Nuclear physists.

[dstebbins]

Hello. My name is David Stebbins. I'm a 17-year-old student in high school who wants to go into nuclear physics as a career. I could have sworn that I joined here before, but my account was obviously deleted because of inactivity. Anybody remember me?

 

Anyway, do you know of any schools that I could go to? I graduate in 2007. I'd like to go to an Ivy League college if I can find one that will accept me for an affordable price (I may go into the US Army to get aid). I think I have the intelligence to make it in an Ivy League college. I'm passing Algebra 2 with so much ease right now that I can get all my homework done in class, much less on the bus, and I never study for a math or science test (only English). I know it's only going to get tougher as I get into classes like Calculus 2 and College Physics, but I think if I stop not studying and start putting forth some actual effort, I can do it. My only concern is English. I just can't infer the message that the writer is trying to send to me. Does that sound like you? Good at numbers, bad at infering?

 

Anyway, can you link me to some college websites that are really good with nuclear physics?

[swansont]

Going into nuclear physics will really happen more at the graduate level than undergraduate. What you should look for is a school that has active undergraduate participation in research. I wouldn't be quite so hung up on going to an Ivy league school — you should probably look at a wider spectrum of schools, but that's up to you. And if you are considering GI bill benefits for your education you might want to learn about the navy's nuclear propulsion program (I used to be an instructor in that program) which at least will have you learning a little bit of nuclear physics should you join it.

[dstebbins]

Going into nuclear physics will really happen more at the graduate level than undergraduate. What you should look for is a school that has active undergraduate participation in research. I wouldn't be quite so hung up on going to an Ivy league school — you should probably look at a wider spectrum of schools, but that's up to you. And if you are considering GI bill benefits for your education you might want to learn about the navy's nuclear propulsion program (I used to be an instructor in that program) which at least will have you learning a little bit of nuclear physics should you join it.

can you help me find a school?

[computerages]

can you help me find a school?

Check out http://collegeboard.com. It has a lot of tools that may help you find a good college.

 

Good Luck.

[JustStuit]

I take it you don't study because you don't need to, but make sure you know how to study. This will be important later on - and people study better/faster different ways. I might also recommend taking precalc (your next class - at least in Florida) online or over the summer and take calculus next year. It's not as hard as people make it out to be if you study and do the homework. I'm not too familiar with colleges but I heard MIT is good for that stuff.

[silkworm]

I think the Navy may have work in Nuclear Physics, so I'd check them out before the Army. Sure you have enough intelligence. If you can tie your shoes and spell your name you can reach the apex of human intellect, you just have to focus. Good luck.

[jdurg]

In addition, here in the scientific world nobody really cares about where an undergraduate degree comes from. It's your masters and doctorate degrees that carry all the weight. You should ask yourself "Is it really worth it to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an undergrad degree when nobody will really care about it?" You'd be much better off going to a standard, "affordable" school for your undergraduate so that you don't have to deal with the insane amount of loans that would be needed to afford an Ivy League school. Besides, once you go after your masters and/or doctorate you'll REALLY start seeing the debt build up.

 

Another reason to go for a less expensive undergrad degree is what happens if you decide later on that nuclear physics isn't right for you, or for some reason you're not able to succeed in that field? The financial burden of going to an expensive school for your undergraduate degree is far greater than most people think. Unless you are guaranteed a high paying job immediately after graduating college, you're really shooting yourself in the foot by putting yourself in immense debt.

[Klaynos]

What line of work you do after your doctorate also matters, it often surpises me how much some people change direction...

 

The professor of Biomedical Physics at my uni did his PhD in General relativity

[swansont]

In addition' date=' here in the scientific world nobody really cares about where an undergraduate degree comes from. It's your masters and doctorate degrees that carry all the weight. You should ask yourself "Is it really worth it to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an undergrad degree when nobody will really care about it?" You'd be much better off going to a standard, "affordable" school for your undergraduate so that you don't have to deal with the insane amount of loans that would be needed to afford an Ivy League school. Besides, once you go after your masters and/or doctorate you'll REALLY start seeing the debt build up.

 

Another reason to go for a less expensive undergrad degree is what happens if you decide later on that nuclear physics isn't right for you, or for some reason you're not able to succeed in that field? The financial burden of going to an expensive school for your undergraduate degree is far greater than most people think. Unless you are guaranteed a high paying job immediately after graduating college, you're really shooting yourself in the foot by putting yourself in immense debt.[/quote']

 

 

I agree with the undergraduate part, but for grad school you also want to investigate the funding of the research group you'd join. You shouldn't have to borrow for that, as long as you can live on the often-meager stipend of a physics graduate student, and tuition should be taken care of as part of that. But you don't want to find yourself several years along and see the professor's funding dry up, so that you have to start over.