<p>Yes. The school will make a big difference. Some schools will basically mean you are guaranteed employment at graduation, where others will mean you have to convince employers that you are knowledgeble about the subject matter.</p>
<p>I am a geophysicist, and most of the comments here are spot on. You can’t get a reasonable job without a graduate degree these days. Jobs for people with undergrad only are mostly data processing (aka the most miserable job imaginable). Most of the jobs are in Houston, but some are available in Denver, OKC, Calgary and a few other places in the petroleum industry (mostly these positions are for experienced individuals). There are jobs outside of petroleum: hydrology, mining, environmental, engineering, but they are harder to find, and don’t pay nearly as well. To put it in perspective, PhDs in Geophysics who go into hydrology, environmental, or consulting, make less than most Masters students going into petroleum (usually something like 40% less).</p>
<p>Somethings to think about. It’s not a bad field to go into, but you need to know how geographically constrained your job options really are.</p>