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Marc.Lowe
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I'm currently actually a first year masters student in Software Engineering at a small state school in Wisconsin, but my Bachelor's is in Physics w/ a computational emphasis from the same school. For an undergrad, I had a fairly large amount of research experience in nuclear physics (2 internships and credit for research almost every semester).
Today I received my letter of acceptance into UW-Madison's Nuclear Engineering MS program. There's a few reasons I'm conflicted in this:
Today I received my letter of acceptance into UW-Madison's Nuclear Engineering MS program. There's a few reasons I'm conflicted in this:
- Currently paying for school, although I have a solid paying internship and I would have to pay for school if I changed as well (late applicant and MS student). I am curious if it would be possible to do a year there, then reapply for a Ph.D and hope to get funding.
- Lifestyle: my gut tells me my life would be dramatically different going down both roads. I would be nervous of my life being entirely consumed if I went the Ph.D route. I love nuclear sciences and understand graduate school kind of sucks for everyone (I admittedly feel like I'm still in undergrad), but I'm unsure of any job prospects for someone with a grad degree in nuclear eng. that have a more reasonable work load. I would probably be shooting for a national lab position optimally.
- Nervous about "going back" on my choice. I was very burnt out after undergrad and after a relaxed summer ended up being very ready to jump back into something more intense. Mid way through fall semester I began feeling like I didn't really fit in the field of CS/software. I particularly find myself lacking passion about the idea of a career in business applied software, which is what my current internship is in.