cheeto23

I've heard that US Weekly only ranks nuclear engineering (undergrad) programs every other year, and it's not in the 2008 edition. Is it in 2007?

I've looked all over the place for the rankings... help....

ken285

I thought there were only nuclear engineering rankings for grad schools.

tahncol86

Yeah, U.S. News only ranked graduate school for nuclear engineering this year. Graduate school ranking for nuclear engineering (2008) is:

1. Univ. Mich. - Ann Arbor
2. MIT
2. Univ. of Wisc. - Madison
4. Texas A&M
5. Penn State
5. Univ. of Cal. - Berkeley
7. North Carolina State Univ.
8. Oregon State Univ.
9. Georgia Inst. Tech.
10. Univ. of Florida

I vaguely recall the undergrad for 2004, and it was something like:

1. MIT
2. Univ. of Wisc. -Madison
3. Univ. of Mich. - Ann Arbor
4. Texas A&M
5. Univ. of Cal. - Berkeley

ggnet3

Thanks for the information. I am also interested in Nuclear Engineering and was thinking of applying to Purdue and GATech, but apparently their Nuc. Eng. program isn't top notch, although I should look more into it.
Michigan, MIT, Wisconsin, Texas and Berkeley seem to have great programs, plus they are all well-respected colleges.
Just out of curiosity, would prestige of the university matter relative to the ranking + strong program? (ex. Penn State versus Gerogia Tech)

UraniumMillings

Hey, from what I hear, where you go to undergrad isn't as important as where you go to grad school, but going to a good undergrad will help you get to a good grad school.

I'm a nuclear student at GT. One of the main reasons I chose GT was because it a) is highly renowned as a difficult engineering school and b) has a strong foundation in all engineering disciplines. When you are doing undergrad, you do a lot more with mechanical, electrical, and math than you would in grad school (which is more specialization and research focused). Since GT is strong in all of those, I feel that I would be getting a stronger engineering degree than a school with a higher nuclear undergrad ranking but a low engineering ranking overall (like NC State). As far as grad goes, I hoping for Wisconsin or Michigan (assuming I rock the GREs).

To be honest, you pretty much learn the same things in each program (reactor theory, radiation physics, detection, protection, etc.) You can get what you want out of it. GT is also a big research school (like Michigan and MIT...and most good schools), which is also important because undergraduate research is major for grad applications.

Another major thing to consider is cost. You do not want to go into too much debt for undergrad; you can spend a little more for grad. Though I am from VA, I get in-state tuition since VA doesn't have a nuclear program (besides engineering at VT and UVA aren't what people in VA make it out to be). If you are from the Southeast, you probably qualify too.

I always look forward to talking to prospective students in nuclear, even if not at GT.

Hope to hear from you soon.

UraniumMillings

By the way, I'm not sure how old this is, but it seems fairly recent (though I know it's not the most recent set):

World Science & Engineering University Portal: Nuclear Engineering School Ranking in USA

tahncol86

I agree with UraniumMillings. In my experience, real nuclear engineering undergraduate courses usually come after your fifth semester. Hence, there are lots of science and engineering courses before even starting nuclear engineering courses.

However, better rankings "usually" mean more professor/student ratio, more research opportunities, variety of advanced graduate courses, etc.

For graduate school, first choosing your field of interest, and then going to the school that matches your interests would be imperative (Professors, courses, research facilities, other related programs, etc.).

BTW, the rankings above by UraniumMillings seem pretty old according to another site I visited.

UraniumMillings

Yeah, I know they're not the best, but at least it was a complete list, unlike the USNews, which now lists none for undergrad but top ten for grad.

Mich, Wisc, and MIT are top three. UIUC is four. Berkeley is five...(or something like that).

In my experience, many professors are reluctant to get undegrads for research until they have had upper-level classes like reactor physics or at least thermo and fluids. I'm entering my junior year with a pretty high GPA, and I was only able to snag something in nuclear materials since I have already taken a material science class. I'm not sure how it is at other schools, but I doubt it's that much better. Some freshmen have research positions, but I think they have "contacts" or something.

Back to the rankings...a lot of people say the USNews rankings are bullcrap and not worth paying as much attention as how you like the school. Obviously, schools with higher reputations are better, but so long as it's a top-tier research university, all systems should be go.

UraniumMillings

If you go to individual schools sites, you can usually find undergrad and grad rankings, but it sucks that USNews holds the good info for the Premium Edition.

Brendank

If Purdue is on the list.... It's way too old. Purdue's nuke program has had major problems in the past few years... so I've been told by many.

ExplorerCY

Purdue has its own reactor, i think the only one at a university. i know gatech got rid of theirs.

mydegisunacred

Uf has a reactor

mrego

UCI had a reactor too. Got rid of it years ago as I recall.

Dr.Horse

UB has one to.

mrego

Doesn't U Tenn Knoxville operate ORNL ? They have a nuclear engineering program. How does it rank?