Course Catalog 2007-2008
Denison's commitment to the liberal arts, the strength of our pre-professional advising, and the success of our graduates have made Denison well-known by professional schools ranging from medicine and business to law and engineering. Denison has maintained advising services and has joined cooperative educational programs which can be of great help to you. Whether you earn a bachelor's degree at Denison and then go on to a professional school or combine three years of study here with several at another university, a Denison education and our advising programs can contribute significantly to the attainment of your professional goals.
The director of Career Services, along with individual faculty members, provides strong and knowledgeable advising services. They will work with you in group and individual meetings from the time you express an initial interest in, for example, attending law school, through the time you apply for admission to professional school. An important part of this advising involves helping you to prepare for qualifying tests and assisting in the arrangement of internships. At your request, a detailed file of your recommendations will be developed. Denison has earned the respect of deans of professional and graduate schools through mutual relationship-building in the Central Association of Advisors for the Health Professions and the Midwest Association of Prelaw Advisors.
Medical, dental and veterinary school admissions decisions are based on performance on nationally-sponsored admissions tests (Medical College Admissions Test, Dental Admission Test, Graduate Record Examination) and on academic achievement in both science and non-science courses. Students whose test and grade profiles are strong enjoy a high rate of acceptance by medical, dental and veterinary schools in their state of residence and by selective schools throughout the country. It is important to work closely with the Pre-Professional Advisor Pamela Allen regarding the application process.
Most of our undergraduates who are considering the health professions bolster their preparations and gain an overview of several related fields by taking an internship in a hospital or clinical setting.
In 1984, Denison established a "3-4" program with Case Western Reserve Dental School. Students may apply to Case Dental School when they apply to Denison. Then, if the student performs satisfactorily in both liberal arts and in science courses, he/she will receive official acceptance to the Case Dental School. Following three years of study at Denison, the student moves directly into dental school. Students will receive a bachelor's degree from Denison and a Doctor of Dental Surgery from Case. Students can only apply for the 3-4 program once they have been admitted to Denison and prior to the first semester of classes. (CWRU usually completes these interviews by early May). Students need to request the CWRU dental school application form from CWRU. The Admissions office will forward the Denison application to CWRU. For more information, contact Pre-Professional Advisor Pamela Allen in Career Services.
Denison graduates are successful in gaining admission to law schools across the country. Students' performance on the Law School Admission Test and their academic records are the major determining factors in the admissions decision. Our records list over 75 institutions where Denisonians have recently studied law. Early contact with Pre-Professional Advisor Pamela Allen is strongly recommended.
Because of Denison's traditional strength in preparing students who do well in law, representatives from a number of schools regularly visit the campus for Career Days and interviews. In addition, panels and programs featuring practicing attorneys and internships in legal settings help students make realistic career decisions.
A broad-based undergraduate program in the liberal arts is one of the most satisfactory preparations for graduate study in business administration and management, and large numbers of Denison graduates continue their studies in M.B.A. and M.M. programs across the country. Although the current national trend is to encourage students to work several years between their undergraduate and M.B.A. programs, Denison students get pre-M.B.A. advice. Early contact with Pre-Professional Advisor Pamela Allen is strongly recommended.
Denison has a signed agreement with Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management to allow students to enroll in the Master of Science in Management degree following graduation from Denison. This one-year Master's program provides business related coursework for liberal arts graduates. For more information and brochures, contact Pre-Professional Advisor Pamela Allen in Career Services.
Denison offers a 3 plus 3 program toward the Master of Science in Nursing degree with Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Denison students complete the first three years of a liberal arts curriculum along with science prerequisite coursework. Students transfer to Case Western for the fourth year and complete the pre-licensure requirements for Nursing. These credits transfer back to Denison to complete a Bachelor's degree in the student's major. Students have two years remaining to complete the Master of Science in Nursing degree from Case Western and select a specialty track in Nursing at that time. For more information, please contact Pre-Professional Advisor Pamela Allen in Career Services.
With a long-standing tradition of strength in science and pre-engineering, Denison offers two plans to prepare for an engineering career. In the first, students receive a bachelor's degree after four years at Denison with a major in natural sciences or mathematical sciences, followed by two years of graduate work at another institution leading to a master's degree in engineering. Denison students regularly have been accepted to graduate engineering programs at leading universities.
The second plan is a "3-2" program in which students study three or four years at Denison and two at an affiliated engineering school and receive two bachelor's degrees. Denison is affiliated in such binary programs with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Washington University (St. Louis), and Columbia University. Students interested in these plans should contact Dr. Daniel Homan, Denison's engineering liaison officer, in care of the Denison Physics Department, at their earliest opportunity. The required math and science courses typically include: Calculus I, Calculus II, Calculus III, Differential Equations, the introductory Physics sequence (Physics 125-7 or equivalent), Modern Physics, General Chemistry I and II, and Computer Science 171. Additional courses may be required, depending on the chosen field of engineering.
Denison offers a cooperative program with Duke University in the areas of Environmental Management and Forestry. You can earn the bachelor's degree from Denison and the master's in either Environmental Management or Forestry from Duke after spending three years at Denison and two years at Duke's School of the Environment. The major program emphases at Duke are resource economics and policy, water and air resources, forest resource management, resource ecology and ecotoxicology and environmental chemistry. An undergraduate major at Denison in natural or social science or pre-professional emphasis in business or engineering is good preparation for the Duke programs, but any undergraduate concentration will be considered for admission. If you are interested in this program, however, you should take at least one year each in biology, mathematical sciences, and economics at Denison. Biology Professor Juliana Mulroy has more information on both this program and the following one in natural resources.
Since the 1979-80 academic year, Denison has had a cooperative program with the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan to provide training for careers in the management and study of renewable natural resources. You attend Denison for three years and transfer to Michigan for two additional years. At the end of your first year at Michigan, you can receive your Denison bachelor's degree. Upon completion of Michigan's graduation requirements, a bachelor's degree in either forestry or natural resources is awarded.
Denison offers the basic courses needed to enter a professional program in medical technology. The Career Services staff can help you make arrangements to take part in certified programs, such as the one at the Rochester General Hospital. Normally, you enter the professional program at the end of your junior year. After successfully completing the training program at the cooperative university or hospital, you will receive a Denison bachelor's degree and be eligible for the registry examination given by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists.
Denison offers a "3-2" program in cooperation with Washington University (St. Louis). For students with equivalent admission criteria, those who satisfactorily complete Denison's three-year Pre-Occupational Therapy prerequisite courses and receive three favorable recommendations including the faculty advisor's, will be given preferred consideration over the non 3-2 student for admission to the master's degree program.
Denison students who meet prerequisites may also apply on a competitive basis to other schools of Occupational Therapy. Students interested in Occupational Therapy and/or either of the above programs should contact Pre-Professional Advisor Pamela Allen in Career Services.