Some students really do not know what they want to do when they apply to Duke.
Transfers between the Pratt School of Engineering and Trinity College of Arts and Sciences occur every year. Between 70 and 90 students transfer from Pratt to Trinity and roughly 25 students transfer from Trinity to Pratt annually, Pratt Dean Tom Katsouleas said.
Fifteen percent of each Pratt class transfers to Trinity at some point, Katsouleas said. He added that the transfer figures are typical for any given year.
Pratt has a more structured curriculum than Trinity, requiring courses such as the introductory engineering class, four natural science classes and five semesters of mathematics courses. Although Trinity students must complete a number of classes from different Modes of Inquiry and Areas of Knowledge in order to satisfy their graduation requirements, they can choose from a larger selection of classes.
Sophomore Connor Cotton transferred from Trinity to Pratt this semester because he prefers Pratt’s rigidity.
“In a lot of my classes, the teachers would say ‘There is no one right answer,’ and I found that frustrating,” Cotton said. “If I were to build a bridge, and the assignment was for it to hold 10 pounds, and it held 10 pounds, nobody could say I didn’t do the assignment correctly.”
Michael Gustafson, associate professor of the practice of electrical and computer engineering, wrote in a Sept. 7 email that although Pratt students may experience more limitations in scheduling their classes than Trinity students do, liberal arts students do not have significantly more flexibility as the student population assumes.
“Certainly, there are requirements in Trinity once you have chosen a major,” Gustafson said. “In Pratt, there is flexibility—just different levels and at different times.”
Some students may transfer from Pratt to Trinity due to involvement outside of the classroom. Many engineering, science and math courses require additional time in the lab—interfering with time for extracurricular activities, senior Doug Dellinger said.
“When I was in Pratt, I was working in the lab three to four hours per day,” junior Elena Botella said.
Botella said she applied to Pratt because she is interested in mathematics and her parents are engineers.
“My concept of what engineering was like was not necessarily what it actually is like,” Botella added. “Lab science... wasn’t for me.”
Engineering labs occupy at least 75 minutes weekly, and science labs can last up to three and half hours.
“Pratt is a much bigger time requirement,” Dellinger said, who began his Duke career in Pratt and transferred to Trinity because of the college’s flexibility. “I wanted to have some more time outside of class for getting involved in student groups and activities.”
Trinity and Pratt overlap in courses, and many students study in both schools. This semester a record number of Trinity students enrolled in the introductory engineering course, Engineering 53L: Computational Methods in Engineering, Katsouleas noted.
Sophomore Lucas Spangher said there should not be such a strong distinction between the two schools. He noted the large overlap in job opportunities for engineering majors and science majors.
Spangher switched from mechanical engineering to a double major in physics and computer science.
“I do intend on taking a couple more engineering classes,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m fully switched. Both schools have their merits.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.