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Your Most Difficult Undergrad Course
Started by little_late_MD
Introduction to Sculpture. I'm not kidding.
Thundrstorm said:
In what should have been my easiest class, Survey of Modern Art I got a solid B (Would have been worse, but I cleaned up on the final research project). I used to bring my laptop to that class and download movies for the entire time. It's crazy what classes give you the most trouble.
Beginning Chinese. I am not chinese and had no background at all, so it was uber hard. Test every monday, character quiz every tuesday, oral presentations every friday. I took it during the same semester as Biochemistry, which paled in comparison to the the work load and difficulty of Chinese.
Either Kant or Existentialism...Kant because I never understood a word of what he wrote until my prof spent the whole class period spelling it out, and Existentialism because my professor didn't give a single graded assignment until our final exam.
I flunked Philosophy at a community college. It's ironic because I'm so "philosophical"-- I have a very existentialistic belief system and am very into idealism... I've done a lot of "just for fun" philosophic reading. I've never had an F before. Can't believe it actually happened to me!
**hope that doesn't go onto my transcript. It probably will. I'll just have to make up for it somewhere else!**
**hope that doesn't go onto my transcript. It probably will. I'll just have to make up for it somewhere else!**
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organic chemistry of drug design and drug action.
it was either gen chem I, in which I got a big fat F, my only one thankfully. (not so much b/c it was that hard of material, but I was COMPLETELY unprepared out of high school for what lay in store for me in collegiate science classes)
Or, Polymer Chemistry (the other P-chem) which was super math intensive and I'm not so much of a math person. Ended up very happy with my C
Or, Polymer Chemistry (the other P-chem) which was super math intensive and I'm not so much of a math person. Ended up very happy with my C
definetely human genetics. holy crap. it doesn't help to have, arguably,the most brilliant genetist in the country teaching it either. 😱
I almost forgot. One class trumped sculpture: Developmental Biology. I had to memorize each step of embryogenesis in several different species and then describe it in detail, with drawings, on the exam, and also describe the different genes and receptors involved.Thundrstorm said:
And we had lab practicals that were just atrocious.Abstract Algerbra & Real Analysis.
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was both english classes.
now it's P.CHEM. whoa. enough said.
now it's P.CHEM. whoa. enough said.
Economics of Health, Welfare, and Education. An intro level econ course that fulfilled two of our gen ed requirements. The prof was a crazy grader. She also gave us a B- on a group project about the healthcare systems of Costa Rica and Nicaragua when two of the three of us in our group when on a medical mission trip there that Spring Break and so we had a lot of information handed to us in packets and we also had first hand exposure. I'm still mad about that class.
I know this sounds crazy, but for me it was Music Fundamentals. A freaking 100 level class, but I have absolutely no music background whatsoever, so I had to start from scratch. I have no musical inclination so it was incredibly hard for me. Plus our professor somehow thought we were aleady experts in music reading and playing and recognizing chords. It was a nightmare ...
On a more ordinary note, I am taking Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy this semester and it is killer. It's the only class for which I've started studying two weeks before the lab practicals, which are insanely hard. Excellent preparation for med school...I hear this class is harder than gross anatomy at our state med school.
On a more ordinary note, I am taking Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy this semester and it is killer. It's the only class for which I've started studying two weeks before the lab practicals, which are insanely hard. Excellent preparation for med school...I hear this class is harder than gross anatomy at our state med school.
History of Islamic Civilization (yeah), or Analytical Chem (yuck!)
Introduction to English 1
We had to read James Joyce's Finnegans Wake and juxtapose it to its contemporaries in a 25 page research paper.
Harder than all yours combined.
We had to read James Joyce's Finnegans Wake and juxtapose it to its contemporaries in a 25 page research paper.
Harder than all yours combined.
comparative religion. thought it was really cool until we got to taoism and confucionism. i got a B.
It's funny how one unfair grade in a class can haunt you forever. I don't care about the B's I got that I deserved, but my A- in bio when I had over a 93% in the class still makes my blood boil.
