What is the "weed-out" (or hardest) course in your major?

[Dandine]

I'm asking this mainly out of curiosity. The pre-med curriculum is filled with plenty of "weed-out" courses, but I am interested in seeing which courses in specific majors (not just science ones) have reputations for being very difficult.

Thus, the question: for your own major, what would you consider to be the "weed-out" course (or courses)?

Your definition of "weed-out" is up to you or however you understand it to be: perhaps it has a reputation of being a GPA killer, or perhaps it's just known to be a lot of work. Or if you think the whole major itself is just difficult, explain why.

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[Aerus]

I'm asking this mainly out of curiosity. The pre-med curriculum is filled with plenty of "weed-out" courses, but I am interested in seeing which courses in specific majors (not just science ones) have reputations for being very difficult.

Thus, the question: for your own major, what would you consider to be the "weed-out" course (or courses)?

Your definition of "weed-out" is up to you or however you understand it to be: perhaps it has a reputation of being a GPA killer, or perhaps it's just known to be a lot of work. Or if you think the whole major itself is just difficult, explain why.

Most of the upper div courses in my major are weed out.

 

[pyrrion89]

Subtle brags incoming.

 

[Spinach Dip]

Bio 101
Phys 101
Chem 101

All those convince tons of "pre-meds" that they should switch to business or geology.

Those that get through the first round of courses then have to face down the biggest monster of all... OCHEM. That is the real weed-out course.

If you can get through Ochem and remember enough of it to score well on the MCAT, congratulations. You passed the 4-year test known as "undergrad".

 

[Spinach Dip]

But if you are talking non-pre-med courses....



I majored in Animal Biology. The two hardest courses IMO were Embryology and Cell Biology. Both are incredibly broad topics that are condensed into 10 weeks of frantic lecture and study.

 

[Ace-Co-A]

Biochemistry Major. Genetics & Biochemistry I. I'm not sure why.

 

[ciestar]

Biology. At penn state: bio 110, chem 110 and math 140 (calc 1)

Not even going to touch on ochem, since if you don't make it through these courses you don't take it. But ochem does take care of a lot of that as well. I don't consider it 100% weed out since they offer two levels of it

 

[Laureatebarrel]

Ever heard of a course called Bio Diversity?

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[EthylMethylMan]

Definitely organic chemistry I and II at my school. A lot of people had to retake one if not both at least once; some people dropped their chemistry or biology major altogether over it.

 

[Captain Sisko]

Numerical computing. It's about how different mathematical algorithms work, so you can solve differential equations and certain kinds of calculus problems computationally. It also got into geometric aspects like curve fitting and splines. I barely got away with a B but damn did I learn a lot.

 

[BlackBox]

Subtle brags incoming.

that depends on the poster

 

[tomi65463]

I would say the Gen Chem and Gen Bio course are the biggest weedouts because that's what freshman take and its easy to be overwhelmed and want to switch majors. So you wouldn't even make it to Ochem. Although, OChem is the infamous weedout course though. Sometimes I really do think the whole purpose of the class itself is to weed out students. I'm in it now and its a lot of work.

 

[WingsFan]

Definitely biochem and organic chemistry. Genetics was also supposed to be a weed out, but I loved the professor's quirky teaching style, so it made it a lot easier for me.

 

[FormerPhysicist]

Electrical Circuits. I had to take a sophomore level Engineering class to finish up my physics major, so I saved it for the last semester of senior year. I never struggled so hard just to make a C in any other class. There were engineering majors in there on their THIRD go-around with the class trying to finish it up for their major, and I was told it wasn't even the hardest class (apparently Thermo is even worse). Yikes. I gained a whole new respect for engineers that semester.

 

[RuralPhysician8]

According to all the upperclassmen I have talked with, the chemistry for my major is manageable IF you go to all the supplemental lectures/workshops the university offers or if you are just good I guess. Physics is the agreed upon kicker...I think mostly because we do not have a lot of supplemental work shops and the office hours are awkward. In the end though I think you will usually achieve what you will in accordance to the quality and quantity of work you put in...whether it is biochem or underwater basket weaving 101.

 

[Doudline]

Received pretty terrible feedback about Integral Calculus... we'll see about that.

 

[Contr0lz]

Introduction to Chemical Engineering Analysis and Transport Phenomena

If you are able to make As in these two classes, then the rest of the ChemE courses are easy 4.0s.

