<p>So I am a recent high school graduate going to UT and I am trying to decide what major to pursue. At the moment I am considering taking the ERB (Engineering route to business) where I would take a business block in MIS (Management Information Systems) and an engineering block in Petroleum engineering. I like how it provides me some background in tech as well as some engineering which appears to be high in demand (perhaps even pushing me towards the energy sector???). Two other options that I am considering are 1) a geology major (I haven't decided whether to do a BA or BS yet) with a focus in petroleum perhaps and 2) a BS in petroleum engineering. I really want to go into a field with a good amount of job stability, even though I do know that nothing is guaranteed. Still, I would also like to pursue a major with the potential for a lot of mobility, a good starting salary, and to move up in my career of choice. Something else to note would be that I do intend to major in English as well (I want to be an author), so I do want a field that can support me and still allow me to write. So I also want to know what sort of jobs there are, most especially for the ERB. If y'all know someone who has chosen to pursue one of these majors of if you are in one of these currently or have graduated with any of these I would really appreciate anything that you might have to say on the subject. Thank you!</p>
<p>Do NOT do ERB. You take at most, 2-3 upper division engineering courses, which isn’t much. ERB is like two, quarter degrees, but you only receive one BBA degree.</p>
<p>I would recommend you double major in English and Pet. Engineering. This way you can work in energy if you wish or you can be an author.</p>
<p>You are looking for job mobility and you want to be a petroleum engineer? Say whaaat?</p>
<p>Enjoy that oil rig now.</p>
<p>Also you don’t have to major in English to be an author…DUH.</p>
<p>ERB is a decent option if you want to do McCombs over Cockrell. It ranks 3rd out of 9 as far as salary by major is concerned, which tells you the demand is there. You get a better math and science background than any other business major which is a plus in the long-run.</p>
<p>However, a better option might be to do an engineering degree in Cockrell and go for an MBA later. As I think the poster above was alluding to, the ERB is sort of engineering lite. The positive for ERB though is that the difficulty level will be lower than a pure engineering degree and you can still expect a very good salary out of college.</p>
<p>@Ace6904, I’m not entirely sure what you mean. Are you saying that I would be doing more work and getting less out of the degree, or that it doesn’t provide a good background in those fields, etc?
@Inmotion12 Would you happen to know what type of jobs ERB majors get as well? If I were to pursue that field. Though I am definitely going to consider the MBA option.</p>
<p>Don’t major in English; if anything, minor in it. You don’t need to major in English to be an author. You would need to if you wanted to be an editor.</p>
<p>I would say your best bet is to go straight into engineering, and then get that MBA after.</p>
<p>avxnunez, to follow up on your question to ace, my thought is that it doesn’t give you a good background in those fields. You end up with basically a business degree with a minor in MIS and you add 4 PE courses out of the 17 required for a PE degree, or in essence a quarter of the PE requirements for the BS in PE. To be honest, I don’t know what kind of jobs there are for an ERB major. I would imagine if you want to go into sales, ERB could be a good choice. But if you have an interest in PE or MIS, you would be better off going for that major. Actually, if your interest is in MIS, you may be better off going into computer or software engineering and taking an accounting course or two.</p>
<p>@ijamji: i have considered a minor, but i do like the major in english as it does allow for more of a focus in creative writing. Do I think its necessary for me to become an author? No, but I do think it would be really helpful to me. And I am definitely considering just getting an MBA after, though how does getting a BBA vs getting an MBA w/ a separate undergraduate degree affect my career in the longrun??? Would it be better or worse?</p>
<p>@geo1113: Thank you for the clarification! I think I have a clearer grasp of just what exactly the ERB is now and what ace meant. I suppose I will just try out a few classes to see what I like, then get a major in that rather than trying take a do-it-all-at-once approach and really end up being under qualified.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>It’s common for people to go from having a degree outside of a BBA to getting their MBA. I believe the most common reason for going for that MBA is to be in a management position. For example, an engineer coming out of college might be able to find a job, but down the road, the chance for promotion might be extremely competitive. If one wished to become a manager, seeking a MBA would definitely give the individual a greater understanding of business and the decisions a business leader should choose. That will only make the individual more marketable, especially since he/she already has a valuable BS degree. Also, we can’t forget about the fact that a manager has to know what he’s managing, which makes that engineering knowledge essential.</p>
<p>With that said, if you wanted to get your BBA, then what would you do next? If you still wanted to major in engineering after getting your BBA, you would have to take plenty of math and sciences courses in order to prepare yourself properly for engineering graduate school. That’s not bad, but it’s rather quite well known that it’s much easier to teach someone (especially those that are taught math, such as engineers) business than it is to teach a businessman science and/or math. Go for the engineering first; perhaps you’ll enjoy it and won’t want to get your MBA right away. Maybe you’ll be happy with what you get out of undergraduate school.</p>
<p>As for your English major decision, I honestly don’t recommend going for more than a minor in English, and I doubt my opinion will change. Still, it’s your life and decision, so go for it if you choose to do so. Just make sure you speak with an advisor to see which courses you should take in order to focus on what you want to get out of your education from the English department.</p>
<p>Yea, I think I’m still a bit undecided about majoring in English, but as to what you said about the MBA stuff I think that was really helpful. I think that I will work towards having that strong math/science background with the engineering degree and then work on the MBA for my graduate degree. Thank you so much for commenting though, your advice has been really helpful! :D</p>