Advice for New BME Students

August is here, and before you know it, the semester will start. Here are some insider tips for new BME students to help you thrive in your first year as a BME Badger and beyond.

Classmates
Get to know your BME classmates because you’ll be spending a lot of time with them. From InterEGR 170 to BME 402, almost every semester you’ll be working in a team with your fellow BME students to solve real-world problems from clients as part of our design curriculum. Our emphasis on collaborative learning is what sets our undergraduate program apart from other universities. Design is also consistently mentioned as one of the biggest things that made a difference in our alumni’s careers.

Specialization Area
Once your prerequisites are out of the way, you’ll start taking classes in the specialization area that interests you during your 3rd year. What’s a specialization? It’s a resume-boosting opportunity to place greater emphasis on education in one of these areas in biomedical engineering: bioinstrumentation and medical devices; biomedical imaging and optics; biomechanics; or biomaterials, cellular and tissue engineering. Interested in neurology or systems/synthetic biology? Don’t worry, we have classes on those, too. To help you discover the specialization you’re interested in, try taking bioinstrumentation, biomechanics and biomaterials early on.

Electives
Once you’ve picked your specialization, make sure you pick technical elective classes that pique your interest and teach you new things. With access to one of the top-20 hospitals in the country and cutting-edge research centers, you’ll have access to learn about the latest research and techniques. Plus, knowing the newest techniques and research will help you land a job after graduation.

Student Orgs and Events
Make sure you check out the UW-Madison Biomedical Engineering Society. BMES is a student-led professional development organization. During the school year, they host meetings with guests from companies, research lab tours, visits to company facilities, socials and more. BMES meetings are a great place to connect with other BME students and learn more about different BME research areas. Beyond BMES, UW-Madison has over 900 student organizations and clubs you can join. Take some time to find your community and explore all of the events offered across campus.

Finally, if you ever feel overwhelmed (it’s completely normal!), the College of Engineering Student Services is always there to help you with student advising and more.

Have a great rest of your summer, and we look forward to meeting our new BME Badgers!