Hardest Undergrad Schools?

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My vote for hardest state school goes to Berkeley, only because of what the students dont get there. Besides massive competition in the sciences and engineering (hard curves, ridiculous pointless exams, and very intelligent students), there is a lack of resources (teaching, advising, and etc) that just make everything even harder. At least with other schools, the faculty and administration actually tries to help you with things.
 
Koch said:
The 8th layer of Hell?
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I believe it's supposed to be a reference to The Divine Comedy.

And btw, suicides go to the 7th circle of hell, in the middle ring. If you're going to be a prick, bigman43, at least get your references correct. 🙄
 
Most schools have ridiculous science bell curves, but schools can also be as easy or hard as you make them. It's all about class selection and organization.
 
Jew Alcindor said:
I'm gonna go with MIT based on their huge suicide problem...plus, well, it's MIT.
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seriously, can we drop the suicide rate thing as an example...? that has a lot more to do with the cultures of the student body than the academic quality/difficulty involved.
 
Not sure about the others but as a Berkeley graduate, I'd say that it wasn't that hard . . . depends upon what you were studying. I did mine in EECS and anthropology. The EECS killed me, the anthro was pure joy. Needless to say, I no longer like EECS . . .
 
sillydoc2230 said:
Cornell as the hardest ivy depends on the specific school. Its engineering school is def the hardest. Its agriculture school... not too sure.
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If by "not too sure" you mean "not at all" then I agree. 😀 One of the world's biggest potheads/spoiled brats that I have the misfortune of knowing is in the agriculture school there.
 
AppleseedCast said:
I agree with the post about small liberal arts colleges. Some I would add to the list are amherst, smith, marlboro, etc.
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I'm glad someone else had heard of Marlboro. 🙂 And I'd say that it's definitely a "hard" college, but it's also probably way less competitive than other LACs, if only because it's such a self-selecting place and attracts a lot of non-traditional students. And there are only 330 of us. Someone else mentioned Reed...we get some transfers from (and to) Reed and while the caliber of the education sounds just the same, it sounds like Reed has a much more intense/competitive group of students. Same for Hampshire, Smith, Swarthmore, Williams.
 
bigman43 said:
i really think college students that commit suicide are serioiusly, massive cowards (yes, the p word). its a sort of funny darwinian mechanism.
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Let us grow in compassion and not judge others, their lives, intentions, and eternal dwelling places.
 
Lets whip it out and see whos undergrad is bigger and better.

Mine is pretty darn big.
 
I think there is a facebook group called:
"I don't need sex because UC Berkeley Fu*ks me in the A*s everyday"
 
lol at the people who went to the schools that you guys are all naming is hard. They are saying that their school, like UC berkeley wasn't "that hard." Well duh, for you if you are in here as a premed you must have done good. Think about all the other premeds, or should I say former premeds that aren't here because UCB killed their dreams.

I went to UC Berkeley also, and I remember this girl in my physics class told me that she had "dreams of going to med school in high school but not anymore... because berkeley is a dream killer." 🙁 sad story i know.
 
badasshairday said:
lol at the people who went to the schools that you guys are all naming is hard. They are saying that their school, like UC berkeley wasn't "that hard." Well duh, for you if you are in here as a premed you must have done good. Think about all the other premeds, or should I say former premeds that aren't here because UCB killed their dreams.

I went to UC Berkeley also, and I remember this girl in my physics class told me that she had dreams of going to med school in high school but not anymore... because berkeley is a dream killer. 🙁 sad story i know.
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because students NEVER have to have their dreams die at mid tier schools 🙄
 
bwonger06 said:
Reed has to be one of the hardest Universities and any Small LAC for that matter.
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I honestly believe Reed is the most difficult college in the country--unfortunately, most people haven’t heard of it, or really any LAC for that matter. Also, Carleton inflates (The Grinnellian in me felt the need to state this)
 
PREMEDWOAHS said:
I'd say Binghamton is up there now. When I got in it wasn't too too hard, now you need at least a 3.8 GPA and a 1350 on your SAT.
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Totally not true. I know several people from my school who got in last year with around a 3.0 and 1250ish.


At NYU, it varies greatly by dept. The honors chem major for example, is hell on earth. Psych however, not so much. Neuroscience is also extremely difficult. Just to declare the major you need a 3.65 in the intro class (where the mean hovers around 2.5) and departmental permission.
 
Sorry Guys, But Cal Tech (california Institute Of Technology) Is Definitely The Hardest Undergrad. By Far.... And Hardest Grad As Well.
 
I think the "winner" in each category would vary from major to major. Engineering is hard at most schools, but it would probably be more difficult at Berkeley or especially MIT than at others, if only because of the competition.
 
batman1983 said:
My vote for hardest state school goes to Berkeley, only because of what the students dont get there. Besides massive competition in the sciences and engineering (hard curves, ridiculous pointless exams, and very intelligent students), there is a lack of resources (teaching, advising, and etc) that just make everything even harder. At least with other schools, the faculty and administration actually tries to help you with things.
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Lack of resources?? That's not true!! Berkeley has lots of resources. Think about the professors ( sometimes up to 3 for general classes like Bio), and head TA, all the other TAs, and, most importantly, student learning center . For pretty much all the pre-med classes (gchem, math, bio, ochem), Student learning center gives mock exams before mid-terms and finals that you can practice on as well as has study groups that you can go to for practice problems, etc. I completely disagree that Berkeley has lack of resources or that faculty is unwilling to help you. They are some of the most helpful and friendly people around on the campus.

