Looking for advice on where to go for undergrad to help lead to graduate work in fusion system design

[TheMysticB]

Hi guys, I'm a High School Senior from Oregon and need some suggestions on what I should do.

I want to work on developing fusion and making it a viable energy source in our society. More specifically working on the materials that will withstand the actual conditions of the Fusion reaction. I plan on getting an advanced degree, most likely in nuclear engineering or material science.

However, I am having trouble deciding where to go to college for my undergrad and I am unsure of which school will put me on the best path to actualizing this goal. I've been accepted to the following; University of Alabama for Metallurgical Engineering with a scholarship that pays for 4 years of tuition as well as my first year of housing (Least Expensive Option), Oregon State University for Nuclear Engineering with a scholarship of 4,500 per year with in-state tuition, University of Tennessee Knoxville for nuclear engineering with a scholarship of 13,000 per year but with out of state tuition.

I'm also applying to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for nuclear engineering and I have a pretty good chance of getting in, but I will most likely be paying full out-of-state tuition here. I will also be paying for my college education myself.

I would like to participate in undergraduate research in this area in hopes of boosting my applications to graduate programs or even potential startups. While I am very grateful for my scholarship generous scholarship at the University of Alabama, they seem to be doing very little research in the area I'm interested in. This is the same with Oregon State University, there is very little research in this area.

On the other hand, both the University of Tennessee Knoxville and the University of Wisconsin-Madison seem to be very active in this area of research. Is it worth it to pay more for this access to research more relevant to my interest area? Or am I better off saving money by going to the schools that aren't doing much if any research in these areas? What would you pick if you were in my shoes?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Some things to think about:

Getting into a good graduate school is key to your goals. Doing well as an undergrad is more important than the details of your program. Research that is aligned 100% with yourt interests and a C average won't do it.

It is better not to have much debt than a lot when entering graduate school.

People's interests change. Specializing too early may not be in your best interest.

You don't need a lot of potential research advisors. Just one good one.

 

[Muu9]

Have you looked at UAH? https://www.uah.edu/news/news/uah-r...toward-holy-grail-fusion-clean-energy-project

If you can get full tuition at UAB...

Another option is to look at the Linkedin profiles of engineers at some of the many many fusion startups. If you PM them, you might get (a surprising number of) responses. It's possible that metallurgy will soon be a hot (pun intended) niche within fusion, or not. The best folks who would know would the ones working at the forefront of the field.

 

[PEEE]

I would take the loans and go to the better school. I agree that your interests may change, but assuming you would have good grades at any of the schools, doing undergrad research in the field you're currently interested in would go a long way for getting your accepted into a different university for grad school in the future should you decide to change. Reach out to the professors that you would be interested in working with first just to get an idea of if they would be open to having undergrads help in any capacity and at what point. Maybe they'll bring you in right away? Maybe after your first year so it's not overwhelming and you've been exposed to engineering? Maybe once you're in your junior year and get into more relevant classes? Maybe not at all. Just ask so you're not totally surprised one way or the other.

As a recent college graduate, my opinion on this may be different than others, regarding student loans. If you are able to be strict with your finances after graduation, I wouldn't be concerned with the student loan debt. Your job after graduation should pay more than enough to knock it out in a few years. That's only if you're able to be disciplined. I don't know about your field, but it's not hard for an electrical engineer to find a job making +$115k/year with a masters. Compared to a teacher who may make $40k/year, taking the loans for the same Bachelor's degree is actually "cheaper" for STEM majors than other majors. Again, I'm only recommending this if you pay the loans off ASAP after graduating and don't pay the minimums. If you don't feel like you "deserve" that new Tesla and fancy apartment that is now within your reach. Even paying $30k/year, you can easily pay off the loans in a few years, then move on to spending however you see fit in other areas.

Your Masters and PhD (if you choose to do one) should be 100% funded, so the loans would only be for undergrad. Advisors in my group actively looked for students interested in any level of work as they were relatively cheap labor and it allowed the grad students to do more of their research and experiments. All undergrads who helped and actually did decent work were easily about to get positions as 100% fully funded research assistants for their Masters/PhD. In "the real world", it would be equivalent to doing an internship and being offered a fulltime position after graduating if you were worth anything during your internship.