. As I am only in 10th grade, what courses should i take in high school if I am looking to go into nuclear engineering.

I agree with Peter - your best preparation in high school for any engineering degree is to load up your schedule with science and math. Ideally you should sign up for the highest levels available to you, particularly physics, chemistry, and calculus. If your school offers a basic engineering class, nice bonus!

One other class that could help you if it is offered would be programming or computer science, as you’ll most likely dabble in some type of programming regardless of your engineering choice.

If your school has limited choices in science and math, you could also just work towards some basic higher level classes to set you up for general success in college. One thing that worked well for me was taking some AP English classes and concurrent enrollment at a local community college my senior year of high school, which helped to offload my schedule my first two years of university so I could focus more on my engineering classes instead of being jammed full with 16-18 hours a semester.

Pretty standard answer, really. Science, Chemistry, Math and Physics. It'll also tell you if that profession is for you. I'd also recommend taking a personality inventory questionnaire, since it will tell you how closely your personality and preferences match folks who are successful in various careers. I started out getting a scholarship with the intent of going to medical school, and I was lucky enough to have a Merit Scholarship that (snicker) at the time had no time limit, because they never figured some dork would want to stay in school forever and go through five different majors and accumulate a ridiculous amount of hours because he was already working during those years. I happened to be walking down the hallway and saw a guy on television giving a lecture about computer programming, and that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship which migrated to computer engineering. My theory that I always tell my students is that "Do for work what you would do for play, and never work another day." Some may think that's irresponsible, but in my experience, folks who do what they like are good at it, and folks who are good at something tend to enjoy it. And folks who are good at what they do -- and happy -- are good for the planet, for society, and kind to puppies. Perhaps not causality, but certainly correlation. So find an assessment test and take it. Talk to your counselor about getting one. It's fun.

Matthew:

Any high school student who aspires to attend an engineering college needs to take four years of math. Preferably calculus should be taken in your senior year of high school. You are also well-served by taking three years of science courses. For Nuclear Engineering, Physics should be one of those science courses.

Good luck in your school career, Pete Sturtevant, PE