As a bit of context, I have a bit of a personal dilemma going on right now that I’d really like to solve sooner rather than later. I’m a rising senior and I’ll be applying to colleges in a couple months. I’m planning on majoring in Petroleum Engineering, and the two schools I’m looking at are LSU and University of Texas (Austin). I’m 100% confident in my major choice and that I’ll make it into the PetE programs at both of those schools. I’m planning on getting at least a M.S.
University of Texas’ PetE program is often called the best in the country. They have really high placement and are in a prime location for internships and networking. LSU’s program - while having a nice drilling lab - isn’t quite as good from what I’ve heard. There have been recent problems due to understaffing, and LSU is actually being monitored this upcoming year as they’ve been threatened with losing their PetE accreditation. Networking is not quite as good there. As for their locations, I’d much rather go to college in Austin than in Baton Rouge. I like UT much more overall.
Due to my state not having a PetE program, I’m eligible for tuition reduction via the Academic Common Market. However, Texas doesn’t participate in the ACM at the undergraduate level. My issue is that if I want to go to Texas, I would pay approximately $44k per year as an undergraduate. LSU does participate in the ACM at the undergraduate level, and my tuition there would be closer to $22k or so per year, about half as much. There are no other PetE programs in my ACM.
Wherever I go, I’d rather ride it out all the way (whether it be a M.S. or higher), but tuition will be the same after undergrad, so if I go the cheaper option with LSU, I’ll still be stuck there for another year or two at the same tuition as Texas. Though, that’s still a long way away.
I have enough to pay off college at LSU without taking loans, my parents may be willing to foot the bill for paying extra to go to UT if they agree I’ll be better off, but if they don’t and I have to take out some loans (say $50K) to help pay off a B.S. from UT, in your opinion, would it be worth it? I’d just like to hear a few opinions.
Talk with your parents about their budget. If UT will be affordable, then apply to both, and decide where to attend once you know where you have been accepted.
There is no good reason to go straight into an MS Eng if you can get a job with your undergrad degree. Many employers will help pay for grad school, so don’t worry about that cost just yet. And, if you would decide to get a PhD, that is something that the university should pay you to do, rather than you paying for.
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Wherever I go, I’d rather ride it out all the way (whether it be a M.S. or higher), but tuition will be the same after undergrad, so if I go the cheaper option with LSU, I’ll still be stuck there for another year or two
Senior schedule: AP lit, AP comp sci, AP Physics C: Mechanics, Linear Algebra / Calculus 3 (each a semester), and filler courses.
I’ve taken all Honors/AP at a fairly nice public school, I’m only unhappy with my BC score (I went from getting low 5’s / high 4’s to a 3 on the actual AP test =/ ). My SAT isn’t particularly good as my English skills aren’t great and I always fall for the math tricks, but I don’t have much of an incentive to try and raise it.
As well as various other awards/varsity sports/volunteer hours/yada yada.
I’m confident that I won’t get rejected from either school, though I don’t exactly have Southern California or Stanford worthy credentials =P
you’re supposed to CHANGE schools so that you’re exposed to more profs
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TIL, staying in one place just seems like it’d be convenient, maybe if it’s not a 4+1 program it’s not a good idea? No point in worrying about it now though.
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As an OOS student, getting into UT is probably unlikely. You have a 1300 M+CR
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Eh, I’m not too concerned. I’m already taking the ACT (and the SAT again) in the coming months. Even if I manage to get my SATs up 10-20 points ea. and end up with a 1320-1340 I’d be around their 75th percentile for admissions. My SATs are already above avg, and they’re my low point, so I’d personally be pretty surprised if I get rejected over them. Not making it in would give me a nice easy decision though!
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what is your rank?
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I don’t have my most recent transcript on hand, though I’ll be between 10 - 20 in a class of 230, so definitely top 10%
Rank really only matters at UT if you are graduating from a Texas high school. I agree with mom2collegekids UT is not a sure thing for you. Have you looked at the PetE program at OU? I’ve heard there are some very good departmental scholarships there, you might consider it as a safety school.
As an OOS student, looking at their middle quartiles is not going to give you much hope. UT is full of instate students who got in by being top 7% of their class, regardless of their SATs. Therefore, some from weaker K-12 schools got in with low test scores.
