Academics

A dedicated pre-law adviser and considerable programming throughout the academic year helps students who might want to pursue a law career. 

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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Students interested in engineering have several solid options to pursue, including cooperative plans with prestigious engineering schools.

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.

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Architecture schools consider a strong liberal arts background, such as that provided at Colgate, to be advantageous for professional development.

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.

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Business/management and financial services are two of the top career fields for Colgate graduates. More than 25 percent of recent graduates have pursued a career in financial services or business-related fields.

• Colgate’s semester-long economics study group in London concludes with student internships in fields that include banking and business.

• The entrepreneurship and finance clubs engage students in issues and business ventures, and offer career exploration and alumni networking.

• Alumnus Andy Greenfield ’74 offers a practical entrepreneurship course for Colgate students called Thought into Action.

• Through the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program, students file income taxes for low-income families in Madison and Chenango counties free of charge. In 2010, 50 Colgate students prepared tax returns for 1,300 families in Central New York.

• The Aaron Jacobs ’96 Endowed Fund provides stipend support for Colgate students who wish to intern in the financial or business fields.

• The Investment Studies Program, supported by a permanent endowment, works with the Colgate Finance Club and other student groups to plan speakers, certificate courses, and workshops that address the changing landscape of investing and finance, and Colgate students’ interests.

Communications/media is among the top career fields for Colgate graduates — more than 12 percent of recent graduates have pursued careers in the field.

• The Colgate Maroon-News is the oldest collegiate weekly newspaper in the nation. A staff of more than 100 students produce the print and online publications which are distributed around campus, as well as to subscribers across the country.

• Colgate’s Blackmore Media Center, a purpose-built 2,350 square-foot space in the O’Connor Campus Center, is home to the student-run radio station WRCU.

• CUTV, an entirely student-run organization, is one of the nation’s oldest running college television stations.

• The Colgate International is a magazine that covers a wide range of international topics, from current and historical events, to research and academic work focused on international issues.
  
  

• Colgate is a member of the Central New York Communications Consortium, providing recruiting events for students who wish to work in the communications industry.

• The Department of Writing and Rhetoric offers courses to position students to become critical language users, preparing them for postgraduate training and eventual careers in publishing, journalism, and other communications media in an increasingly global society.