Undergraduate Program Advising

Undergraduate students are required to meet with their advisor every semester prior to the next semester’s registration period in order to be able to register for classes. Use Buff Portal Advising to schedule an appointment.

BME Undergraduate Handbook

The BME Handbook is your go-to resource for your undergraduate studies in Biomedical Engineering at CU Boulder. Learn about the bachelor’s degree curriculum tracks, graduation requirements, policies, extracurricular opportunities and more.

Intra-University Transfer

Prospective intra-university transfer (IUT) students should refer to the College of Engineering and Applied Science IUT site for transfer advising information.

Curriculum

The curriculum consists of 128 credit hours. Students follow one of three paths:

  • Standard curriculum: For students who are interested in pursuing a career in industry or graduate school (research or academia)
  • Pre-medical track bioinstrumentation option: For students interested in going to medical school and are interested in medical devices, such as biosensors and imaging systems, or robotic surgical tools.
  • Pre-medical track biomechanics option: For students interested in going to medical school and are interested in human motion, performance, disabilities, prosthetics or orthopedics.

The minimum passing grade for a prerequisite or co-requisite course within the biomedical engineering curriculum is a C-. This includes courses completed outside the department (APPM, PHYS, etc.). The minimum passing grade for standalone classes (i.e. humanities & social sciences, technical electives) is a D-. Per CEAS Academic Expectations and Policies, if the minimum required grade in a prerequisite course is not achieved, the student is required to repeat the course until the minimum acceptable grade has been earned (maximum of 3 attempts total). If a student takes the advanced (post-requisite) course, it does not remove the obligation to meet the prerequisite course minimum grade requirement, even if the grade earned in the advanced course is acceptable. In addition, students need to have a cumulative and major GPA of at least 2.000 in order to graduate from the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) website has information on computer purchase recommendations and a student computing shopping list. However, this information is directed at all CU students, regardless of what college and/or major students are in. The minimum hardware requirements may differ from what is on OIT’s website, due to the higher specification needs of Biomedical Engineering students. Please see this document for more information on minimum hardware requirements as well as additional recommendations. The CU Bookstore offers a few laptop models and you can check the CU Dell Site for models geared towards engineering students that meet many of the requirements specified. Other lists of laptops that are specifically well suited for running Solidworks are here; anticipated costs range between $1500 - $2500 depending upon a variety of factors. 

Technical Electives

  • All BME-Approved Engineering Technical Electives can also be used for General Technical Elective credit.
  • Courses numbered 1000-2999 are considered lower-division and courses 3000-4999 are considered upper-division.   
  • Standard curriculum requires a total of 15 Technical Electives, of which at least 12 must be upper-division and include at least 6 upper-division BME-Approved Engineering Technical Elective credits.
  • Pre-Med Bioinstrumentation Track requires a total of 9 Technical Electives, of which at least 6 credits must be BME-Approved Engineering Technical Elective credits, and at least 6 credits of the total must be upper-division.
  • Pre-Med Biomechanics Track requires a total of 12 Technical Elective credits all of which must be BME-Approved Engineering Technical Electives and of which at least 9 must be upper-division.
  • In addition to courses on the Technical Electives List, student may earn up to 12 credits through BMEN Independent Study (six max) and/or Internship for Credit (six max).  Please note that to be approved for technical elective credit, you must provide sufficient information about the engineering/technical nature of your position and duties.

Starting in Fall 2024 – newly matriculated students in the major will need to select one of the focused technical electives below.  Existing students in the major may choose this option.