Looking for a gentler semester? Start with courses where students have earned higher grades.
Highest historical GPA first. At least 100 letter grades over the five years through the selected term. Grades reflect past outcomes, not workload or a guaranteed result.
9 courses
Ranked courses have at least 100 recorded letter grades.
Graduate Research Seminar for Biological Systems Engineering focusing on the presentation, evaluation, and discussion of student thesis and non-thesis research.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026CAREER MANAGEMENT FOR ENGINEERS develops career and life skills in financial management, job search, networking, branding, ethics, and licensure, while addressing future trends in technology, climate, diversity, and sustainability.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · John Shutske
The reviewer rated the course difficulty as low, noting that the professor focused on ensuring students truly understood the topics rather than just memorizing them.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026BSE 508 covers the engineering design process from problem identification to cost estimating, culminating in design project proposals for real-world biological systems engineering problems.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Kody Habeck
Kody did not give answers immediately and made students search for them, a demand one student saw as useful for engineering.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Covers state-of-the-art renewable energy applications including biomass, wind, solar, and hydro. Students practice engineering calculations for power/energy availability and integration into production and distribution systems.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Doug Reinemann
Exams were described as thorough but not impossible. Homework and quizzes were clearly laid out for completion.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Quantitative Techniques for Biological Systems covers energy/material utilization in cells, organisms, and ecosystems, applying mass/heat/energy balances and mathematical modeling to biological processes.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Paul Stoy
Students completed weekly group activities, homework, and quizzes. Assessments were open-book and untimed, though the concepts could be difficult.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Covers engineering design principles for heavy-duty off-road vehicles, including engines, transmissions, traction, dynamics, suspension, and braking.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Examines the cultural significance, access, and human impact on water cycles, focusing on US case studies and differential impacts on racial and ethnic communities under climate change.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Mattie Urrutia
Exams were reported as insanely hard with insufficient time to finish, and class averages on tests hovered around 70% without any curve.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Covers principles of instrumentation and measurement systems, experimental data analysis, and electronic components for measuring biological parameters like temperature, force, and flow.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Robert Anex
The course is described as difficult, with one student noting that the professor challenges students and makes the classes tough.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Evaluation techniques for research, development engineering projects. Covers the time value of money and other cash-flow concepts, capital budgeting, economic practices and techniques used to evaluate and optimize decisions, and research development project portfolio management techniques.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026