Nuclear Engineering Options!
My DS is struggling with his options right now. I wanted to throw this situation out to this forum.
He has an appointment to the USMMA. He has a NROTC scholarship to TAMU. (Received TWE from USNA / on the wait list for USMA)
He is interested in obtaining a Nuclear Engineering degree. He is concerned that USMMA does not have this major. What are his options after graduation from USMMA with Nuclear Engineering minor? What possible options does he have?
He visited has visited USMMA and TAMU. One of his main "cons" with USMMA is that it is so small.
Thoughts? Thanks.
First of all for nuclear engineering, I would avoid West Point since any training he received would not be practiced on active duty.
The Naval Academy, or Naval ROTC as well as the USMMA are excellent choices as are any good technical school with good coursework in calculus, chemistry and physics. The Navy of course operates a fleet of nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers and is always in need of nuclear engineers. It is imperative for those who want to go into the nuclear program to have better than a 3.2 cumulative GPA.
My son went to SUNY maritime college and studied Marine engineering. While he did not have any nuclear courses he did have a 3.40 cgpa and studied Marine engineering. In the nuclear program they are looking for Marine engineering majors, chemistry majors and math majors. In mid-October of his senior year he went to a job fair at school and received an offer from KAPL (a division of Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation) to begin working immediately after graduation. While receiving a full engineering salary and moving expenses, he was sent to school for six months at the Navy nuclear school in Charleston South Carolina. This was followed by nine months of training on an actual working nuclear prototype the a Saratoga Springs New York. He is now out of college just under two years and he is teaching Naval officers how to operate a nuclear power plant while continuing to study for advanced ratings. The salary is unbelievable and he loves his job. I forgot to mention that he is a civilian instructor.
At nuclear school he found out that about half his class of 100 were graduates of the US Naval Academy. He knew two USMMA KAPL civilians as well as a chemistry major from Brigham Young University and a math major from Virginia Tech also civilians. The rest of the class were Navy ensigns from various ROTC programs and the fleet.
No prior nuclear engineering was required. What was required was fantastic grades and heavy exposure to engineering level math, chemistry, and physics. What also helped was experience with steam turbines. Upon completion of classroom and prototype training, the naval officers begin their careers either on submarines or aircraft carriers. The civilians continued their career in either a design division, or as teachers in the deployment divisions. They actually operate a working nuclear submarine prototype which is land based.
At SUNY maritime college, approximately 40% of the Naval ROTC May 2013 graduating class received nuclear billets. Also, it would seem that about 3 to 6 Marine engineering graduates go into the civilian nuclear fields.
I would suggest that you strongly consider Naval ROTC for nuclear should your son wants a military career. This would not stop him from reapplying to the Naval Academy next year but he really wanted to go there. I would not worry about studying nuclear engineering at the bachelor degree level. Over 90% of the nuclear program participants did not have prior nuclear training. I would further suggest that you look into the guy states Navy website on nuclear where they go into details about paying for college up to over $150,000 for very bright students to complete their college education.
Good luck to your son as it is a very bright future for him but he should be prepared for 12 hour study and or work days with seven-day weeks and rotating shifts.
But only Kings Pointers have the fantastic Alumni Group to support them around the world in their endeavors.