<p>What is the intellectual climate like at Colgate? Are the students engaged in their classes and enthused about their work? Are research positions, particularly in the sciences, readily available? Do many students go on to doctoral work, or are most students aiming for jobs in banking or consulting when they are through? Any input or observations welcome. Thanks!</p>
<p>Colgate students are smart, hard-working, well rounded and a lot more normal than some of the students I’ve known at highly intellectual universities where no one seems to do anything other than worry about their courses and what grad schools they will get into. And yet Colgate grads go on to med school, law school, divinity school, and Ph.D programs in very high numbers. I’d say if a student wanted to emphasize their highly-developed intellect above all else, they should be aiming for schools like the University of Chicago (which I’ve read is now trying to diversify its student body with more normal students!) or Swarthmore or similar schools. </p>
<p>At one time, Colgate grads did typically go into business, finance, and such, but that was way back when it was an all-male school which has not been the case for 40 years now. Graduates of Colgate are as likely to become professors, teachers, or filmmakers as CEO’s or lawyers. One of my Colgate friends (I attended Colgate) become a filmmaker, my brother (also a Colgate grad) became a screenwriter, a fraternity friend went to divinity school, another fraternity brother was a Rhodes scholar, another became an archaeologist, one was from Czechoslovakia, three of my roommates went to med school, one to Harvard Law, and so on. </p>
<p>There are lots of suburban white kids who are into sports, true, but also lots of very bright and very talented smart people, too. You find your level in anything you do, and if your child is genuinely turned on by philosophy, the Classic, science, art or anything, they will find their soulmates and they will learn in a humane environment unlike the pressure cookers at a few universities. And they’ll likely have some fun, too, as Colgate students tend to be pretty outgoing normal people who make friends and love challenges. You better be if you’re going to survive those long winters in Upstate New York!</p>
<p>Thanks, ColgateDad, that helps a lot! It sounds like Colgate would be a great fit for my son, who although very bright stats-wise and very enthusiastic about his studies, can’t stand intellectual pretension and for that reason avoided applying to some of the schools known to stress academics above all else. We’re trying to find a school that will challenge him intellectually yet allow time for other pursuits and that has a student body where he’ll be easily able to find others like himself. Your comments were exactly what we needed to hear!</p>
<p>You asked if research positions are readily available–definitely! As there are no graduate students at Colgate (except for 3-4 in education each year), laboratories are staffed by undergraduates. Each summer, nearly 100 students stayed on campus to work or do research (in almost every department) that was fully funded by the university. It was possible to start in a lab as early as your freshman year, and I had the opportunity to work in 3 different labs during my 4 years at Colgate. The professors are very dedicated to teaching undergraduates not only in the classroom, but in the lab (or field) as well.</p>
<p>Thank you, cadriethiel!</p>