What should I major in? Opinions please

If you want to live very financially secure in Houston, get a B.S. in Chemical Engineering or Petroleum Engineering with a minor in Computer Science or Geology.

 

That should be EVERYONE's goal out of college.

 

Whatever you do, just make sure you get plenty of experience, internships and networking while you are still in school. If you do those then you will probably have a job once you graduate, regardless of your major.

 

Worst advice ever

Chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, or accounting gets my vote.

Being pre-med and going to med school if you're dedicated/committed is the best option.

 

Tamu? Eh. You're screwed regardless of major.

j/k!

Listen to the other posters who say get into Accounting/finance/MIS. If you're a quant-type and don't mind the crazy hours of studying physics/chemistry and high levels of math, go the engineering route. You can do great things with an engineering degree that's not associated with engineering (if you were contemplating options). My good buddies were EE's and CE's (civil) and they've worked for respectable firms as engineers and consultants.

 

This too. Seek out programs and build your own networks Meet people and ask them for advice, learn from their success/failures, etc. Don't solicit for a job upfront, just show them you give a damn about school and your career. If you show passion and keep in touch with them, they'll be easier to reach out to when you really need a job/networking opportunities.

 

Health informatics then a RHIA certification.

Growing field within healthcare for IT type pros for electronic health records and healthcare data.

 

I graduated finance from A&M a couple years ago. Looking back, I would have gone mechanical, but oh well. I may have even done marine bio if I wanted to do something I loved but not get a big paycheck. I'm an energy trader now. Long hours, but enjoying it.

Figure out what interests you, not everyone else on the board. If you love what you do, it wont feel like a job.

 

This board is pretty heavy on the testosterone so I imagine most of the advice is gonna be to enter fields with big paydays. Decide what is important for you. I have chosen badly from a financial standpoint, but I have gotten to do some fun stuff.

There are no right or wrong choices....I haven't really been able to afford a family of my own at 40, which might be the most fulfilling thing of all.

My advice is not JUST to go for the money though, nothing worse than getting up day after day to do something you hate, just to accumulate "stuff".

 

I thought for sure you were going to say he should be a malcontent major.

 

Wow. Really? So... things like happiness or fulfillment don't play a role, or are they just secondary to (or impossible without) making a lot of money?

 

True, but at the same time, when you're poor, you'll be surprised at how fast your ideals go down the tube.

 

We all have different experiences of life but mine doesn't really jibe with this.

I've always done what I wanted to do with most of my time and, if it didn't pay, supplemented that with odd jobs, from waiter to coffee shop guy to network administrator to punk club booker and bartender to online arts editor to technical writer (none things in which I was educated, even informally) - none things I would have done for free, but each fine for a while.

I was also unemployed a lot in my younger years. And I was often poor. Like my lights were regularly shut off and I often couldn't afford food, but it didn't affect my ideals or really even my happiness, it was just a drag. Like traffic or really bad weather is a drag. Not that my ideals or happiness were never affected - just never by money.

And eventually I came to be well paid to do what I would have done for free. It's a job that I worked for a long time before being paid, then was paid a little, then was paid (and am) very decently.

There are a lot of ways to live a life. None is good or bad for everyone.

Like Cat Stevens says, "There's a million things to do, you know that there are..."

 

do what you like and what your good at first and foremost.

An undergrad is not the end, don't forget that. It's just the beginning.

Biology is out of my realm in terms of potential, but if you did do that, plan on an advanced degree (masters at least, phd preferable). But, i do advise possibly double majoring in business. PHDs are intimidating but if you love the field you should do it.


If you want the business side. Accounting is solid. Don't worry, you don't have to do accounting forever, but it's a great foundation of getting into the corporate world. Secondary education would be something like law but you would want to accompany that with a CPA and/or a CFA to advance. Many may recommend a Finance degree but don't bother. You can pursue that in your secondary education and accounting opens more jobs initially.

There is also Economics (B.S). After that you could do law school or advanced econ degree (phd or master). You would want to choose a specific field to specialize in though.

If engineering is you thing, you can't really go wrong in any fields.

What is very important is that you need to specialize. Find a particular interest and drill down into it.

 

Petroleum engineer is fairly easy with good earning power.

Stay the hell away from biology unless you are going to grad school.

 

Biomedical Scientist or Bioorganic Chemist.

 

My advice, if the choice is between accounting and finance, to go into accounting and do the A&M PPS program. It adds a year of grad school, but you graduate ready to sit for the CPA exam and are heavily recruited by the Big Four Accounting firms.

After you do your time in public accounting (2-3 years) you can then go into industry. As a CPA with public accounting experience you will then be eligible to apply for just about any finance or accounting job in industry.

You can then branch out into finance processes and systems. Learn SAP, financial control, finance reporting. Heck, a lot of IT groups like to have a couple of CPA's around to help them out.

I personally work in a Finance process team. I come from an IT background, but most of the folks I work with are accountants with CPAs. They don't do any actual accounting, but design the systems that run the finances of our company. Most major companies have similar groups in them now.

Unless you want to go into investment banking, I do not see the advantage of finance over accounting. Most finance jobs in most companies are filled with accountants.

I have no idea why someone would recommend to stay away from oil and gas. There will be oil/gas experience needed well into your children's lifetime, even with the advent and distribution of alternative energy sources. By 2030 world energy consumption will rise by 40%. Alternatives will go from 1.8% to 7-8%, yet with the explosive growth in demand, we will actually be needing MORE oil and gas. If you want a strong career in Texas, I have no idea why someone would recommend against it.

At a recent trade expo it was mentioned that there is a HUGE lack of technical experience in the energy industry. Most of the technical workforce (engineers/geologists) are an aging population. Just to fill needs for projects planned in the next 2 years, BP plans to hire 3,000 engineers. ExxonMobile wants to add 3,000-4,000, ConocoPhillips is needing 1,500, Shell needs a couple thousand. They need them NOW and there is a shortage. Due to the oil crunch in the 80s and then again in the late 90s, there is a huge gap in their workforce age-wise.

 

meat judging. They are the tops.