Pre-engineering at CC

The pre-engineering program is a way for students interested in both a liberal arts education and obtaining a BS in engineering by way of transferring to an engineering school in our program. We currently partner with Columbia University and USC (expiring August 2023--which means this is the last year, I think). If you are planning on pursuing this program, be sure to schedule an appointment with the pre-engineering liaison, Professor Phillip Cervantes, pcervantes@coloradocollege.edu, before planning your courses at CC.

Here's a schedule of courses most engineering students take.

There are multiple paths from CC to an engineering career, including:

Our 3-2 Program
Our 4-2 Program
Graduate school in engineering (usually you will major in the affiliated science)
Employment in engineering directly from CC (usually you will major in the affiliated science)

CC graduates have followed all of these paths into successful careers.

If you're interested in the 3-2 or the 4-2 programs, you need to start planning pretty early (especially for the 3-2 program). Here are the requirements:

Complete all requirements for BA from CC, including the all-college requirements (writing requirement, diversity, Language, etc.) and the requirements for your major (can be any major)

Complete requirements for entry to partner school. There will likely be general requirements including grade point requirements (for all engineering programs at that school) as well as specific requirements (for the particular program you are interested in)

Even for the 4-2 program, it is important that you NOT graduate. This is an undergraduate program. At the end of your two years at the partner school, you will receive two bachelor’s degrees—a BA from CC and a second bachelor’s from the partner school.

Many of our 3-2 and 4-2 participants choose to attend Columbia University Links to an external site.. The list of courses to take are at the link https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2022-12/2022-2023%20Combined%20Plan%20Curriculum%20Guide.pdf Links to an external site. (note: This link is for Fall 2022 entering students. If you're older, scan the website for your entering year. I suspect they tweak them a little from year to year). There is also a list of equivalents from the same era. Students who start at CC in Fall 2019 or later will not have guaranteed admission; Columbia promises a wholistic admissions process Links to an external site., which we will surely come to understand eventually. There is some information some of which is still relevant from an earlier webinar. Be sure to check out the Columbia website to understand everything relevant for you.

Columbia University has opened the application process for their Combined Plan (commonly referred to as a 3-2 or 4-2 program). Here's their announcement:

The application for fall 2023 admission to the Combined Plan program is now available Links to an external site., and the deadline to apply is February 1, 2023. Please review the Curriculum Guides as well as our website Links to an external site. for all of our admissions requirements, and please encourage your students to do the same.

Our usual half-block course in engineering will be offered in the Winter.

Suppose you want to simply transfer to a Civil or Environmental engineering school and apply to graduate school for a Masters degree (not 3-2, simply a transfer or apply when you graduate from CC):

Carnegie Mellon University would like you to consider their graduate program in Civil and Environmental Engineering. For simply transferring, contact francioni@cmu.edu For applying for an Masters Degree, maritchi@andrew.cmu.edu

We also have an agreement with the University of Southern California Links to an external site.

(USC's contract with us expires 8/2023)

How about a transcript from Columbia's chat session on Jan 24, 2018?

Career Center Support

Do you need help with navigating the career development process, such as creating a resume to finding an internship or job? Megan Mrkonjich, a Career Consultant from the Career Center, is your go-to person. You can schedule a meeting with her through Handshake, please ensure you get an appointment with her by selecting the appointment type "Science, Research, Sustainability, Outdoor Industry, and Healthcare".

You can find career resources and resume examples in the Files Tab

Alumni Experiences

If you're interested in reading about the experiences from students who have gone through this program in the past, take a look a the the Files Tab and open the document titled "Information Interviews with Engineers"

Things to Consider

Dear Students,

I want to give you the lowdown about my current feelings about the pre-engineering program. Many of you come to CC with an interest in the 3-2 program, which can be a good program*, but has at least one major setback, which is that most STEM programs have heavy course demands that are pretty tight and tiered, leaving you little wiggle room to explore other fields/travel while you are at CC. So if you plan to do three years at CC thinking you are going to come out with a “rounded” education, it is not so clear cut. If you have definitive plans of working in engineering as soon as you graduate from CC, but really want to get that liberal arts experience, perhaps consider the 4-2 option.

Alternatively, why not get a STEM-type BA at CC and then apply for an MS in engineering at a school of your choice? On that same note, you can apply for an engineering job with your STEM-BA degree as previous students have done. That is my take on this these days. Please keep in mind I’m not an engineer or career counselor, so you may want to touch base with an engineer, the Career Center and/or one of our own 3-2 students as you get closer to the final decision.

Phillip

*It used to be more enticing because it offered guaranteed admission if you kept a certain GPA at CC before applying. This used to save you the stress of applying and wondering about being accepted as well as putting certainty in your future planning. That is not the case anymore.