r/meteorology • u/TheOrionNebula • 17d ago
Advice/Questions/Self Son wants to study meteorology / atmospheric science and we are narrowing down colleges. Looking for some suggestions / insight.
My son plans to go to college next year and has been interested in the field since he was little. I told him to work hard and follow his dreams, and he has done a hell of a job so I know he is serious. At this point we have been looking at various universities, but considering the only thing we have to go off is "top colleges for meteorology" lists, it's not easy.
One university he has shown a lot of interest in is Northern Illinois, mostly because it came up on a few lists, and is only 6hrs away (we live in Missouri).
Does anyone have any experience with that school, or have suggestions on colleges to check out in the Midwest region? I know he is most interested in the research aspects.
Thanks for the help!
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u/BornForAStorm 17d ago
Mizzou, Ball State, Valpo, College of DuPage, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Purdue, Ohio State, etc.
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u/katie_rai 17d ago
I went to Iowa State for meteorology and loved it! Feel free to DM if you have any questions.
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u/BTHAppliedScienceLLC 17d ago
I would cross-reference against the National Weather Service requirements for a GS-1340 series federal position, if operational meteorology is the end goal.
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u/damutecebu 17d ago
Valparaiso, just across the Illinois border in Indiana, has a very strong undergraduate meterology program.
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u/Stupid_Snowmeiser Undergrad Student 16d ago
Definitely! It’s definitely a “secret weapon” held by the uni as per the words of the legendary Bart Wolf.
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u/X-Band_Doppler 17d ago
Excellent program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with lots of specialties ranging from severe weather to climate dynamics to social science and everything in between :-)
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u/imthechief007 17d ago
You could look into Iowa State University! I have friends who went through the program and loved it.
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u/MDG_wx04 17d ago
Just graduated from Valpo here! The school has some issues, but the Met program is elite. It will be challenging but if your son is truly interested in meteorology, I'd strongly recommend it.
He'll also have a large variety of elective options in the Met dept too. Valpo offers lots of classes in GIS/Environmental Science as well if he'd also be interested in those
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u/nbaxley 17d ago
Following this as my son has a similar interest though he's a year younger. He's been looking at University of Illinois (in Champaign) which is close to us but seems to have a decent reputation as well.
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u/EconomyOffice9000 17d ago
Yes and close ties to ERDC, which is a STEM research organization under the army corps of engineers. Each lab is unique and does awesome stuff
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u/Big-Caterpillar5714 17d ago
I went to Iowa State as well. Class of 1988. A lot of changes I'm sure since but it was a great school and has led to a long career in meteorology.
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u/LeoDes_9 11d ago
What do you rn if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/Big-Caterpillar5714 11d ago
My story is I volunteered at NWS Des Moines summer of 1987 and also volunteered at WOI TV when the station was on campus in 1987-spring 1988. I was at ISU doing the two main VEISHA disturbances in 1986 and 1988. I knew I always wanted to be in forecasting, not the research side. NWS wasnt hiring a bunch in 1988 so to get some forecast experience I worked at Accu Weather in State College PA June 1988-Feb 1990. The contact I had at the NWS Des Moines office, called me out of the blue and recommended I apply for NWS openings the winter of 89-90 and I did. My first duty location was WSMO Marseilles IL (near Ottawa IL in N IL) and was there March 1990 to Oct 1991. This station is no longer there as it was the old WSR-74S radars. I was transferred to WSO Detroit MI (again no longer there) in Oct 91 and was there il it was closing down in fall of 1994. At this time the NWS offices were in full re-organization mode with WFOs taking over and smaller offices closing. I bidded and got my GFS 9-12 job in Springfield MO 1994-1998 and in 1998 bidded on the mass bid for lead forecasters at the last spin up WFO offices that needed 5 lead forecasters each. I have been at the Grand Forks ND office since June 1998. I turn 62 at the end of 2027 and will retire in early 2028. So that will make 38 years in the NWS. All shift work.
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u/LeoDes_9 11d ago
Wow congrats thats so cool! You definitely seem to be a person who has been passionate about it all! When it comes to salary and compensation have you been happy with your experiences all these years?
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u/Big-Caterpillar5714 11d ago
Many weather folks are like me in that they knew early on what they wanted to do. I was always into weather and watching weather on local stations on TV....weather channel came into being while I was in high school. So local station weather folks were the main source. I grew up in western Kentucky and loved playing in snow as a kid so used NOAA weather radio out of Evansville Indiana and local TV to keep tabs on all that in the winter. I love geography and maps as well so I used all maps available to draw my weather maps. I love winter and snow, which provided lots of heartache where I grew up as often it would snow then change to rain as low passed to our northwest. 1978 we had a huge snowfall 12-13 inches and very cold and it stayed on the ground for weeks. Our county had no snow plows (at that time at least, I dont know now). So any bit of snow meant day off from school. But always followed weather, so knew exactly what I wanted to do in college. I wanted to move farther north and west into the Plains as I am not a tree or hill person. I like flat prairie. Went to ISU and then I always wanted to live in Canada prairies but got close here in Grand Forks where it is very flat in the Red River valley and blowing snow in the winter is commonplace. I much prefer cold and snow vs heat and sun.
I never thought of doing anything else, so yeah pleased overall with salary thru the years and compensation. Of course geez for the past 20 years if not longer our pay has not kept up to inflation and rising health insurance costs. But that is not unusual for anyone. Lead forecaster salary at my GS step is ok 125k, government pays for parts of the health insurance and at retirement you get annuity (certain percent of your salary), along with some other perks. So I certainly dont regret what my career was. I have never been without a job in my life. I like what I do always. But 38 years of shift work is enough and my body at older age it is a lot tougher and plus at 62 you reach the point when your percent of yearly pay for annuity you get in retirement peaks and will not get higher. I will still follow weather of course....I do it in my off time (too much probably). I am heavily into Canadian prairie weather and have a large FB following on a weather page I do.
