Which schools offer the best physics/nuclear engineering programs and have a decent cross country team. Also which is a better major in the long term job-wise. Some of the schools I'm looking at: Tufts, Williams, Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton.
Which schools offer the best physics/nuclear engineering programs and have a decent cross country team. Also which is a better major in the long term job-wise. Some of the schools I'm looking at: Tufts, Williams, Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton.
Navy. No better Nuclear school out there.
Yeah, I'm going to have to go with the Navy myself. Unless you're dealing with theory, it'll be at least 2 years before you see the first actual device. Navy will give you hands on experience.
harvard has a great physics department, and a rapidly improving engineering department (they're starting to pour more and more money into it in recent years). one good thing about the engineering dept is that there are a lot more resources there than there are undergrads, so good undergrads have a lot of research opportunities. the cross country team is on the level of the other schools you're considering. and if you're looking for post-graduation opportunities, harvard's a good place to be
My own bias, for prospective undergraduates, would be to focus more on the overall academic quality of the school, and less on the perceived quality of a particular program or department. (At the graduate degree level, it's another story.)
In that light, of the schools that you mentioned, Princeton would be my top pick. Among other schools, I would seriously consider M.I.T. (I'll admit to being less than objective in that regard, since I was an undergraduate at M.I.T.)
As for the better major for job prospects, I have no idea. I would tend to favor physics, because it's likely to give you a broader education.
I second MIT. About the top physics and NucE programs around and a decent running program.
For better or worse, nuclear engineering is something of a dying field in this country because of the negative public perception about nuclear energy. Many schools have done away with their Nuclear Engineering Departments. There hasn't been a new nuclear power plant in the US for more than 20 years, and even most research reactors have been decommissioned. The Navy is the only place you will still find an active interest in nuclear engineering. Existing nuclear power plants are increasingly forced to hire engineers trained in Europe (where nuclear power is popular and widespread). I don't see this trend reversing any time soon; nuclear power plants will probably be closed as they become obsolete, and they will be replaced by conventional power plants.
If you want a closely-related major, you could consider Chemical Engineering. Otherwise, Physics is a good choice.
I'm a nuclear physics grad student working at Duke. I can't say what you what to do with your life but a physics major would probably give you more options than just nuclear engineering. Besides the schools you mentioned I'd also look at Caltech, MIT, and U. Chicago since they all seem produce really well trained physics undergrads.
it's tough to beat the university of chicago in physics, and their cross teams are d3 competitive
Might want to look at Cornell, if you're naming other Ivies. One of the strongest engineering schools in the world, and a very strong physics department (the physics grad program is comparable in strength to Princeton, stronger in some fields and weaker than others). I'm kind of surprized you left it out, maybe you decided against it for other reasons? If you want an idea of how good the different programs are, look at the US News & World Report graduate school rankings (the strength of the undergrad program is often influenced by the grad shcool -- better grad school means more research opportunities, better resources, etc.).
Few schools will have the access and drive in nuclear engineering as Navy.
Give the Navy coach a call. I once looked at going to Annapolis and I got a call from someone in the dept. asking wanting to talk with me. The finished second at conference this year at XC -- call the coach and find out about the program.
give Purdue University some consideration. #4 nuclear engineering program in the nation - big ten school. plus, you'll come out with a lot less debt than an ivy league school.
UC Berkeley. Physics is top-notch and so is the NE department, though small (~15 grads/year). The research reactor was shut down ~10 years ago. CC team is getting better.
Stay away from nuclear engineering. It's a DEAD field. Most plants are laying people off. Definitely stay away from the USNA. It's a second rate engineering school. Stay away from the nuke navy also. Unless you work for NR, the shipboard jobs are a waste of college engineers.
engineering professor wrote:
There hasn't been a new nuclear power plant in the US for more than 20 years, and even most research reactors have been decommissioned.
I don't see this trend reversing any time soon; nuclear power plants will probably be closed as they become obsolete, and they will be replaced by conventional power plants.
With the demand for energy, especially electrical, increasing every year I wonder where politicians think we're going to get electricity from?
US electricity power generation sources.
53% coal
21% nuclear
16% gas
7% hydro
2% oil
1% other
Physics would be the better major for jobs after school - physics teachers are in demand in practically every school district in the country, wall street firms love the quantitative skills you'll have and you'll ace the LSAT and find law school a breeze if you want to go that route (many do). Annapolis is a great school just be sure you want to spend 6 months at a time in a sub because it's not for everyone.
Myopia wrote:
With the demand for energy, especially electrical, increasing every year I wonder where politicians think we're going to get electricity from?
I agree. It's a political issue, not a scientific or engineering one. Environmental groups and others have not done us any favors with their irrational fearmongering on this issue.
The new generation of nuclear power plants in Europe are actually much safer than the existing ones in the US (as you would expect, because they are more modern). Yet we are still thinking in terms of 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl. Disposal of waste material is a problem, but not an insoluble one.
Burning coal and gass is a bigger problem. Can't count on hydro, since dam building is all but stopped.
Where is this electricity going to come from, windmills? Whose neighborhood is going to allow windmills?
hello wrote:
Which schools offer the best physics/nuclear engineering programs and have a decent cross country team. Also which is a better major in the long term job-wise. Some of the schools I'm looking at: Tufts, Williams, Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton.
Princeton is good for physics. They don't have nuclear engineering per se. I'm not sure any of those schools do.
Wisconsin has a good Engineering Physics program (but I'm biased since I got a degree there) which has a Nuclear Engineering program. And their cross team does okay.
The real problem is that we won't bust out of our current way of thinking until there is a true crisis, which with oil, is still quite a few (relatively) years away. Until then we'll just keep burning the shit out of coal. However, when that does run out, the technology will be improved enough to where we will derive our energy from alternative sources (hydrogen cells?). It's not a particularly environmental or sustainable way of life, but it's what we've always done and probably always will do.
Myopia wrote:
Burning coal and gass is a bigger problem. Can't count on hydro, since dam building is all but stopped.
Where is this electricity going to come from, windmills? Whose neighborhood is going to allow windmills?