Which Major

Hello, my name is Clay, I am in the class of 2019 and have been thinking about my future career. I would like to become an engineer but I’m not sure what to major in. I want something that will make me decent money right out of college. Petroleum engineering sounds like something I would love and enjoy. But not sure about this because of the slumps hitting the oil industry. Another one that sounds very cool is Mechanical Engineering. I know that this is broader and will offer more jobs. Will this be better for me? Is it possible to easily become a petroleum engineer with a mechanical engineering major? What other majors do you recommend for me? Preferably nothing in the medical field.
Thanks- Clay

Major in a field that really interests you. If engineering, then realize that the specific field you study is not going to necessarily define the industry in which you will eventually work.

Mechanical is a strong area for employment. Petroleum is somewhat risky; the Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates substantial growth (26%) in petroleum engineering jobs in the decade 2012-2022, but also points out, “Oil prices will be a major determinant of employment growth.” A brief look on Indeed.com (a jobs site) shows that sometimes companies hiring petroleum engineers stipulate a petroleum engineering degree. That website has today 861 results for “petroleum engineer” and 53,436 results for “mechanical engineer.”

By the way, in my experience it is difficult to move from one subfield of work to another. For instance, after years of my working as an environmental chemist, pharmaceutical companies weren’t interested in me. So perhaps even with a mechanical engineering degree, if you built up experience only in petroleum work, it might be difficult to get into another kind of engineering work.

Ok, I’m glad you said that. I think I will do mechanical right out of college if I do Engineering. I realize that there are a a numerous amount of factors that deal in with picking a degree so things could change. Is there any chance I could do Mechanical and later go back and get a Petroleum Engineering degree if thatboom hits again? Or if there are some of the same classes could I do both easily?

I don’t think you should train yourself for short term waves of the petroleum industry. I think you should either embrace the industry in spite of its volatility (see graph at https://costofcollege.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/02/19/a-warning-to-petroleum-engineer) or embrace a more reliable, mainstream field such as mechanical.

After doing mechanical engineering work, gaining responsibility, respect and increasing pay with it, would you really want to start over as an entry-level petroleum engineer? (From looking at the job descriptions, it seems what you need to know in these two work areas differs a lot.) And then when the boom is over it may be difficult to get back into mechanical engineering work at the level you’re used to.

At this point I’m leaning more towards mechanical even though I like Petro better. I will have better job security despite lesser pay. More jobs are out there for mech than petro. Maybe I could be a mechanical engineer for a oil and gas extraction company! This is highly unlikely but fun to think about.

I have a couple observations from my son’s recent experience with fall recruiting for petroleum engineers. He has been applying and interviewing on campus for internships, and, yes, the job market is not as robust, but they still are recruiting, just in fewer numbers. Roughly 60-70% of the job/internship listings for petroleum engineers specifically wanted petroleum engineers and would not interview other majors… The remainder of the job postings included mechanical and/or chemical for the most part, along with petroleum. Hope this helps and good luck with your decision.

What do you like about petroleum engineering? You may want to consider ChemE too.

I like that it is a job where I get to travel. I would go where the oil goes. I like the fact of having hands on work that isn’t primarily an office job. And I also like working in teams and making big decisions that will be thought about thoroughly.

One more question. I live in Iowa where there are no colleges that offer petro engineering. I know going to an out of state college is pretty pricy. But what are we talking? I plan on going to KU or Texas Tech and if I have to Missouri S and T

30-40k?
40-60k?

I also think it will all pay off in the end. Average salary for an early engineering career in petro is 101k. Its just the fact of coming up with the money in the first place and not being a burden to my family.

Thx a lot!

You could do the things you mention without a college degree. (It would be lower pay, but no college investment

I really was wondering what kind of courses you like, since you must suvive many tough engineering courses to get a degree and an engineering job. Are you a high school freshman or college freshman?

Any engineering degree is likely a good investment at an in-state public university. Personally, if you are financially stressed or just very conservative, Iowa likely has the lowest cost engineering degrees. If you are interested in the oil industry, whether for academic or financial reasons, you could consider taking some electives. Going out of state to study engineering is very costly for most people. You could consider a transfer if you find yourself really drawn to petro and are in Iowa, the freshman and sophomore classes will be offered the same in Iowa as in Texas.

Chemical engineering would put you closer to the flowing oil or refinery part of the oil industry.
Mechanical engineers are part of all the physical hardware that goes into pumping and refining oil.

Travel and hands-on work are not limited to petro industry or jobs. The good news is that these are not things most people really like, due to family obligations and preferring their nice home and big screen to being out in an oil field. So you can find these opportunities in many industries.

Petro industry is fairly cyclical, and when job opportunities shrink, that means someone is not getting hired or is getting laid off or has to take a lower opportunity than they would like. The field is already pretty saturated with graduates and is likely going to shrink in the 4 years it takes to get a degree (or 8 if you are still in high school).

I know a grad from Missouri S &T, who graduated with a degree in petroleum engineering in May 2014. He is still looking for a job.

He also got into it because of the conditions and his hope to earn big bucks.

He now works at a Walmart because he needs to pay back his loans.
The funny thing is my dd offered to take his resume to her personnel office at her corporation, a non-specific petroleum company, but with links to other fields and possible use of his background for international work-via this corporate company.
He said he wasn’t interested because he wanted to be available for any petroleum company that would come calling anytime. We were a little shocked. He’s still unemployed.

I agree that transferring into a petroleum program at a Texas school after 2 years is a good strategy to consider. It is difficult to get in from out of state as a freshman unless you have exceptional grades/test scores as you are competing for limited amount of spots after automatic admissions from Texas students. Check out each school carefully as each is different.

If you want to go into petroleum engineering, you just have to be aware of its cyclical nature and go in with eyes wide open. Oil and gas is a commodity, and price swings will effect demand. Nobody can predict what the demand will be in the future, other than it will fluctuate up and down. If you think fossil fuels will be eliminated in your working lifetime, you might want to reconsider.

I had the chance to ask a veteran of Exxon the other day if he would pick the same career knowing what he knows after all his years spent in the industry. He said, without a doubt, yes. I asked why and he said because he loves how energy has transformed peoples’ lives and wants to be a part of it. For him, the cycles are worth it. Just educate yourself.

My S is in the middle of a petroleum engineering program, and yes, I worry some but then I ask myself what’s the worst outcome? The worst is he just can’t find a job as a petroleum engineer and would have to pivot. But he would still have a degree in engineering and could always add a minor or masters. I’m going to bet he would still be successful with his degree in whatever he ultimately chooses.

I see you guys have MIXED FEELINGS EHH?

We want you to pursue petro eng IF the field it is a good fit for you, not because you like the general opportunities.

I want to pursue masters in biomedical engineering, but a lot of people on here told me that is bad idea? Is it and should I still major in it next year?

Colorado mom. Thanks but what if being a doctor is a good FIT for me but I don’t want to do it because I have no interest? I’m just saying petroleum interests me very much and I have the grades so far (but remember I’m only a freshman in high school) and I intend it to stay that way. I am very good at math but science is not my favorite subject.

I have done a ton of research and know pretty much all of what it implies. It’s just the stupid out of state tuition and the cycles of the oil industry. These are the only things that are setting me back. I am still debating on whether it’s worth it all.

Enjoy high school for a few years without worrying too much about your college plans. See what courses you really like and where you excel. .

(My advise is to not make any judgements based on your middle school experience. High school is a whole different ballgame, especially if you do AP/IB classes. You may actually find that you enjoy science more in high school.) .

Yeah sure will. No decisions yet!