Should i stay in petroleum engineering or move to dentistry?

[Bellie]

Hi dearies,

Ok so i'm a 21 year old female who made the worst decision in her life by getting herself into petroleum engineering even though it's known to be a male dominated area/field, so i have been thinking of dentistry, but the questions are, is petroleum engineering as bad as i have made it to be? What about the pay and job opportunities of both of the fields? Am i too old to start uni all over again? Thank you.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[HKSZYU]

On a purely logistical level, 21 is certainly not too old to switch to dentistry. You don't need to "start uni all over again", but you would likely need a post-bacc in pre-dent/health sciences. There are a number of structured programs for this that are generally two years. Alternatively, if you already have some of the pre-recs done, you can DIY the pre-reqs at your local university and potentially finish in a shorter period of time.

Next, I'd suggest starting with shadowing. Since this is a big switch, the more hours the better (at least 100). This will be important firstly so that you know what you're getting yourself into and can avoid another major career swing, and also so that adcoms believe that you understand the field and are set on it.

In terms of which is better for you, petrol engineering or dentistry, we're probably not the best group to tell you about job prospects in petrol engineering (although I do know we have a few engineering converts here, so maybe they can chime in regarding working conditions and job prospects.) Regarding dentistry, there are pluses and drawbacks. Dentistry definitely has benefits, but the gratification will be delayed. Dental schooling is long, arduous, and maybe most importantly, expensive, anywhere from $300-550k, more for you actually because you'll need a post-bacc as well. Once you're out, your debt will probably balloon further with the purchase of a practice. That said, when you look in terms of long-term ROI, general dentistry generally still makes sense for most people, granted they can keep the debt below ~$300k, they're entrepreneurial, and they're flexible in terms of where they'll open their practice.

 

[ysrebob]

Both are potentially good fields. Pretty different working lives day to day. I seriously considered reservoir engineering and went as far as getting admitted to both types of programs; chose dentistry in the end because it's infinitely easier to be self-employed as a dentist and, in the end, more than anything else I wanted to be self-employed. In certain other respects, as with any job, dentistry kind of sucks (lack of intellectual challenge, dealing with people's fears, etc). And as HKSZYU pointed out, the upfront costs of choosing dentistry are high.

Are you worried about the culture of the energy companies (can't be worse than Hollywood apparently), or the boom-and-bust job market that's always characterized the oil sector, or what? I would start by asking your engineering program for names of alumni you could personally contact to ask about what their working lives are like. Call them. Most midlevel working people will be quite honest about what's been good and bad about their chosen career paths if they know you're trying to make career decisions yourself. If and only if PE sounds like a bad fit for you, then consider dentistry.

 

[Rambunctious]

Hi dearies,

Ok so i'm a 21 year old female who made the worst decision in her life by getting herself into petroleum engineering even though it's known to be a male dominated area/field, so i have been thinking of dentistry, but the questions are, is petroleum engineering as bad as i have made it to be? What about the pay and job opportunities of both of the fields? Am i too old to start uni all over again? Thank you.

Can you give detail on why this is the worst decision of your life?

 

[Bellie]

Both are potentially good fields. Pretty different working lives day to day. I seriously considered reservoir engineering and went as far as getting admitted to both types of programs; chose dentistry in the end because it's infinitely easier to be self-employed as a dentist and, in the end, more than anything else I wanted to be self-employed. In certain other respects, as with any job, dentistry kind of sucks (lack of intellectual challenge, dealing with people's fears, etc). And as HKSZYU pointed out, the upfront costs of choosing dentistry are high.

Are you worried about the culture of the energy companies (can't be worse than Hollywood apparently), or the boom-and-bust job market that's always characterized the oil sector, or what? I would start by asking your engineering program for names of alumni you could personally contact to ask about what their working lives are like. Call them. Most midlevel working people will be quite honest about what's been good and bad about their chosen career paths if they know you're trying to make career decisions yourself. If and only if PE sounds like a bad fit for you, then consider dentistry.

Both are potentially good fields. Pretty different working lives day to day. I seriously considered reservoir engineering and went as far as getting admitted to both types of programs; chose dentistry in the end because it's infinitely easier to be self-employed as a dentist and, in the end, more than anything else I wanted to be self-employed. In certain other respects, as with any job, dentistry kind of sucks (lack of intellectual challenge, dealing with people's fears, etc). And as HKSZYU pointed out, the upfront costs of choosing dentistry are high.

Are you worried about the culture of the energy companies (can't be worse than Hollywood apparently), or the boom-and-bust job market that's always characterized the oil sector, or what? I would start by asking your engineering program for names of alumni you could personally contact to ask about what their working lives are like. Call them. Most midlevel working people will be quite honest about what's been good and bad about their chosen career paths if they know you're trying to make career decisions yourself. If and only if PE sounds like a bad fit for you, then consider dentistry.

Thanks for the insight sir.
You asked for the reason about why i don't see this path to be fit for me, well i have a variety of reasons,
1st : i suck at math, tell me again why i chose this? * hits head to wall*
2nd: i'm a female, which can create me issues not only at the work sector but also socially, especially when i live in the middle east.
3rd : as u stated, self employment is always better than alining for jobs and interviews at companies that u might not even get accepted at.
4th: future hubby might not liking me working with a bunch if men in a far away desserted field, ik that might sound medival but oh well lol
5th: ppl would respect u more as a dentist, ik very shallow lol

 

[Bellie]

Can you give detail on why this is the worst decision of your life?

I will just copy paste the answer i gave to ysrebob.
1st : i suck at math, tell me again why i chose this? * hits head to wall*
2nd: i'm a female, which can create me issues not only at the work sector but also socially, especially when i live in the middle east.
3rd : as u stated, self employment is always better than alining for jobs and interviews at companies that u might not even get accepted at.
4th: future hubby might not liking me working with a bunch if men in a far away desserted field, ik that might sound medival but oh well lol
5th: ppl would respect u more as a dentist, ik very shallow lol

 

[danchoi03]

I will just copy paste the answer i gave to ysrebob.
1st : i suck at math, tell me again why i chose this? * hits head to wall*
2nd: i'm a female, which can create me issues not only at the work sector but also socially, especially when i live in the middle east.
3rd : as u stated, self employment is always better than alining for jobs and interviews at companies that u might not even get accepted at.
4th: future hubby might not liking me working with a bunch if men in a far away desserted field, ik that might sound medival but oh well lol
5th: ppl would respect u more as a dentist, ik very shallow lol

# 4 & 5 really give me a good laugh. Aside from that, I assume you haven't graduated or worked in this industry, but you already made all these assumptions. I think you should talk to a few female engineers for advice before you start switching career. Dentistry is a great career but not as great as it used to be due to student loans and job prospects.

PS: I was a P.E mechanical engineer myself, but I switched career solely for different reasons.