Lets start off with my college. Lebanese American University (LAU) ranked 600-650 on QS. 10th in the Arab world. 2nd in my country. So as you see first of all its not a tremendously high ranked college by any means. But its still a good and respectable university all of its Eng degree majors are ABET accredited except for Petroleum engineering ( Because its a new major. Established in 2014) which im currently enrolled in. We are promised that the major will be ABET accredited before we graduate but for some reasons I have my doubts. Suppose we don’t get the ABET acc. Is it still worth it ? Will I be employed in a decent paying job ? Should I switch major ?
The choice of school would seem to be the least of your worries. Have you not gotten the memo? Oil prices have crashed, and so has the industry. And Iran is about to further flood the market with another million barrels per day. I can hardly think of a riskier subject to major in now.
FYI:
Is There Money to Be Made in Oil? New Grads Don’t Think So
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-29/graduates-question-six-figure-oil-jobs-as-layoffs-swell
Who Will Hire a Petroleum Engineer Now?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/who-will-hire-a-petroleum-engineer-now-1431130173
Oil Firms Face Reality of Sustained Low Prices
http://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-companies-face-reality-of-sustained-low-prices-1446124922
(If you don’t have a subscription to the WSJ, you can read the article for free by Googling its title. )
And don’t count on getting a job outside the US:
From Venezuela to Iraq to Russia, Oil Price Drops Raise Fears of Unrest
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/world/from-venezuela-to-iraq-to-russia-oil-price-drops-raise-fears-of-unrest.html?_r=0
The Gulf States are now in the unfamiliar situation of having to borrow money to stay afloat.
Oh yes I have gotten the memo already dont worry about that. But the crash in oil price is just a political scheme that wont last long. Oil prices will boom again in the upcoming decade. Maybe not as high as it was. No one can predict what will happen in the market not even in a year time.
Sounds like you weren’t looking for an answer @Georges10452k but rather an affirmation. No one can give you that given the current situation in the profession as @GMTplus7 has pointed out to you.
It sounds like I wasn’t looking for this kind of answer @NorthernMom61. Speculations about wether oil prices will be low in a decade from now.
People in the industry say this downturn is different.
Are you trying to get employed in the US?
If your school is doing a good job, why wouldn’t it get accredited?
I think looking at world-rankings for E is just silly. It’s a big world with a gazillion univs…to rank them and then think that those who end up in the hundreds aren’t good enough is silly.
It’s like ranking all the beautiful women in the world. If you met the one who’s ranked 400, she’d still be drop-dead gorgeous!
The drop in oil prices is not just a political scheme. They may come back up eventually but it’s not just politicians or speculators playing around. The US is barely importing anything anymore due to the shale gas boom, China is starting to invest in nuclear, and Russia needs to keep selling a lot to fund its foreign adventures in Ukraine and Syria while its economy fails. It’s going to be a rough ride for a while.
And Saudi Arabia is waging economic war on Iran since the Iranians will soon be able to export its oil, and the Saudis are going to drive the price so low (maybe with an eye to the US oil production capability) that the Iranians can’t make money from selling its oil.
The bottom line is that the geopolitical factors are complex and seem to be slated to stay with us for the next few years. It’s not just some silly, short-lasting political game unless one believes the Saudis and Iranians will suddenly like each other or the Russians will stop trying to compensate for the struggling economy with military adventures or any number of related issues.
what is most relevant to nuclear engineering, chemical or mechanical engineering? which would be said to have a most comforting lifestyle? I am most interested in physics but i can definitely change to chemical if it will benefit my future @boneh3ad
If you were looking for “most comfortable lifestyle” then petroleum engineering was never the best idea anyway considering they tend to work ridiculous hours out on the job site for many days straight before getting a bunch of days off in a row. It’s a very strange work schedule. Otherwise, your latest question is unanswerable. Chemical and mechanical engineering are so broad that it would be impossible to say which would have a more comfortable lifestyle.
Mechanical is probably slightly more relevant to nuclear engineering.
If you are interested in physics, mechanical would be the most related to mechanics (physics 1) with lots of emphasis on forces and materials.
Maybe also nuclear may be of interest (not that familar with that personally).
Chemical engineering requires 3+ years of chemistry and then you do tend to work in chemical process type work (broad stroke).
Electrical engineering is also physics based, but more electromagnetics …
Since a 40 year career requires some core interest to be successful, I would look into each at your particular school or candidate schools and see which calls to you the most. Trying to game the job market with at least a 4 year period between starting a major and first job and then the 40 years ups and downs in most industries in not really worthwhile in my opinion. There are tremendously successful and barely making it engineers in each field, and salaries have wide overlap. Not to mention that engineering management, project management, upper management are more similar than different in many ways, including best personalities and skill sets. As a manager, it helps if you have some core interest in your product line and what your employees are doing on a technical level.
Given there are millions of engineers in the US, the types of jobs and lifestyles vary considerably. Also, what is important, staying in a specific geographic area, hours and flexibility, overtime requirements, job security, job flexibility (moving to similar field due to job market or new interest or desire for change of pace).