<p>Hello, </p>
<p>I'm sure there are other threads with similar questions, but I'm really in need of some advice. I want to pursue a major in chemical engineering and go on to a top business school and eventually start my own company. I was admitted into the University of Florida, University of Texas at Austin, and Georgia Institute of Technology for chemical engineering. Here are the rankings for my major: UF- #28, UT Austin- #4, and GA Tech- #7. </p>
<p>Tuition varies broadly being an out of stater. Over the course of the 2 years it would take to complete my bachelors, UF would cost me roughly $30,000 and UT Austin and Georgia Tech would be roughly $78,000. (these numbers include tuition, food, housing, plane tickets, etc.)</p>
<p>Taking into consideration I want to go to grad school, what would be my best option? I really would like to get out of Florida as I am an older student (27) and really want to restart my life somewhere else. I've heard Austin is simply an amazing place to live, and if I did go there I would try to transfer into their petroleum engineering program. But I also dont want to go into boatloads of debt. Any advice?</p>
<p>You may want to “get out of Florida,” but you really should stay there for 2 more years and finish your degree. You can go OOS for grad school. Silly to go into a bunch of debt just to leave your state 2 years earlier.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be going OOS simply to leave Florida, but because the of the higher caliber chemical engineering education I would receive at Austin- hopefully translating into better job prospects.</p>
<p>" if I did go there I would try to transfer into their petroleum engineering program."</p>
<p>Why ?</p>
<p>Because their Pet E program is rated #1 in the world, its great money, and I think it would be an exciting field to get in to. It would kind of derail my business school plans though.</p>
<p>Going to Texas isnt going to mean better job prospects over Florida. Employers would view the schools as being similar…flagships. Besides, you want to go to grad school, so THAT school will get more noticed by employers.</p>
<p>Waste of money to go OOS now</p>
<p>BTW…who would cosign those boatloads of loans?</p>
<p>I’d follow M2CK’s advice. You haven’t really offered a compelling reason to forgo the education and financial advantage of U of Florida.</p>
<p>It appears that the engineering profession is much less driven by the pedigree of one’s undergraduate education than other fields. Thus, I don’t see an advantage to spend extra money for an out-of-state public program.</p>
<p>Save the money and stay at UF.</p>
<p>Petroleum engineering while great paying is very limiting. You’ll have much wider opportunities to work with different companies and industries with a chemical engineering degree. </p>
<p>I recommend finishing your ChemE degree at UF then work a job in industry you like to get a sense of opportunities and career paths. Once you’ve worked for a few years, then go back for an advanced degree in a specialized engineering field or MBA. Employers may help subsidize your advanced degree cost.</p>
<p>Thank you guys for your help. Questions I didnt even ask were answered lol.</p>
<p>I eventually want to become an entrepreneur and be my own boss. Do you think a degree in chemical engineering would serve me better than a degree in petroleum?</p>
<p>ChemE has more applications. PetE is more limiting (in my opinion).</p>
<p>Again, there’s no need to take on the add’l debt for an OOS school. </p>
<p>I want you to look into the future and imagine yourself as a new GT or UT grad with $80k of debt (about $1000 a month payments for 10 LONG years). You’re at your new job. You’re making these awful payments while also trying to pay all your other living expenses and paying high taxes since you’re a single person with no deductions. </p>
<p>Every day you’re working with fellow colleagues that are earning the same salary that you are. They don’t have this big debt. Their money is going towards buying a home and moving on with their lives. You learn that some of them went to schools that were ranked well below GT and UT. Heck, some went to colleges ranked well below UF. </p>
<p>Now…how do you think you’re going to feel each month that you write out that awful $1000 check? Gulp!</p>
<p>A person can be an entrepreneur and their own boss with any type of degree. I would say that path is more governed by personality type.</p>
<p>Did you have any specific plans for specializing within the Chem E field? What part of the petroleum industry are you interested in? I would say the skills and contacts you develop in your early career years will be a big factor in what type of business you will feel comfortable to open</p>
<p>M2CK, you give some very sound advice. However: lets say that I do stick with chemical engineering (most likely). A job as a chemical engineer in the oil industry as opposed to a job as a process engineer (where most chemical engineers go) pays around $30,000 more per year. UT Austin is the number one most recruited school for chem e jobs in the oil industry. I could pay off the extra money it would cost me to attend UT in 2 years with that extra money. What do you think?</p>
<p>Meh, employers aren’t going to pay you more because you graduated from UT. You can get the same exact jobs with a ChemE degree from UF… you just have to do a bit more leg work. On-campus recruiting will be the only difference. </p>
<p>Do any oil and gas companies conduct on-campus recruiting at UF? Check with your Career Center.</p>
<p>First off, you’re not going to have all that extra money. You’re a single person with no deductions. You’re going to be hit hard with taxes (which is why your low/no-debt colleagues will be buying homes quickly so they can have a mortgage deduction)</p>
<p>you can still get that oil industry job with the higher pay after graduating from UT. Heck, my son is a ChemE grad from Alabama (going to med school) and his ChemE friends got immediately hired in the oil industry making big bucks. And, Alabama’s ChemE dept is ranked lower than UF. </p>
<p>Companies do NOT pay engineers more for graduating from School A vs School B. Shocking for those with new Cornell or whatever degrees who find out that the new hire at the next desk from CSU Long Beach is being paid the same. lol</p>
<p>Yes, all the major oil companies recruit at UF. Overall, UF may have even better recruitment than U Texas, per the following survey:</p>
<p>2010 Wall Street Journal Survey
Top Recruitment Universities</p>
<ol>
<li>Pennsylvania State University</li>
<li>Texas A&M University</li>
<li>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</li>
<li>Purdue University</li>
<li>Arizona State University</li>
<li>University of Michigan, Ann Arbor</li>
<li>Georgia Institute of Technology</li>
<li>University of Maryland, College Park</li>
<li>University of Florida</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon University</li>
</ol>
<p>Rogracer, what list is that? Because every list I’ve seen (over 5) of oil company recruitment schools have rated UT in the top 1 or 2. Just for arguments sake. </p>
<p>I am still thinking about a list I saw at <a href=“http://www.payscale.com/college-education-value-2013[/url]”>http://www.payscale.com/college-education-value-2013</a>. It ranks Return on Investment for US schools, and even GA Tech and UT out-of-state is ranked leagues higher than UF in-state. Can someone logically argue me out of this one? I’m sorry, but I’m an over-analyzer that dissects things from all angles lol.</p>
<p>You can’t really compare the ROI on GT with other schools, since GT is a tech school and largely male. A school that is mostly male STEM students is going to have a higher ROI average than a regular flagship where students are STEM, Liberal Arts, Theatre, Music, etc.</p>
<p>Wow how did I not think of that? LOL. I forgot to take into account different majors and such. You are right about Georgia Tech given its STEM focus, but what about the differences between flagships and other “rounded” colleges? UT out-of-state is about 100 places above UF in-state. What gives?</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by comparing UT OOS w/ UF instate. What do you mean and where are you seeing those stats? </p>
<p>Off the top of my head I would say that it’s very hard to get into UT OOS, so maybe those accepted are the cream of the crop, so their ROI is more likely high. But, I’m not sure what you’re asking.</p>