Pre-professional and Specialized ProgramsAcademic Catalog: 2019–2020

These are not names of majors but coursework that leads to further study in graduate or professional schools. Majors in the liberal arts prepare students for a variety of careers. There are a number of resources in the Office of Career Development that describe occupations and the education involved, as well as directories and websites for graduate, law, medical, MBA, architectural, and dental programs. These resources refer to more specific information. For health professions information, consult the Health Professions Coordinator in the Office of Career Development. In addition, a current list of advisors may be found in the Center for Academic Resources and Enhancement.

Since requirements for professional schools vary from school to school and can change year by year, students must carefully examine the catalog of the schools they are interested in to be current and accurate when registering for courses at Gustavus.

Actuarial Science

An actuary manages risk, primarily in insurance, retirement planning, and economic forecasting. Actuaries must have strong analytical skills, particularly in probability and statistics, business knowledge, and understanding of human behavior. A student interested in a career in actuarial science should have a strong background in mathematics, statistics, and economics (a Statistics major and either a major in Mathematics or a major/minor in Economics). Suggested courses include MCS-121, MCS-122, MCS-142, MCS-150, MCS-221, MCS-222, MCS-242, MCS-341, MCS-342, MCS-358, E/M-101, E/M-102, E/M-110, E/M-270, E/M-370, and E/M-388. Students should plan on taking at least the first actuary exam offered by the Society of Actuaries (www.soa.org) before graduation.

Architecture

Professional education for architects is now concentrated at the graduate level through the degree of Master of Architecture (MArch), awarded by universities with such programs. At the University of Minnesota, for example, this is the only degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board as complete preparation for licensing examinations. Students with liberal arts majors in a number of fields may prepare themselves for graduate admission into Master of Architecture programs by taking at least the following: General Physics I and II (or the Cosmic Universe and the Mechanical Universe), Calculus I, one additional semester of a laboratory science, a writing course, and a wide range of studio art courses. Students applying for graduate admission to architecture degree programs are normally expected to present a significant portfolio of their studio art projects. Some programs expect students to have experience in computer-aided drafting and design (CADD). Gustavus offers two CADD courses, T/D-223 and T/D-323. Courses in art and architectural history, geography, and environmental studies are recommended to help the future architect understand the built environment in its social, geographical, historical, and biophysical context.

Arts Administration

Students interested in pursuing graduate or professional work in the field of arts administration and management can prepare for this area by completing a major in Art, Music, Theatre, or Dance. Students should also plan to complete the Arts Administration minor. Interested arts administration students should also take courses outside of their major from any of the other arts departments. It is highly advisable for students to seek an internship with an arts organization off campus and/or to participate in the nuts and bolts of production, marketing, or management of arts events on campus. See the Arts Administration minor section.

Church Vocations

Gustavus offers educational programs to prepare students for ordained and non-ordained positions within the Church, including church music, parish education, and parish administration. Courses of study can be designed to meet the certification requirements of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and other Christian denominations for entrance into a theological seminary. Because the demands of ministry require a broad liberal arts background, courses are offered in a number of departments.

Candidates for church vocations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America should establish contact with their synodical candidacy committee. Students may consult with members of the Department of Religion, one of the chaplains, or the Director of Church Relations.

Dentistry

Pre-requisite requirements vary between programs so pre-dental students are advised to study carefully the requirements of the dental school programs of their choice. Interested students are encouraged to refer to the American Dental Education Association guide for requirements and admission statistics to U.S. and Canadian Dental Schools, ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools.

Elective courses should be selected to give the student as broad and liberal an education as possible within the limited time available. Most dental schools highly recommend courses in drawing and sculpture, since prospective dentists must demonstrate suitable manual dexterity as part of their Dental Admission Test.

The following courses at Gustavus are appropriate, based on the overall requirements and recommendations of regional dental schools. The required science courses should be completed by the spring of the junior year, in order to prepare for the Dental Admission Test (DAT). Some required and recommended courses are listed below:

  • Art—ART-110 or ART-234 is recommended
  • Biology—BIO-101 and BIO-102, BIO-218 or BIO-380 required by some programs (BIO-201 and BIO-202 required if planning to take BIO-380)
  • Chemistry—CHE-107 or CHE-106 and 108, CHE-141, CHE-251, CHE-255, CHE-258.
  • English—Two composition courses are preferred. A writing intensive course (WRITI) can count as one.
  • Health and Exercise Science—HES-234 and HES-235
  • Mathematics—MCS-121, MCS-118/119, MCS-177 or MCS-142
  • Physics—PHY-120/121 and PHY-170/171 or PHY-122/121 and PHY-172/171
  • Psychological Science—PSY-100

Engineering

The baccalaureate and graduate degrees in engineering or applied science may be earned through several combinations of course and degree work at Gustavus and at schools of engineering. Professional registration in engineering usually requires a BS degree in engineering. However, the combination of the BA in Physics with the MS and/or PhD in engineering is one often exercised by Gustavus graduates preparing for work in industrial research and development.

