<p>I am currently a Junior at Penn State University and i'm having some trouble deciding what career path I want to fallow . I am currently enrolled in the Petroleum and natural gas engineering program and I am finding that I do not enjoy the math at all and it is killing my GPA. I have completed all my physics and chemistry requirements and somewhat enjoyed them. I know that I want a career that involves geology and more specifically oil and gas. My biggest issue right now is deciding between geo sci. or geology. Can someone please explain the positive and negative aspects of these two different careers. I understand that to have a decent job in either of these fields, a masters degree is beneficial. What option within these 2 degrees has the greatest employment opportunities? Any advice/stories is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>As a sophomore in the Penn State Geosciences program I can give you some insight into the program, but not necessarily the career path.</p>
<p>The Geosciences major is a broad and highly quantitative program that is well regarded in the industry. I have not heard of a Geology major here, perhaps you mean Earth Sciences? Either way, with the background you have in math, chem, and physics Geosciences is the way to go.</p>
<p>I would recommend speaking to an adviser or faculty member within the department. If you know your future will be in oil and gas, learn about the following concentrations:</p>
<p>Geophysics
Seismology
Geochemistry
Petrology
Stratigraphy
Hydrogeology (limited)
Geobiology (limited)</p>
<p>Getting an idea of what the industry is looking for is as simple as looking on the website of any in the big 6 (Exxon, Shell, Chevron, BP, Total, ConocoPhillips)</p>
<p>Hope this helped! Remember, talking to actual professors and industry professionals is the way to go.</p>
<p>If you go to [this</a> page](<a href=“http://www.geosc.psu.edu/industry-recruiting]this”>http://www.geosc.psu.edu/industry-recruiting) and click on a company’s name on the right, you can scroll down to More Information and find job descriptions.</p>
<p>I’m a senior in PNGE and right now I’m interning as a reservoir engineer at one of those big 6. Unless you want to get a PhD, stay away from geology/geosci. What do you hate about math? Calculus? If so you won’t have to do it again. It’s basically just algebra. If you’re going to change to geosci/geology, I would choose geology since I see many more of them. Geosci would lead you to geophysics which would get you pretty technical and limit your options location wise (Houston). Within PNGE, reservoir engineering would deal the most with geology.</p>