Many ChemE's in NUPOC?

[jburnes]

nupoc academic badge?

There are also a few awards when you graduate NPS. Things like being top in your class and a few others. By that point most people don't really care about the awards, they are just glad to be finished.

 

[red1323]

IMO NUPOC isn't that hard to get into if you are qualified. I just graduated with my ChemE degree and had no problems getting in. Honestly with all the crazy stuff we get put through as ChemE's I'm way more worried about OCS than I am Nuke school. Where are you in the pipeline? Have you gone on your VIP trip yet? If so, know the guide like your best friend. You WILL see some of the same questions. Also, the DC interview is non-competitive so focus on making friends, most of you will get in and it never hurts to know people. Most of the nukes are engineers of some sort and even though I’m guilty of a fair amount of academic elitism, after you graduate what kind of degree you have means pretty much nothing if you don’t keep up the good work. Feel free to PM me with any more questions.

 

[xmid]

even though I’m guilty of a fair amount of academic elitism

You might want to check that sh!t at the door dude... Theres probably gonna be guys that are from alot more prestigious schools than yours, and alot less prestigious.

 

[red1323]

Yea, I was kinda getting at that when I said, "after you graduate what kind of degree you have means pretty much nothing.." sorry I didn't elaborate.

To clarify; at my school, ChemE's were taught that we were the best and it led to some big egos. As I talked more and more to my friends that have graduated, I have realized that most people don’t know or care what a ChemE is and they REALLY don’t care where you graduated from or what you did while in school, all that matters is what you have done for them lately.
Bottom line: make friends on your VIP and DC trips and don’t worry as much about finding other ChemE’s as getting mentored by people further ahead than you (in any community) and mentoring those behind you.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Honestly with all the crazy stuff we get put through as ChemE's I'm way more worried about OCS than I am Nuke school.

And that is what gets people in trouble. Seriously, as a ChemE, you have a great education that will serve you well throughout your nuke career. However, DO NOT underestimate nuke school. It has a tendency of taking those who do and kicking them in the nuts over and over again. Submit to the navy way, press the "I believe" button when something conflicts with what you "know" is wrong, and learn all the key words and tricky phrases. You can start thinking you have nuke school in the bag after your Final.

 

[insanebikerboy]

...learn all the key words and tricky phrases....

Good thing to mention. You could have the knowledge to physically build your own reactor, but that doesn't mean much for the tests. Not only do you have to know the material, you have to know the material for the tests word for word, from the book the Navy gives you, and it's not a multiple choice test/fill in the blank but pretty much essay type answers for every question. Your chem-e degree may help you grasp the concepts easier which will free up gray matter for the tests, but the answers are no less easy if you can't remember, as Steve said, the "key words and tricky phrases".


As an easy example, a monkey wrench in Nuke parlance is an "open-end adjustable pipe wrench". Miss any of those words and you just missed the question. Doesn't matter if you can describe the material it made out of, it's molecular structure, it's color, how much it weighs, what it does, , etc, etc, you leave out any of those words...no dice.

Good luck, nuke school is a challenge but it's rewarding too.

 

[red1323]

Good advice, thanks guys! I guess I'll check my opinions of nuke school until after I'm through.