UT Austin's petroleum engineering MS OR UCSB chemical engineering PHD

[zbc1992]

Hi guys,

 

I am an international student. I was wondering which of them could provide me with a better job opportunity. Thanks!

[doomination]

I'll reply since I spent a summer at UT Austin's PGE department.

 

If your end goal is industry, then I think UT Austin would be a better choice. They have nearly 100% job placement, even for MS students. So you'd be fast-tracked to a job with just a two year degree rather than a 5 year PhD. 

 

If your goal is not industry, then definitely UCSB would be a better choice. From what I observed, UT Austin PGE has a nearly 0% academic position placement.

 

So really it depends on what you want out of it. The PGE department has a lot of money, so depending on how strong of an applicant you are, funding is not out of the question for a master's student. Though, with oil prices low, perhaps funding is also low? Not sure.