What makes University Chemistry harder than CC.

[sinombre]

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So here is what makes a class tough:

Poor teaching
Large classrooms with inability to ask specific questions
Depth of material or needless memorization requirements
The types of questions and how they are asked, multiple choice or showing work, or essay
Learning style of the student
Instructors that ask questions that actually require you to integrate the material and apply it to a new situation, so critical thinking style questions

And, regardless of what anyone else says, you can't ignore the caliber of the pool of students. Grades are always (whether via a traditional curve or a less conventional system) influenced by the performance of students. No registrar will allow a professor to fail every student in a class.

 

[CognitiveSci]

Be wary of doing your pre-reqs at a CC. Some med schools aren't too CC-credit friendly, especially with pre-reqs

 

[Koosalagoosagoo]

how many people go to yours?

75,000-100,000

 

[squat]

Be wary of doing your pre-reqs at a CC. Some med schools aren't too CC-credit friendly, especially with pre-reqs

This is true. I've got a pretty competitive app at a school that specifically states that they "will consider" CC courses. I really felt like if I was straight Uni for those courses, I would have been offered an interview by now. (Still on hold.)

 

[AestheticGod]

I've taken a chem class at CC and also at Uni.

The difference is pretty simple actually. From my experience the teachers at the Uni doesn't teach very well, and it's hard to when you're in a class with 100 other students. In a CC you can ask questions since the class size is usually below 40. Not to mention the teachers are the CC are held accountable for how many students pass/fail their course.

As far as the materials/books, it's exactly the same book+power point slides+exams.

I'm 100% sure you will learn more at a CC, simply cause the teachers are able to go in a slower pace and students are able to ask questions without feeling shy. At Uni level, you're expected to self-teach....A LOT.

 

[AestheticGod]

And, regardless of what anyone else says, you can't ignore the caliber of the pool of students. Grades are always (whether via a traditional curve or a less conventional system) influenced by the performance of students. No registrar will allow a professor to fail every student in a class.

And that is why we have CURVES 😀

 

[Ashley1989]

The difference I've seen between CC and Uni is that at universities you get a lot more of those "class in a can" courses where the professor clicks through the textbook publisher made slides of the images from the book. They then give a very brief explanation of the image, and you're expected to self teach to fill in the massive gaping holes of information. At the CC, if the professor didn't explain it in the lecture then it was understood it probably wouldn't be on the exam (which makes it much easier).

 

[sinombre]

And that is why we have CURVES 😀

Yup, exactly.

 

[Jas1360]

And that is why we have CURVES 😀

I thought curves helped with populating the earth. 😉

 

[Aerus]

And, regardless of what anyone else says, you can't ignore the caliber of the pool of students. Grades are always (whether via a traditional curve or a less conventional system) influenced by the performance of students. No registrar will allow a professor to fail every student in a class.

👍👍👍

 

[katiemaude]

I don't think anyone is claiming that every single community college class is easier. We're talking about a generalization, and it's a pretty straight-forward and intuitive generalization.

And for an anecdotal response: the science courses I took at a community college were great, but I had an easier time doing well. The material covered is probably very similar across the board, especially for lower division/standardized subjects like chemistry and biology. But I absolutely noticed a difference in how much work I had to put in to be in the top of the class between the two institutions I attended.

That actually was what someone was claiming earlier in the thread; I'm simply trying to say what I experienced in one course. I agree with you that for low-level bio/chem classes, the odds that the material covered will be close to identical are high.