1535nuke

I would assume it's a group of professors who has been there a long time- or would they delegate it to less experienced professors, thinking that it's not very complicated?

I've been wondering the same thing- I'm still waiting to hear back from them- the professor I want to work with is waiting to hear about a proposal he submitted and I'm hoping that's why I haven't heard anything

I've gotten to the point where I'm just not anxious anymore- I still think about it constantly but I too am just looking forward to spring

I think that there are three big issues- the NRC prevents development of gen IV reactors, there are a lot of very wealthy people in the oil industry who don't want to see nuclear succeed, and the public is scared to death of radiation and reactors blowing up like bombs because of the media coverage of Fukushima and because of a lack of knowledge. That said, I think that the only thing that can be said definitively is that the industry will either go up or go down. So I agree with PBD on having a backup, I try to keep contacts in the mechanical/civil type fields from my hometown in case I ever need to jump ship and get a job designing buildings or heating systems.

I'm an undergrad senior and I've been here five years- I think the best way to sum it up is to say that for the most part there are many different types of people attending ut and outside of the campus/downtown area it's just a typical super conservative predominantly white town- I like Knoxville and have had a great experience, you just have to accept the fact that most places west of campus are way less open minded than places near campus

I doubt there are many if any people who would say the prestige of your schools title is more important than the qualities of your advisor- especially when your goal is academia/research- if you're going to industry though few people will care what you published they just want to see what degree you have and from where. This is all just what I've heard though, as I'm an undergraduate but I've worked in industry and at a national lab and this what I've been told

Perhaps you could pursue a masters by getting into an engineering related job first- a lot of people go to get a masters in engineering after working for a few years- and that way you're able to maintain a steady income- I'm not familiar with your degree but it sounds very industry oriented so maybe good for getting a job?

You can look at professors research interests on their websites

Look at rankings for specific programs but more important than the ranking is finding a professor who is actively doing research in the specific area you are interested in- but for a sophomore who's just starting to look, the us news rankings are a useful starting point but just don't get too attached to those rankings- the professor you work for is a much more important consideration

Well to be optimistic perhaps those were first round acceptances that were top tier students- my hope is to get in as a late round acceptance- and they send rejection emails also but those take much longer since they will make sure they've filled their openings before sending out all the rejections- Clare Egan told me last week that "the committee is currently in the process of reviewing applications" so if you haven't heard anything I think it's safe to say you're definitely not a first round pick- but again just being an optimist, many students choose not to attend for various reasons- the guy I mentioned who got accepted in April chose not to go due to the cost of living in Boston- he was able to get a lot more money at another school when cost of living was factored in

My understanding is that at some point in the past most schools all agreed to have a uniform date of April 15th but I'm sure that some want an answer sooner. I don't remember where I heard this though.

Unfortunately not, still hopeful for mit though, I have a friend who applied a few years ago and he got an acceptance from mit in April

Congratulations- that's great you should post it on the results!

I know that Texas a&m is in their third round of applications today bc the graduate coordinator told me- also in the past MIT has made decisions around feb 20th...

I've been thinking exactly the same thing. No news for me. The days are getting very long..

Then I would keep bio as primary and if you have a good gpa overall that trumps any other factor regarding specific classes- take classes that are as relevant to what you want to do as possible- it seems that your situation has a lot of factors to consider and the best thing to do is probably to ask a professor at your school who has experience with an admissions committee, good luck and keep in mind that given you're a junior you're figuring this stuff out on time which is great

I definitely second Stat Applicant- the situation is that you don't have concrete proof that you can succeed in high level math cs or statistics classes- you need to get some concrete evidence and what better way than to take a hard one(s) and crush it- but remember you've got to put in the work and get the grade- I did something very similar in a similar situation and I'm very glad that I did it- it just takes a large time commitment to study that hard

If your grades are significantly lower in bio related classes AND you're not applying to anything bio related you should definitely make physics your primary- it's great to show that you did the bio work but if you have low grades it's best if they're not "in your major" ie if they're classes that are less important- another thing, your gpa is very very important for applying to schools, but other than that fact, an EE admissions committee won't care about what you made in bio classes... So if it were me I'd make physics my primary major bc it's more applicable to engineering (at least it sounds more applicable) and it makes bio classes look like extras outside your main focus

Assuming you don't have relevant experience gained since graduation, I think that you're going to need to get some sort of research experience in order to be appealing to an admissions committee. This may mean unpaid research experience, but if you are persistent about asking multiple professors for a project to work on and you have maybe 10 hours a week to work on it then you can find a professor to work with. It will be difficult to get into a grad program without knowing any professors but if you work for a professor and work hard, it is likely that professor would want you to continue working for him or her in grad school. That's the wild card in the admissions process, if a professor wants you you're in- I think that's your best bet- but I also think it's good to ask professors for advice on this.

Same to you, what area of research are you interested in? I know NuclearFlea said experimental plasma physics, I'm doing experimental materials work, or are you decided?

Here's mine: A&M: waiting UTK: accepted Penn state: waiting Florida: waiting MIT: waiting I think I won't get into A&M- similar to the situation above, professor I'm interested in has a long list of students already working for him and waiting on funding Good to see some other nuclear students posting

It seems we're the only people on gradcafe applying for nuclear programs for fall 2014.. I hate this wait

Has anyone heard from nuclear engineering programs about the fall? I've got a general admission letter from UTK and that's it

Clutch performance for the overtime down vote win!

Congratulations, and I don't think I can give better advice than what's been posted... but the bad news for all of us is that we will never be as intelligent as Pinkster. I can only imagine what it would be like, the duty of enlightening my inferiors... I hope that one day we all can grow to be closer to the sheer perfection that is Pinkster.