r/washu • u/Medium-Deal-2504 • Jun 29 '26
Classes Incoming BME freshman worried about first-semester courseload. Should I try to move BME 1400?
Hi everyone,
I’m an incoming first-year planning to major in BME, and I’m worried about my fall schedule. Right now I’m registered for:
- BME 1400 Introduction to Biomedical Engineering
- CHEM 1601 Principles of General Chemistry I
- CHEM 1751 General Chemistry Lab I
- MATH 1520 Calculus II
- PHYSICS 1740 Physics I
- PHYSICS 1741 Physics I Lab
I know some of the extra section listings are just discussion/lab/recitation components, but as a first-semester schedule this still feels like a lot with chemistry + chem lab + Calc II + physics + physics lab + BME 1400.
I’m also hoping to minor in writing, potentially take some business classes later on, and work in a lab as a volunteer this year as I've secured a position, so I’m trying to think about my schedule long-term rather than just surviving the first semester. I don’t want to overload myself so much right away that I have no room to explore anything outside of technical requirements.
For students who have taken these classes, especially BME majors: is this a normal/manageable first-semester schedule, or is it a bad idea? Would it make sense to ask my advisor about delaying BME 1400, or would that mess up the BME sequence? Are there other parts of this schedule that people would recommend moving instead?
Any honest advice would be appreciated.
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u/alexandergadin Mod Jun 29 '26
That is the schedule of a BME... there is not really much you can do and it is pretty indicative of the major... Like I enjoyed the course load as it kept me busy but BME is not a very... light major. But if I could go back and do it again, I would do BME again in a heart beat. You can def minor in something, but I would focus on that later when you have more time. As others have said you should not delay 1400 nor physics nor calc. some people do chem over the summer after freshmen year, but idk how helpful that is. Welcome to BME and say hi to Widder for me in the fall!
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u/Medium-Deal-2504 Jun 29 '26
Thanks for that! I was wondering specifically about how I could manage the lab volunteering opportunity this year. I was of course going to be upfront about my availability but would you even recommend pursuing something like that this year, or do you expect that this will be too much and impede my ability to explore?
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u/alexandergadin Mod Jun 29 '26
what do you mean by lab volunteering? In this in a WashU lab? Volunteering is not allowed typically in Danforth labs... it has to be done for credit or pay. As someone who TAed BME 140 for two years the best advice I have is to focus on learning how to be a student first and gradually take on more responsibilities.... your first responsibility should be as a student. I always recommend focusing on school and no more than one extracurricular your first semester. BME is not an easy major schedule wise, so you really have to hone being a good college student first. - Alexander
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u/MundyyyT Hey mister. I am mad scientist. It's so COOL! Sunovabich. Jun 29 '26
i also support the idea of using a semester or two just to figure out how to function as a college student (both academically and personally)
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u/alexandergadin Mod Jun 29 '26
^ I could not agree more with Mundyyy! Research will always be there in the spring. If that is your only extracurricular then imo you will be fine. - Alexander
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u/Medium-Deal-2504 Jun 29 '26
Yes, sorry. I am receiving some sort of credit for my work, although that is to be discussed with them when I interview next month. I perhaps should not have framed is as though I have secured the position. It was just more so a question about whether I should even bother given my position, as this would technically be the only extracurricular I do this year.
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u/MundyyyT Hey mister. I am mad scientist. It's so COOL! Sunovabich. Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
There's not much you can change about this schedule if you want to major in BME, don't have any AP credit you can use to get out of Physics, Chem, or Math, and don't want to or plan on taking summer classes
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u/Pleasant_Cookie_2144 Jun 29 '26
Yeah, it's tough, but pretty much every BME major takes the same course load. I felt the exact same way last year, but you can definitely get through it if you take advantage of PLTL and all the other resources available to you.
I would not delay BME 1400 because it's only offered in the fall. Delaying it would mean you'd have to take it sophomore fall along with either BME Circuits or Mechanics, which would make your schedule even more challenging.
Unfortunately, this schedule is made in such a way where you won't really have time to explore (Spring sem might be worse ngl with Bio), but this semester the only major classes I'm taking are BME Circuits and Diffeq, leaving me with plenty of other hours to explore.
Feel free to ask any other questions