Most dense class you've taken in undergrad?

[reaction mechanisms]

I'm curious: What's the most dense class you've taken in undergrad and how did you end up doing? I'm talking lecture heavy, textbook heavy, material overload.

I'm currently struggling through microbiology and am just overwhelmed at the amount of material we are covering in this course. So far we have covered 23 chapters and counting. The professor also expects us to know super detailed information and the class average for our last exam was a 48.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[allantois]

Biochem. I’ve just accepted that I was not gonna get an A in that class..

 

[drewbins]

Definitely biochem, but p-chem definitely had class averages in the 40's and 50's since it was harder to understand. I would assume there's some kind of grade scaling at the end for your micro class though. So just score above the average as best as you can.

 

[DubbiDoctor]

It's cliche, but organic chemistry was the most difficult class I took in undergrad. And it (orgo 1) was the only class that I struggled with to such an extent that I had to withdraw. I only took one semester of biochem, but I found it much easier - and more enjoyable - than organic.

 

[bahdahboom]

I'm curious: What's the most dense class you've taken in undergrad and how did you end up doing? I'm talking lecture heavy, textbook heavy, material overload.

I'm currently struggling through microbiology and am just overwhelmed at the amount of material we are covering in this course. So far we have covered 23 chapters and counting. The professor also expects us to know super detailed information and the class average for our last exam was a 48.

Most dense? Biochem. Most difficult? Orgo 1

 

[drewbins]

Yea, organic chemistry is definitely something that has a learning curve at the start before you begin to figure out the best way to succeed. Some people are just naturally gifted for o-chem, which can be annoying if the class is on a curve.

 

[Oso]

Polish literature class.

4 weeks of reading pages and pages of translated texts then looking up at the sky and cursing god for my existence.

It was my one and only W.

 

[Lawpy]

I'm curious: What's the most dense class you've taken in undergrad and how did you end up doing? I'm talking lecture heavy, textbook heavy, material overload.

I'm currently struggling through microbiology and am just overwhelmed at the amount of material we are covering in this course. So far we have covered 23 chapters and counting. The professor also expects us to know super detailed information and the class average for our last exam was a 48.

Upper level history courses were a nightmare in that it required analyzing old historical works and writing scholarly reports.

Upper level physics courses were a nightmare in that it required a lot of slogging to solve deceptively simple problems and using difficult and abstract math concepts.

Biology courses were generally a breeze in comparison since last minute cramming usually saved the day.

 

[reaction mechanisms]

I loved organic and I guess got lucky with my biochem professor because the course has been a breeze this semester so far.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[PapaSmurphy777]

Either molecular biology or advanced physiology.

 

[kamakazi5]

Microbial physiology. I was just in way over my head with that class.

 

[Isoval]

I took an anime class this semester for fun. I kind of thought it would be a blowoff.

I have spent more time on this class than any other class I’ve taken during undergrad.

Serves me right for thinking an upper-level literature class would be a blowoff...

 

[Isoval]

Microbial physiology. I was just in way over my head with that class.

I hated microbial physiology. But I think it was just because of my professor’s lecture notes?

 

[DelayedGratification]

Physical Chemistry 1 & 2

Good luck!

 

[kamakazi5]

I hated microbial physiology. But I think it was just because of my professor’s lecture notes?

My professor gave no notes, only book and whatever notes you took in class. The lectures were great but the tests were just ridiculous. The extreme detail asked for and the fact that it was all essay based was extremely difficult.

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

I lucked out with biochem because my biochem professor focused on problem solving and data analysis. So we didn't have to memorize any content since exams were completely open book. Having said that, immunology was the hardest for me personally because for some reason I always had trouble thinking big picture.

 

[bubba21]

Latin American history, taught in Spanish--- I am not fluent

 

[FriedLemon]

Oddly... Marxism. Made us read 300+ pages per week. When you answered his questions in class, he never said you were wrong. But when you took exams, you ALWAYS failed! Almost everyone got C’s. He gave 1 or 2 A’s.

 

[Spectar]

We had a mandatory bio physiology course where the professors refused to post slides and our exams were 25 multiple choice "Choose the most incorrect answer" format

Each question had a paragraph intro with 2 sentence long answers and the average ran in the 40s. The way you did well was that you had to watch the recorded lecture 3x to make sure you get every word (they often said one word that was the key to an exam question).

Thank god for that curve tho because a 76 average was an A.

 

[Lucca]

I took a philosophy course on Hegel and the material was pretty tough to get through even though we only covered 3 books in that course.

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

Orgo and Biochem at my University isn't that bad, but I took a class called Alternative Medicine. My. Gosh. Memorizing random supplements, their effects, and the correct "dosage" was a must. I was happy to leave that class with a B lol.

