<p>CG, most of the larger companies have some sort of tuition reimbursement program. The details will vary from company to company. Most will have some sort of limit. The IRS allows tax-free reimbursement up to $5250 per year. There are some tax credits available. So the quick answer is your employer will pick up some of the cost. But hey, an employer picking up one class at Northwestern is still cheaper than you paying for the whole MM degree.</p>
<p>CG, you are a young man. You are going to school in the fall. You have determined a direction and it is a good one. The consensus here (and we are speaking from experience; I’m 55 years old, have been to the puppet show and have seen the strings) is that you choose your engineering path, then work hard and do the best you can. Get a job in your field and get some experience. Your engineering degree is going to be 4 years of hard work.</p>
<p>I agree with the others - get your Engr degree, work for a while, then worry about the MBA.</p>
<p>I got my geology degree, worked 9 years, THEN went for my MBA. Without question, I got a LOT more out of my classes than the 21-22 years olds with no work experience. I had personal, relevant experiences to draw from. They didn’t.</p>
<p>Alright thanks for the info everyone. I’m just worried about job security for the next 40 years in petroleum engineering if business doesn’t work out down the road. I feel like it’s too specialized. And money isn’t the only reason I’m interested in it.</p>
<p>CG, over the next 40 years who knows what may happen. You could be right that the specialized discipline is not in demand. You could be wrong. No one knows. So that which you think makes you secure may not. </p>
<p>I was looking for an appropriate quote and came up with this.</p>
<p>Never surrender opportunity for security.
Branch Rickey </p>
<p>Without thinking of security, ask yourself, what is that opportunity that you seek.</p>
<p>So get my bachelors in petroleum eng, work, then get my employer to pay. Is the northwestern mmm better for engineers since it’s an mba and masters in engineering management?</p>
<p>In term of better, I don’t know. That’s for you to decide… Students change their declared majors very quite often in undergrad so you should plan one step at a time. Get your two years of gen ed done and explore. You may think that you are interest in Petroleum right now but you might change your mind after couple of classes and gain better insight. In 4 years, your interest might change so plan accordingly!</p>
<p>CG, I don’t about transferring. UT is the top-rated program but I really don’t know how much more you will get from it. Penn State is no slouch. If you are good, you will be in demand no matter where you go to school.</p>
<p>Getting back to Northwestern, the MMM looks like a cool program, but it is a full-time program. So you will not be working and I don’t know what kind of financial support would be available. But I agree with khoiey, don’t think too far ahead.</p>
<p>Like you, I was dead set on majoring petroleum. Now that I’m in my junior year, I wish I didn’t follow the hype of money and exotic living lifestyle (traveling, working on rig, 3 weeks on 3 weeks off etc.) but to major in mechanical or civil engineering. </p>
<p>What I’ve learned so far is that major oil companies are only picking the cream of the crops when it comes to recruiting their engineers OR that you better have connections in the family. They do recruit mechanical/chemical/electrical/civil and even computer science/engineering. For example, last fall, ExxonMobil preferred to hire interns from chemical/electrical/mechanical and computer science. They didn’t even bother with us petroleum students.</p>
<p>If you are smart about it, then major in mechanical/civil and take petroleum classes as electives to get your foot in door with oil companies. That way, if you don’t like the vida of petroleum, you can always do something else versus a specialized degree such as petroleum.</p>
<p>Also, I have seen many posts on here about upstream and downstream. My advice is don’t worry about it. Most companies rotate their engineers.</p>
<p>Common now. When someone says they want to be a petroleum engineer they’re usually talking about working in the upstream sector. No way Exxon or any other oil company is taking chem/elec/mech engineers over petr for upstream jobs, all else being equal. </p>
<p>Just do good in school and you’ll be fine. OP is talking about wanting to be the CEO of an engineering company, I’m assuming he is going to be able to pull a 3.0+. If his interest is in the oil industry, particularly upstream, why do anything other than PetrE?</p>
<p>Apply for internships after your first year even though you probably won’t get one. If you don’t, work some labor job that has something to do with oil. The closer to the action the better. But even something like seismic is better than nothing. Consider getting some tickets (WHMIS, first aid, H2S) your first year while you’re in school to better your chance of landing that summer job, the small investment will probably be worth it. Also try to make connections your first year. Make friends with other students planning to pursue PetrE and join relevant clubs, attend industry mixers etc.</p>
<p>You get your MBA after you have work experience, and its smarter because you save money. The place where your working at will pay for the cost of getting an MBA. Having no work experience and getting an MBA is a definite no-no.</p>
<p>I’m probably gonna go to UT-Austin for Engineering (since engineering seems like a stable, wide field and because I’m not interested in anything else in particular) and I really like the idea of Petroleum Engineering. Yeah the high-pay and the long vacations also tempt me. Plus I always preferred chemistry over physics, especially the organic part and the part where they explain about fractional distillation of petroleum and whatnot. </p>
<p>But this scared me:
[ quote=khoiey]What I’ve learned so far is that major oil companies are only picking the cream of the crops when it comes to recruiting their engineers OR that you better have connections in the family. [ /quote] </p>
<p>“Cream of the crops”? So if I had a GPA of 3.0 or even 3.5 the employers wouldn’t employ me? And I am REALLY into UT-Austin. I’m gonna go live in Austin for a year just to get residency. UT-Austin is ranked as #1 for Petroleum Engineering, so wouldn’t that get me a job anywhere I wanted?</p>