Berkeley, however, has a really competitive environment. Even an "easy" class can be hard because everyone wants an A and is willing to do everything to get that A.
 
Mister Pie said:
I think the "winner" in each category would vary from major to major. Engineering is hard at most schools, but it would probably be more difficult at Berkeley or especially MIT than at others, if only because of the competition.
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sorry but only broad generalizations are allowed in this thread... now if you cannot be productive, than I suggest you leave.
 
In the past 50 years at Harvey Mudd, 4 people have graduated with a 4.0 GPA - 2 were Rhodes Scholars. Additionally, about 1/8 of the class will "ITR" (invited to retire / ineligible to return) due to low GPA.
 
sle3pyguii said:
My school is harder than your school.
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oh yeah....well...well...welll, we have more nerdy people at our school...soooooooo top that.....my school spits on your school....gotta love that personification....oh...and I learned that at my school too🙄🙄🙄

Anything your school can do mine can do better...my school can do anything better than yours!!!!

You: NO IT CANT

Me: YES IT CAN

You: NO IT CANT

Me: YES IT CAN

You: NO IT CANT

Me: YES IT CAN, YES IT CAN, YES ITTTTTTTTTTTT CAANNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!
😛👎
 
It's really hard to say which school is the hardest, because unless you've attended every school, you just don't know. Not to mention, a dumb person at an easier school may say it's really hard, but really it's just because they're dumb. Likewise, a really smart person at a hard school may say it's not bad, because they can handle it better than others. So REALLY, a school is only as hard as it is for an individual. It doesn't matter how hard anybody else says it is. It also depends on your classes.

But, for the sake of jumping in and playing "My school is worse than yours," I'll say Michigan is pretty difficult. But that's not always true. I mean, if you slack off and expect to get an A by skipping class and skimming or skipping the reading, you'll be screwed. But if you take the time and energy to do what has to be done, it's not bad at all, in my opinion. I've experienced both, so I know it can go either way.

I think a better question would be, "Which school provides the best education?" You can get a 4.0 at some 'hard' school and not know ****, or you can get a 3.0 at an 'easy' school and have learned a great deal.

Eh, it's all relative.
 
any of the UC's would be good candidates for the hardest undergrad school for premeds, with the subjective order being:

UCLA/CAL-->UCSD-->UCD/UCI-->The rest
(hardest)---------------------->(easiest)

Not only are they state schools with tons and tons of premed, but its freakin cali😡 and gettin into med school frm cali is harder than most other states...
 
paranoid_eyes said:
any of the UC's would be good candidates for the hardest undergrad school for premeds, with the subjective order being:

UCLA/CAL-->UCSD-->UCD/UCI-->The rest
(hardest)---------------------->(easiest)

Not only are they state schools with tons and tons of premed, but its freakin cali😡 and gettin into med school frm cali is harder than most other states...
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👎
 
koennen said:
Johns Hopkins: Where your best hasn't been good enough since 1876. (T-Shirt slogan)
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I actually heard Hopkins depends on majors. I heard the liberal arts majors are easy, but any of their science and engineering majors are impossible.

I know there is/was a Hopkins Bioengineer on these boards, maybe he can confirm this^
 
KifsterDDS said:
I'm going to vote for UVA as the hardest undergrauate school, for the following reasons:

1. It only accepts in-state Virginians with very strong credentials (i.e. it's hard to get into, even if you're a Virginian. That's an obvious point, however.

2. Fairfax County Public Schools. It's one of the top school systems in the country. As far as I know, Fairfax County produces stronger college-bound students than elsewhere in Virginia (and probably most other states). I've heard that UVA has put a cap on the number of students it will accept from Fairfax County (although I've never seen this in writing).

3. Despite being a state school, it accepts a high number of out of state students. 40% of my graduating class was out of state. In order to get in to UVA from another state, you have to have substantially stronger credentials than even the qualified in-state students.

4. Tuition. Tuition at UVA is very reasonable. It always has been. Hence, there are a heck of a lot of ivy-league caliber students who attend UVA because it is a better bargain. Tuition is far less, and sometimes they get full rides.

So, if you're the average Virginian attending UVA, you've got lots of competition.
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I agree for obvious reasons...except for the tuition thing. It should be amended that IN STATE tuition is very reasonable, because believe you me, OOS provides a hefty chunk of the funding while the rest pay like 5k.

I must say I did experience some bitterness from older alums who's IS kids didn't get in, but I don't hold that against the school.

Lastly, that whole ranked #1 thing...we were robbed!!! I remember those days, and while I understand that funding is a component of the ranking system; sans that we are still #1 😀 (just my biased opinion).
 
UVABranch said:
I agree for obvious reasons...except for the tuition thing. It should be amended that IN STATE tuition is very reasonable, because believe you me, OOS provides a hefty chunk of the funding while the rest pay like 5k.
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UVa tuition for in-state: $8,035, oos: $26,135

I dunno about you, but $26,000 sounds pretty reasonable, especially when you compare it to places like GW where tuition has broken the $50,000 line.

There's a difference, but UVa oos is probably cheaper than most private schools.
 
maestro1625 said:
because students NEVER have to have their dreams die at mid tier schools 🙄
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Seriously. For quite a few of these schools, if the students couldn't cut it in undergrad, they don't stand much chance of making it into med school. Just be glad they got eliminated earlier rather than later.
 
This is a nebulous question. What are your criteria for "being hard"? I would also suggest that it depends on which program you are talking about, since universities can be strong in certain areas and weak in others.
 
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