Applying for M.S. in Nuclear Engineering

Graduate School
1

<p>Well guys, I'm a little new to this community, but I'd like to get your advice and opinions on some potential grad schools. I'm getting a head start on the college search and application process, and I'd like to see realistically where I stand before I get my heart set on any one school.</p>

<p>Just a little about me (at least academically), I'm currently a junior at top ten engineering college pursuing my BS in Mechanical Engineering. At the current time, I have a GPA around 3.84, and I have no intention of letting that drop below a 3.80. I've a year of research under my belt thus far, and will be looking for another 1.5 years before I graduate. I've done both research within the ME department and with outside labs, and if I play my cards right, I will have a position at a national lab for this summer. I am also working towards an optional undergraduate thesis for honors recognition upon graduation. Unfortunately I have no publications, though I hope to change that in the next year. I'll be taking the GRE either this summer or early next fall, and I have high expectations for how that will turn out.</p>

<p>My professional plan is to continue my education through a PhD, do research (likely with a national lab), and perhaps one day try to find a position with a good nuclear university as a professor. Perhaps. I'm currently intending to study fission reactors and technology, though I must admit the idea of research in fusion is pretty tempting. But I have a year to decide on that matter.</p>

<p>I've put together a list of nuclear programs I'm interested in after some research into each school, location, etc. though I am very open to any other suggestions you may have. These are largely in order of desire to attend.</p>

<p>MIT, U. of Illinois-Urbana, Penn State, U. Texas, Georgia Tech</p>

<p>MIT is by far my top choice, though I certainly would not be upset going to any of those schools.</p>

<p>I guess my main concern is my lack of any published papers. How much of an impact do y'all think this will have on my applications? Basically, how hard should I be pushing my employer and professors for a project that could lead to publication? Also, I will have the option of taking graduate level classes in nuclear engineering my senior year. I don't expect them to transfer (though it would be nice if they did). Do you think grad classes on my transcript would be worth the risk of lowering my GPA by taking a harder course load?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any comments or advice. If there's anything else you'd like to know about me (at least concerning my applications) please feel free to ask. I'm looking forward to hearing from y'all.</p>

2

<p>I'm also studying Mechanical Engineering at a decently ranked university with a 3.86 GPA, graduating at the same time, taking the GRE at about the same time, and wanting to earn a M.S. Nuclear Engineering along the way to a PhD. However though, I've already had one year of work experience at a national laboratory.</p>

<p>In perspective, the schools so far that interest me are MIT, Purdue, University Michigan Ann Arbor, UC Berkley, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Ohio State.</p>

<p>I think publications would certainly be a major plus but probably not as important as GPA and the personal statement. Taking the graduate courses probably wont effect the admissions chances very much. Last weekend, I meet with a professor at the MIT department of nuclear science and engineering and the impression that I got was that taking courses as an undergraduate that you would be retaking anyways as a graduate didn't matter to them very much if at all; therefore, at the cost of several hundredths of a GPA, it's probably not worth it. It would be more valuable taking courses that fill in gaps in the math and general science backgrounds such as additional courses in differential equations, electro-magnetism and energy science as well as quantum mechanics if you could get it in.</p>

3

<p>Publications while nice are not the end all. Is the 3.8 GPA from a good school? Top 10 engineering school might mean an ok public. If its a decent private school or a top public (such as berkeley), it will carry more weight. Anyways, if you dont have publications, you need recs that convey tangible things you have done for research. Need good GREs for MIT too.</p>

4

<p>Some departments at MIT don't ask for GRE scores. Sadly, Nuclear Engineering does.</p>

5

<p>Published papers aren't a problem. It's the experience that counts, especially if your research advisor writes good things about you in the recommendation letter.</p>

<p>Don't worry about the GRE's, they don't care about the verbal score and the math is the same as SAT math.</p>