Engineering and Hamilton

Some thoughts on your academic plans

The most frequently attended engineering school for those going on from Hamilton has been Columbia's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. Below, you'll find in italics a summary of their requirements as of the fall of 2008 (you can find them at http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/engineering/combined/admissions.php )
On the page you reach with this link find a link to the "Pre-Curriculum Guide" on the right. There is also a viewbook for the school and a bulletin/catalog.

Guaranteed admission into The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences undergraduate Combined Plan Program is offered to applicants who have met the following requirements (these are the requirements as of the fall of 2008 intended for students planning to enter Columbia in the fall of 2011 and thereafter). Applicants must--

Articulation agreements vary slightly at each school, the following lists the basic required classes for guaranteed admission. (Please see your Combined Plan liaison for specifics.)

Although the above courses are required for guaranteed admission, an applicant who has not met the requirements is still considered for admission, at the discretion of the Combined Plan admissions committee. The Economics and English requirements, in particular, can be completed the summer before your first year at SEAS or, if your schedule allows, during your first year at SEAS.

If choosing the 3-2 sequence, all of Hamilton's requirements have to be satisfied before the student leaves at the end of the junior year.  In particular they must complete our Writing Program and be making good progress toward the completion of a Hamilton concentration.  The majority of students who've gone to engineering studies have been physics majors. Recently several students have chosen math as their Hamilton concentration.   In the case of physics concentrators, we accept for completion of the requirements their engineering work at Columbia, but they must have completed key junior courses here.  On the other hand, Hamilton's math department requires that the full concentration be completed at Hamilton before leaving for Columbia.  This makes sense because upper level math coursework may be absent or minimal in certain engineering specialties.  As a result, the math major must be completed in 3 years and, over time, this may not prove to be a popular route.

How to start your program (sample schedules)

It is widely held that going without math courses for a year makes taking up the subject subsequently more awkward and difficult and the effects can be compared with skipping foreign language instruction for a year.  Furthermore, since 5 math courses need to have been completed before leaving Hamilton, and they have a prerequisite structure of their own, students should start with math in the first term of their first year here.

Next, the student will be taking a science in his or her first year.  Both chemistry and physics are one year sequences beginning in the fall.  The second term of chemistry is optional for a number of engineering choices.  Since the most popular track to Columbia has been in physics, it seems appropriate for the choice to be intro physics.  If there is an indication that the student needs some time to get his or her math up to speed, then the algebra based physics sequence (100, 105) is preferred.  However, if the student is interested in chemical engineering or another specialty that is chemistry-rich, then chemistry courses should be taken in the first year. Such a student would be most probably beginning a chemistry concentration. Note: after the first year, if the student has found it difficult and unrewarding to take one math course and one science course at the same time, rethink whether engineering study at one of our coordinate schools is a prudent goal.

Our students exceed the Columbia requirement of a single course in English composition through completion of our writing program; the letter from the engineering liaison at Hamilton, submitted at the time of application, points that out.  The sooner you begin taking writing intensive courses the better-- you'll learn invaluable skills and prosper in virtually all your courses.

It is not necessary to take economics in the first term, but study in that field does expose the student to a possible alternative choice of concentration for the student who decides against engineering but is interested in a field where mathematical reasoning is important and widely used.


General remarks

 
We want to make sure the student has a viable, interesting plan of study that will leave him or her with a sound education should the engineering option fall by the wayside (it is common for students to change their career goals as they progress through college).  Assuming that a student who is willing to commit to becoming an engineer has strong interests in technology/science/math, a curriculum rich (but not monotone) in those subjects should be suitable.

Students opting for 4-2 (means applying to Columbia to do undergraduate work in engineering after having finished a normal 4 year program at Hamilton) will have an easier time of organizing their Hamilton course work.

In general financial aid has been strong for those going on in engineering. However, our experience has been that, although Hamilton may provide them with excellent support, students who are neither permanent residents nor citizens of the U.S. are not guaranteed good financial packages at the coordinate engineering schools.  Without generous financial aid these schools may be unaffordable.

Engineering Advisor
Peter Millet
Litchfield Professor of Physics

 

 

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