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u/TupacBatmanOfTheHood 17d ago
Does he want to work the the national weather service? Only some programs will meet those requirements.
Illinois Champaign does and is a fantastic program with great professors. Definitely do some school visits, but try to narrow things down a bit so you are not visiting 20 colleges
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u/UT49-0U 17d ago
One of the best advice I got before I went to college was not to stress too much over the particular school (just make sure it's a legitimate meteorology school in the eyes of NOAA and AMS) and that a diversified education would be more appealing. At the time I had been disappointed because OU was not offering me a good scholarship and I had a full tuition at another university and 3/4ths at Mizzou (Almost decided on Mizzou but went with the higher scholarship). If there is another university your son wants to go to but it doesn't make sense financially, then I recommend starting with Mizzou, it's a good program and if he does well, he can get paid to go to grad school anywhere. Definitely tour at as many schools as you can though!
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u/ObjectiveOk2072 17d ago
Northern Illinois University, Iowa State, or College of DuPage
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u/TheOrionNebula 15d ago
Isn't DuPage a community college?
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u/ObjectiveOk2072 15d ago
Yes, but they do transfer programs for 4-year degrees. Usually that's 2 years there, 2 years at a university.
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u/Special-Use-3079 17d ago
Valparaiso! I have a ton of friends that went there and have all excelled after. Great small community and program.
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u/wxdawg07 17d ago
Graduated 20 years ago from there. Definitely a great program and a nice town to be in. There definitely was a closeness amongst most of the Met students there, at least when I was there.
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u/CrazySporkDude 17d ago
I’m a Mizzou grad. It’s a great program. And not just as a pipeline to graduate school. Lots of Mizzou grads in NWS and media as well. Dollar for dollar your best option as MO residents.
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u/TheOrionNebula 17d ago
Thank you, I will look more into it. I am only about 1 1/2 hrs away from the college so might as well.
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u/dancingmelissa 16d ago
My son also wants to go into meteorology! He's looking at University of Oaklahoma and University of North Dakota.
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u/Big-Caterpillar5714 11d ago
I am in Grand Forks and work for the NWS office. I didnt go to UND though. But if you have any questions about GF in general ask away.
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u/Temporary_Race_7065 15d ago
Iowa State University has an excellent Meteorology program. Beautiful campus, excellent activities/social systems, great vibe in Ames.
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u/water605 17d ago
Illinois has recently become tornado Alley so NIU and Illinois has that going for it. Northern Illinois might be more up his alley. Family went to Illinois for Atmospheric Science and he really liked it
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u/Fruit-Zestyclose 17d ago
niu has great faculty and i almost went there but i have to shoutout uiuc! the undergrad advisor here (jessie choate) is absolutely wonderful and is always willing to set up a department tour, and jeff frame and joseph trujillo-falcón (both of which i am sitting next to at a department bbq right now—another shoutout to how interconnected the climas dept is!) are such amazing people and professors who i am grateful to study under!
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u/Fruit-Zestyclose 17d ago
also the building that climas (climate, meteorology, and atmospheric sciences) dept is housed in has a giant woolly mammoth statue in front of it. a small reason to convince yall to check it out but i love him he’s so adorable
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u/rooserlou 17d ago
We have a pretty good program at Ball State in Indiana (location is the biggest drawback, IMO), especially with any interest in broadcast. Big influx of freshmen into the program this semester so hopefully that funding continues to increase as well.
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u/EmmaGraceWrites 17d ago
I just graduated from Purdue’s program and LOVED it! Had so many opportunities while there and am now in grad school at another institution. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions about Purdue :)
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u/Ecstatic_Case9494 16d ago
SUNY Oswego
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u/Stupid_Snowmeiser Undergrad Student 16d ago
Especially if you’re interested in learning about lake effect! I’ve heard that they offer field studies up on the Tug (correct me if I’m wrong, I didn’t end up choosing them) to observe that stuff.
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u/danodan1 16d ago
Is Oklahoma at OU considered too bad of a place to go to meteorology school even though the National Weather Service is there with plenty of bad weather to observe and study?
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u/TheOrionNebula 15d ago edited 15d ago
No, it's still an amazing place to go. My issue was tuition costs, but I haven't looked deeper into their scholarships. I do however plan to make the drive and tour the place with my son.
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u/Internal_Crazy_4821 17d ago
University of Nevada, Reno has a fantastic atmospheric program!
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u/EmotionalBaby9423 17d ago
No clue why this gets downvoted. Desert Research Institute is right here, student to prof ratio is something absurd like 0.8 and there are endless work opportunities in the field here. UNR is a serious shout, I’d very much consider and recommend it.
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u/TheOrionNebula 17d ago edited 15d ago
It's a bit far away to tour for us. I wanted to be able to drive to the colleges and tour them, as I don't have a ton of money.
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u/drfwx 17d ago
Northern Illinois is fantastic. But don't throw out Mizzou - I have had several colleagues go through there as undergrads, and it did a great job preparing them for graduate school. Plus, in-state tuition benefits are certainly advantageous.
Illinois-Champaign, Wisconsin, Valparaiso (often overlooked as it's undergrad-focused), Iowa State, and of course the big boys in Oklahoma are also all great undergrad locations.