I am a community college student from Houston, TX and I was wondering if there is anyone here familiar with Texas Tech University (located in Lubbock, TX) and the University of Houston (in Houston, of course) and their engineering schools? If so, what is your opinion on the schools/programs, specifically mechanical and petroleum engineering? These are the schools I am considering transferring to in case I do not get into Texas A&M’s engineering school.
Depends upon the program. Houston’s Chemical Engineering Department is top notch.
I know a lot of people doing engineering here. For my friends who are juniors/seniors, they have no problems finding jobs. Houston is engineering heaven. Every month, the College of Engineering holds a career fair with 100+ companies. I have friends who are freshmen, like me, and have already lined up paid internships for this upcoming summer. As a biochemistry major, I envy them.
That being said, I would recommend going into mechanical for career purposes, not petroleum. Houston is the energy capital of the world, yet even the gas companies who come to these career fairs (Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Haliburton, etc.) aren’t looking for petroleum engineers; they are looking for mechanical, since a mechanical can do basically everything petroleum can, plus more. Mechanical is more flexible, so a better investment for them.
I’ve had friends who are juniors come back from career fairs complaining that they should have gone into mechanical, since that’s what everyone wants.