Top Ten List of Things to Know This Semester
Btw, a simple search on the registrar's website, or the catalog, will answer many of your questions, so don't be bashful to give them a try: http://www.registrar.gatech.edu/ and http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/.
(10) Academic Advisors
Kim Paige is the Freshman/Sophomore Academic Advisor. Paul Fincannon is the Junior/Senior Academic Advisor. Please contact and meet with the appropriate advisor. You can schedule meetings with us at http://www.advising.gatech.edu/. You can also schedule meetings with advisors from any other major from this site, so if you want to talk about minors, certificates, double majors or change of majors, find the advisors at this site.
(9) Classes Requiring a "C": Pass/Fail Courses: Humanity/Social Science Info
A minimum grade of C is required for the following courses
BIOL
1510 Biological Principles (only if doing the "old" curriculum)
BMED
1300 Problems in BME I
BMED
2210 Conservation Principles in BME
CHEM
1310 or 1211K
COE
2001 Statics
CS
1371 Computing for Engineers (only if doing the "old" curriculum, it's a
prerequisite for ECE 2025)
MATH
1501 Calculus I
PHYS 2211 Physics I
PHYS 2211 Physics I
An average grade of C (as
computed using most recent grade for repeated courses) is required for the
following sets of course:
MATH*
1501/1502/2401/2403 (average of all four courses must be a C or above)
All
required BMED core courses (1300, 2210, 2300, 3100, 3110, 3300, 3400, 3510,
3600, 3610, 4600/1/2 - average of all courses must be a C or above)
3600, 3610, 4600/1/2 - average of all courses must be a C or above)
*AP or transfer
credit for MATH courses would be considered as a “B” for the purposes of
computation of the average grade
Pass/Fail
As for pass/fail, the BMED department only allows students to take certain humanity and social science courses pass/fail, and some classes to satisfy a certificate or minor. No BME or courses required by name and number (such as CS 1371) are allowed to be taken pass/fail. Note: All humanity and social science courses are not taught pass/fail, you will need to notice this when registering. The maximum number of pass/fail hours permitted depends upon the number of semester credit hours that will be completed at Georgia Tech, as follows:
Hours included in program of study, allowed on pass/fail basis:
45 to 70 credit hours 3 credit hours
71 to 90 credit hours 6 credit hours
91 or more credit hours 9 credit hours
Before you take a class pass/fail, think about whether or not you would do well enough in the class to use towards your GPA. If so, take it for a grade. You have until drop date (March 1 for the Spring 2013 term) to change the status on a humanity or social science course from pass/fail to letter grade, and vice versa. You have to fill out a form to do this. The form can be found here: http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/docs/grade_mode.pdf
Humanities and Social Sciences
Here is a list of humanities and social science classes you can choose from to fulfill the humanities/social science requirements:
Humanities:
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/students/ugrad/core/corec.php
Social Science:
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/students/ugrad/core/coree.php
Note: All students must satisfy the US Perspectives Requirement by taking one of these courses: HIST 2111, HIST 2112, PUBP 3000, INTA 1200, POL 1101.
Global Perspectives
Note: All students graduating in the 2012-13 catalog year and beyond must satisfy the Global Perspectives Requirement. This only applies to any student who started at Tech during the Summer, 2012 term and beyond. Here are the eligible GP courses: http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/students/ugrad/core/gp.php
(8) What are the levels of academic standing?
Good Standing
Warning
Probation
Drop Status
Here is a link to definitions for each level here.
The required GPA to be in Good Standing varies depending on the class level of the student.
Freshman 1.70 0-29 hours
Sophomore 1.80 30-59 hours
Junior 1.95 60-89 hours
Senior 2.00 90+ hours
If you are on 'Warning' or 'Probation' and want to return to 'Good Standing', you must have a term GPA above the required GPA for good standing AND your overall GPA must be above the required GPA for good standing.
(7) Pre-health information
If you are interested in a pre-health career, you need to be signed up to the pre-health advisors listserv, and also make an appointment with the pre-health advisor sometime before taking your MCAT, DAT or other test. The Pre-Health Advisor is Jennifer Kimble, she is located in the Clough Commons, Undergraduate Studies Suite, Room 205L, her email is jennifer.kimble@carnegie.gatech.edu and her phone number is 404.385.2475. Jennifer sends out valuable information throughout the semester, and it's never too early to sign up for her messages. You can access the GT listservs at https://lists.gatech.edu/sympa/. You want to subscribe to the pre-health@lists.gatech.edu listserv for Jennifer's information. http://www.prehealth.gatech.edu/
(6) Grade Substitution (freshmen only)
First-time freshman students who receive a grade of D or F in a course within their first two terms in residence are eligible to repeat the course and have the original grade excluded from the computation of academic average. Grade substitution may be used only once per course, with a maximum of two courses total. The course must be repeated at Georgia Tech within the student's first four terms in residence. Transfer students are not eligible for grade substitution. Note: For students from Georgia, the new grade will be averaged into your HOPE gpa, it will not replace the previous grade.
"In residence" means being enrolled at Georgia Tech.
Note: You do not turn in the form until after you have taken the class and received your new grade.
Here is the link to the Grade Substitution policy and form: http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/genregulations/gsub.php You have to have it into the registrar's office by the drop deadline (October 12) to get your grade changed.
(5) DegreeWorks
DegreeWorks: http://degreeworks.gatech.edu/.
