I was recently admitted to WashU as an Electrical Engineering major (so excited!), and I have a couple questions regarding Chem 111+151 and ESE 105:
From the brief google searching I've done, it seems like the general consensus for Chem 111/151 is that it's an incredibly rigorous and demanding class. I plan to take General Chemistry my freshman year so I can have some room for ESE electives my sophomore year. Are there any practice materials for the class (that aren't blocked behind CourseHero ARGH) that I could preview over the summer to get ready for the class?
I have not for the life of me been able to find any syllabi or material regarding ESE 105; is it new? For the EEs or SSE at WashU who have taken this class, how did you find the workload and difficulty? Is it a well taught class?
Is taking Math 233, Chem 111/151, CSE 131, ESE 105 and the first-year Writing requirement too demanding for a first semester freshman? I'm not entirely sure how I should go about this -- any help would be appreciated!
My son took Chem and Chem lab, and with his limited Chem background managed to get an A in both classes. The Chem class is described more as baby quantum physics. He did not study anything additional beforehand except he did cram a bit before the online “pre-test” (I can’t remember what is was called) you take at the end of the summer. I believe study questions were provided.
He also took Calculus, the first year writing course, and a first year course called the “Biology of Dog Breeds” as he is a Biology major on pre-vet track. His classes were manageable, and he did quite well!
@Waldo755 Thank you so much! I’m more than excited to be here (a bonus is that I’m done with the anxious wait!).
Regarding Chem 111: Congrats on the 2 As! Do you happen to know how much work the class and lab entailed for your son during the school year? While I’m not going to be devastated if I don’t get an A, I’m still interested in how he went about tackling those classes since it’s no easy feat.
Biology of Dog Breeds sounds pretty interesting! I’ll think about taking it (even though I’m not pre-vet, not even close) during my time there.
Sometime in May you will get a mailing about first year classes. There are several of them, and they are limited to 12 students. Sign up went fast and was during one of my son’s AP exams, but he contacted the school and we were able to do it for him. His class met at 10 pm in one of the dorms and the professor brought his dog!
I did not ask too many details about his studying, but I know he worked very hard all semester. The first test is the hardest – the curve being anything over a 75 was an A. My son got an 81 and was over the moon. Many of his friends did not fare as well but you are able to drop the lowest grade. In the end, I think only one of his friends switched to pass/fail. Study groups and lab partners were very helpful, and an upper class men will hold weekly study sessions in the dorms. I think if you take advantage of it all you will be fine. WashU is collaborative and there are many ways to help you succeed.
@Waldo755 It’s something I’m considering doing – I don’t want to end up overloading myself my freshman year so it’s good to know that there’s something there to help me make a decision.
After doing more Googling, I came across PLTL for Chem 111 and I’m wondering if your son utilized it. If he did, was it helpful? Thanks
And I also have a new question (doesn’t necessarily have to be you answering it, but if you have any info, chime in!): I took AP Physics C: Mechanics at my high school and got a 5 on the AP test, but I feel that it might not have provided me with the depth of information I want to know about specifically Mechanics – personally, it felt a bit shallow and didn’t dive as deep into Calculus as I thought it would.
Consequently, I’m thinking of retaking Mechanics (Physics 197) at WashU, but I’m not sure whether 197 will cover the Physics C: Mechanics more in depth or if it is just a repeat & I should use my credits and skip to 198 in the Spring. How is the coursework for 197 compared to Physics C: Mechanics, if anyone has retaken it at WashU? Would like more insight on this as well.
@mundyt I can only address the Chem . . . I think you should not worry too much about this right now! You have plenty of time to explore courses and decide. I highly encourage you to attend one of the SOAR sessions. If you cannot, then you will be able to register the beginning of July online. Originally, my son wanted the PNP major (psychology, neuroscience, philosophy) but changed his mind when he met with his advisor. He had also registered for another class which he was waitlisted and eventually did not get in. I think in the end he was happy he took slightly less credits so that he was able to adjust to the rigor. He will have a much heavier coarse load this spring.
Like I wrote, relax and get through the next few months. There is plenty of time to prepare for the fall!
A 5 on Physics C exempts you from Physics 117/197 so I would take the credits. Physics isn’t the best taught course at WashU. Son got a B+ in 197 and he claimed that his grade was one of the better scores in his class.
Chemistry 111 is definitely the baby quantum physics. My kid was proud of his B+ and the class was pretty tough his freshman year (Fall 2017), but it prepared him well for what to expect and he did get an A in Chem 112. It sounds like Chemistry this year was slightly easier.
One of the more interesting of the first year classes is Phage Bioinformatics-gives the students a good foundation for doing research and students are required to present to the Undergraduate Research Symposium.
