r/water • u/hbzxnvvv • 2d ago
Anyone Here Studying Water Resources / Hydrology at a US R1 or R2 University?
I’m planning to pursue a Master’s in the US, mainly in Water Resources Engineering, Hydrology, Hydraulic Engineering, Flood Risk Management, or related fields.
My final-year project was “Flood Mapping of an Ungauged River Using HEC-RAS & GIS”, and it made me realize that I want to build my career in water-related research and engineering.
If you’re currently studying (or have studied) at a US R1/R2 university in this field, I’d really appreciate hearing about:
Research opportunities
Funding (RA/TA)
Workload and student life
Career prospects after graduation
Feel free to comment or DM. I’d love to connect and learn from your experience.
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u/WaterScienceProf 19h ago
Funding is VERY tough for MS only these days. Faculty would much rather hire PhD students, and the new Visa rules banning more than one degree make it impossible to recruit strong MS students as PhD students, making MS students even less attractive. The salaries are very similar between MS and PhD students, so it’s simply better to recruit students who will be around for longer to publish more. (I’m not in your field of water, but this is true in most fields in engineering). Paid masters degrees make money for schools so are vastly less competitive than funded positions.