Weasel™

For some time already I had been looking for an online/distance Petrology class since I was playing with the idea to go for a concentration in Geology (and Physics?) at COSC and they have a Petrology class in the core courses they require. In the beginning of January I had once again been digging around the Internet when I came across an interesting course from a british university.

Birkbeck, a college of the University of London, specializes in adult education and they have a quite good reputation, the School of Earth Sciences was awarded Grade 5 in the 2000/1 RAE. They offer various degrees -both classroom (evening classes) and distance- and they have a few degrees that can be completed entirely online.

Now the best part is that they recently (last year?) started a new degree a BSc in Earth and Planetary Sciences.

I have since read every little bit of info on the BBK website, including the sites of the UCL/BBK Research school and the UCL/BBK Centre for Planetary Sciences and Astrobiology amongst others and come to the conclusion that this is exactly what I was looking for.

The courses, as far as I can see, are quite interesting and offer a solid foundation in Geology together with a specialization in Planetary Sciences, which keeps more career possibilities open and the school is prestigious. Their degree should definitely be better than a DIY degree from COSC, not that I think COSC is bad, and will probably open more doors.

I’m now trying to sort out all kind of things for this, especially the financial side, although from the tuition fees from last year to judge, I do not think it would come more expensive than what I had planned with COSC. Next week I’ll contact the course director and see if it makes any sense to apply.

Tags: Astrobiology, BBK, COSC, Planetary-Science, UCL