Hi everybody,
I’m currently enrolling at a community college. My Gpa now is 3.48 and Texas A&M is my dream school. So far, I took:
Calculus 1: A
Composition 1: B
Composition 2: A
I’m going to take Calculus 2, Chem 1 on next semester. I’m also retaking Precalculus because I made a C. Therefore, do you guys think I have chances to get into A&M for Petroleum Engineering?
If I finish Precal with an A, my Gpa will go up to 3,67. Do you guys think I’m going to have a better chance? By the way, what is their Gpa minimum requirement for Petroleum Engineering?
Before you major in PE, look at the job outlook.
My nephew looked for 1 ½ years before finding a job and it wasn’t in his major of pet eng.
Do you think petroleum is a good job now?
@“aunt bea” which college did your nephew graduate from? The PE majors we know at A&M had very good luck with jobs. Even one that barely graduated - however, she was a female minority, so that certainly helped her job prospects. She was hired 6 months before graduating by the company she interned with the previous summer.
Is there a riskier major now than petroleum engineering?
I’m not an expert on this @Vietnamese; I just know that the “fracking” jobs disappeared and my nephew and his friends had difficulty finding jobs and asked us if we could turn in his resume in California. BLS said in 2014 that it was on the upswing, but that was before the “fracking” issue exploded.
Nephew just found a job about two months ago and was desperate to pay back his loans. @AGmomx2, Mo S&T. Since the environmental groups have clamped down hard on “fracking” practices, some of those jobs have disappeared.
@GMTplus7, do you have any additional info on this?
So do u guys think a 3.6 gpa is good to get accepted to petroleum engineerinh program at a&m?
Did you look at their website for their transfer requirements?
https://engineering.tamu.edu/apply/transfer-students
Dude, are you in denial? GPA should be the least of your concerns about this industry. What are u going to do w such a SPECIALIZED degree when u graduate and there are no jobs?
The industry is in serious crisis and is projected to stay that way for a prolonged time. This downturn is different. Fracking technology has fundamentally changed the equation: it has changed the project development time cycle and has created a global supply glut. The Saudis are determined to keep prices low to maintain supply market share. Iran, post-sanctions, is now flooding the market. Global storage facilities are full and cannot soak up any more excess oil supply. On top of it all, global demand for oil is soft because of weakening economies in Latin America, Europe & Asia-- especially China.
There have been hundreds of thousands of job losses and countless company bankruptcies. EVERYDAY in the WSJ and FT there are ever more dire reports aboutnthe industry. The energy stocks in my retirement fund are in the toilet.
With a more generic engineering degree u can still work in the oil industry when/if it revives. With a specialized PE degree your employment options are limited.
Okay @GMTplus7, that makes perfect sense for my nephew’s job .
He didn’t find a job specific to PE. He had to do something else for a company in Arkansas.
@Vietnamese, if you are still considering engineering: try mechanical engineering since that seems to have more future options. You do hope to have a career sometime, right?
I’ll consider that
Good article at Wall St. Journal on PE job prospects. Includes perspective of A&M students and profs.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/who-will-hire-a-petroleum-engineer-now-1431130173
If you can’t read the article because it wants a subscription, just past the title into Google then find it in the search results. Works everytime with WSJ articles.
In the May 2015 wsj article linked in post #12, oil was trading at 60 bucks. It’s fallen further to nearly half of that now.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/12/31/energy-oil-gas-us-jobs/78066610/
I’ve read the article and all I can say is WOW! Sad for the industry and it makes sense for my nephew. He always was a little greedy and it came back to bite him. He can’t repay his loans at this rate.
@ Vietnamese, you need to see that article and the what the comments from current PE manager say.
@“aunt bea” While Mechanical engineering is a very versitle degree, it is hard for a transfe to be admitted their unless they are Blinn Team or a transfer within TAMU. Its easier to get into Petroleum(52% admission rate) for a transfer then mechanical (26% admission rate)
http://engineering.tamu.edu/academics/advisors-procedures/entry-to-a-major/resources/analysis-spring-2015-admission-cycle/meen
http://engineering.tamu.edu/academics/advisors-procedures/entry-to-a-major/resources/analysis-spring-2015-admission-cycle/pete
I need to ask, why do you want to work in petroleum? If you have a good reason that has nothing to do with money, then don’t back out of the industry so soon. TAMU’s Mechanical and Petroleum engineering degrees have 5 General Engineering science classes and 9 major classes in common (plus electives) (Not to mention your gen eds) so you can probably last your first 2 years without worrying too much about which major you’ll chose between the 2.
here is A&M’s
https://engineering.tamu.edu/petroleum/academics/degrees/undergraduate/bs
https://engineering.tamu.edu/mechanical/academics/degrees/undergraduate/bs
I’d say stay in petroleum engineering if your admitted (since mechanical engineering is more hard to be admitted to if your not inside TAMU already with blinn or somthing) and transfer later if you really want to. I recommend you take (your 2nd semester AFT ENGR 111) ENGR 270 for 1 to 4 hours. its a community engineering team that looks into solving real life problems with engineering solutions in the bryan / college station. They do a lot of mechanical and chemical engineering projects so it will give you a chance to see if you like either of them. It counts as senior technical elective so it helps you complete your degree for either mechanical or petroleum engineering.
Also if you can try to do 3 Co Ops in the petroleum industry, you are going to be VERY likely to find a job. And if we stop drilling when you get your degree, you can always try to work abroad. Remember Aggies are demanded internationally, so you If its your passion, don’t let other people change your major because of the lack of stability it has… but if your not looking for passion disregard all I said.
PS - Engineering consulting is still available to petroleum engineering majors.
PSS - If you chose mechanical engineering, you can always get a masters in Petroleum engineering when the market’s fixed.
Also, for you class list,
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DON’T take chemistry. At TAMU you need to take a special chemistry for engineering majors instead of real chemistry. Transfering the credit is a hassle, and most people say that if you do the work, that class is an easy GPA booster at TAMU. Take another science
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Try to chose a Calculus based physics class (mechanics or EM). at community college it is normally called advanced physics 1 or 2. I REALLY recommend (if you can afford it) you take 1 physics class this spring term and the 2nd this summer term since most of your classmates will have already taken it by the time you arrive and you can’t take more then half the Petroleum/Mechanical Engineering classes without having them done.(also the physics class at TAMU is a “GPA crusher”)
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As for retaking PreCalc goes, may not care much, since they ask you to test out of that in their math placement test as a freshman. I would personally instead take ANY engineering class your college has that makes you look unique that will try to boost your transfer GPA.
Here is why
http://admissions.tamu.edu/pdfs-transfer2015/ENG-petroleum.aspx
- To know what will transfer, use this tool
https://compass-ssb.tamu.edu/pls/PROD/bwxkwtes.P_TransEquivMain
Good luck!
@lessonwitch2 I just took introduction of engineer. Is it ok?
Well, Check on the following link to know if your colleges introduction to engineering will transfer as a credit first.
https://compass-ssb.tamu.edu/pls/PROD/bwxkwtes.P_TransEquivMain
Bc Tamu only looks at classes that will transfer when deciding admisson
Pm me if you need specific instructions.
@lessonwitch2 If you talk about chem 107/117, it can be replaced by chemistry 1302.
According to the course sheets, “students attending an institution without an equivalent to CHEM 107/117
can transfer an equivalent to Fundamentals of Chemistry II (CHEM
102/112 – CHEM 1412) to fulfill the CHEM 107/117 requirement.”