 

[stickgirl390]

Microbiology for me as well. It wasn’t difficult, but we covered so much material and the tests were very detailed. Many free response questions asking to name different bacteria that we worked with in lab, and if you spelled it wrong, no points for you.

 

[FriedLemon]

We had a mandatory bio physiology course where the professors refused to post slides and our exams were 25 multiple choice "Choose the most incorrect answer" format

Each question had a paragraph intro with 2 sentence long answers and the average ran in the 40s. The way you did well was that you had to watch the recorded lecture 3x to make sure you get every word (they often said one word that was the key to an exam question).

Thank god for that curve tho because a 76 average was an A.

Woah. That was exactly how my physiology class was. Same format. Needed to constantly rewatch things. That brings back memories. He also provided a practice exam or two which gave you false hope; the exams were always wildly different and 10x harder. Average test score for the class most times was 30/100... That was one of the few science courses I did absolutely HORRIBLY in. It almost sounds like we went to the same place, lol!

 

[anyusernamenottaken]

Physics....Phuck physics!

 

[MedicalDoge]

An upper level Immunology class that I took as one of my science electives because I thought it would be fun... Wow that was a terrible decision lol.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Probably a tie for first between Abstract Algebra and a Chaucer course I took. For Abstract Algebra, it’s like learning math in a different language, doing algebra with objects an alien philosopher made. For the Chaucer course, we had to learn Middle English (which only slightly resembles modern English—it’s kind of a mix between Old High German and Old English, heavy on the German) and be able to recite and translate all of his works. We also had to memorize the first 20-30 lines of Canterbury Tales. Learning to read the Torah in Hebrew was easier than that class lol.

 

[878956]

Immunology. Memorizing the minutiae of pathways was exhausting.

 

[Turkishking]

Evolutionary bio

 

[katie24seven]

A class appropriately named Death and Dying

 

[deomnibusdubitandum]

physics 1 when we covered p=m/v was dense.

 

[LebronManning]

Most dense: biochem
Most difficult: Differential equations (for me lol)

 

[shapley]

Most dense and difficult: Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine

Great class though, learned a lot and I really enjoyed it even if it was reallly difficult.

 

[Sagebrush]

The general physics series! Disclaimer: I abhor math in all forms.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

Most information: Biochem

Densest reading material/conversations: German Biopolitics and Consequences (really interesting, but really dense.)

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

Definitely PChem

 

[thegrind33]

Biochem 2 (glycolysis, pentose phosphate, amino acid degredation, etc.) and orgo 1 were my two courses that had the most dense material in my opinion.

 

[FlavivirusProtease]

I took an experimental course entitled "Physical Properties of Organic Chemistry" (First and only time it was offered in my university, I'm a glutton for punishment), where the professor would only draw on the board and talk. Didn't upload lectures, didn't give us any resources (Outside of 2-1000 page long books we could read from, but he never told us where we were in the book and honestly I don't think they matched up to the class).

I was convinced that if I missed a single lecture I would fail the course.

Thankfully, everyone did like crap in the class. Two separate curves, one for graduate students and one for Undergrads. The undergrad average was 35% and the graduate student average was an astounding 45%. An A for undergrads was from 60%. Barely pulled an A in the class while studying like 15 hours a week for that class alone.

Edit: I'm surprised there are so many pre-meds who take physical chemistry. I didn't think most schools needed biology majors to take it.

 

[DBC03]

Most time consuming: Junior Architectural Studio class (9 hours in class with an expected 27 to 36 hours put in during the week on the side)

Most dense conceptually: P-Chem (I took calculus 20 years before and I had to relearn a considerable amount of calculus as well as learn P-Chem)

Most dense informationally: maybe Advanced Biochem 2 - we were expected to memorize every enzyme in all metabolic pathways and carbon count and know where every single carbon was in Glycolysis, Krebs, Fatty acid oxidation and synthesis, as well as cholesterol synthesis.

 

[coramDeo]

Probably a tie for first between Abstract Algebra and a Chaucer course I took. For Abstract Algebra, it’s like learning math in a different language, doing algebra with objects an alien philosopher made. For the Chaucer course, we had to learn Middle English (which only slightly resembles modern English—it’s kind of a mix between Old High German and Old English, heavy on the German) and be able to recite and translate all of his works. We also had to memorize the first 20-30 lines of Canterbury Tales. Learning to read the Torah in Hebrew was easier than that class lol.

I second this as a math major. Abstract Algebra is... abstract to say the least. Abstract Algebra and Real Analysis were the more challenging than any other courses for me - tons of definitions, theorems to know, then to understand to use in proofs. I took Organic Chemistry extensively as well for a minor and no chemistry class ever compared to my math classes for me.

