# Question for college students: whats the hardest class you took **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 19, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907 "2003-12-19T03:42:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/21 "2003-12-19T12:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chavardz \* > Hmm… the maths gave me some problems, Vectorial and linear Algebra were not nice. Linear Algebra sucked. I ended up taking it twice and still didn’t get it. Not one bit do I understand of it, though I could understand how to solve the real basic problems I don’t understand why at all. I hated it both times and I did all the work too which was unusual for me. I will admit though that I liked Calc. I avoided it because I thought it would suck, then I had to take it and liked it. Made a lot of the HS physics class stuff make sense. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/22 "2003-12-19T12:52:38Z")
Introduction to Electromagnetic Fields. Bizarro math used to describe bizarro concepts like the effects seen by a point charge floating above an infinitely large sheet of current, whatever that is. Practical EM field equations used in antenna and waveguide design aren’t so bad, but the fundamentals are a bitch. The University of Alberta worked on a 9 point system when I took the course. We used to call it “Nine the hard way” because it was fairly common for students to get a 2 and fail, then take it again and get a 3 and fail, then take it a third time, getting a 4 and passing. Me, I skipped all that and went right to a 4 the first time. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/23 "2003-12-19T14:33:57Z")
I second stochastic processes and advanced linear algebra. Both of these might have been easier with better instructors though. Topology, even with a great instructor. As far as the amount of work, the programming classes. ---
**Author:** ![sultana\_of\_slash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@sultana\_of\_slash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sultana_of_slash)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/24 "2003-12-19T14:37:22Z")
P chem II. Harder than anything I took in med school. Neuroanatomy was the hardest course in med school. ---
**Author:** ![Labor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Labor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labor)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/25 "2003-12-19T14:40:57Z")
Undergrad - Counterpoint, a 300 level music class, I loved it but it was very hard and I remember being fried after the final. Grad School - Introduction to Research. Not so much hard as overwhelming, lots to discover and then reported in a mind numbingly anal way. ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/26 "2003-12-19T14:51:35Z")
Process Control. I’ve taken O Chem, Statistics, Diff Eq, Physics, an honors math class on the nature of infinity, many philosophy classes (including a recent 12 page paper on Kant) and much, much more, and none of it holds a candle to Process Control. Flunking diff Eq (the first shot) was easier than Porcess Control. I worshipped the gorund my PC prof walked on and it was still the roughest class I’ve ever been in. (I can’t imagine it with a different prof.) ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/27 "2003-12-19T14:56:24Z")
Music. Probably because I knew so much about music(more than my teacher), and because I played so many instruments for so many years and I already had my own opinions. I had to take that course 2 times before I passed. I never had any trouble at all with the science courses: math, biology, chemistry, medical courses, etc. probably because I could see the relevency/importantcy in them all and I wanted to understand the material and because at some latter day, if I was wrong or made a mistake because I didnt learn what I was supposed to learn, someone could die. Its all about attitude. ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/28 "2003-12-19T14:57:59Z")
Physical Chemistry I and II. I’m a biochem major and a zoo minor, and these two classes make everything else feel like a walk in the park. Since you might be taking a lot of chemistry, you definitely need to watch out and prepare for these classes. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/29 "2003-12-19T15:33:29Z")
Undergrad: The Buddhist Tradition. I did great up until we got to Tibetan and Mystical Buddhism. Then I got completely lost. I felt like I no longer understood the English language, because nothing made any sense. Grad: Third World Revolutions. Fortunately, its the class I also did the best in. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/30 "2003-12-19T15:55:24Z")
Undergrad: Differential EQs, taken at a community college. The college wanted the class to transfer anywhere in the state, so they threw everything in (and saved all real-world applications until the last week. :rolleyes: ) As the instructor and I walked out of the building after the final, he bemoaned the 45 minutes he lost in September when the power went out. He was never able to catch up. Grad: Heh. I wish… ---
