What was the most unpleasant college class you ever had to take?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

Right now I’m taking a class called “Reflections on Literature”. I really hate it. Its more of a series of seminars than an actual class, and is supposed to be for English Majors who are in their graduating semester. Why am I in a class like this when I won’t be graduating for another year? Because it fit into my schedule, and I had no guarantee that the class (ony one day and time that it is offered) will fit into my schedule in the future. It works now, why not roll with it?

The reading list for the class consists of lots of long novels of the 19th/20th century. Each class meeting, we sit for about 3 hours listening to the professor struggle to talk about the novel. This wouldn’t be entirely bad, except for the fact that the professor has a stuttering problem, and kind of mumbles his way through the lectures. There are no discussions, no excersizes, nothing that tests us about what we know in the book much less give us any friggin purpose for reading the books. In fact, I’ve realized that of the 12 books we have on our reading list, I only need to hypothetically read 3 of them, because our only two major assignments aren’t about anything specific (Explicate a scene from 1 book, Compare/Contrast 2 other books)

The class as a whole is very vague. I’m sure many studens would really embrace this sense of freedom regarding projects and papers, but I hate it. The guidelines feel so vague that I’m paranoid I’m doing something completely wrong without even being aware of it, because it might not have been explicitly stated on the syllabus. There are so few assignments in the class that doing badly on one cripples my overall grade (I have to do a presentation this evening in the class which makes up a THIRD of my total grade…talk about pressure! :eek: )

#2

Differential Equations. I took it BEFORE Fluid Dynamics, so I had no clue how to apply it, and couldn’t wrap my brain around math for math’s sake.

#3

I’m taking satistics right now, and I believe it is without a doubt that most unbearable hour and 15 minutes (twice a week). Our professor is an older man that spends more time taking about himself than the subject. Been in the class since August, and have only taken a total of 5 pages of notes (and I take very scrupulous notes). Not only does it put me to sleep, but he also keeps his a.c. on through the winter. But, I only have to last until Decemeber…

#4

Probability & Statistics. The professor spoke in a droning monotone, and was a big believer in using transparencies and overhead projector. So, a “Bueller?..Bueller?”-esque white-noise voice in a darkened room. Not a good combination for staying awake.

#5

Weather & Climate. Took it to fill a science requirement and it fit my schedule. Never was a class so boring, or a professor so self-loathing. At the start of each class he’d take a swig from a flask, and who knows what was in there. The class was in a lecture hall that held probably around 200 people, and on a good day about a quarter of that showed up.

#6

I hate my health class with an absolute passion.

My prof is heavily into eastern medicine and such, which wouldn’t be so bad, except he’s absolutely obsessed with proving that most of western culture is horrible. And he’s so sanctimonious about the rest of the subject matter. He’s like God, but better… I’m sure he’s single-handedly stopping deforestation, balancing his chi, registering to vote in all 50 states (and several bonus third-world countries), feeding all the starving in Africa, and training doctors about the wonders of holistic methods, all while meditating for at least 8 hours a day.

If he’s not, well, I will be deeply disappointed.

#7

Metabolic Biochemistry. That class was EXTREMELY difficult, with hundreds of pages of notes on chemical structure and metabolic regulation to memorize. On top of that, the prof was the sort of guy who answered questions with “That’s a good question”, and then talked for 10 minutes about things that sounded like they SHOULD answer the question but didn’t really, and that just confused everyone more.

#8

Cobol Programming.

#9

roxx222, if you’re at McGill, I suffered through that one too, I know what you’re talking about.

I found Genetics (Biology 202, I believe) to be much worse however. We had about 4 or 5 different professors over the course of the term, all of whom appeared to share the attitude that teaching undergrads was beneath them. Plus one of them had just discovered what a wonderful toy PowerPoint is, and made incredibly detailed slides packed with way too much information, all in 12 pt red type on a yellow background. Or possibly yellow type on a red background - either way it was impossible to read and it made my eyes hurt. Then, to cap things off, for the final we were examined on material that was never covered in either the lectures or the textbook. I seriously had to double check the front page to make sure I had the right exam and look around to make sure I was surrounded by my classmates, and I could see others doing the same. Word was that somewhere in the neighbourhood of 90% of the class had failed before grades were adjusted to look suspiciously like our midterm marks.

Then there was first year general chemistry, in which the professor treated all questions as an insult to his teaching abilities, and answered them by repeating exactly what he had just said, but I’ve mostly supressed those memories by now.

