Engineering at St. Lawrence University is not your typical major. With the program being a three-two combined with a different school, it does not look appealing to students. The program consists of spending three years at St. Lawrence then applying to another school and spending the next two years there. This makes it tough on students in the program because not only do they have to leave the friends they have made, but they also start to take engineering classes their senior year.
A student about to leave St. Lawrence for Clarkson at the end of this year, Allie Posnick, was asked why she came to St. Lawrence instead of an engineering school. “I solely came to St. Lawrence because of the people, volleyball and the great networking here,” responded Posnick. “I had no idea that engineering would be in my future,” she added.
Posnick feels that the classes given at St. Lawrence in the engineering program just scrape the surface and are not as good as they could be. She believes that “they have the right classes to get you somewhat ready to be sent off to an engineering school, but they are basic.” Posnick would like these classes to be more specific and focused on engineering.
“If I could go back and pick again, I would have,” said Posnick when asked if she would go back and pick a different school. She feels that starting the engineering major earlier would have been a lot better.
The career path that she is looking to take is environmental engineering. Posnick does not know exactly what kind of job she wants yet but knows it will be something in that field.
Anthony Corrado, an engineering student at Clemson, has the same feelings about his school. “I probably would have [chosen a different school]. I love the school I am at, but I feel that if I went to an engineering school it would have been better,” he responded when asked if he would have picked a different school.
Corrado believes that his education would have been of a higher quality if his school put more time into engineering. He thinks that a true engineering school may have been his best fit.
When asked if he thinks if engineering school students have an advantage over him, Corrado responded. “Not exactly, I think that each school has its own advantages, but I feel that if you get the degree, it looks good no matter what,” said Corrado. He believes that if you work hard and get good grades, you can get a job out of any school you go to.
The career path he is looking to take is biomedical engineering. Corrado wants to work around surgical robots so he can help people.
Although engineering at St. Lawrence is different, many students face the same problem of being engineers at schools that are not focused on it. If you put your head down, get the grades and eventually the degree, you can get a job. St. Lawrence does well with its three-two program but much more can be done to make it great.