<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm going to be a freshman (majoring in BME) and I'm looking for one more class for my schedule. Can someone recommend a class that doesn't require too much work (I already have 4 classes that will take up plenty of time) but will be fun/useful?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>intro to psychology</p>
<p>^psych won't fit into a bme'rs schedule (otherwise I'd have added it myself), since it's only offered mwf.</p>
<p>Yes, I forgot to mention - I need something thats TR, not MWF.</p>
<p>You might want MATH 309, Matrix Algebra. They are using David Lay's book, which is fairly introductory. The class is a must-have for most engineering students, and linear algebra at this level isn't difficult at all. I've taken it before and received transfer credit for it. I think the prerequisite is calc II, but you are going to use little, if any, calculus. </p>
<p>You can also take CSE 100B, the MatLab workshop, which is 1 credit. Wash U seems to use MatLab instead of Maple or Mathematica. Having skills in CAS's is almost mandatory for mathematicians and engineers. I'll be taking this class on late Wednesday afternoons.</p>
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You can also take CSE 100B, the MatLab workshop, which is 1 credit. Wash U seems to use MatLab instead of Maple or Mathematica. Having skills in CAS's is almost mandatory for mathematicians and engineers. I'll be taking this class on late Wednesday afternoons.
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Yeah, I can't take that - it's too late for me to drive back home after (I'll be staying at home).</p>
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You might want MATH 309, Matrix Algebra. They are using David Lay's book, which is fairly introductory. The class is a must-have for most engineering students, and linear algebra at this level isn't difficult at all. I've taken it before and received transfer credit for it. I think the prerequisite is calc II, but you are going to use little, if any, calculus.
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I'll have to think about this one, especially since I won't have any math until Calc III next semester.</p>
<p>there's a psychology seminar that's open on thursday</p>
<p>Am I the only one that sees this as a little bit much? I am wondering why you feel the need to take one more class - the suggested BME schedule can be found at <a href="http://bme.wustl.edu/OrgCustomFiles/File/academics/BMEGeneralSampleSchedule2006.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://bme.wustl.edu/OrgCustomFiles/File/academics/BMEGeneralSampleSchedule2006.pdf</a> and does not include an elective. First semester already includes chem, physics, calc, & BME (2 of which are lab & discussion classes) - already a heavy load. Why overload yourself? Join a club or something fun/useful like that instead (volunteer?).</p>
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Am I the only one that sees this as a little bit much? I am wondering why you feel the need to take one more class - the suggested BME schedule can be found at <a href="http://bme.wustl.edu/OrgCustomFiles/...hedule2006.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://bme.wustl.edu/OrgCustomFiles/...hedule2006.pdf</a> and does not include an elective. First semester already includes chem, physics, calc, & BME (2 of which are lab & discussion classes) - already a heavy load. Why overload yourself? Join a club or something fun/useful like that instead (volunteer?).