**Author:** ![patchbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@patchbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/patchbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/31 "2003-12-19T16:12:11Z")
Structural Dynamics. That’s why I design highways for a living. 🙂 –Patch ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/32 "2003-12-19T16:16:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sultana of slash \* > \*\*P chem II. Harder than anything I took in med school. > Neuroanatomy was the hardest course in med school. \*\* Physical chemistry was harder than neuroanatomy? ive heard that neuroanatomy was almost hell, and that the curve was so low that people with 32% would pass the class. Whats so hard about physical chemistry? is it memorization, application, or what? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/33 "2003-12-19T16:24:55Z")
pchem requires you to start learning quantum theory, thermodynamics, and statistical mechanics. Any of these is pretty nasty, and when you put all three of them together, you’re just asking for trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Scarlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlet)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/34 "2003-12-19T16:57:11Z")
Physics, took it 3 times before I passed it… I have a hard time with that type of stuff though. Parasitology was tough, but only because we had to spell everything correctly and some of those scientific names were impossible to say much less spell correctly on an exam! Chemistry & Organic Chemistry weren’t too bad, well at least I didn’t have much problem with them. ---
**Author:** ![cromulent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cromulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cromulent)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/35 "2003-12-19T17:18:45Z")
A second vote for Organic Chemistry. I’m taking it now, have a final Monday (god help me!!!) and, uh, it’s a lot of work. A massive amount of memorization, coupled with plenty of topics that are just plain _difficult._ I took AP Physics with Calculus in high school, and while it was challenging, it wasn’t that bad, I thought, since it’s basically logical. Most of the equations make sense and can be derived from simpler equations. It’s not like Org Chem, where you have to memorize mountains and mountains of chemical reactions that don’t make any sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/36 "2003-12-19T17:25:16Z")
The truly tough courses I remember were all undergrad. Undergrad: Calculus 3, Discrete/Combinatorial Math and Assembly programming. The first two were just hard to understand for me, and the third was just the biggest ass-kicking in terms of effort that I can recall. Graduate: MBA school was pretty easy, all in all. If I had to pick, I’d probably say that Managerial Finance was the toughest, but that’s not because of conceptual difficulty, but instructor suckitude- he was really poor at being clear on what he wanted, and even worse at having his tests resemble anything we covered in class. That’s the only graduate class that gave me the "I may not pass with a C " creeping horrors. ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/37 "2003-12-19T17:40:04Z")
- Electricity and Magnetism. I have a new-found respect for EE majors. - Discrete Structures. Stupid induction proofs… ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/38 "2003-12-19T18:07:08Z")
Undergraduate : History and Theory of Anthropology. Although the subject matter was tough it was accessible if you put enough time in. However, the professor had very high standards and as she was a phenomenal teacher I really didn’t want to disapoint her. I did get an A and she wrote a totally kick-ass letter of recommendation for grad school. Graduate: Mathematical Foundations of Language. Long story short? There aren’t any. Well, maybe that isn’t entirely true but close enough for me! ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/39 "2003-12-19T18:27:02Z")
I’m an English major and so far my most difficult has been **Advanced Writing for the English Major**. Every English major has to take it, and everybody has to pass with a “B” or better or they can’t graduate. In hindsight, I was more nervous than maybe I should have been. It met once a week, for four hours. We had a paper due every week, and he was absolutely brutal on the grading. I received my first C _ever_ on a paper in that class. It was pure lecture, and though I love my prof, he is impossible to take notes for. I finally gave up on the notes. On the bright side, he decided we didn’t need to take a final. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907/40 "2003-12-19T18:28:54Z")
At my college, the mechanical enginering degree required 4 semesters of calculus, plus differential equations, plus a math elective (I took vector calculus, which was only lightly covered in the 4 semesters of calculus), plus a mechanical engineer course titled ‘Advanced Mathematics for Engineers’ which covered simultaneous differential equations, transformations, etc. (it was an expensive textbook, and the course only covered 1/4 of it. I’ve looked at the other chapters and they baffle me - theory of residues?). Then, after all that, there was another course called Numerical Methods, where we would learn to write and run FORTRAN programs that would use brute force approximations routines to solve calculus problems. After all that, what was the hardest course I took? Vibrations. The professor made sure that I used just about everything I learned in all of the above classes. I had nightmares about eigenvalues. Today, I’m sure I’ve forgotten about 75% of all of that. But I knew it at one point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-college-students-whats-the-hardest-class-you-took/219907.md?page=3)