Pre-professional Planning
Pre-Health
The Health Sciences Advising Committee provides information about professional school requirements and counsels students regarding the choice of undergraduate courses and work experiences. Many pre-health sciences students take advantage of the following opportunities to explore the medical field and gain valuable experience: • Local physician shadowing program • Volunteer work with Southern Madison County Ambulance Corps • National Institutes of Health Colgate Study Group (semester-long and faculty-led) Colgate has early assurance programs with medical schools at George Washington University, SUNY Upstate Medical University, and the University of Rochester. Medical school acceptance rates for first-time applicants from Colgate have been 65 percent to 80 percent in recent years. The national average is 40 percent. More information
Pre-Law
Students interested in the law should consider this key statistic: 77 percent of seniors and alumni applying to law school are accepted. The national average: 59 percent. The pre-law adviser assists students during every phase of the application process: helping students create individual time lines; advising with regard to sufficient LSAT preparation; critiquing essays; reviewing applications; and choosing schools for submissions of applications and matriculation. In addition to individual advisement meetings, the adviser conducts group and panel discussions and workshops. Reference materials, catalogues, research and career-related reports, articles, and task-oriented handouts are available to students. More than 70 law school representatives come to campus each year to meet with interested students and discuss what their schools have to offer.
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Pre-Engineering
Students can concentrate in physics at Colgate and after graduation go to graduate school in engineering or they can pursue one of the cooperative plans between Colgate and an engineering school. The cooperative plan option allows students to combine an education in the liberal arts with engineering training. Colgate has cooperative agreements with Columbia University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Washington University. Students that declare their concentration and intention to pursue such a program will begin consultation with the pre-engineering adviser to ensure fulfillment of Colgate requirements and engineering school prerequisites. In a cooperative program students may spend three years at Colgate and two at the engineering school (the 3-2 plan) to earn bachelor’s degrees from both institutions. It may also be possible for students to continue study for a master of science (MS) degree from the engineering school with as little as one additional year of study. More information
Pre-Architecture
There is an architectural studies emphasis within the university's Department of Art and Art History. While not required for graduate admissions, students are urged to consider pursuing the program. As soon as they arrive at Colgate, students are urged to speak to the department’s pre-architecture adviser. There are several courses dedicated to the study of architecture, and it is strongly recommended that students take one semester of calculus and one semester of physics. Both are expected for graduate school architecture admission. Foreign language study (reading proficiency) will be expected for students interested in advanced degrees in architectural history and theory. A semester abroad on an accredited art history or pre-architecture program is recommended to experience foreign architecture first hand, and to take upper-level architectural design courses. More information