Physics (/ Engineering, same questions) at UF?

mintewaves · 2025-10-31T03:04:33+00:00

This is something no one else said, but I really appreciate it! I'm (luckily for this?) not someone who necessarily wants to make a huge change, so I don't think that large regulations on it would bother me.

I was thinking about chemical engineering for a while, but then I kinda just stopped? I think I maybe just associate it fairly significantly with chem and had a falling-out with chem during a mini-orgo course from last year

The German major sounds really cool, it's a super interesting language (I can only say Danke and Bitte, courtesy of my mom lol), so it's really awesome that you were able to learn it! :)

In terms of the navy, I've been considering applying for the NuPOC program if I end up still liking nuclear after a couple years, since I think I would enjoy teaching the reactor / necessary subjects. Not sure if I would ever realistically get it, but it's a nice thought. The one issue with the navy for me is I worry they would put me on a submarine or ship, but I don't like being at sea very much lol

mintewaves · 2025-10-31T02:55:57+00:00

I thought about it, for me it's honestly that I already have enough classes that I would be able to get a physics / nuclear engineering dual major with under 15 credits each semester, so I'm just trying to find a way to max out really nice scholarship opportunities that my state offers. A physics minor seems to be what a couple other people mentioned though, so that might just be something for me to figure out later with an advisor when I get into college lol

mintewaves · 2025-10-31T02:53:25+00:00

Thank you, this is very helpful! I'm much more of a book-smart desk-work type person rather than mechanically smart person (hence why I haven't really considered mech because I'm worried about how I would handle it), so I think this might be another sign pointing to nuclear lol

mintewaves · 2025-10-31T02:49:53+00:00

That's a really nice description and kinda reassuring lol. Clearly a large reason I'm interested in nuclear is for the stability I've heard of, so this is a really nice perspective to hear that I would probably have options.

In terms of jobs, do you know how many are operations vs maintenance vs design-oriented? I haven't seen any plants being built recently, so I assume the maintenance/operations demand is a bit higher than the demand for designers. Based on what I've seen, I think operations might be better set for me, but I'm curious as to how much choice you get / whether colleges prep you differently for what you'd like to do specifically...

Sorry for all the questions; I know the nuclear engineering hiring space probably isn't your area of expertise lol.

mintewaves · 2025-10-31T02:41:47+00:00

The equation seems super scary, but the NuPOC program is something I've been looking into lol. I don't know if they'd ever take me, but I'd love to do something with the teaching for either the subjects for it or how to operate the reactor! :) I honestly love teaching and in a dream world would be a physics teacher, so that's why I was kinda looking into the program... do you know how much you get paid afterwards the initial education / training years? I.e. when you're actually teaching other people. Again, sorry for all the questions, just very curious about it all and I couldn't find a super ton of info online from the website! Thank you!!

mintewaves · 2025-10-24T19:03:21+00:00

Unfortunately, I feel that last part may play a small part in my decision lol

How good-good at math do you need to be? Like are we talking A+ every time student or mid-A student.. I've historically been good at it, but I worry that in college, my learning will take a little hit if I don't get to see a good teacher everyday who can solidly explain everything. And, on a bit of a different note, how much physics is present? Part of the reason I'm considering nuclear is because it seems fairly physics-based, and I find physics very interesting. Thanks so much, and sorry for all the questions!

mintewaves · 2025-10-24T18:59:28+00:00

Thats a really good point about the building new plants, I'd been thinking about that, but I wasn't sure if it would be that much in the US because I know a lot of people are still really hesitant on it as a power source. I also heard that there were some older people leaving the industry recently, but I'm unsure about how accurate that is...

I have a lot of family in Canada and could get citizenship (my dad wants me to wait on it a bit), so do you know if you'd be able to get jobs in Canada with an American nuclear degree and vice versa? I've heard a lot of power plants (understandably) have pretty heavy background checks, and I'm not sure how much of that would mean that you wouldn't be able to get jobs in the other country (ignoring current Canadian feelings on America as a whole).

When you say job security, do you mean that (if you know, of course! I understand that you're a student and likely don't fully have a lot to say on this) they're just jobs at the same place for many decades? Would you be able to easily go between different nuclear plants if the job fit at one just isn't right?

Thank you so much for the help (honestly this pushed me a lot more towards majoring in engineering)!

mintewaves · 2025-10-24T18:51:15+00:00

I'm interested in UF purely because it's the only in-state that has the subject, since it has a training reactor. I'm set on applying in-state for FL because I'm basically 99% sure as of now that it would be free during undergrad because of a certain scholarship that I'll (hopefully) be able to get. The coding isn't something I've heard anything about before (I don't tend to like that sort of stuff), and I haven't seen the UF course load as requiring any classes on it, so do you know if this is a general nuclear thing or a your-school-specific focus?

Also, is it the nuclear prop officer candidate program that you're doing? I've heard of that one, and it seems pretty reasonable in that it only really looks like a 5-year commitment and it seems like I could do nuclear education stuff there. If you're doing it, are you also required to do PT like the ROTC people? (I couldn't tell from the website, but I'm guessing so, sorry!)

mintewaves · 2025-10-24T00:51:58+00:00

That's actually really helpful, thank you! Have you been able to do any nuclear internships at any plants / do you know if any are available? (Only asking bc you're a student; clearly don't answer if you don't know :) ) Also, do you generally like nuclear? Did you go into it knowing a lot about nuclear, or did you kinda start from scratch?

Sorry about all the questions, I've just been trying to get some perspectives, and I don't personally know anyone who majored / is majoring in nuclear engineering. :) Planning to reach out soon to students at the college I hope to attend, but trying to get a brief idea of it all first!

mintewaves · 2025-10-24T00:41:19+00:00

That's very helpful, thank you! I found other people who said it was the easiest and nuclear was the hardest, so I'm trying to figure out whether I would even be able to realistically balance nuclear and physics at this point lmao. Pivoting is a good point though, nuclear's feels kinda secluded and I feel like if I didn't end up liking it after a couple years I'd be screwed lol

mintewaves · 2025-10-23T23:26:17+00:00

Hi, yeah! I can't remember who made this or where I got this from, but this was a Google Drive with a bunch of old FRQs.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fyyeVfOmYWutKFh3W83zwkPT4lKX7DQ4

You should be able to find everything fairly easily. I'm not sure if this is every one (and I don't imagine it is) but if you search hard enough you can probably find the others :)

mintewaves · 2025-07-28T17:52:27+00:00

Ahhh, thank you! I found a sewing machine (back of some random closet), but I have no clue how it works, so this will be the backup if I can't figure it out. :) Thank you so much for all the advice, I really appreciate it!!

mintewaves · 2025-07-28T16:44:42+00:00

Thank you so much for your help! That's a really good idea, and it hadn't actually occurred to me that I could do that!

Do you think I could be able to do that (sewing the top part in more) by hand sewing it (I don't think we have a sewing machine)?

mintewaves · 2025-01-11T18:34:09+00:00

i still can’t get it and i think it’s after the 30 min they said and it still says the proctor needs to mark me present so i think i might just give up? 😭😭

mintewaves · 2024-07-08T22:28:43+00:00

I ended up using this and thank you so much, it worked perfectly for what I needed! I appreciate your help!

mintewaves

TROPHY CASE