#10

I’m only a wee sophomore, so wish me luck that I’ve had it already, but my freshman English class was oh so icky. The professor had certain strong opinions on the proper way to interpret the books we were reading. Other interpretations were, to quote, “wrong”. Being bright enough to make it into college in the first place meant I quickly learned to write what she wanted to read while doing my utter best to lay the smack-down (with cites) in the class discussions. The more or less defining moment of the class was when she commented on my idea for my final paper, mentioning in passing my conclusion, which I hadn’t drawn. Not being an idiot, I did some revising, and got an A on the paper, but I felt really dirty doing so.

#11

Statics. Not Statistics, this is a physics/civil engineering course, the precursor to Dynamics. My engineering school tried real hard to get you to graduate after four years, but didn’t make you choose a major until your 2nd year. Well the problem with that was that some of the majors had seven semesters of consecutive courses, all prerequisite on each other. Tough to fit that in your three years of major study, eh? So they had to start you on the beginner courses in every affected major BEFORE you even chose your specific major. As a freshman, planning the whole time to be an Electrical Engineer, I had to take Statics (for civil engineering) and two semesters of Chemistry (for Chemical Engineering). Which I never used again in my college career.

To get to the point, I never wanted to be in this course, knew I would never need it in my life, and never cared a moment. Oooo, let’s figure out the stresses on the endpoint of a truss that’s hung from one end from a … who the hell cares!

I did rather poorly in the end. I think it was my lowest grade of my college career.

#12

I was gonna say Cobol Programming, too!
Hey ftg, were you in my class?

#13

Econ 101 with the text by Samuelson. Put me to sleep in 20 seconds flat. Didn’t learn a damn thing, failed it and never went back. Guns and butter, my ass.

#14

I’ll second the Diff EQ nomination. An entire semester of “OK…OK…OK…what the hell?”

#15

Thermodynamics. It wasn’t the material so much as the professor, who made an analogy between mass flow through a system and ovens in concentration camps. I was considering chemical engineering for my degree at the time, but never wanted to have another class with him. I should have reported him, but I didn’t.

#16

Another poor SOB that took Statics (part of my Chemical Engineering course :rolleyes:). Had the most boring lecturer in my life who spoke directly from the textbook. I only attended half the lectures and still aced the exam and assignments.

Oh, and taking a course on quantum mechanics (again, a required part of my course for Gods know what reason) in second year. All I remember was blabble, uncertainity, blabble, Copenhagen, blabble. In the end I just memorised the course notes without understanding it. Haven’t used quantum mechanics since nor regreted not understanding the course.

A few years after, I was pleased to note that they took the two courses out of the Chem. Eng. syllabus.

#17

My current Physics lab. The TA instructing it barely speaks English, and really doesn’t seem to care about anything in the class. During one experiment, the sheet he handed clearly indicated to check with the TA before preciding to a certain section - when my lab group got to that section, the TA just seemed to have a hard time realizing that we were only trying to follow instructions. He just looked at us like we were stupid, said “I showed you how to do that”(He didn’t) and walked away.

#18

I’m a Comp Sci major. Right now, I’m taking Intro to UNIX, which is basically how to use UNIX-type OSes (of which I know a bit already – the first month was painfully tedious), which is a PITA because it’s all just mindless tedium, and they treat you like you’ve never operated a *nix machine before, so you have labs, which are as tedious as the lectures (if not more so). This, combined with the excessively anal instructor (you MUST write and submit your homework/project solutions on a *nix box, using these specific editors, in this manner, or it’s an Honor Code violation), projects with good concepts but poor execution (making you use shell scripting as if it were a serious programming language, which it isn’t), and grading based on poorly written scripts (I’ve had disputes with two or three project grades by now) makes it the worse college course I’ve ever endured. I imagine it could be better if the CS department cared about it, but they don’t. “They’re sophomores,” they say. “Fuck 'em.”

I also have Multivariable Calculus, which is almost as bad. The professor cannot teach. He reads from the notes, and goes on a half-hour tangent every time about how this relates to one engineering course or another. Fortunately, his tests and quizzes are a breeze, so I get good grades anyway.

Regarding DreadCthulu’s TA problem: I think that a prerequisite for employment as a TA at my school is an inability to speak English. Especially in CS and Chemistry.

#19

Criminal Law is pretty unpleasant for me at the moment. We learn about some pretty gut-wrenching cases in class and it’s convinced me I am not cut out to be a paralegal for a prosecutor

especially in a state that doesn’t put down murderers and child pornographers like the dogs they are, but instead feeds and clothes them for the rest of their … RARRRRRRRRRR
Sorry :smack: I get a little riled up sometimes …

#20

I took an Art History class that should have been called “Architectural History.” Just seemed deceptively-named, and I hate architecture.

I also took a “Cinema as an Artform” class whose professor had serious–and undisclosed–issues with America and Capitalism. Wish he’d mentioned in the course book that it was from a Marxist critical POV.