Easiest Undergrad in which to get a 4.0 GPA

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

brianoflee

Fibre is my Friend
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
113
Reaction score
0
I'm really not looking to start any flame wars, here -- I'm just curious to know what people's opinions and experiences are. And I realize that it's pretty subjective, and depends on the school as well as the student's own aptitudes. But that aside, what do you think is the easiest undergrad in which to get a 4.0?

Members don't see this ad.
 
I'm really not looking to start any flame wars, here -- I'm just curious to know what people's opinions and experiences are. And I realize that it's pretty subjective, and depends on the school as well as the student's own aptitudes. But that aside, what do you think is the easiest undergrad in which to get a 4.0?

Sociology in my opinion...communications...psych after that.

IMO
 
electrical engineering... 👍 those betches have a 4.0 guarantee.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
business.

depends on your interests. I doubt I could make an A as an art history or music major. likewise, I doubt someone who wants to be a philosopher is too interested in computer science.
 
I think it's whatever maintains your interest; to a certain degree anyway.
 
electrical engineering... 👍 those betches have a 4.0 guarantee.

Any program that requires you to learn the square root of -1 is automatically off this list 😳
 
Any school that has a straight ABCDF grading system (no -/+). That way you can get the lowest A possible in everything and still keep that 4.0
 
Any program that requires you to learn the square root of -1 is automatically off this list

do you mean learn about it? cause there isnt a lot ot leran there it isnt too complex
 
Any school that has a straight ABCDF grading system (no -/+). That way you can get the lowest A possible in everything and still keep that 4.0

Wow, never heard of such a system before.
 
Any school that has a straight ABCDF grading system (no -/+). That way you can get the lowest A possible in everything and still keep that 4.0

One of the colleges at which I teach uses straight letter grades, and I *hate* this approach. I'm forced to give people grades that I don't think they've earned (in both positive and negative senses).
 
some systems if you get an A- which is 94.9 or below you get like a 3.7 GPA.

Now if you make a 90 on a system that doesnt use +/- you will get a 4.0
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Any program that requires you to learn the square root of -1 is automatically off this list 😳

:laugh: but that's like, the only thing they learn, and it's like.. not even... like.. real.
 
Playing big name D1 football...

...I'm convinced Ohio State has a policy that mandates 4.0s for star players. How else would Craig Krenzel have majored in Molecular Genetics?

because anything with biology is not a hard degree to get. Biology is just reading comprehension with visual aids (called labs).
 
Mechanical Engineering. 🙂

Actually, business or a mild social sciences degree (nothing hard core like Early Roman Religious History or anything).
 
oh, I'd watch out before bringing the big guy into this. 😉


P-68M01VL00.jpg


"Go go Gadget Ontological Proof!"
 
Any school that has a straight ABCDF grading system (no -/+). That way you can get the lowest A possible in everything and still keep that 4.0
I disagree completely. I've gotten a bunch of 88s and I only got 3 points for them instead of 3.3
 
The problem with the social sciences is the large injection of subjectivity into the grading. You have to be very sensitive to the professor's political leanings and the like. Biology is the best for a 4.0 because the science isn't too rigorous and the subjective grading is kept to a minimum.
 
The problem with the social sciences is the large injection of subjectivity into the grading. You have to be very sensitive to the professor's political leanings and the like. Biology is the best for a 4.0 because the science isn't too rigorous and the subjective grading is kept to a minimum.

I'd avoid sweeping generalizations like that. Your experience may have varied, but that's hardly an accurate picture - most of us are concerned more with good methodology than with concordance of political opinion.
 
Don't do chemical engineering....
 
The problem with the social sciences is the large injection of subjectivity into the grading. You have to be very sensitive to the professor's political leanings and the like. Biology is the best for a 4.0 because the science isn't too rigorous and the subjective grading is kept to a minimum.

Actually at my school, biology is the most popular major, so there is quite an amount of subjective grading in the classes.
 
I'd avoid sweeping generalizations like that. Your experience may have varied, but that's hardly an accurate picture - most of us are concerned more with good methodology than with concordance of political opinion.

You have to make a sweeping generalization if you're making a preemptive choice to major in something that will best serve your goal of a 4.0. Stereotypes do serve a function you know.

