<p>i just got accepted letter from tamu petroleum engineering department. i know it has great pay but the whole industray is declining and i still have four years at college till i can work. i m wondering is this really worth a shot?what if the whole thing run out or collapse when i'm in middle age.</p>
<p>If a ‘collapse’ occurs, finding a job will be the least of our worries.</p>
<p>finding a job in petE field or some other field if it collapses wil b easy ?</p>
<p>Even if a reliable new source of energy was created it would take years to implement it and even more to convert or for people to buy the new technology in America alone. The rest of the world would take even longer which would still require a need for the older energy technologies. Natural gas isn’t going anywhere either; I wouldn’t worry about it for a while and then after another 20 years if it has changed go back to school and get your masters in something else.</p>
<p>^ Great statement</p>
<p>The petroleum industry isn’t going to collapse anytime soon. While this may seem like a bold statement, lets point out some obvious facts. </p>
<p>1) The petroleum companies are really the only companies that have the capital to put towards large scale alternative energy efforts. Behind closed doors, they are doing tons of research in this area, and they will ultimately control when it is implemented. And even when they do choose to come out and show the world what all their billions of dollars of revenue are doing, it will take many years for it all to come to any sort of fruition. </p>
<p>2) If oil market collapsed now, then the world would be in serious serious trouble, and these companies are simply not going to let that happen unless something unforeeen occurs which it surely won’t.</p>
<p>3) There’s still plenty of oil left to last a long time, and these companies are going to make every last dollar they can off of it.</p>
<p>So PetE is perfectly fine. Is it cyclical: yes. But you could argue the same thing about many other professions. </p>
<p>The only thing I would advise is to really ask yourself if PetE is where you want to take your career. It is going to limit your job opportunities to that field, and while you can go to grad school, you will still be limited to that field. So it is worth thinking about what kind of options you want to leave open to yourself in the future. This is not necessarily something you need to know now, but after freshman year you will have a better idea where your interests are.</p>
<p>^ suppose if it collapsed all of a sudden and pet engineerz are laid off…what then? what would people like me do after having spent 4-5 yearz on it…and all oe a sudden if therz a question mark then?..even if therz no possibility ,^ can u please tell me what one wud do in such a case???</p>
<p>Your career changes over your life. My Aggie husband has a BS in Engineering Technology, Masters in Aero Engineering. His job title is Business development Manager for a company that sells Laser positioning equipment. He has a very high salary. Ask executives in their 40-50’s what they started out doing and I bet you wont find many doing the same thing or even in the same industry they started in.</p>
<p>^^^ Excellent point Madam.</p>
<p>Also forget “suppose” …do what YOUR Passion is.</p>
<p>^^^well its not just about the $$$…i find no other engg. more appealing than petroleum,simply because of adventure type life…close rival was computers.but i hate sedentary life and love to be active.</p>
<p>klparker312:how can anyone switch between careers to the one which he has no knowledge of ? obviously u will have to spend some more years on studying it which i think sucks , and then finding a new career worth your interest would be an issue as well…and i have not heard anyone switching careers like that…and what you said about your husband was because he had bachelors and masters in different fields-which i dont think i will do…i want to do everything in petroleum-considering that,what do you think i would end up doing if petroleum engineers are laid off and i know nothing accept petroleum ? i guess i would end up in the middle of nowhere</p>
<p>chato999: how will finding a job be easy in any other field by having studied petroleum engineering ?</p>
<p>tim900000 - it is just called life. Something that happens as you live your life and network in your job field along the way. Your job branches off into other areas - you are made a manager - then you see a job you are fully qualified for because of skills you have learned along the way and you move into a new area - It isnt going to happen immediately - and the fall of the oil industry isnt going to happen immediately either.
I wish I could have an exact explanation for you - but I dont… Life happens as you go from 20 to 50+ in age.</p>
<p>klparker312:thank u very very much…somewhere else i read that even if it collapses,it wud be long time ennugh 4 ppl of my age to gain much much experience and so companies wud retain oldies…thats worth a shot ! klparker:1 more quertion,which 1 shud i prefer if i get selected to both penn state and a&m ?</p>
<p>a&m
10 char</p>
<p>Tim900000: It would be highly unlikely for a person to start in a position and remain in the same position for 20-30yrs. Careers change over time depending on the qualities and determination of the individual, not necessarily the specific degree you graduate from colege in. in my company, if a person does a great job and is willing to expand and learn new areas, many different positions and promotional opportunities exist. I began my career with a biology degree working in a lab and progressed into various positions and into a Director position in supply chain management in a multinational firm with a much higher salary than a biology degree could ever offer. The key is to not limit yourself, be willing to learn and be passionate about the work in whatever area you work in. These are traits I look for and insist on when recruiting new hires.</p>
<p>texassky and klparker312 : yes now i do have a pretty good idea about career changing over the time. thank u thank u.</p>
<p>Penn State and TAMU are very similar academically. Huge schools, huge opportunities, huge alumni support. They are both in college towns, and have excellent national reputations. Both schools have tremendous spirit, but very different flavors of it. It is likely that PSU will be more expensive. This week, the new PA governor just announced a state funding cut which amounts to 10% of their budget. DS got accepted to both, and chose TAMU. We are from PA by the way. It was the Aggie culture that drew him in. Next child will apply to both and hopefully will have a hard decision to make.</p>
<p>I didn’t read EVERYONE’S post, but in the ones I did read, I didn’t see it acknowledged that PLASTICS are made from Petroleum, as well. And then people retort: “What about that plastic made from corn at (some health food or hipster place)?” Well, If you want to start putting bio-degradable plastic on your cars, homes, and anything else that is put outside, be my guest. I prefer durability.</p>
<p>^It’s really just a marketing gimmick so corporations can appeal to green consumers. The price of vegetables are directly proportional to the cost of petroleum so I can’t imagine a day when it will be less expensive to produce any plastic from biomass rather than oil.</p>
<p>^^Good point about plastics. Definitely one of those that fails to get associated with petroleum sometimes. Just another reason oil is going to be needed for a very long time.</p>