Engineering in general is hard. You can’t really go through your classes and graduate without putting in the work.
First of all the requirements to get into engineering in university are usually high which means you will need to get high grades in high school just to get into the engineering program.
After you get accepted into university the first two years are very similar for all the engineers and can be challenging if you struggle with math and physics because of a large number of calculus classes.
Even people that were getting straight A’s in high school might struggle with math in university. Many engineering students fail their first year in university and end up quitting engineering and studying something else.
In years three and four, you will be focusing more on petroleum engineering. You can think of petroleum engineering as a mix of chemical and mechanical engineering with some oil and gas related courses.
Based on my personal experience the last two years are the easiest because I actually enjoyed taking classes related to oil and gas while during the first two years I was taking a lot of classes that I wasn’t really passionate about.
I couldn’t really understand how taking a bunch of calculus and advanced math classes would help me in becoming a better petroleum engineer and that’s why I didn’t really enjoy the first two years in university.
If you are taking petroleum engineering because you truly like it you will be able to get through it even if you hate math and physics. If however, you are only taking it because of money and in addition you suck at math you will have a hard time finishing it.
It is much easier to study something even if it is hard as long as you are interested in it. If however, you don’t have any interest in petroleum engineering and just want to do it for the money it will be hard.
What makes petroleum engineering is challenging is that if you want to work for big oil producers like for example Shell or Chevron you will need to maintain a high GPA. There is a big difference between being a mediocre student and getting your Petroleum Engineering Degree versus finishing it with a high GPA.
However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t get a job in the oil and gas industry with a relatively low GPA. Many service companies are not as focused on GPA as oil producers.
Lastly, you need to take into account other distractions that everyone in university is facing like drinking, partying and meeting other people. You will need to put a pause on most of those fun activities and wait until you graduate which can be hard for some people to handle.
The same goes for having a part-time job. The petroleum engineering course load is pretty heavy and there is very limited time left for a part-time job. This means you might have to sacrifice either your income or grades.
However, maintaining good grades is not the only requirement to become a petroleum engineer. You will also need to ensure that you get some type of oil and gas experience while you are still in university.
This means getting an internship or summer position in an oil and gas company. Lastly, you will need to work on your people and networking skills to improve your chances of getting a job as a petroleum engineer after your graduation.
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