And no hard feelings, but prepare to take offense. Social scientists like to pretend to be objective and scientific, but let's face it, their cars are littered with bumper stickers proclaiming that "The Only Bush I Trust Is My Own" and their scholarly work consists of studying things like the reaction of onlookers to someone walking up an escalator the wrong way.

Not exactly the person I want deciding my future. Generally speaking, of course. 😉
 
Any school that has a straight ABCDF grading system (no -/+). That way you can get the lowest A possible in everything and still keep that 4.0

Yeah...that's how my school works.
 
You have to make a sweeping generalization if you're making a preemptive choice to major in something that will best serve your goal of a 4.0. Stereotypes do serve a function you know.

And no hard feelings, but prepare to take offense. Social scientists like to pretend to be objective and scientific, but let's face it, their cars are littered with bumper stickers proclaiming that "The Only Bush I Trust Is My Own" and their scholarly work consists of studying things like the reaction of onlookers to someone walking up an escalator the wrong way.

Not exactly the person I want deciding my future. Generally speaking, of course. 😉

Well, there are still a few problems with your claim, in that (1) personal politics don't necessarily (or even frequently) make it into the classroom, and (2) the plural of anecdote isn't "data". This may have been your experience or perception, but it's not generalizable.

Between being a student and doing my own teaching (twelve years in collegiate education), I've been affiliated with six colleges/universities, and I've come across 1 (one) professor whose personal politics entered the classroom (and she was in the Biology department). Regardless, it's an internet debate about personal perception, so I doubt we'll change each others take on the matter.
 
I've come across 1 (one) professor whose personal politics entered the classroom (and she was in the Biology department).

Speaking of data, I wonder how you collected yours.

You obviously know that as a fellow professor, you haven't much insight into how politics may have played a role in the grading in other classes. I've been victim of it, and no one on earth other than me knows about it. I didn't go broadcasting it to the world, I just played along. Consider me one unrepresented data point, among many, in your sample.

Besides, look at popular culture. Plenty of humor is made at the expense of social science professors. There's a reason we laugh.
 
Business, mass communications, or elementary education
 
Speaking of data, I wonder how you collected yours.

Like all good scientists, by observation and experimentation, over 12 years. A nice longitudinal study. 🙂


You obviously know that as a fellow professor, you haven't much insight into how politics may have played a role in the grading in other classes.

You really shouldn't make assumptions about folks you meet on the internet. We've never met, you have no insight into my character, experience, or ability to read people. You also make the assumption that professors never talk to one another regarding grading, educational philosophies, political philosophies, etc., etc. We do talk and compare, so your assertion isn't really accurate.


I've been victim of it, and no one on earth other than me knows about it. I didn't go broadcasting it to the world, I just played along. Consider me one unrepresented data point, among many, in your sample.

I'm sorry to hear that, but as you note, you are one data point against a trend, which still makes your experience an ungeneralizable anomaly.

Besides, look at popular culture. Plenty of humor is made at the expense of social science professors. There's a reason we laugh.

I'm sure there is. Laughter is frequently a defense mechanism against that which we don't understand.
 
I'm sure there is. Laughter is frequently a defense mechanism against that which we don't understand.

Ah yes, the complex beast that is the social science professor.

Whatever. That's my point, I don't want to figure out the combination to my professor. Give me a stupid diagram of a cell and let me scribble down a signal transduction pathway.
 
The problem with the social sciences is the large injection of subjectivity into the grading. You have to be very sensitive to the professor's political leanings and the like. Biology is the best for a 4.0 because the science isn't too rigorous and the subjective grading is kept to a minimum.

Although in Biology / other sciences you still have to deal with the teachers who give multiple choice exams like this:

A) Statement 1, 2 and 3
B) Statement 1 and 3 only
C) Statement 1 and 2 only
D) Statement 2 and 3 only
E) Statement 1 and sometimes 3
F) None of the above
 
Ah yes, the complex beast that is the social science professor.

Whatever. That's my point, I don't want to figure out the combination to my professor. Give me a stupid diagram of a cell and let me scribble down a signal transduction pathway.

Which suggests that your learning style didn't serve you well in this particular class. How does this then translate into justified condemnation of an entire branch of research and knowledge?
 