 

[Cartoons]

It's kind of an apples-and-oranges deal for non-science majors, I think. For mine, it depends entirely on the professor. Some are a cakewalk (looking at you, Creative Writing), but it's common to see re-takers in the upper literature classes. Anything the head of the department teaches is really sink-or-swim. Obviously you don't spend as much time as you do in Organic going over something over and over to get it, but that time goes into research that I'd say makes me think through things more than Calculus did (though that doesn't count for the major).

So yeah, Lit Theory I guess is the one that steers English majors into something else. It makes you read books differently forever in the same way Organic does for biology (except I hear P-chem is the big weeder for Chemistry).

 

[sunflower18]

Chemistry major here. The major killer is Physical Chemistry. I guess some people sail through P-Chem but get really stuck on O-Chem... So it depends on what material you do best with. Most people are better at O-Chem than P-Chem.

 

[IlDestriero]

The intro to ... 101 and 102 science classes are not hard for the science minded people, but they do weed out many, many people who are suddenly committed business, history, etc majors. Classes of 200 suddenly become 50, which become

 

[CyberMaxx]

The intro to ... 101 and 102 science classes are not hard for the science minded people, but they do weed out many, many people who are suddenly committed business, history, etc majors. Classes of 200 suddenly become 50, which become

I would agree with this. I was a chemistry major and the hardest classes were physical chemistry and biochemistry. However, once you got to these classes you were fully committed to the major. The classes that actually weeded people out were gen chem and o chem.

 

[TwinsFan]

Thermo2, no one in my class of ~40 got an A... 🙁

 

[Pose]

Studied economics. Game theory for sure.

 

[tomi65463]

Genetics is also a weed out class at my school. Idk about you guys but I find most of the weed out classes at my university had ridiculous curves. I have seen curves where 75% and higher is equivalent to an A. I am taking first semester physics with a professor who is really big on class participation and completion of homework so all you need is a 60% average on exams to get an A in the class. It helps to have professors who curve for really hard classes.

 

[Cartoons]

The intro to ... 101 and 102 science classes are not hard for the science minded people, but they do weed out many, many people who are suddenly committed business, history, etc majors. Classes of 200 suddenly become 50, which become

My impression is that, generally, people who like to deride history and such as easy majors never went past the introductory classes you could pass by watching a few documentaries. Assembling an argument from piles of old legal documents and primary sources for the better part of most days turns a lot of pre-law people to political science or international studies.

Then again, I'm a ridiculously biased party, but having a bunch of friends in chemistry who like to dump on every other major, hearing it gets old. I'm not saying my Organic section didn't shrink by two thirds from the start of I to the end of II, but there are more factors than inability at work.

 

[DoktorO]

Biophysical-chemistry lab. It is a killer course in which A+ students get Bs, A students get Cs and all else fail.

 

[Perrin]

Majored in architecture for 4 years. Outside our design courses, which were time intensive, Arch History II and III were taught by a prof who was intimately familiar with some of the lauded archs in the past 50 years. Our exams consisted of drawing plans and elevations of a lot of buildings and then diagramming their significance. Krebs cycle be damned, try sketching the Courbusier Bilbao Museam facade on an exam.

After leaving Arch behind, sure, O-chem was a chore. Molecular biochem and Biochem of Specialized Tissues were the kill all courses. They were taught by the dept and assoc dept head.

 

[Romz]

Biochemistry II and Analytical Chemistry made people switch their majors at my school.

Molecular Bio Major.

 

[AlteredScale]

Human Physiology I, Metabolic Biochemistry, Genetics, Pharmacology are "weeder" classes at my school for most of the biology majors.

Cellular Neurobiology, Developmental Neurobiology, and some advanced topics course (Synaptic Plasticity) were my own personal weeder classes. I lasted 2 weeks before I changed majors

 

[FormerPhysicist]

Biochemistry II and Analytical Chemistry made people switch their majors at my school.

Molecular Bio Major.

Analytical Chemistry is enough to make anybody question their life decisions.

 

[RedPhys]

Engineering Physics
Our first course on Quantum Mechanics is the course most of us still complain about. Then again, it seems a lot of the complains came from having a hard professor and the first class where the mean was a 'B' (as opposed to B+).

Oh, Genetics (usually taken both as lecture and lab course) is known to be dreaded among premeds. Counting flies...

 

[487806]

I'm asking this mainly out of curiosity. The pre-med curriculum is filled with plenty of "weed-out" courses, but I am interested in seeing which courses in specific majors (not just science ones) have reputations for being very difficult.