Gustavus offers dual-degree programs in engineering with two universities. They are Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and Minnesota State University, Mankato. Dual-degree programs offer joint studies leading to a BA degree from Gustavus and an engineering baccalaureate degree from the associated university. This program may be completed either in five years by finishing Gustavus general education and major requirements in three years, or in six years if the student elects to remain at Gustavus for the senior year. Most current university programs in engineering require more than four years of undergraduate study.

The College has established transfer equivalencies for courses in this curriculum with a number of universities. Students should acquaint themselves with the specific entrance requirements of the engineering school to which they are planning to transfer. To plan an appropriate course sequence, the student should meet with the pre-engineering advisor in the Gustavus Physics or Chemistry department.

Students wishing to pursue graduate studies in engineering without earning a baccalaureate degree in engineering should complete the Gustavus degree with a strong major in Physics or, for chemical engineering, Chemistry. Both of these preparations should include some undergraduate research experience and require very strong academic records.

Recommended courses for first year pre-engineering (excluding chemical engineering) are MCS-121 and MCS-122, PHY-195/196, and PHY-205/206. Many programs require one or two semesters of chemistry (CHE-107 and either CHE-141 or CHE-258), and all require that students be proficient in at least one high-level programming language, such as Matlab, Python, C++, Java or the equivalent.

Chemistry is the expected academic major for students with an interest in chemical engineering. In the first semester, students interested in chemical engineering should take CHE-107 and MCS-121 or MCS-122, if appropriate. In the spring of the first year, students should take CHE-141 and MCS-122 or MCS-222, if appropriate. If they intend to pursue a dual-degree program, students should insure that they are familiar with the physics, mathematics and computer science course sequence requirements.

Landscape Architecture

Professional education for landscape architects is typically concentrated in the graduate level through the degree of the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA). Students with liberal arts majors in a wide range of fields may prepare themselves for graduate admission into Master of Landscape Architecture programs by taking a wide range of studio art courses as well as courses addressing the relationships between the built and natural environments—art history, botany, geography, and environmental studies. Some graduate programs require coursework in physics and calculus and others do not. Students applying for graduate admission to landscape architecture degree programs are typically expected to demonstrate artistic, design, or digital technology ability through a project portfolio.

Law

Law schools require a college degree or its equivalent for entrance, but prospective law students can pursue any major field of study, and there are no specific course prerequisites for entrance to law school. Gustavus provides one-on-one pre-law advising through the pre-law advisor, and by relying on the network of Gustavus alumni practicing law in Minnesota and nationwide. Pre-law students are expected to take the pre-law seminar, offered once a year. The seminar can be taken at any point, but is recommended for either the sophomore or junior year.

Because law is an analytical and detail-driven profession, students aspiring to become lawyers should take challenging courses and work to achieve very high grades. The wide range of skills needed to become a successful lawyer align perfectly with what Gustavus has to offer: analytical and problem solving skills, critical reading, writing, oral communication and listening skills, and intensive, detail-driven research. While it is common for aspiring lawyers to major in political science, law schools work to build a diverse entering class - meaning that any major pursued with passion and success will position a student well for admission to law school. While not mandatory, in particular demand now are college graduates with quantitative skills, majors in the hard sciences (patent and medical regulatory law are major areas of practice), and applicants with distinctive and challenging work experiences after college. All law schools will accept students directly from college, but they will generally prefer applicants with a college degree and several years of work experience. Aspiring lawyers should plan to spend 1-3 years or more working after college in a way that will extend their learning and allow them to better discern their career calling.

Materials Science

Before materials science came into intellectual focus some 35 years ago, it was essentially metallurgy, the science and engineering of the metallic state. Since that time, however, the multidiscipline of materials science has become the study of the scientific and practical interrelationships at play among the processing, structure, properties, and performance of all classes of materials.

Gustavus Adolphus College offers an interdisciplinary program in materials science to prepare students for graduate education in materials science programs (often allied with university programs in chemical engineering or condensed-matter physics). The program comprises courses from the Departments of Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Physics. It has a core of introductory courses and offers two tracks, one for physics majors and one for chemistry majors. The tracks converge at two points: first, a unifying course offered in the January Interim for sophomores and juniors; second, a senior seminar course tied to research projects. Students in the program will be working toward majors in chemistry or physics as they are defined in the College Catalog.

