I’m towards the end of my junior year in highschool and I’ve been looking into colleges. I really want to do petroleum engineering (preferably a drilling engineer) but I would rather get into the field with a mechanical engineering degree. This is due to the instability of the industry so that I would have other options if need be along with there being so few universities that offer petroleum as a major. So my question is essentially what schools could I go to to get a mechanical degree that would offer me good access into the oil industry. For example do oil companies “scout” at those schools, offer internships, and or go to their job fairs. If it is of any use, I live in Illinois. Some schools I’ve looked into are University of Alabama, University of Illinois Urbana Champagne, Virginia Tech, or maybe Texas Tech. Do those schools have a good connection to the industry?
Any help is appreciated.