CSE 131 is straightforward. It’s a flipped class in that you don’t attend lectures although labs are mandatory. You pretty much view videos and do on-line HW except for the lab assignment. My son got a 98% in the class even though he didn’t have that much of a CompSci background in high school (dropped AP CompSci in high school because his teacher was pretty bad).
Math 233/Multivariable is easy and straightforward for the most part. The HW and practice tests help and if you do those correctly you are assured of at least an A- in the class. If Krantz is teaching, by all means take his class-he wrote the textbook used for the class and his midterms are pretty much the same as the practices that he posts on his website. Or take Roberts-she’s kind of dry as a lecturer but straightforward.
Don’t think that Calc 3 is that straightforward though. My son got an A but a friend of his at Olin got an 18/100 on the first midterm-bad things do happen. But for Calculus and Chemistry the worst midterm is always dropped.
That schedule is completely ok and I am sure you will do great. The only class I am not sure about is ESE105.
Chem 111/151 → IMO the class is not as hard as everybody makes it out to be. If you put in the work, practice, and study you should be able to secure a good grade (maybe not an A but a good grade). 111 is pretty physics based at first then progresses to more typical chem. 151 is tedious but very similar to AP chem type material. The teachers are phenomenal. PLTL is helpful if you like working in groups and studying with others.
CSE131 → Not a difficult class at all, considered to be quite easy.
MATH 233 → Not as easy as CSE 131 but definitely not considered a very hard class as far as math classes go. Math professors can be a bit iffy at washu though.
Writing one → Completely depends on your professor (there are so many that teach it). I had a friend whose teacher gave everyone high Bs to As, meanwhile my prof said she strives to make the averages high C to low B because thats how it was like when she was in college.
Writing 1 in Arts and Sciences is kind of variable. The son got an A- and didn’t really work that hard at it in the class.
It definitely depends on the instuctor. There are some who are the SJW type and others who don’t care as long as you can back up your assertions with enough evidence.
Regarding Writing 1: That sounds pretty sketchy; I definitely don’t want to run into the former type that @Hamurtle mentioned. Are there any specific professors I should avoid for Writing 1, as a result?
Are there any Chem 111 practice materials that are posted online that AREN’T locked behind CourseHero? So far there’s a lot of universities that seem to post their Chemistry practice materials online (like UC Berkeley and Tau Beta Pi with Chem 1A/1B), but WashU has been surprisingly devoid of any Chem 111 stuff when I Google’d it. Or should I just not worry about it?
@mundyt my son had Iler for writing. He is probably one of the best instructors for the course. Although if I remember correctly if you’re in EAS, you aren’t required to take the writing class listed in Arts and Sciences. I think there is a technical writing class that is required for Engineering majors which is different.
Check with your 4-year advisor once you are assigned one.
@mundyt I’m a current BME student at WashU. Engineers can test out of the writing requirement by doing any of the following:
36 on ACT English
800 on SAT English
5 on AP Lang or Lit
Passing a placement test at the beginning of freshman year
Regardless, engineers don’t generally take writing 1 first semester, as the placement test results don’t return until it’s time to register for second semester.
Agree with the others that CSE 131 is pretty straightforward. It can be a little bit of a time suck if you don’t naturally understand the material but it’s a fair class.
Chem 111/151 has so many support groups structured around it that you can’t even count them all. PLTL groups, RPM hours, personal tutoring, and more is all free for SEAS students taking this class. You will be fine; don’t worry about it.
I got 5s on both AP Physics C exams, so I skipped both 197 and 198. So far, this has not at all come back to bite me. I took circuits last semester, which builds on 198, and my knowledge was just as solid as those who took the class at WashU. Take advantage of your AP credit and do something fun!
There are also lots of support groups for Math 233, including PLTL and RPM hours. Keep on top of the homework and go to class and you’ll be fine. The professors have been rotating very frequently in the calc classes, so you likely will not get a choice of who to take it with. Don’t worry; the material is largely the same either way, and the textbook for 233 is solid.
Overall, I don’t think your schedule for first semester looks overly ambitious. There’s gonna be an adjustment period, sure, but I don’t think you’ll be drowning.
If you really want to practice your chemistry before hand/prestudy or familiarize yourself with the material, (which you def. do not need to do btw) you can always read the text book a bit before hand. If memory serves me right, the curriculum follows the text book pretty well (It might have been a chapter a lecture or a chapter a week? I cant remember). The text book I had to use was called principles of modern chemistry 7th edition. I took the class 4 years ago so they might be using a newer version (or maybe a different tb, I’m not sure)
JemmaSimmons, I"m pretty surprised that AP classes were fine and allowed you to start at a higher level in courses like physics or math. My engineer major kid felt that the material in STEM related APs were typically covered in the first few weeks of the semester-different school but would think similar curriculum. Good for you though!
Does General Chemistry 1 at WashU cover the first half of the given textbook? Could anyone give me a list of chapters that it covers in Principles of Modern Chemistry (Oxtoby)?
