<p>I'm going to Texas A&M next fall and i can't decide on a major. i've narrowed it down to petroleum or mechanical but i cant choose.</p>
<p>Do you still have a slot / option in either one? Both of those majors were full long before this time last year.</p>
<p>Yes I’m pretty sure I can. But regardless, the classes are basically all the same for engineers first year. So I can switch to whatever I want sophomore year.</p>
<p>Both of them are physics intensive. My dad is a petroleum engineer and he has to travel a lot. If you enjoy traveling, you may as well go for petry. But also think a little bit on your plans for a family, since the traveling actually becomes a downside with that in the equation.</p>
<p>I was wondering if there’s any opportunities in that field that DON’T require constant traveling</p>
<p>what is the travel/work schedule like? </p>
<p>dont they get a lot of time off as well?</p>
<p>There are a lot of positions that don’t require any travel, and some that require minimal travel.</p>
<p>My biased opinion: Mechanical</p>
<p>Why? I have a lot more respect for mechanical engineers than petroleum engineers in general. But alas, that is my biased opinion.</p>
<p>I am interested in both. I like mechanical engineering because of the “hands on” type of work and it seems interesting. But petroleum seems interesting too and the money is never a bad thing.</p>
<p>First, never make that kind of decision based solely on money. I am sure plenty of people will flame me for that, but it seriously is a bad idea.</p>
<p>Second, just as a warning, it is not every mechanical engineer that does “hands-on” stuff at work day in and day out. That is certainly a possibility, but not the majority.</p>
<p>I am hoping to transfer to tamu next year and I’m thinking bout those two majors too.
What I’ve been thinking is that if I major in petroleum eng will I be able to study other engineering course such as mechanical for master’s degree if say, I get bored of it…</p>
<p>I’m not basing it solely on money (even though it is definitely a factor)… But I was worried about PetE because I thought traveling was basically required but as long as there are opportunities that don’t require it then I might give it a try and see if I like it. You never know, I might hate it and switch to mechanical, nuke, or some other major. My main influence on career choice is family. I want to start a family and be able to actually spend time with my kids.</p>
<p>I chose Mechanical Engineering because of its versatility. It offers two sides – a dry side, and a wet side. The dry side mostly involves dynamics, control systems, and mechanical design. The wet side involves fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and combustion. I’m sure you’d find your niche somewhere in this field. I’m not so sure about Petroleum Engineering, only because it sounds very specialized. Still, I don’t know a whole lot about that field, so I’ll leave that to someone else.</p>