Geosciences Department - The University of Montana

Transferring To Our Undergraduate Program
Info for Transfer Students

One big thing most of our incoming transfer students are interested in is field experience. And that's hard to miss in our program. We start field experience at the freshman level with Geol 130-Introductory Field Geology and Maps and most of our classes have associated field trips or field work. We regularly run a Spring Break Field Trip as a two-credit course. Geology 429, our Summer Field Course in Southwestern Montana, or a senior research project, is the usual culmination to our undergraduate program. Many of our transfer students come from parts of the country where rocks are either poorly exposed or undeformed and monotonous; that's not the case in the Northern Rocky Mountains. We have well-exposed sections of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Precambrian to present. We also have very modern lab facilities that provide the venue for undergraduate, graduate and faculty teaching and research.

In our undergraduate and graduate programs we get students involved in projects, via classroom experience or research, that start with good experimental design, include some field work, and conclude with lab analysis and/or computer analysis as appropriate. Whether your interests are in traditional field geology, environmental geology, geochemistry, geophysics or a combination of those disciplines we have a program that should work for you.

If you intend to transfer to our program there is really nothing special to consider. Call, write, or email the department ahead of time if you have any questions; email any faculty member who seems to do interesting work. When you arrive we'll assign you an advisor from the geology faculty who will help you with the ins and outs of UM's requirements. If you are wondering about which courses to finish before transferring to UM the best general advice is to take a look at UM's undergraduate catalog and try to fulfill as many general education requirements and lower division science requirements as you can; that leaves you room for our geology courses. If you are transferring in at the junior or senior level keep in mind that the University of Montana requires graduates to have 39 credits of junior and/or senior level coursework; thus you should accumulate upper-division credits.

Four options for undergraduate majors to choose from:

The General Option is the most expedient and flexible path through our program. The catalog gives you the details, but this option simply requires 30 credits in Geosciences and 30 credits distributed among a large variety of choices in the allied sciences, forestry, geography, or math. We initiated this option for students who want to double major in Geosciences and one of these other disciplines or who simply wish to make as many of their own curricular choices as feasible. For example, one could double major in Physical Geography/Cartography, Biology, or Forest Hydrology and almost all of the credits in those co-majors would apply to the cognate science requirement (30 credits) in the Geosciences major. For students intending to go on to graduate school in Geophysics, geochemistry or structural geology a joint major in Physics, Chemistry or Math respectively would be excellent preparation. Thus this option serves those wishing flexibility in their undergraduate degree as well as those contemplating graduate study.
The Environmental option is intended for students with a strong interest and commitment to environmentalism, those seeking employment in the environmental industry, or those with a career interest in environmental policy. In addition this options serves students intending to pursue graduate studies in low-temperature geochemistry, groundwater geology, and the broad field of applied environmental science.
The Traditional option serves students who are interested in Earth’s evolution, earth materials, or careers in the minerals and petroleum industries. This option is also recommended for those students intending to pursue graduate study and career development in these sub-disciplines of Geosciences.
The Option in Earth Science Education is for students seeking a major teaching field endorsement. For endorsement to teach earth science, a student also must gain admission to Teacher Education and Student Teaching and meet the requirements for certification as a secondary teacher (see the School of Education section of this catalog).

Geosciences Department - The University of Montana - 32 Campus Drive #1296 - Missoula, MT 59812-1296
Phone: (406) 243-2341 Fax: (406) 243-4028 Email: geology@mso.umt.edu

The University of Montana Geosciences Department