut their incoming RA/TA positions in half, and I was 2nd in line on the waiting list, so I got screwed over there Any other year before that and I would have gotten in.

agree completely on the first paragraph. The classes that were rehashing some of the older stuff, just in more detail (dynamics, thermo, synoptic, etc) were pretty easy. The ones that were totally new (Satellite and Remote Sensing, 2 tough radiation courses) were a struggle.

I don't mind posting my GPA for both. Admittedly I did not do that well in undergrad. I got my ass severly kicked by the math department. I ended up with a 2.81 total GPA and something a bit higher for my in-major GPA (can't seem to pull that one up online). I got into grad school not on my grades, but on my networking skills. Some friends set me up with some meetings for grad school advisors at an AMS meeting and I was able to impress one enough in person to accept me into the program. I finished my grad school with a 3.69 GPA.

Really? I've always heard the opposite, that they are much harder.

in my experience, the classes just go deeper into the material, but by then you have such a good grasp on the topics that it really isn't that new. The material is harder than undergrad, but because you have seen most of it already, you are able to do better.

Also, many undergrad classes (especially in the first 2 years) are weed-out courses. In grad school the profs are really good about helping you out and making sure that you succeed.

I also have to LOL at all of the C/D grade discussion going on... I would have abandoned ship if I was getting those kind of grades in calc. The last two years of your met degree involves quite a few advanced calc-based atmos courses, so you'd better know how to do it! Sure, you use very little of it (if any at all) once you're out forecasting, but that doesn't mean you're allowed to walk away with Cs and Ds in core classes and expect to be favored in the job market.

EDIT: Also, it CERTAINLY won't fly if you go on to grad school (if you can even get in with those grades). Most colleges require that you maintain a B average in your graduate courses... at least in atmos.

graduate courses are a joke compared to what you are put through in an undergraduate curriculum. Also, as you know, the calc courses offered by the math department is much different then the actual applied equations of an advanced level met course. Of course the theory is the same, but when it is actually applied to something that makes physical sense (as opposed to just solving problems), it is much easier.

FWIW, i sucked horribly in my undergraduate math classes, but was able to maintain decent grades in my met courses. Went on for my masters and my GPA went up by a full point.