Junior Chem Eng: Is Taking 5 Courses Possible?

[John Jacke]

I'm about to be a junior in chemical engineering. I've passed all my calculus/ODE and general physics/chem courses. The most intense schedule I've taken at once was calculus 3, ODE, and general physics 2 (introductory E/M at my school) with a lab component. I did very well in each course and could have taken another, so I'm not doubting my ability to handle heavier work. I just need to know if this is humanly possible before I attempt it:

1. Intermediate Modern Physics (QM, Cosmology, and relativity)
2. Mass and energy transport 1 (Engineering course for ChmE)
3. Organic chemistry 1
4. Physical Chemistry 1
5. Introduction to Electrical Engineering ("This course is an introduction to electrical engineering concepts for non-electrical engineering majors. Covers a broad range of topics including basic circuit theory, semiconductor devices, instrumentation, amplifiers, and machines.")
   

 

[DrSteve]

Anything is possible, but what I would like to know is why would you want to do that to yourself? Are you in some kind of rush to graduate? What's your motivation?

Personally, I don't think it likely that anyone would do well with a schedule like that. Your grades might suffer, you may not really learn the material or you might not have a life for 4 months. Mass and energy transport alone is a serious amount of work, perhaps the most demanding course I had in college (I did nuclear engineering).

Again, I see no reason to do this to oneself.

 

[John Jacke]

I want to do this schedule because to me it incorporates a lot of interesting things in one semester. The physics course is for a minor. I'd learn QM in both Pchem and Physics which I think would be awesome because they'd be learned different in each (I'm assuming). Having two different sciences - organic and physics - then p chem to top it off/draw parallels would be awesome. Intro to EE is meh, I figured since I know basic circuit theory it would be an okay class. If anything I'd drop intro to EE and take the rest. I never considered the difficulty of mass transport, lol. To answer your question: My motivation is to learn. I see this as not 4 months of no life and torture but of increased intuition in STEM fields and more knowledge about the world around us which is awesome.