Iowa State or Oklahoma State

[columbia09]

So it's pretty much at this point it's going to be between ISU or OSU. Both schools are offering me funding and both of my POIs have pretty good connections with the oil industry so which school would be better to go to if your goal is to work for an oil company in Houston or Dallas ? I'm guessing it would be OSU. Do you guys have any opinions ? I'm going to be visiting the schools in April so by then I'll make my decision. The other schools that I applied to, UT Austin, Rice, and SMU are sure rejections. Texas Tech (first rounds already got sent out and according to my POIs, they typically extend offers deep into the spring but my application is still buried with other potential students = rejection) is also another sure rejection so the only school that's really up in the air is University of Houston but I'll doubt they'll give me anything. 

Edited March 16, 2016 by columbia09

[turbidite]

Which POI's project do you find more appealing? That's ultimately how I would decide - you don't want to go somewhere where you'll be bored out of your mind. 

OK State is the superior O&G school, no questions there. However, IMO it depends less on the name of the school and more on the quality/skillset of the student.

[columbia09]

18 hours ago, turbidite said:

Which POI's project do you find more appealing? That's ultimately how I would decide - you don't want to go somewhere where you'll be bored out of your mind. 

OK State is the superior O&G school, no questions there. However, IMO it depends less on the name of the school and more on the quality/skillset of the student.

How is OK State's O&G program in general when compared to other big O&G schools like UT Austin, Texas Tech and Texas A&M ? I really wanted to get into a school in Texas but it didn't happen unfortunately. I wouldn't think SMU was a big O&G school but is it ? I just liked it because it was in Dallas and Dallas is a lot better to live in then Stillwater, Ok

[sjoh197]

OK State has a great O&G program... but I think you're putting way to much emphasis on program industry reputation and location. Yes... you want your school to have connections, but you will be no less well off at OK State that at the Texas schools... so long as you apply yourself, do well, and market yourself well later. Almost everyone involved in oil "wants" to get into one of the Texas schools, but that's part of why they're hard to get into... lots of competition. 

As turbidite said before... it's really going to come down to which poi/project you find more compatible. If the projects are equal in your eyes I would probably go with Ok State.

[columbia09]

7 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:

OK State has a great O&G program... but I think you're putting way to much emphasis on program industry reputation and location. Yes... you want your school to have connections, but you will be no less well off at OK State that at the Texas schools... so long as you apply yourself, do well, and market yourself well later. Almost everyone involved in oil "wants" to get into one of the Texas schools, but that's part of why they're hard to get into... lots of competition. 

As turbidite said before... it's really going to come down to which poi/project you find more compatible. If the projects are equal in your eyes I would probably go with Ok State.

Both of my POIs have interesting projects and have big connections with the oil industry so it looks like it will be OK State at this point but I'm still going to visit both schools to make sure. BTW I'm still waiting on UH :/ are you going to accept their offer ? 

[sjoh197]

Yes. It's the only school I applied to and it was a "get in... or get out of geology" kind of deal. 

I love geology and I'm sure it will be very different by the time you get out with your masters... but there are no jobs here right now. And there won't be until oil really picks up. Thousands of people got laid off here in O&G due to the glut and price drop. The market is absolutely flooded with qualified and experienced people. 

I think one of the reasons I got accepted at UH is that I'm not affiliated.. or attempting to be affiliated with oil.

[columbia09]

5 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:

Yes. It's the only school I applied to and it was a "get in... or get out of geology" kind of deal. 

I love geology and I'm sure it will be very different by the time you get out with your masters... but there are no jobs here right now. And there won't be until oil really picks up. Thousands of people got laid off here in O&G due to the glut and price drop. The market is absolutely flooded with qualified and experienced people. 

I think one of the reasons I got accepted at UH is that I'm not affiliated.. or attempting to be affiliated with oil.

That's what a POI of mine actually told me they said put that you want to be a professor on your application lol A lot of schools today want students who are interested in academia rather then O&G

[gelologist]

8 hours ago, columbia09 said:

That's what a POI of mine actually told me they said put that you want to be a professor on your application lol A lot of schools today want students who are interested in academia rather then O&G

I'm not sure that's true: a good mentor will know that academia jobs are also really hard to come by. The whole mentioning professorship thing, I think, is more so that schools feel better about bringing someone up to the very edge of human knowledge: it's an expensive proposition, and one that's easier to swallow if you know that person will continue to advance the field afterwards. But it doesn't mean you have to want to be a professor (even if, admittedly, there aren't many places to advance the field without being faculty etc.). So long as you have a strong justification for the advanced degree, any future plans should qualify you for such study. But I also only know the grad student side of things, not the admissions committee side