<p>Hey CC, I had a few questions about Nuclear Engineering, effectively a "what's the order" sort of deal. I plan on entering this field, so here's my understanding of it, and what I intend to do:</p>
<ol>
<li>College Major - Major in Nuclear Eng. in Purdue (In state for me)</li>
<li>Grad School - Not entirely sure where to go, it'd depend on my grades</li>
<li>Find a Job - Find one</li>
</ol>
<p>I'm not entirely sure I want to major in Nuclear Engineering though. If I choose not to go into Engineering, it's Biochemistry for me, which Purdue isn't so good at. So here are my questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Where could I go that has a good Nuclear Engineering Program as well as a good Biochemistry program (State schools would be nice, better chance of admission)?</p></li>
<li><p>Are these majors related enough such that switching wouldn't be that hard?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I am also from Indiana (yay!) and considering Nuclear Engineering at Purdue. I can tell you that they are one of the best schools for nuclear engineering (I mean they have their own reactor!) but besides Purdue within Indiana, you won’t find many schools with great Engineering programs. If I could suggest other schools the only two I could think of would be Rose Hulman and UND. I can’t really speak for their Biochem departments though. If you are interested in nuclear engineering, make sure to start in it and if you don’t like it, change your major - it’s much harder to get into engineering than to get out.</p>
<p>But if I was to change majors, wouldn’t all my engineering courses be wasted?</p>
<p>^depends on when you decide to change your major. It you decide to change after your first year, nothing happens. If you change major after 3 years, it will take you 5+ years to graduate.</p>
<p>Purdue isn’t the best for Biochemistry but its not that bad to the point where you have to look at other schools. You have one of the best engineering Universities right in your state and you only pay 10k a year. That is a steal. So, just goto Purdue.</p>
<p>For Nuclear and Aerospace, Purdue is in the top 5.</p>
<p>Actually, it’s 10K for tuition, the price for an instate resident comes out to be $23-24K per year. Still a great deal I know, but I’d prefer to go out of state for a different experience, predictable weather patterns, and for a more well rounded school if I don’t end up as an engineering major.</p>
<p>Nuclear engineering and biochemistry are a rather strange pair. What do you want to do with biochem?</p>
<p>I’d want to enter some type of medicinal field if I go on a biochem route. Yeah these two majors are very different, I’d just want to know if there was any school that was good at both.</p>
<p>Haha I know what you mean by the predictable weather thing! #IndianaProbs</p>
<p>Oh wow so many Hoosiers here… So, anybody have a few thoughts?</p>
<p>You don’t need a top biochemistry department for pre-med. Purdue is more than good enough.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you need a Strong GPA for med or pharm school and engineering will not help with that. Especially not at a tough, top-notch program like Purdue.</p>
<p>Why Nuclear and not ChemE, ME, EE, etc.?</p>
<p>My plan was to go the Biochem route >>> Med School, but not to do that with Nuclear Engineering, mainly because of the GPA thing. I didn’t do these because…:</p>
<p>ChemE: Hard Major, too difficult to get the high GPA for Med School
MechE: Honestly, I’ve never given this thought, it seemed like a sub-par major
ElecE: Wouldn’t have a strong relationship at all to the Pre-Med requirements
BiomedE: See ChemE</p>
<p>Well, Ohio is next to Indiana so let me make you aware of OSU’s nuclear engineering program. There are two ways of doing it:</p>
<p>1) Get a MS in nuclear engineering (this means you need a BS in something first, like math, physics, or engineering)
2) Major in Engineering Physics with a concentration in Nuclear Engineering. I know a few guys who are doing this, they take the same classes as the Nuclear MS guys, <em>and</em> they can do it so that they graduate with both their BS in engineering physics and an MS in nuclear engineering, in like five years. Or so I’m told.</p>
<p>It seems that nuclear engineering at the bachelor level is rare, it seems like the MS is more common. That tells me that if you want a good job in nuclear engineering, you probably need an MS anyway, but that is merely my hypothesis.</p>
<p>Oh, and OSU has a reactor too. I think about thirty colleges do. :)</p>
<p>Huh, that’s news to me. So what are common undergrad majors for an MS in Nuclear Engineering then, other than Engineering Physics?</p>
<p>My doctor got his Bachelors and Masters in ChemE, then went to Pharmacy school, and THEN went to Medical School.</p>
<p>If you actually want to be a doctor, you can pursue NukeE while being pre-med. As a med school student once said, you won’t make it to your MD unless you can’t imagine doing anything else in your life.</p>
<p>A BS in Nuclear Engineering is fine, a MS isn’t required (as it is in some other majors, such as Biomedical Engineering). Also take into account that you can go into the medical field, as a NE, working with nondestructive imaging and detection, and advanced nuclear materials. If you go the medical route (for NE), then the masters you may want to look into is Biomedical Engineering (based on the school you end up selecting).</p>
<p>You should compare the curriculum of the two majors (at the school you could attend). It’s typical for both to take the same initial chemistry and math in the first year of school. By the 2nd, they start to diverge, as Biochem takes more chemistry(organic) and NE starts to take more (or harder) Physics courses and more math. Of course by the 3rd year, they would be completely different. </p>
<p>In other words, you can take classes the first year, and not fall behind in either program, so you have a year to decided. After that, you start losing time, if you decide to switch.</p>
<p>Most Engineering schools you’re looking at would have decent BioChem progams, such as Purdue, so I wouldn’t worry about that.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>
I wasn’t talking about majoring in ChemE or whatever as a pre-med, though that is possible. It seems strange to me that you would be most interested in nuclear engineering (a very specialized engineering discipline) but then have med school as your secondary interest rather than other areas of engineering.
This comment indicates to me that you need to spend some time researching different fields. Here are two good links to get you started:
[Architecture</a> and Engineering Occupations : Occupational Outlook Handbook : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](<a href=“http://stats.bls.gov/ooh/Architecture-and-Engineering/home.htm]Architecture”>Architecture and Engineering Occupations : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
[Career</a> Cornerstone Center: Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine](<a href=“http://www.careercornerstone.org/engineering/engdisc.htm]Career”>Career Cornerstone Center: Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine)</p>
<p>Engineering is my main interest, but my family has a history of Chemistry, Biology, and Physics majors. On top of this, we’ve never had a doctor - many have tried, all have failed - something they want to change. After much debate, they agreed to help finance my college expenses so long as I picked a major they agreed upon. NukeE was our compromise. </p>
<p>Hence my need to find a college which has both a good Biochemistry program and a good NukeE program.</p>
<p>Engineering is a good career path and I encourage you to share the links above with your family. Beyond that, start [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1486654-premed-resources-thread-start-here-first.html]here[/url”>Premed Resources Thread - Start Here First - Pre-Med Topics - College Confidential Forums]here[/url</a>] for pre-med advice.</p>
<p>Any good state school will have a solid enough biochemistry program for your needs, including Purdue and IU.</p>