For three years at Lawrence you will study basic science and mathematics, as well as topics in the humanities, fine arts, and social sciences. For the final two years, you will pursue specialized study in engineering at an accredited engineering school. By the time you graduate, you will have become a skilled engineer who is superbly qualified not only to practice engineering, but also to assess and respond to the social, political, economic, and environmental implications of present-day engineering. And you'll have earned two degrees: a bachelor of arts degree from Lawrence and a bachelor of science degree in engineering from the engineering school.

Advantages of the 3-2 Program

Should you elect Lawrence's 3-2 program rather than direct matriculation at an engineering school, you will benefit from several specific features of the program. You will have broader opportunities to study disciplines beyond the purely technical; enjoy cultural events at Lawrence such as concerts, plays, and lectures; and participate in extracurricular activities. With careful planning, you also can take advantage of opportunities to study abroad at one of Lawrence's numerous off-campus programs--an option not often available in engineering schools. The pre-engineering advisers will assist you in reaching your goals.

If you are uncertain about your commitment to engineering, the program prepares you in an environment that permits a change of focus without forcing transfer to another institution. A final commitment to the engineering transfer need not be made until the junior year.

Finally, you will gain certain advantages in the job market. Employers these days look for more than mere specialists. The placement office for engineers at Washington University, for example, informs us that prospective employers notice and are attracted to the broader background of those engineers who have followed a 3-2 program. While short-term employment may require no more than technical knowledge of the field, long-term employment and advancement require an ability to be flexible as the company grows and changes. A liberal arts education teaches problem-solving techniques and writing skills that are crucial in any profession.

Three Years at Lawrence

Although most participants in the 3-2 Program in Engineering select a science major while at Lawrence, you have the option and will be encouraged to major in any area of interest, as long as you complete the core curriculum in the sciences. This curriculum includes basic chemistry, basic physics using calculus, calculus through differential equations, one course in computer science, and, if you intend to be a chemical engineer, two terms of organic chemistry. You'll also be expected to complete several (6--8) courses in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. Our 11:1 student to faculty ratio means that you will work closely with professors.

Two Years at an Engineering School

Lawrence has formal affiliations with the schools of engineering at Columbia University (New York, NY), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY), and Washington University (St.Louis, MO). A strong academic performance at Lawrence essentially guarantees your acceptance at any of these three schools.

You need not, however, feel confined to the four schools with which Lawrence has formal arrangements. With careful planning to assure all Lawrence requirements will be met, you can pursue the two years of engineering training at any accredited engineering school by applying for transfer to that school through the normal procedures. Recent Lawrence students have attended such institutions as the University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI), the University of Minnesota (St. Paul, MN), and The Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH) via this route.

Furthermore, you may choose to complete four years at Lawrence, receiving a bachelor of arts degree from Lawrence, and then transfer to an engineering school to study your chosen field of engineering. Lawrentians have attended Rensselaer, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Minnesota via this route.

The primary options for specialization at Columbia, Rensselaer, and Washington University, include aeronautical, chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, and nuclear engineering, along with computer science, systems science, and mathematics. Biomedical engineering, materials science, and other interdisciplinary engineering areas are also available through non-traditional interdisciplinary departments at some engineering schools and through special emphases within traditional engineering departments at other engineering schools.

Financial Considerations

Students for whom cost is no object are rare. Lawrence is committed to meeting the demonstrated need for all admitted students who are citizens of the United States. The engineering schools with which Lawrence is formally affiliated have much the same policies. To the extent that financial aid is need-based, students and their families can expect the affiliated engineering school to offer a financial aid package that asks about the same contribution from the family that Lawrence has expected. Merit components in an aid package offered by Lawrence may or may not be offered by engineering schools. Most engineering schools do not offer aid at all for non-U.S. citizens.

Many students comparing the 3-2 program with the alternative of going straight to an engineering school erroneously assume that those electing the 3-2 route pay for five years of schooling while those who go directly to an engineering school pay for only four years. In fact, only a small fraction of the students going directly to an engineering school actually complete their studies in four years. Times of four and a half to five years are common, and some engineering schools have actually moved formally to a five-year degree program. The time between graduation from high school and completion of the engineering degree is likely to be five years, regardless of whether the student elects the 3-2 double-degree route or goes directly to an engineering school. Students contemplating direct admission to an engineering school should be sure to ask the admissions officers what percentage of their students actually complete the requirements for the engineering degree in four years.