The core courses in chemistry are CHE-107, or CHE-106 and 108, CHE-141, and CHE-258. The core in physics consists of two options: either PHY-195/196, PHY-205/206, PHY-215/216, and PHY-225; or PHY-121/122, PHY-171/172, and PHY-225. The mathematics core consists of MCS-121, MCS-122, and PHY-250. The two advanced tracks follow the chemistry and physics majors. For chemistry majors the advanced courses are CHE-252, CHE-270, CHE-371, CHE-380, CHE-385 and CHE-399. The advanced courses for physics majors are PHY-270, PHY-300, PHY-305, PHY-350, PHY-370, and PHY-390. Three courses are specific to the program. They are The Physics and Chemistry of Materials, Independent Study Research, and Materials Science Seminar. One course of research is required, but it will normally be split between two semesters.

Medicine

Pre-requisite requirements vary between programs so pre-medical students are advised to study carefully the requirements of the medical school programs of their choice. Interested students are encouraged to refer to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) guide for requirements and admission statistics to U.S. and Canadian Medical Schools for the most accurate information, Medical School Admission Requirements.

The following courses at Gustavus are appropriate, based on the overall requirements and recommendations of regional medical schools. The required science courses should be completed by the spring of the junior year, in order to prepare for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Some required and recommended courses are listed below:

  • Biology—BIO-101, BIO-102
  • Chemistry—CHE-107 or CHE-106 and 108, CHE-141, CHE-251, CHE-255, CHE-258.
  • English—two courses with intensive writing designation (WRITI)
  • Health and Exercise Science—HES-234 and HES-235 or BIO-386; regional program requirement, recommended
  • Mathematics—MCS-121 or MCS-118/119, and MCS-142 or equivalent (E/M-125 is not acceptable)
  • Physics—PHY-120/121 and PHY-170/171 or PHY-122/121 and PHY-172/171
  • Psychological Science—PSY-100
  • Sociology/Anthropology—S/A-112
  • Elective—one course in Humanities or Social Science, Level II or III, with an intensive writing component (WRITI)

Occupational Therapy

Pre-requisite requirements vary between programs so pre-occupational therapy students are advised to study carefully the requirements of the occupational therapy programs of their choice. Interested students are encouraged to refer to The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. website (www.aota.org) to review a list of accredited OT Doctoral-Level Programs and OT Master’s Level Programs at the earliest opportunity to plan for the pre-requisite requirements of a specific occupational therapy program. Some required and recommended courses are listed below:

  • Health and Exercise Science—HES-214, HES-234, HES-235
  • Lifespan Development—HES-212 or PSY-234 and PSY-334
  • Mathematics—one Statistics course (E/M-125 is not acceptable)
  • Physics - PHY-120/121 (U of MN requirement)
  • Psychological Science—PSY-100, PSY-241
  • Sociology/Anthropology—S/A-111, S/A-112 or S/A-113 (U of MN preference is S/A-111 and 112)
  • Technical/Scientific Writing course

Optometry

Pre-requisite requirements vary between programs so pre-optometry students are advised to study carefully the requirements of the optometry programs of their choice. Interested students are encouraged to consult the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry at the earliest opportunity to plan for the entrance requirements of a specific program.

The following courses at Gustavus are appropriate, based on the overall requirements and recommendations of most optometry schools. Some required and recommended courses are listed below:

  • Biology— BIO-101, BIO-102, and BIO 218 or 380 (BIO-201 and BIO-202 required if planning to take BIO-380)
  • Chemistry—CHE-107 or CHE-106 and 108, CHE-141, CHE-251, CHE-255, CHE-258.
  • English—two courses with intensive writing designation (WRITI)
  • Health and Exercise Science—HES-234 and HES-235
  • Mathematics—MCS-121 or MCS-118/119, and MCS-142 or equivalent (E/M-125 is not acceptable)
  • Physics—PHY-120/121 and PHY-170/171 or PHY-122/121 and PHY-172/171
  • Psychological Science—PSY-100
  • Social Science—one course

Pharmacy

Pre-requisite requirements vary between programs so pre-pharmacy students are advised to study carefully the requirements of the pharmacy programs of their choice. Interested students are encouraged to refer to the Pharmacy School Admission Requirements guidebook for requirements and admission statistics to United States Pharmacy Schools, Pharmacy School Admission Requirements. A reference copy is available in the Gustavus career development library, located in the Jackson Campus Center.