Thus, the question: for your own major, what would you consider to be the "weed-out" course (or courses)?

Your definition of "weed-out" is up to you or however you understand it to be: perhaps it has a reputation of being a GPA killer, or perhaps it's just known to be a lot of work. Or if you think the whole major itself is just difficult, explain why.

Tbh, the premed "weed-out" courses were a total joke, and those who got weeded out were probably for the best interests for everyone 😉. There are a lot of worse classes in engineering and physics (including pchem).

 

[AlteredScale]

Tbh, the premed "weed-out" courses were a total joke, and those who got weeded out were probably for the best interests for everyone 😉. There are a lot of worse classes in engineering and physics (including pchem).

Bumpity bump bump

 

[circulus vitios]

Linear algebra & matrix theory. Terrible textbook + terrible professor + first proofs based class = shoot me now.

 

[Romz]

Analytical Chemistry is enough to make anybody question their life decisions.

Consensus of the entire school right here.

Linear algebra & matrix theory. Terrible textbook + terrible professor + first proofs based class = shoot me now.

Oh damn I (really really)356 hated Linear Algebra.

 

[plumhill]

Immunology...

 

[mushuwu158]

Introduction to Neuroscience.

It was bloody hard. But it's easily the most rewarding and interesting classe I've ever taken.

 

[darknight]

Fortunately math *any math course starting from pre-calculus* come easy to me but in my college is one of those weed-out courses.

Another would be Organic Chemistry.

 

[amichel]

Consensus of the entire school right here.



Oh damn I (really really)356 hated Linear Algebra.

Funny, I loved Linear Algebra. I think it's one of those things though, because it's so abstract, that you either get it or you don't. Lots of my peers hated it.

Organic Chem and Biochem at my school.

Personally? I chose a microbiology major over biochem mostly because I didn't want to take pchem. Ahah.

 

[nvnme]

Biology 101 here. Class average on the last exam was 57. The exams are absolutely brutal if you haven't put in the time, and plenty of premeds and pre-nursing students have already fallen by the wayside.

 

[Escape_Goat]

Calculus 2 (integral calc) was the single most difficult course I've ever taken at university. A distant second place title goes to the graduate level biochemistry course I took during my masters.

I don't really subscribe to the idea of "weed out" courses. Attrition rates for pre-meds seems to be fairly level across all of the traditional prereq courses. So, they're all "weed out" courses, or none of them are. /shrugs

 

[Pandapurse]

I'm a Biomedical Sciences major and there's a few I can think of - Biochemistry, Ecology, and Organic Chemistry are the ones most students have difficulty with. Our Biochem professor only gives two exams, and that's your grade.

 

[ellesh]

Organic Chemistry I! Our class average for my semester was a 30%. With a curve.

 

[inycepoo]

I'm poli sci....so there's no weeding lol.

In the case of premed, though, I only know 2 people who started off as premed and later dropped because they found interest in another field (both went to econ-math o___o). I always thought premed attrition would be like a huge thing based on things I heard in high school, but we basically have as many premeds admitted to med school as those interested to doing so as freshmen (~120/1300).

 

[sakabato93]

Biology: Probably Organic Chemistry 1. I go to a state school where 70% of incoming freshman blindly come in as premed and drop 2 weeks into General Chemistry 1 because they "didn't realize there was so much math in chemistry..." But organic is what takes pre-meds who decently good at chemistry and shows them whether or not they can actually handle the academic rigor up ahead.

Most of the people that take genetics, biochem, cell bio, and all those other hard classes are usually the ones who were able to handle organic well.

Japanese: Definitely the language courses, although I hear the graduate level linguistics course is pretty rough. Taking that senior year, though.

 

[PinknGreenMD]

Advanced Calculus II with Calculus II LAB... <<< seriously I did NOT enjoy that class.. the lab was okay (who has ever heard of a lab for an advanced math course?? lol)... however there was another course Biochemistry I that was offered and in the class of 18 students, I talked to all of them separate times, and learned that of the 18 12-14 of those students were repeating the course.. of those repeating maybe 4-5 were repeating for the SECOND time!!! (i didnt have a problem but obviously it was a "Weed out" course for some others)

I asked them why not take it at another school? they said because they need it to graduate and also if they take it at another school they are NOT ALLOWED to transfer those credits back to our school because they wont count... no matter what school they take it at.