An unhooked OOS student will likely have to have high test scores because, logically, UT uses high score OOS students to help balance out the instate low score students that they were forced to admit.
@austinmshauri that wouldn’t be too much of a problem, without going into too much detail.
@GMTplus7 I’ve been looking into the major for 3 years and I do think it’s wise, yes.
@3scoutsmom@mom2collegekids I looked into their admissions more, and yeah I’d probably need higher SAT / ACT to get into that specific program. I didn’t do any prep work for my SAT, so I could probably raise it a good bit if I take it again. Yeah I did see OU but I wasn’t originally going to apply. If they have good scholarship opportunities it’s certainly worth the application though.
This thread got derailed a bit, but thanks for the input
Go to the UG program that meets your needs at the lowest cost. By the time you are seeking out what to do after completing UG, you will have more info and more direction. Sounds like LSU may fit the bill.
Normally I would say to take the lower cost option rather than borrow a large amount. But LSU is currently under significant financial strain as a result of state funding cutbacks, and it is likely to adversely affect the undergrad experience and probably the price over four years. Why? Decreased state oil and gas revenues, for one thing! I would do a lot of homework before signing up for LSU right now. Is there an Option C? Oklahoma? Alabama?
3 years ago, Saudi Arabia had not deliberately depressed oil prices to capture market share, and Iran wasn’t on the brink of further flooding the market.
@hawley21 In general, I would definitely want to take a low cost option as @SOSConcern said, however you’re describing my concerns exactly like they are, LSU doesn’t seem like a good option right now. Option C is seeming like a good idea, I’ll probably look into Oklahoma.
Is LSU your only other choice? Have you considered schools like A&M and University of Houston which have reasonably good programs too and probably give you some merit money?
It is not easy to get into UT if you are out of state. What are your stats that make you so confident?
@texaspg I’ll be applying to A&M as well, but from what I’ve heard they aren’t friendly to outsiders. I have not looked into University of Houston, though I’ll tack that on with OU as somewhere to research.
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It is not easy to get into UT if you are out of state
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Yeah I dug around a bit yesterday and turns out their 10% law heavily skews their admissions stats. I posted various stats as a reply to someone else on the first page, but as a TL;DR my UW GPA is 3.714 (w/ difficult classes), and top 10% but SAT score isn’t up to snuff to get into that program (1804/1300 M+CR), and I’d likely need a boost there, which I think I could do.
The gulf states just won $$$ from BP. UA is having the money go into its general fund.
Anytime there is news about a big school losing various funding, other money comes through. For example, U WI - they are reviewing faculty tenure as part of a way to tighten the financial belt; well a U-WI professor got lured to U-MN. A week later, an alum family gave $50 million for scholarships, and there were people lining up to match with big money.
LSU is not going to collapse. The flagship school is going to come out fine. I would not rule out other schools that have the program at a cost/effective price. I would also get info from the specific dept and also check out concerns with admissions and other depts.
TX is a big state, so of course job placement from UT using their networks, etc. Still you don’t need the job guarantee at that financial price.
If your stats are high enough, can attend UA as OOS in ChE.
One does not need to attend UG PetE to work in that field - can study ChE, do internships in PetE. Nephew got a ChE degree from his home state (IA State) and is doing quite well in the oil industry - he never interned or co-oped either. The job market was hot, lukewarm, and cold at various times within a year of two of his graduation. When it got hot, he had two job offers after phone interviews.
@SOSConcern while I’m sure that LSU will pull through, I’m concerned about their status right now. They are in the middle of trying to fix their program, and they are having understaffing issues where their student:faculty ratio is so high that there have been concerns that the quality of the education in their PetE program is subpar. While I wouldn’t consider that something that would be worth immediately disregarding a school over, it’s certainly something to consider.
Networking is a high priority of my list of what I’m looking for in a school, I think that knowing the right people could make my life easier in the long run.
I appreciate the suggestion of going into ChE and breaking off into the oil industry after UG, but I’m not willing to do that. I’m not just interested in working in O&G, I’m genuinely interested in the topic, and I don’t want to miss out on that education.
and again, big thanks to everyone taking the time to post responses
