What was the hardest class you've ever taken in college?

[Tomorrow]

Depends on how you define "hard." If "hard" means "I struggled in the class," I would say Structural Analysis II and Engineering Math II (partial differential equations). I fully blame the teachers, and not the subject matter, for saying that - because in subsequent classes where we covered that material again, it all made perfect sense. I just needed to see it explained differently.

As far as the most difficult subject matter itself, I would say my toughest class was Modern Physics. Some of that relativistic stuff was pretty abstract and hard for me to grasp.

 

[Liquorpuki]

Hardest class I think was probably Electromagnetic Theory (involving triple integrals, partial differentiation, and exams requiring knowledge of roughly 100 equations).

Same here. Triple integrals, line integrals over infinite space, Maxwell's equations. I didn't know what the hell was going on in that class

 

[leekohler]

Philosophy of Religion. I had to go to class on acid just to understand it. I ended up doing OK. The professor gave no A's. It was B's on down. Tough class, and I ended up with a C. Trust me, that was hard enough.

 

[twietee]

Olgiati's design studio. Never had heard of him before back then, first time presenting stuff in English + foreign country and had absolutely no clue what I was actually doing.
He killed me in front of everybody. Every single time. I never learned as much as then and got brainwashed the hard tour - best time of my life so far.

 

[colourfastt]

Fairfax/ DC area in general is awesome.

No it's not! I grew up there and am VERY happy to be long gone and FAR away.

 

[184550]

No it's not! I grew up there and am VERY happy to be long gone and FAR away.

YMMV.

 

[dmr727]

As far as the most difficult subject matter itself, I would say my toughest class was Modern Physics. Some of that relativistic stuff was pretty abstract and hard for me to grasp.

I agree. Modern Physics was definitely challenging - especially the General Relativity classes. In every other class I've taken in college, it was simply a matter of working problem sets to the extent needed to fully grasp the material. This was a whole different level for me. I made it through and even did well, but for the first time I had to lean on my classmates and take advantage of study groups to help me understand much of the material.

 

[filmbuff]

For me it was Calc 1. I didn't even attempt Calc 2 or 3. Chemistry 101 also took a lot of work and I still only ended up with a C. Physics was fun though.

 

[Synchromesh]

There were a few. One was Linear Algebra. Hated it with a passion. Another was Software Design which I didn't like either.

Out of the hard ones I did like: Automata Theory and Operating Systems.

 

[anonymouslurker]

Same here. Triple integrals, line integrals over infinite space, Maxwell's equations. I didn't know what the hell was going on in that class

Electromagnetics is what made me change from EE to CompE

And over the last 10 years or so, I've still been doing more hardware design than firmware!
(I'm just not an RF guy.)

 

[fwhh]

In electrical engineering: "electromagnic field theory - complex wave calucations" (Ph.D. preparations class)

 

[Queen of Spades]

Organic chemistry for sure. It was well known as the great separator, ending the dreams of many a pre-med, and reminding others of the allure of the arts.

 

[Surely]

Organic chemistry for sure. It was well known as the great separator, ending the dreams of many a pre-med, and reminding others of the allure of the arts.

And I did both I and II in six weeks.

 

[erickkoch]

Chemistry and math were always a bit difficult for me but I forced myself through them. Biology and microbiology were my interests.

The hardest class was Quantitative Analysis (analytical chemistry). It had lots of chemistry and math. I had an instructor from India. He had a heavy Indian accent and would spray the front row of the class with spit when he said, "Henderson–Hasselbalch equation!" I think it was his favorite equation.

Anyway, he failed half the class with D's and F's. I was never so happy in my life to have gotten a C.

 

[jwingfie]

Probably Biomechanics, maybe Kinesiology.

 

[ejb190]

Without a doubt, it was the first class I took in Grad School

From the course catalogue:
PLPHY 512 PLANT RESOURCE ACQUISITION AND UTILIZATION ( 4) Advanced study of plant resource acquisition and utilization considering molecular, physiological, and whole plant perspectives through lectures and problem solving.

There was a different prof and a research paper every week. I passed by the grace of God.

 

[(marc)]

Linear algebra.

 

[dukebound85]

Mine is most likely Radiative Transfer. The atmosphere has so many constituents that dictate how radiation in the shortwave penetrates the atmosphere and is either scattered, absorbed, or emitted, and how it affects the atmosphere in the longwave infrared. These equations manipulate Planck's function and have a ton of integrals. So interesting! But our class is so in-depth that we have taken leaps of faith from derivations that go as far back as Maxwell's Equations and how molecules rotate and induce electric fields. I never would have thought that today's supercomputers have a difficult time plotting absorption lines to fit global climate models. Some of these models take years to run!

Well, enough of my little rant, I need to study for this class's final tomorrow morning. Share your tough college experiences!!!!

Radiative Transfer is merely physics. I remember in one of my grad courses, we had to code up an atmosphere/ocean coupled model with 30+ layers and each layer had it's own emissivity. Also had to take into account ozone as well as convective readjustment, as well as latent/sensible heating

Fun times

In undergrad, my hardest course was physics 1 my very first semester. That class was a hard transistion from hs to college

In grad school, my hardest class was atmospheric dynamics/general circulation. Way to much derivation for me haha

 

[brentmore]

No question it was Machine Learning. The subject matter was challenging enough, but the class was also taught in French by a professor with a strong Russian accent. I cringe thinking about it.

 

[Daffodil]

Organic chemistry for sure. It was well known as the great separator, ending the dreams of many a pre-med, and reminding others of the allure of the arts.

Yep. The ochem series were definitely my hardest/least favorite classes in college too. You could practically smell the fear and bloodlust of all the pre-meds packed into the auditorium... *shudder*

 

[Queen of Spades]

And I did both I and II in six weeks.

How on earth is that even possible? Did you go to Phoenix?

Yep. The ochem series were definitely my hardest/least favorite classes in college too. You could practically smell the fear and bloodlust of all the pre-meds packed into the auditorium... *shudder*

I have a lot of horrible memories of all-night studying sessions. After that, I never took another science or math class in college.

 

[chrmjenkins]

Technical: maybe diffeq. It was the first semester freshman math course I took and he required a lot of maple simulation stuff in addition to normal homework.

Non-technical: The American Mind. A lot of pre-civil war essays by American thinkers. Class required 8+ hours of outside reading a week and my reading comprehension is relatively poor.

 

[Surely]

How on earth is that even possible? Did you go to Phoenix?

Ha, no.

In Canada, some universities offer "Intersession" courses. They run for six weeks starting in May, and end before the summer session begins (which was also optional). Each half course is 3 weeks long.

It was very intense, with an exam every 1.5 weeks. I think we had labs 3 times per week. The lectures were very long.

We would go to the bar to study as a group. Those study sessions always started off well......

By the end of those six weeks, I think my brain was liquified.

 

['Bmac]

By far, the most difficult uni class I had to take was "History of Western Civilization part 1". It was taught by a Southern Baptist Minester who brought in his religious beliefs and we were required to learn it with his religion. Being a Roman Catholic it was difficult because what we were taught in Roman Catholic religion classes at my church were a bit different then a Southern Baptist beliefs. I felt so sorry for the problems the Jewish students had with his spin on the history with all the Minesters beliefs. I failed because I refused to accept what the Professor's beliefs were different then mine. I took the class over again with a different professor who left ALL religion out and passed with a 100%! To this day I do NOT understant WHY the uni allowed a clergyman to teach a history class who was forcing the students to believe as he did. Why couldn't the uni FORCE the professor to leave out religion? I mean it was a private non sectarian uni.

 

[BigPrince]

Kant.