/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.3364394]

So /sci/,

I need some advice. I'm about to start applying to grad school and I'm conflicted on what I want to do. Next spring I'll be graduating with a BS in nuclear engineering but last spring, when we got to the meat and potatoes of the major, I realized I hated neutronics but loved plant design (basically a class that's a hodgepodge of mechanical engineering classes with an emphasis on the impact they have to nuclear power plants).

Right now I'm 50/50 on staying with nuclear or switching to mechanical engineering at the graduate level. Assuming I meet the basic requirements for entry, I was going to apply directly to the mechanical engineering departments of the schools I'm looking at, rather than the nuclear departments (all of the schools I'm looking to apply to have both). My plan is to either study fluids or heat transfer in some form. The downside to this is that I fear there will be a much larger pool of applicants applying for mechanical engineering. I'm banking on the fact that my undergrad nuclear curriculum will be a bit more rigorous than that of a mechanical undergrad curriculum. But on the flipside, I fear that there will be a much larger pool of applicants to mechanical graduate programs.

So what should I do? Apply to nuclear and test the waters? Or apply directly to what I want to do?

Also, general graduate school thread.

[Anonymous No.3364484]

BUMPU!

[Anonymous No.3364574]

ME would be the place to go to study heat transfer and fluid mechanics. What are your GRE scores, and do you have any past work experience/research?

Letters of recommendation?

[Anonymous No.3364624]

>>3364574
And thus exactly the reason I want to switch to mechanical. The rest is being worked on. Ran into some unfortunate situations involving research: a plan to do cryogenic testing on an ultra-cold neutron source fell through. I might try and get in on some plasma research within the next two months though (again with the overlap in studies).