Which suggests that your learning style didn't serve you well in this particular class. How does this then translate into justified condemnation of an entire branch of research and knowledge?

My opinion has nothing to do with my learning style, or my experience in a particular class for that matter. Frankly, I don't think I've ever learned a thing in a social science class that I didn't already know going in through a combination of life experience and common sense.

My thoughts on majoring in social science don't need to be backed up by a study, and they aren't impugning an entire branch of research or knowledge. I'm stereotyping the kind of person that becomes a social science professor, and I think the stereotype is valuable for purposes of going through college with the least amount of risk of conflicting personalities and/or opinions affecting your grades.
 
My opinion has nothing to do with my learning style, or my experience in a particular class for that matter. Frankly, I don't think I've ever learned a thing in a social science class that I didn't already know going in through a combination of life experience and common sense.

My thoughts on majoring in social science don't need to be backed up by a study, and they aren't impugning an entire branch of research or knowledge. I'm stereotyping the kind of person that becomes a social science professor, and I think the stereotype is valuable for purposes of going through college with the least amount of risk of conflicting personalities and/or opinions affecting your grades.

Then I misinterpreted the cell transduction comment. Regardless, your stereotype of social scientists is still mistaken, and has all of the validation of other stereotypes for age, race, etc. It may be your perception, but it doesn't translate into objective truth.
 
but it doesn't translate into objective truth.

Objective truth doesn't exist. I think one of your colleagues wrote a thesis on it.


JUST KIDDING!
 
What kind of school has the generic "biology" major? Where I go we have Integrative Biology (easy) and Molecular and Cellular Biology (moderate/difficult). If you think biology is easy then you go to a school with a ****ty biology program, no discussion necessary.
 
Watch a football game on TV when your school is playing, and when they talk about individual players, they might show a graphic that shows what they are majoring in. Whatever the majority of football players are taking, that's your baby.

Oh, wait... I did this and graduated with a 2.2 GPA. Then again, I was a complete idiot my first time through college.

Nothing is easy. There are just different levels of hard.
 
Our school has a bachelor of specialized studies.. just take whatever class you want and there's your degree. I would imagine that's the easiest?
 
Well, there are still a few problems with your claim, ... (2) the plural of anecdote isn't "data". This may have been your experience or perception, but it's not generalizable.

Haha, this is the greatest thing I have ever heard.
 
Community college. Just get 90 credits including prerequisites for med schools and apply.
 
There is not one easy major. I would probably be a horrible psychology or sociology major because I have no interest in them. However I am good in science, where there are facts and you learn them and there are problems that you solve.
Is not Sociology the new jock major now though?
 
Damn man your picture almost made me destroy my $2500 computer. 😀

business.

depends on your interests. I doubt I could make an A as an art history or music major. likewise, I doubt someone who wants to be a philosopher is too interested in computer science.
 
Originally Posted by mints of b
Ah yes, the complex beast that is the social science professor.

Whatever. That's my point, I don't want to figure out the combination to my professor. Give me a stupid diagram of a cell and let me scribble down a signal transduction pathway.
Which suggests that your learning style didn't serve you well in this particular class. How does this then translate into justified condemnation of an entire branch of research and knowledge?

Figuring out what your professor wants to hear is not a "learning style", it's ass kissing. The choice between the real sciences and the social sciences, in terms of GPA, is basically a choice between your time and self-respect. In engineering the answers are objective and the professor doesn't even know your name, so a 4.0 just requires the correct (never sleep) amount of effort. In the social sciences it requires you to change your own (often more reasonable and well researched) arguments to the point where they match the professor's opinions. You can do it without working 10 hours a day, but you won't respect yourself in the morning.
 
Figuring out what your professor wants to hear is not a "learning style", it's ass kissing. The choice between the real sciences and the social sciences, in terms of GPA, is basically a choice between your time and self-respect. In engineering the answers are objective and the professor doesn't even know your name, so a 4.0 just requires the correct (never sleep) amount of effort. In the social sciences it requires you to change your own (often more reasonable and well researched) arguments to the point where they match the professor's opinions. You can do it without working 10 hours a day, but you won't respect yourself in the morning.

DM%20-%20Elitism.jpg
 
Top