weather999
Weather Watcher
Reged:
Posts: 25
Loc: southwestern ontario, canada
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Hi, I'm currently a high school student in Ontario, Canada. I would like to become a meteorologist in the future, preferably working with hurricanes/severe weather. I am an avid watcher of the weather network, and I monitor the /NRL websites frequently, and I own and read several weather/hurricane study books, etc.
Any advice on specific course types to take? (from what ive seen, physics, chemistry, math, geography, english, other sciences, are the courses i should take)
Any other information about specific universities in Canada/U.S. or information regarding how to work specifically with hurricanes is greatly appreciated.
thanks!
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Clark
Meteorologist
Reged:
Posts: 1710
Loc:
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Sorry for the delay in responding; obviously, having a major hurricane out there complicates things! 
Most meteorology programs will require you to take courses in physics, chemistry, and calculus once you enter college, so any familiarity you can gain with them in high school will be helpful. Geography knowledge is also obviously pretty important, though what you get out of an entry-level college course on that is probably sufficient. It won't be required, but it's a good idea to take it as one of your electives/history credits in college.
Really though, I'd just work hard at physics and calculus and go from there. Those are going to be the two most important courses you can take both in HS and in college.
As an undergraduate, where you go isn't necessarily as important as who you talk to, what you get involved with in your program, and how you do in your program. It's not until graduate school that you will really begin to do specialized meteorology. Being at one of the schools known for tropical meteorology does offer some tangential benefits while as an undergrad, mostly through map discussions (courses and otherwise) and departmental seminars (where people come in from outside the university and give talks).
Florida State, SUNY-Albany, and to a lesser extent Penn State have good graduate-level tropical meteorology programs as well as large undergraduate programs. Other schools like Miami, Colorado St, and MIT have smaller or non-existent undergraduate programs. I may be leaving one or two out from my memory right now. Truthfully though, for any program you go to, it's all about what you make of it. This page -- http://www.ametsoc.org/amsucar_curricula/index.cfm -- should be able to give you more info on meteorology programs in general.
Hope this helps!
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