<p>Well this is just fantastic news! So glad my response was helpful, I’m sure you’ll have a blast!</p>
<p>Pro tip: Go on the department trips. Don’t feel awkward about it, just go. You’ll thank me later.</p>
<p>As for the grad school thing, it’s true, I was being a little too general. However, many of the major geology career tracks do require some sort of advanced degree. Oil: mostly master’s, some Ph.D., except on the rig itself which is generally BA. Academic (professor, research scientist): Ph.D, maybe a postdoc. Government research: Mostly Ph.D., some master’s, a scattering of BA. Secondary teacher: BA, maybe a master’s in education. Environmental consulting: mostly master’s, a scattering of Ph.D. and BA positions depending on the size of the company. My own position is in natural catastrophe modeling, which requires a Ph.D., although some companies take a master’s.</p>
<p>So, there are a variety of degrees required depending on your career track, but for geology, a bump up to at least a master’s does greatly broaden one’s career options.</p>