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<p>I don't see the problem with taking more than 4 classes. There are many freshman that can easily handle the load that you deem "already heavy." While there are also those that cannot, since they are just adjusting from high school, a difficult transition for many. </p>
<p>I'm an incoming freshman with 50+ transfer credits, all of which are legitimate college courses. I took 5 college classes for each semester (half of which were 300 and 400 level classes) of my senior year with a 3.9 gpa, so I completely understand how rigorous college is. Also, I know (and met) many freshman who were more or less in the same boat as me. There are increasingly more and more high school students who enroll in special programs at universities and community colleges in order to prepare them better for college. </p>
<p>As for the more overachieving high school students coming into college, if they put enough time into their classes, they will have no problems. If the workload becomes unmanageable, they can just drop a class.</p>
<p>Intro to BME AND Chem 111 are both very rigorous classes, the two most rigorous ones any freshman at WashU can take. The only worse course to take would be PChem. And I assume srunni is taking Chem Lab also? So technically it's 5 classes already. You could sign up for something else if you want, there are some 1 credit classes or UCollege dance classes and stuff that would be a little more relaxing, but I really wouldn't take more than 15 hours with those two classes in there.</p>
<p>I think I'm just going to go with 4 classes, so I can focus on research and extracurriculars. If I feel that it's too easy, I can just add a class second semester.</p>
<p>RuralMinnesota</p>
<p>the courses at washu are much more difficult than the ones you've taken at ur community colleges. there are plenty of incoming freshmen with lots of transfer credits who straight up fail courses at washu--and i think you'll realize the difficulty of the curriculum at wustl urself by next month. and matrix algebra is definitely not a walk in the park, especially next semester. It's not what you learn that determines your grade, it's how you apply it on the exams that does--and really, the only thing that sets difficult colleges apart from easy ones are the exams and the competition (if the exams are based on a curve). </p>
<p>srunni</p>
<p>don't take any more classes...you'll be swamped already with ur courseload considering that you're BME and premed. i only took 4 courses both semesters last year and had time for research as well and i'm perfectly fine with not taking 5 courses last year. if you really want to though, take a course pass/fail. also, you won't feel 4 courses are too easy...remember, first semester you're gonna spend you're free time meeting new ppl, getting to know the campus better, etc.</p>
<p>(sorry if I'm jacking your thread, srunni)
washupremed- would you consider an art class to be fine to add on to an incoming bme? If I can get in, that is. (It's sort of like personal therapy for me).</p>
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RuralMinnesota</p>
<p>the courses at washu are much more difficult than the ones you've taken at ur community colleges. there are plenty of incoming freshmen with lots of transfer credits who straight up fail courses at washu--and i think you'll realize the difficulty of the curriculum at wustl urself by next month. and matrix algebra is definitely not a walk in the park, especially next semester. It's not what you learn that determines your grade, it's how you apply it on the exams that does--and really, the only thing that sets difficult colleges apart from easy ones are the exams and the competition (if the exams are based on a curve).
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</p>
<p>Considering that you are a pre-med and I'm a "pre-engineering" student mentored by pure and applied mathematicians (My father is a pure mathematician too) and physicists, I can't apply what you say to me seriously. I've been through hell the last two semesters with upper level math classes, and I can personally attest to the difference in difficulty between Matrix Algebra with David Lay and the Numerical Methods class I took, in which we had to write our own programing in Mathematica and write a 15 page paper as our final project.
(Honestly, its fricking David Lay, the most popular lin. alg. intro book in colleges. The book incorporates some concepts, and a larger chunk of computational problems. There is a higher level of Linear Algebra offered at Wash U that is more geared towards mathy people. My point is, this class isn't as hard as it could be. Like all classes, you put in enough time, and you'll have a good grade. The class is perfectly doable for incoming freshman)</p>
<p>I'm not from a community college. I'm from a top public liberal arts university (The best a few years back) with real PhD faculties from elite schools like yale and harvard. In fact, my recommendation letters were written by a Harvard and a NU graduate. We have many students who eventually go to elite grad schools, including Wash U. One of my dad's students went to Wash U. as a physics grad student.</p>
<p>As I've said in a previous thread, I totally understand that WashU will be tougher. I've had a small taste of classes and also have talked to students and faculty concerning this. I'm not trying to be haughty, but to argue that engineering/math students shouldn't have a problem with 309.</p>
<p>Here's an easy class: Intro to Political Science. I took that as a sophomore and it was very interesting. With election season coming up, I think that you are really going to appreciate that class. I took it with Lowry, however, but I think that the person who is teaching it now is also good.</p>
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Here's an easy class: Intro to Political Science. I took that as a sophomore and it was very interesting. With election season coming up, I think that you are really going to appreciate that class. I took it with Lowry, however, but I think that the person who is teaching it now is also good.
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I'll think about that for next year - I ended up taking Calc 3.</p>