I don’t know if you can remove the undergrad stress over academics because you need that GPA for scholarships, internships and to make yourself more competitive as an applicant. I agree that you shouldn’t sacrifice an opportunity for co-op, research, or an internship out of fear of your GPA dropping a little. But I do believe that exposure to different environments will help determine which career path you want to pursue. Or at the very least, it will help you identify career paths you DON’T want to pursue.

I currently work in the industry. If I could give advice to my younger self I would say:
• push harder for corporate internships as well as research experience during undergrad
• understand than any experience is good for career growth
• pay attention to those lectures on FDA regulations
• use your network and speak to more people about the path that they took
• understand that there is a gap in academic lectures on jobs in the industry and do more research
• undergrad in BME makes you a “jack of all trades” but some companies want applicants that are more specialized or SMEs so develop your skills in coding and become familiar with multiple modeling programs