Pre-Engineering at Rollins College
If you are interested in science and mathematics, but are unsure of whether you would like to pursue a major in engineering, mathematics, or one of the sciences, the cooperative pre-engineering program at Rollins College may be just right for you. This program allows you to combine a three-year program in the liberal arts and sciences at Rollins with two years of concentrated work in engineering at one of three outstanding engineering schools: Columbia University, Washington University in St. Louis, or Auburn University. After successfully completing this program, you would receive the Bachelor of Arts degree in Pre-Engineering from Rollins and the Bachelor of Science degree from the engineering school.
The cooperative pre-engineering program is an interdisciplinary program in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and computer science. As a pre-engineering major, you would take a series of core courses in all four of these disciplines and a concentration in one of them. You would also complete a distribution of courses from the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts. One of the strengths of this program is its flexibility. It allows you to explore a variety of programs in the sciences, while still preparing for engineering school. If you decide to go on to engineering school, your preparation in science and mathematics, which are at the heart of all engineering disciplines, would be stronger than that of students who go to engineering school directly. Furthermore, if you decide to stay at Rollins for four years, you would be able to complete a major in the discipline in which you concentrated.
While at Rollins, you will be able to take advantage of our challenging classes with our dedicated and talented faculty, and work in our well-equipped laboratories. You may also participate in our outstanding student-faculty research program during the summer months. However, you might ask why should I spend five years, rather than four years, earning an engineering degree? First of all, to complete a degree in engineering at many universities requires more than four years. More importantly, many engineering educators agree that combined-program students should be able to solve more complex problems in more creative ways and should be able to find positions with more responsibility and more personal satisfaction than the average engineering student. All of our students, who have successfully completed the required program and have applied to engineering school, have been admitted to at least one of the engineering programs. Furthermore, all of those students who have gone on to engineering school have done exceedingly well and report that the program at Rollins provided outstanding preparation for their engineering studies.
If you are interested in exploring engineering as a major in college, but would also like to consider other possible majors in the natural and mathematical sciences, then the Rollins cooperative pre-engineering program may be just what you are looking for. However, the only way to find out is to visit the campus, attend some of our classes in science and mathematics, see our outstanding facilities and, most importantly, talk to some of the students involved. If you would like more information on the Rollins Pre-Engineering Program, please consult the Pre-Engineering Handbook