The following courses at Gustavus are appropriate, based on overall requirements and recommendations of most pharmacy schools. The required science courses should be completed by the spring of the junior year, in order to prepare for the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT). Some required and recommended courses are listed below:

  • Biology—BIO-101, BIO-102 and BIO-218 or BIO-380 (BIO-201 and BIO-202 required if planning to take BIO-380)
  • Chemistry—CHE-107 or CHE-106 and 108, CHE-141, CHE-251, CHE-255, CHE-258.
  • Communications—COM-120
  • Economics—E/M-108
  • English—Two composition courses. A writing intensive course (WRITI) can count as one course.
  • Health and Exercise Science—HES-234, HES-235
  • Mathematics—MCS-121 or MCS-118/119, and MCS-142 or equivalent (E/M-125 not acceptable)
  • Physics—PHY-120/121 and PHY-170/171; or PHY-122/121 and PHY-172/171 (U of MN requires one semester of Physics with Calculus)
  • Psychological Science—PSY-100
  • Social and Behavioral Science—Two electives within the area of Psychological Science or Sociology/ Anthropology

Physical Therapy

Pre-requisite requirements vary between programs so pre-physical therapy students are advised to study carefully the requirements of the physical therapy programs of their choice. Interested students are encouraged to refer to The American Physical Therapy Association, Inc. website www.apta.org to view a list of accredited Physical Therapy Programs at the earliest opportunity to plan for the entrance requirements of a specific program. Some required and recommended courses listed below:

  • Biology—BIO-101, BIO-102
  • Chemistry—CHE-107 or CHE-106 and 108, CHE-141.
  • Health and Exercise Science—HES-214 HES-234, HES-235
  • Lifespan Development—HES 212 or PSY 234 and PSY 334
  • Mathematics/Statistics—MCS-121 or MCS-118/119, and MCS-142 or equivalent, (E/M-125 not acceptable)
  • Physics—PHY-120/121 and PHY-170/171 or PHY-122/121 and PHY-172/171
  • Psychological Science—PSY-100, PSY-241
  • Sociology/Anthropology—S/A-111, S/A-112, S/A-113 or another Sociology/ Anthropology course

Pre-Seminary Programs for Vocations in Christian Ministry

Gustavus offers educational programs that prepare students for ordained and non-ordained leadership positions in Christian churches, including pastoral leadership, youth ministry, church music, religious education, and congregational administration. Courses of study can be designed to meet the certification requirements of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and other Christian denominations for entrance into a seminary or divinity school. Because the demands of ministry require a broad liberal arts background, prospective seminarians are advised to plan a broad background in the humanities, arts, and sciences. A major in religion provides an ideal integration of the liberal arts. Pre-seminary students are encouraged to consider majoring in religion and another subject area, such as Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, English, or Classics. Another option is to major in Religion and minor in two other subjects. Candidates for the ordained ministry in the ELCA are also encouraged to contact their synodical office concerning procedures for the endorsement process.

Reserve Officers’ Training Corps

Since the 1970s, Gustavus has been a cross-enrollment partner in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (Army ROTC) battalion hosted at Minnesota State University, Mankato. This partnership also includes Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato. Minnesota State University, Mankato, offers either a two- or four-year program enabling students/cadets to compete for a commission as an officer in the United States Army, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard. College credit is awarded for the courses in the program. However, the military science program is not an academic major. Students must complete an academic major in another area in addition to the military science requirements. (Historically, Gustavus students in the program have selected a variety of majors, including political science, management, communication studies, and religion.) Participating Gustavus students transfer 2–3 semester credits per term from Mankato. The ROTC is operated under Department of Defense policies and regulations. For information, contact the Gustavus Office of Career Development or the MSU Military Science and Leadership Department at 507-389-6229. (http://ed.mnsu.edu/armyrotc/)

Veterinary Medicine

Pre-Requisite requirements vary between programs so pre-veterinary students are advised to study carefully the requirements of the veterinary programs of their choice. Interested students are encouraged to consult a publication of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges titled “Veterinary Medical School Admission Requirements” at the earliest opportunity to plan for the entrance requirements of a specific veterinary school. A copy is available in Career Development.

Admission requirements vary with schools, but most include the courses required by the University of Minnesota. Listed here are the Gustavus courses needed to meet these requirements:

  • Biology—BIO-101, BIO-102 (other acceptable courses for the zoology requirement at the University of Minnesota are BIO-201, BIO-242 or BIO-373), BIO-201, BIO-202, BIO-374 and BIO-380
  • Chemistry—CHE-107 or CHE-106 and 108, CHE-141, CHE-251, CHE-255, CHE-258.
  • English—(2 courses) writing across the curriculum courses may apply, check with individual veterinary programs
  • Mathematics—MCS-121 or MCS-118/119 and MCS-142 or equivalent (E/M-125 not acceptable)
  • Physics—PHY-120/121 and PHY-170/171 or PHY-122/121 and PHY-172/171
  • * Liberal Arts—(3 courses required) Anthropology, Art, Economics, Geography, History, Literature, Music, Theater, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychological Science, Sociology, Religion and Non-English Language courses.

*Students who earn their bachelor’s degree from Gustavus must complete four Gustavus course credits from the two liberal arts areas (Arts & Humanities or History & Social Sciences)