So, I really want to be a petroleum engineer but obviously there is a lot of instability in the field, so I was think of majoring in mechanical and going after petrol internships and taking some related classes so that I could eventually land a petrol job but have a backup too. So, my question is what sate and what colleges could I get petroleum engineering internships at as a mechanical engineer. I was thinking maybe Texas Tech. Please let me know, all help is greatly appreciated.
You can get a pretroleum internship from any large and respected engineering program. All the good Texas schools, Virginia Tech, University of Florida, Georgia Tech, several UC schools, Minnesota (I will get back to them in a minute), Wisconsin, Penn State, UIUC, Cornell, Michigan, etc…
I think another good major, should you be interested in the Petroleum industry, would be Chemical Engineering. The University of Minnesota is relatively affordable, even for OOS students, and their ChemE department is one of the top 5 in the country. All the big energy/petroleum companies recruit there. One of my best friends at Michigan-Ann Arbor, a MechE, had an internship at Schlumberger in Houston at the end of Junior year and was offered full time jobs at several petroleum companies when he graduated.
Wow, thanks for the information.
By the time you graduate we are likely to see a resurgence in the industry, but it’s hard to place a bet so far into the future.
Schools in Texas.
Schools in Texas.
schools in TEXAS.
Or Colorado School of Mines
If the OP is NOT from TX it does not make sense to emphasize schools in TEXAS.
Years ago, i worked in this field, and we never hired folks to do petroleum engineering who had degrees other than that, so while your plan looks good on paper, I’d check really carefully to make sure that being “safe” isn’t going to keep you from doing what you really want to. (maybe by doing a minor?? Not sure about this.) Lots of folks from Texas A&M and Colorado School of Mines. I think maybe some from Canada as well (Alberta??). Can’t say where those programs rank now. (These things change and my info is a little old.)
@OwenAllen I was curious about who one of the top petroleum engineering firms hire now, so checked out netherland sewell’s people page. http://netherlandsewell.com/techstaff.html I stand corrected – they clearly have engineering staff with ME and ChemE degrees as well (usually coupled with industry experience.) You could look at these bios and see where their degrees came.
@“Erin’s Dad” - look at where the jobs are:
Paying OOS rates doesn’t make sense unless the OP’s family has $200K to burn. And OK has a higher %age of Pet E jobs.
“http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172171.htm”
This data is really old - it reflects information from 2-3 years ago.
TENS OF THOUSANDS of petroleum engineers have been laid off in the last 12 months, with more layoffs to come.
They are likely to be rehired if the price of oil goes up again, which it wont because of the glut of oil now available around the world.
OP -pick another energy engineering specialty if you want a better chance of getting a JOB.
Thanks everyone for all the advice.