<p>Frugaldoctor speaks the truth. The manufacturing plant I worked for has 500 plus employees and the guy who owns it never attended college either. Self made man, I don’t know if it was the thing during the 60’s and 70’s or what. But a lot of these privately owned oil field companies are owned by people who became their own success, with or without a degree. </p>
<p>I can’t say I would enter the program now if I had to do it all over again. The influx of students is ridiculous, the same even goes for the petroleum technology programs. A good bet would be Mechanical. Most of the guys who were hired to do drilling engineering during the late 70’s early 80’s were mostly Mech E’s. It really makes up the majority of many oil companies engineering core. All I can say is I’m glad I’m graduating now and landed a job with one of the big 5. It is going to be really cut throat come the next 3-4 years. It is starting to remind me of how pharmacy was a few years back. Students flooded the departments expecting high salaries and now it is hard to get a job. College is a gamble and a roll of the dice. You better get ready for competition. Most importantly refine your communication skills. Take a public speaking course or two. Communication is essential in the oil field.</p>