<p>I'm about to start my junior year as a Nuclear Engineering major, and was curious as to how useful a minor in either Mathematics or Physics would be? I don't want to try for one outside of those, as my schedule is pretty filled up until graduation. However, I could complete those two with only 2 or 3 extra classes.</p>
<p>Considering my major, why would I want a minor in these fields? Is it worth the extra work load? I only need one technical elective outside of my major, so I could also just take a class on Engineering Leadership and not bother with a minor at all.</p>
<p>Any suggestions, especially from those who have post-university experience, would be welcome. Thanks!</p>
<p>Wouldn’t some specific physics courses be directly applicable to some areas of nuclear engineering? For example, advanced E&M, plasma physics, particle physics, atomic physics.</p>
<p>It depends on what you see yourself doing with the degree. Are you taking a cluster of classes with a certain emphasis (operations, core physics, etc.)? Do you plan on going to grad school?</p>
<p>I don’t think I’m taking nuclear classes with any kind of emphasis at this level. I only get 1 nuclear elective, and all the rest are preset requirements. They all seemed pretty different, so I get a lot of topics to study. I get 1 technical elective, but it has to be non-nuclear. I was considering using the non-nuclear elective towards a minor, if one is worthwhile.</p>
<p>I may go into a M.S. program in the future, but I might not jump into it immediately after graduation. I’ll decide if I need to when I get closer to graduation. Does that help any?</p>
<p>I don’t think there is any big advantage in going after a minor. I think you should take the electives that sound interesting to you and enable you to explore topics outside of NucE. If your electives happen to cluster into a minor, then great. If you really like math, then I can see taking something like “numerical solutions to Diff Equ’s”. If you enjoy physics, maybe something like theoretical physics, or plasma physics. (I assume you have a required physics that covers atomic/nuclear physics.) You might like nuclear chemistry, biological effects of radiation (in bio dept?), etc. There are many options. With the engineering curriculum being so rigid, this is an opportunity to expore.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about getting a minor (since you’re a transfer student), use your electives to do something you’re interest in and would help you in your field(and perhaps help you land an internship)…for example an additional programing class is always useful (talk to the prof’s at UF about which one they would recommend).</p>
<p>You’ll need to decide if you’re going to focus on reactor operations or medical(or research). You can use your electives on classes within the ENU program, like Radiation Biology, Image Analysis with Medical Physics Applications, and Nuc Power Radioactive Waste Technology (my favorite!). If you plan on going into research, then physics electives would make sense.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>On a side note, if you’re really interested in getting a minor, and taking additional math classes (because Engineers don’t do enough math!), you may want to look at what’s required to get a BA/BS in math.</p>