Facilities and Equipment

As a result of a long-standing institutional commitment to providing the best and most up-to-date facilities possible and frequent success in national competitions for outside grants, Lawrence undergraduates in the natural sciences and mathematics enjoy access to experimental and computational resources that are the envy of many graduate programs. Particularly significant facilities that are available--often 24 hours a day, seven days a week--to students at Lawrence include:

• The Laser Palace, equipped with hundreds of lasers and supporting both course work and independent studies in many areas of experimental laser physics.

• The Computational Physics Laboratory, equipped with several Hewlett Packard workstations and providing access to sophisticated programming, computational, and graphics resources for work in upper-division theoretical physics courses and in theoretically focused independent studies in physics.

• Laboratories for studying the structure and properties of matter using xray analysis, electron microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and other contemporary techniques, all supporting both course work and independent study in materials science, condensed matter physics, and liquid crystal physics.

• The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory, equipped with a Bruker AC-250 250 MHz NMR spectrometer and supporting a wide variety of laboratory experiments and experimental research in chemistry.

• A diverse assortment of state-of-the-art laboratory instrumentation, some of it microcomputer-based, in both physics and chemistry.

• The University-wide computer network, consisting of several servers and numerous public microcomputers located in the library, in class buildings, and in residence halls. All rooms in residence halls are wired so that, after making appropriate arrangements with Computer Services, students can connect their own personal computers to the University network.

• The Statistics Laboratory, used for classroom instruction and after-hours work in statistics.

• Development of computer hardware and software

• Mass transit design/construction

• Airplane design/construction

• Automobile design/construction

• Highway design/construction

• Chemical refining

• Flood/erosion/pollution control

• Materials design/fabrication/production

• Biomedical applications

• Patent law

• Public Policy

Numerous liberal arts colleges nationwide offer 3-2 engineering programs. Lawrence's program, however, is among the most active. About 18 entering freshmen each year plan programs of study that keep open engineering as an option, and two to four juniors each year transfer from Lawrence to engineering schools. Since the start of our 3-2 engineering program in 1975, Lawrence has been represented every year among the students at Washington University--the most common choice for our students--and sometimes there have been as many as six Lawrentians at Washington University in any given year. Typical students include

• Leif Johnson, LU and Washington University, '02: completed a master's degree in structural engineering at Washington University.

• Adam Theiss, LU and Washington University, '02: completed a master's degree in structural engineering at University of Washington, Seattle.

• Amie Lewandowski, LU and the University of Minnesota, '99: electrical engineering.

• Angela Klawes, LU, '93, and the University of Wisconsin, '95: mechanical engineering; employed by Huffy Sports Company (division of Huffy Corporation) initially as a senior manufacturing engineer and now as an international supplier quality engineer. She currently is pursuing an MBA at Marquette University.

• C. Tobin Deitrich, LU '94 and Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, '95: mechanical engineering; employed at Hewlett-Packard Company.

• Aaron Bloedorn, LU '89 and Washington University, '91 (4-2): engineering and policy.

• John Marcquenski, LU and Washington University, '85, master's degree from Cornell University, '87: mechanical engineering; employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

• Charlotte Metzger, LU and Washington University, '83: electrical engineering; employed at IBM.

• Scott Wolbers, LU and Washington University, '80, MBA from Southern Methodist University, '85: chemical engineering; senior process engineer with Biotope, Inc.

• Robert Bergh, LU and Washington University, '78, MBA, '86, from Washington University: electrical engineering; marketing representative for IBM.

• Susan Knowles Bates, LU, '77, and Columbia, '78: mechanical engineering; employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories until '84; self-employed designing and implementing databases.

• James Vosper, LU and Washington University, '76: civil engineering; now employed at The Boeing Company, Seattle.

• William Black, LU '75 and Ph.D. degree from the University of California at Berkeley, '80: electrical engineering; private entrepreneur/consultant in design of computer microchips.

Engineering Advisers

Dr. Jeffrey A. Collett
Department of Physics
Lawrence University
Box 599
Appleton, WI 54911-5626

Phone: 920-832-7014
E-mail: Jeffrey.A.Collett@lawrence.edu

Dr. David M. Cook
Department of Physics
Lawrence University
Box 599
Appleton, WI 54911-5626

Phone: 920-832-6721
E-mail: David M. Cook@lawrence.edu