engineering courses

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

<p>For a freshman bme major, would it be advisable to place out of gen chem with AP credit? I assume that the intro classes are graded on a harsher curve, so I don't think repeating chem from high school means I can get an easy "A". I am not planning on being premed, and I don't think bme requires orgo.</p>

<p>Also, for the physics class, what is the difference between taking physics 117/118 vs. 197/198? Is one more "difficult" or more harshly graded than the other? Is one class bigger than the other? also, would someone satisfy the physics requirement for bme taking either course?</p>

<p>and for calculus, for people with a 5 on the ap test for calc bc, is placing into calc lll advisable for a freshman? is calc lll just multivariable calculus? is it a smaller class? I'm taking multivariable this year as a senior in high school, and I think its equivalent to a semester in college. Would it be possible for a freshman to start with differential equations? I think differential equations is the next math course in the sequence, but I could be wrong. In general, are the engineering math courses taken in the engineering school or is it with the arts and sciences students also? </p>

<p>Sorry for all the questions. Feel free to answer whatever you know or correct any assumptions I made. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Gen Chem I is nothing like your high school chem, but more like quantum mechanics. Gen Chem II, however, is very similar to AP chem. Nevertheless, if you are not premed and you only want to be a BME major, I don’t think it’s too much of a problem… I’m not BME, so I can’t say for sure. However, I would at least take Gen Chem I and skip II. The class is curved to a B, and you learn a lot of cool stuff in it =D</p>

<p>I recommend taking 197/198. The professor is better and it’s generally easier to get a higher grade, especially if you are a slow worker. (the 197/198 tests can technically go until midnight from 6:30pm while the 117/118 ones are merely 2 hours long; the test also isn’t much harder and about the same length…) It is a lot more work than 117/118 though, since you get daily and weekly homework assignments, but that only makes you much more prepared.</p>

<p>Calc III is multivariable calc… but I don’t think you can skip out of it. Just get the credits with AP Calc BC for Calc I and II and take it again. You never know; it might be a good GPA booster if you have already taken it before.</p>

<p>Apparently there is a really good engineering math class that a lot of people are talking about. I am not familiar with the name. It’s somewhere on cc.</p>

3

<p>I’ll slightly disagree- don’t take Chem I at all. The cool stuff that’s covered in Chem I is also covered in Physics 198 (but not 118…). If you’re not premed and you can test out of chem, I highly suggest it.</p>

<p>In other words, the 190 series is a thousand times better than the 110 series. I’ll just second what Can said about 197/198.</p>

<p>You can actually skip calc III. I knew of several freshmen who started in diffeq. It’s your call if you want to- but whatever you do, don’t got all the way back to calc II. You’ll be bored, which could actually lead to a lower grade if you think you don’t need to study.
I just don’t know the procedure of how you get it approved.
The same may be true for calc III though. The freshmen I knew in diffeq (fall 2009) all did well in diffeq - I think of the 3 or 4 I knew, all but 1 got an A.</p>

<p>Diffeq is the last math class you’ll take through the math department. After that, you’ll have 2 more, and they’re taught through the engineering school.

LOL. It’s called “Engineering Math” … or ‘EnMath’ for short. ESE 317. Dr. Hasting is a beast- she’s a fantastic teacher. It’s essentially matrix algebra, with fourier transforms and a ton of other material and ends with an intro to partial diffeq’s. </p>

<p>She also teaches a section of ESE 326- ProbStats for Engineers. You can take it once you have credit for Calc III, and it’s actually an ‘easy’ class compared to EnMath, so if you want to take it as a freshman just to get it out of the way you certainly can (especially if you’ve got a 5 credit ‘hole’ from not taking chem).</p>

4

<p>I also suggest you take Physics 197/198. The professor (Tom Bernatowicz) is very good at explaining things. Although there is a lot of mandatory homework in 197, it will prepare you very well for the exams which will, in turn, not seem too difficult. What I’ve heard about 117/118 is that the professors just aren’t very good. In fact, a few of my friends had a bad professor in 117 and were anxiously waiting for a good professor for 118, only to find out that he is even worse.</p>

<p>A 117/118 professor’s ratings: <a href=“Charles Hohenberg at Washington University in St. Louis | Rate My Professors”>Charles Hohenberg at Washington University in St. Louis | Rate My Professors;

<p>The 197/198 professor’s ratings: <a href=“http://ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=392809[/url]”>Tom Bernatowicz at Washington University in St. Louis | Rate My Professors;

5

<p>As for math, I too took a year of multivariable calculus in high school. I chose not to skip it because I wanted to take additional courses in math and figured it would give a solid foundation. While I could have skipped it, your teacher would need to send a letter to the math department where things such as topics covered, exams, assignments, book used, etc is all discussed so that the math department could make a competent decision.</p>

<p>Also note that DifEq doesn’t necessarily follow Calc 3, they can be taken at the same time (which I ended up doing my first semester).</p>

<p>While I could do things like partial derivatives after my high school class, we didn’t focus too heavily on things like curvature, etc that make up the second half of the Calc 3 course. </p>

<p>If you’re planning on just doing BME though, that’s all you really need. If you plan on doing further work in the math department, I’d highly recommend taking Calc 3.</p>

<p>Edit: As for your other questions…
Yes Calc 3 is essentially Multivariable Calculus. High schools typically focus more on the partial derivatives and multiple integrals, while college courses provide more of a foundation for higher areas of mathematics.</p>

<p>The class sizes for Calc 3 aren’t that small (there are 3 sections) but practically every Engineer, pre-med, Math Major, Econ Major, etc. takes it.</p>

<p>The required courses for Engineering that follow are then in the engineering department (other than DifEq) as others have mentioned. </p>

<p>I guess to summarize:
If you plan on doing BME, and your teacher doesn’t mind writing a letter, and the math department accepts your courses as a substitute (which is probably a 50% shot at best) -> skip it.
If not, or you’re undecided, or you like math and may want to do more -> don’t.</p>