To me, pure math is equivalent to learning a new language - you have to know the grammar(definitions of concepts), rules/exceptions (theorems) and be able to write stories(proofs) that is logically impeccable. Another reason why pure math is so difficult is that it's extremely unforgiving. If your logic has a hole in the beginning of a proof, then the rest is simply incorrect/illogical and there goes your score. Absolutely the densest in both the concepts and the amount of information.

Edit: Formatting, details.

 

[buckoh24]

My tie is between Immunology/Pathogenesis and The Biochemical Processes of Molecular Genetics.First week was given about 15 pages of notes and had weekly journal readings. No exams, no quizzes. Just a midterm and a final (sounds great except the full extended response exams and no study guide). Spent 2+ weeks just on DNA Polymerase 1.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I second this as a math major. Abstract Algebra is... abstract to say the least. Abstract Algebra and Real Analysis were the more challenging than any other courses for me - tons of definitions, theorems to know, then to understand to use in proofs. I took Organic Chemistry extensively as well for a minor and no chemistry class ever compared to my math classes for me.

To me, pure math is equivalent to learning a new language - you have to know the grammar(definitions of concepts), rules/exceptions (theorems) and be able to write stories(proofs) that is logically impeccable. Another reason why pure math is so difficult is that it's extremely unforgiving. If your logic has a hole in the beginning of a proof, then the rest is simply incorrect/illogical and there goes your score. Absolutely the densest in both the concepts and the amount of information.

Edit: Formatting, details.

I majored in math too, and I always tell people when I’m tutoring them that math is just a language.

I actually didn’t find real analysis to be too abstract. I thought it was pretty intuitive, but I also absolutely loved analysis and proof writing.

 

[coramDeo]

I majored in math too, and I always tell people when I’m tutoring them that math is just a language.

I actually didn’t find real analysis to be too abstract. I thought it was pretty intuitive, but I also absolutely loved analysis and proof writing.

I guess it takes a greater mind than mine ...

Jokes aside, I didn't find all of Real Analysis to be abstract compared to, well Abstract Algebra, but it took a whole lot of effort for me to wrap my head around Topology. Though I guess you Topology isn't exactly Real Analysis, part of it was covered in our curriculum.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I guess it takes a greater mind than mine ...

Jokes aside, I didn't find all of Real Analysis to be abstract compared to, well Abstract Algebra, but it took a whole lot of effort for me to wrap my head around Topology. Though I guess you Topology isn't exactly Real Analysis, part of it was covered in our curriculum.

Yeah, topology is nutso. Abstract algebra was difficult for me. I got an A in it, but it was one of those classes where I just did whatever I thought seemed right on the exams, and it just so happened that most of the time I was right. I didn't understand it well enough to explain why I did what I did though. Real analysis, on the other hand, was pretty easy for me. Although, ironically, I got a B+ in that course because I took it while going out to sea a lot, and I turned a few things in late.

 

[coramDeo]

Yeah, topology is nutso. Abstract algebra was difficult for me. I got an A in it, but it was one of those classes where I just did whatever I thought seemed right on the exams, and it just so happened that most of the time I was right. I didn't understand it well enough to explain why I did what I did though. Real analysis, on the other hand, was pretty easy for me. Although, ironically, I got a B+ in that course because I took it while going out to sea a lot, and I turned a few things in late.

I actually found Abstract Algebra a lot easier for some reason, but this kind of discrepancy was common among my classmates too. Always a pleasure to find a fellow math major in this cohort!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I actually found Abstract Algebra a lot easier for some reason, but this kind of discrepancy was common among my classmates too. Always a pleasure to find a fellow math major in this cohort!

There are a few of us and a few others who have a strong interest in math. @freak7 is actually a fellow abstract algebra fan. I’ll take analysis any day.

 

[mwsapphire]

Most difficult to study for :Biochem
Most material: Stem Cell Biology

 

[863168]

Driver's ed.

Spoiler

Because you had to follow up at the DMV

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

I took a French lit class with grad students last fall. Never have I ever read ~500 pages of a book from 1872 in a few weeks, but then in French too. It was a great experience overall though.

 

[mydogmolly]

"Advanced Logic and Paradoxes" and "Readings in Existentialism," both for my philosophy major. The two hardest classes I've ever taken.

Also "Chromatic Harmony" and "Jazz Theory & Composition" for my music minor were ridiculously challenging.

 

[wormboge]

Upper level history courses were a nightmare in that it required analyzing old historical works and writing scholarly reports.

Upper level physics courses were a nightmare in that it required a lot of slogging to solve deceptively simple problems and using difficult and abstract math concepts.

Biology courses were generally a breeze in comparison since last minute cramming usually saved the day.

May I ask what your cramming method is? I hear that there is a very difficult biology class coming up in my program.