Oh, even just writing about it is making me mad. 😡 😡 😡
Oh, even just writing about it is making me mad. 😡 😡 😡
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Erm, probably Differential Equations for a lower level course, and a tie between Advanced Vibrations, Theory of Applied Elasticity, and Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics in the later years. I think AV and TAE edged out FFM on the basis of difficulty of tests/professor, but on sheere difficulty of material I'd say no doubt it was the fracture mechanics stuff. I mean, there are several ways of solving any given problem, all vastly different, all giving somewhat different results (sometimes dramatically different), none really the correct answer, and the experts can't decide which is close to correct, if any.
most work intensive: CS23 Software Design and Implementation
most difficult conceptually: CS49 Theory of Computation
however looking at my transcript, you would guess Earth Science 1 "Rocks for Jocks". the only C on my transcript and a little embarrassing. 🙂
most difficult conceptually: CS49 Theory of Computation
however looking at my transcript, you would guess Earth Science 1 "Rocks for Jocks". the only C on my transcript and a little embarrassing. 🙂
Spanish all the way. The teacher knew I didn't know a lick of Spanish and always seemed to call on me for answers. For the first time in my life, I was the dumby of the class. Took it pass/fail and thankfully got a P for three semesters.
For me it was introduction to the cinema a 100 level course. There was no book and all we did was listen to the professor talk about old movies. Our exams consited of us quessing what the prof answer would be. For example, what did the candle stick mean when john was talk to sue in the movie?? I was happy with my C-.
Mine was human physiology. Before the professor that I had passed away (I was in his last class), it was widely rumored that it was the hardest class offered at my university. All of his exams were mp a-j. Each test had a class average between 30-40. I escaped with an A; how, i don't know b/c only 2 people out of 80 received an A in my class. But this class definitely taught me how to study.
Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics
Either P-Chem Thermo or Engineering Thermo (haha, they both sucked).
I hated Matlab for Engineers (E77N for all you Berkeley folk!). My first programming class ever and I got a C+. I didnt know what the hell recursion was for the life of me. Now I am a coding guru... go fig.
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I thought O-chem was the hardest to understand, but I would probably have to say Medical Microbiology. I spent so much time on that class to get a B. Microbial physiology was also hard (to stay awake in that is). 🙂
Multivariable...the first math class that had me up until 2:30 in the morning, visiting the professor at least 2X a week and still not really understanding jack.
Organic is a lot of hype.astrife said:
Thus far: Modern Physics.
Cell bio - the amount of material was rough and then the questions were often design an experiment to prove the following things and write an essay about how this would work and the results, etc etc....That and biology of aging. We did not have a book and the teacher would have each person take a day taking down notes. The notes would be submitted to her for approval then emailed to the class. That was the book. Then, tests could be anything in those notes. This allowed her to ask questions such as who conducted a study in wales during what year to prove blank and blank. Spelling of the scientist's names counted as did the exact year and country of origin. It was almost like triva...what was the twenty-third word she said during class on wed oct 7th? arg
Oddly enough, Biol1107 (Gen. Bio I) is even harder than my Orgo Class (B vs A), so I'll give you the credit where it is due with that choice - it has single-handedly forced me to rethink the way I study.
EITHER
3rd semester physics:
completed the class with a cumulative percentage in the upper 40s. The average for the class was low 40s though, so I got a B+.
or
Fourier Analysis:
A whole dang semester of the theory behind it. Again, got like 50% in the class and somehow ended up with a B. I couldn't tell you one thing I learned in that class it was so over my head.
3rd semester physics:
completed the class with a cumulative percentage in the upper 40s. The average for the class was low 40s though, so I got a B+.
or
Fourier Analysis:
A whole dang semester of the theory behind it. Again, got like 50% in the class and somehow ended up with a B. I couldn't tell you one thing I learned in that class it was so over my head.
Modern Physics.
I never knew that multivariate calculus can be used in some many different ways...
I never knew that multivariate calculus can be used in some many different ways...
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