DegreeWorks shows what classes you have taken, what you still need to take, provides a "What If" scenario if you want to see what would happen if you change majors, or graduate in a different catalog year, and several other useful tools.
First off, if you matriculated when we had the "old" curriculum, before Summer 2011, and you want to graduate with our "new" curriculum, meaning that you are graduating under the 2011-12, you must update your catalog year. To find your catalog year, go to http://degreeworks.gatech.edu/, sign in, look at your information. Your catalog year will be shown on the right side of the gray bar that says BSBMED - Degree Requirements. You need to submit a major change form and write "2011-12" on the "Catalog Year" line. The form is found here: http://www.registrar.gatech.edu/students/formlanding/changemajor.php. If you don't want to graduate with the "new" curriculum, you can keep the catalog year that you have. Reminder: the 2011-12 and 2012-13 catalog years ("new curriculum") no longer require ECE 2025, LCC 3403, ethics, CHEM 3511, BIOL 1510 and Economics. Prior catalog years do.
** Remember. Only those students who started Summer or Fall 2012 need a Global Perspectives class. No one else does. Even if it says you are missing it in DegreeWorks, if you started at Tech earlier than Summer 2012, you don't need it.
Degreeworks also allows you to do a "What If" analysis for different catalog years, or majors. Just click on the "What If" tab on the left side, choose 2011-12 (or any catalog year you want, you can graduate under any catalog year that has occurred since you have been a student) from the "Catalog Year" dropdown list, then choose Biomedical Engineering (or any major you want) from the "Major" dropdown list. Click on the "Process What If" button, and that year will pop up. To return to your current catalog year, click on the "Worksheets" tab. Once again, if you are graduating with the "new" curriculum, you need to be updated to the 2011-12 catalog year. You can also click on the "Class History" link near the top to view a rough transcript, showing your classes and grades for each semester. Note that this is not available in the "What If" view.
Note that at this time, there are some things that are not correct on DegreeWorks, and that we are working with the Registrar's Office to get it properly updated. They will fix whatever is fixable this semester, so it will eventually be much more user friendly. Everything will not be perfect, however. Sometimes myself or the registrar will have to manually enter exceptions on your records. Btw, when you petition to graduate, we will meet and correct as much of this as we can before you submit your petition.
(4) Permits and Prerequisites
*** Who gives me permits, overrides, and prerequisite overrides?
Only the department advisors who offer the class you want to take can provide permits and overrides. For example, the BME advisor can only give permits and overrides for BME classes, not Biology, Chemistry, etc. Check this chart to find out who you contact or the process involved for each individual department: http://www.registrar.gatech.edu/registration/oprequest.php
Link to the BME prerequisite chart: http://www.acad.bme.gatech.edu/downloads/prereq_chart.pdf
(3) Breadth Electives
BME students following the 2011-2012 or 2012-13 catalog must now choose one of four Breath Elective areas. The four areas are Pre-Health, Research Option, Minor, and Certificate. Students must accrue at least 15 hours of credit in whichever section they choose.
Pre-Health: Students take CHEM 1211K (or CHEM 1310 prior to Fall 2010), 1212K (or CHEM 1311 & 1312 prior to Fall 2010), CHEM 2311, CHEM 2380, and either CHEM 3511 or CHEM 4511. Students can use any other course to satisfy the remaining needed three credit hours, including research. (Note, Pre-Health students use CHEM 1211K and CHEM 2312 as BME required science courses). http://www.prehealth.gatech.edu/
Research Option: Students do at least nine hours of research for credit in the same lab, and also take two one credit thesis writing courses, LCC 4701 and LCC 4702. Students can use any other course to satisfy the remaining four credit hours needed to reach the 15 hours of Breadth Electives, including research. NOTE: Research credit cannot be used as Depth Elective credit if the student is using the Research Option to satisfy the Breadth Elective requirement. http://www.undergradresearch.gatech.edu/research-option/
Minor: Students may elect to satisfy their Breadth Elective requirement by completing an Institute approved minor. A list of BME approved minors can be found here.
Certificate: Students may elect to satisfy their Breadth Elective requirement by completing an Institute approved certificate. For certificates less than 15 hours, students can use any other course to satisfy the remaining needed credit hours, including research. A list of BME approved certificates can be found here.
(2) Important Dates to Remember
Jan. 15 - Feb. 17: Online application for graduation window for Sumer and Fall 2013 graduates
Feb. 15: Mid-term reports due for 1000 and 2000 level courses
March 1: Last day to change grade mode status for a course
March 1: Last day to apply for Grade Substitution, for course already retaken
March 1: Last day to drop individual courses with a grade of "W"
March 13: Last day to drop all courses with a grade of "W"
March 13: Summer and Fall 2013 semester classes available onlineMarch 29: Time tickets for registration are posted
April 1-26: Phase I registration for the Summer and Fall 2013 semesters
April 26: Last day of classes.
April 29-May3: Exams
May 4: Commencement
May 9-17: Phase II registration for the Summer 2013 semester
May 13: First day of classes for the Summer 2013 semester
(1) Scheduling an Appointment with Sally, Kim and Paul
- John Paul Fincannon
paul.fincannon@bme.gatech.edu
UA Whitaker Bldg., Suite 1109
404.894.9061
Schedule an Appointment - Kim Paige
kim.paige@bme.gatech.edu
Whitaker 1109A
404-385-5042
Schedule an Appointment - Sally Gerrish
sally.gerrish@bme.gatech.edu
Whitaker Bldg
404-894-7063
Please email me for appointments.