Phoenix84
Senior Associate
Joined: Feb 17, 2011 21:42:35 GMT -5
Posts: 10,056
|
Post by Phoenix84 on Dec 9, 2013 13:21:38 GMT -5
What was the single hardest class you ever took in school, or for work? Why was it the hardest?
Furthermore, what was your favorite subject/easiest subject, and your least favorite/hardest subject?
|
|
NomoreDramaQ1015
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 14:26:32 GMT -5
Posts: 48,082
|
Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Dec 9, 2013 13:29:32 GMT -5
Physics. I'm numbers dsylexic which makes math difficult for me and that's pretty much all physics is. Then my Physics 101 professor is more of a theoretical phyiscist and I swear those people operate on a totally different plane. I couldn't relate to his teaching method AT ALL.
I did slightly better in Physics 102 with a different professor but not by much.
Inorganic Chemistry was also pure hell.
Both are my least favorite subjects.
My favorite subjects were Molecular Genetics, Developmental Biology and Behavorial Ecology. Molecular Genetics wasn't an easy class but I learned a lot and loved the subject.
Developmental Biology was easy. So was Behavorial Ecology.
I also have always enjoyed my English/literature classes. I liked Women's Literature the best. English has also always been my easiest subject which my advisor said is unusual for a science major. My former boss said the same thing and that I'm valuable because I can write my way out of a paper bag. Alot of scientists can't and that costs them in terms of money and prestige.
|
|
Regis
Well-Known Member
Joined: Dec 27, 2010 12:26:50 GMT -5
Posts: 1,415
|
Post by Regis on Dec 9, 2013 13:32:47 GMT -5
Physics 251 at Purdue University without question. It was only slightly easier the second time around! I just didn't get the concepts at all. And the professor was one of the most hated men on campus for engineering students. It was not unusual for the average score in his class to be in the 30-40% range. His was the last "flunk out" class. Once I got into my engineering and surveying classes, I thought most of them were easy. It's just always come easy to me for some reason and seems like common sense. Least favorite was probably chemistry. Didn't like it when I was in high school and college and didn't like it when my kids were in school and I had tried to help them with it.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 9, 2013 13:33:38 GMT -5
Data Mining and Neural Networks.
|
|
swamp
Community Leader
THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 16:03:22 GMT -5
Posts: 45,617
|
Post by swamp on Dec 9, 2013 13:36:38 GMT -5
AP Calculus in High School. Didn't get it at all.
In law school, probably Real Property I since what you learn is vestiges from Merry Old England in Feudal times when property law developed. It has no bearing on what I do now as a real estate lawyer.
Contracts was pretty tough too because it was taught by a guy who thought he was Socrates. Just teach, dammit.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 7, 2024 23:35:36 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2013 13:37:03 GMT -5
statistics
professor was so boring it was hard not to fall asleep in class
he didnt grade on curve
no A's
2 B's
24 C's
13 D's
5 others
a number of students dropped class midway through
i got a C ....and was thankful i never had to retake
|
|
Phoenix84
Senior Associate
Joined: Feb 17, 2011 21:42:35 GMT -5
Posts: 10,056
|
Post by Phoenix84 on Dec 9, 2013 13:39:48 GMT -5
Physics. I'm numbers dsylexic which makes math difficult for me and that's pretty much all physics is. Then my Physics 101 professor is more of a theoretical phyiscist and I swear those people operate on a totally different plane. I couldn't relate to his teaching method AT ALL. I did slightly better in Physics 102 with a different professor but not by much. Inorganic Chemistry was also pure hell. Both are my least favorite subjects. My favorite subjects were Molecular Genetics, Developmental Biology and Behavorial Ecology. Molecular Genetics wasn't an easy class but I learned a lot and loved the subject. Developmental Biology was easy. So was Behavorial Ecology. I also have always enjoyed my English/literature classes. I liked Women's Literature the best. English has also always been my easiest subject which my advisor said is unusual for a science major. My former boss said the same thing and that I'm valuable because I can write my way out of a paper bag. Alot of scientists can't and that costs them in terms of money and prestige. What's Behavioral Ecology? In my experience, writing/english expertise and science/math expertise are not mutually exclusive. I know many scientists/engineers who are very good writers. Not all, but many. The best writer I know is a nuclear engineer by education. He was also involved in script writing.
|
|
Otto the Orange
Well-Known Member
Go Orange!
Joined: Aug 23, 2012 4:20:52 GMT -5
Posts: 1,284
|
Post by Otto the Orange on Dec 9, 2013 13:39:57 GMT -5
Supply chain management was hardest because the teacher was a penis
favorite subject was Economic Policy Analysis- it was favorite because it was straight forward and teacher presented both the liberal and conservative arguments in a fair way, it opened my mind
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 7, 2024 23:35:36 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2013 13:40:16 GMT -5
Honors English my freshman year of college.
For the life of me, I don't know why I thought I could do honors English in college. English was the only class I didn't take honors of in highschool. But one semester of Honors english took the place of two semesters of regular english in college, so I thought I would be able to get it done more quickly.
Long story short I failed the class, dropped out of the honors program all together and had to redo two semesters of regular English.
|
|
HoneyBBQ
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 27, 2010 10:36:09 GMT -5
Posts: 5,395
Mini-Profile Background: {"image":"","color":"3b444e"}
|
Post by HoneyBBQ on Dec 9, 2013 13:43:37 GMT -5
Graduate level quantum mechanics was the hardest. For obvious reasons, I think.
Most fun and easiest was some poetry class. We'd sit outside under the trees and read poetry and opine about what it was about and sip coffee. LOL
|
|
NomoreDramaQ1015
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 14:26:32 GMT -5
Posts: 48,082
|
Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Dec 9, 2013 13:44:52 GMT -5
What's Behavioral Ecology
Behavorial ecology is the study of animals and how they interact with each other and their environment.
|
|
CarolinaKat
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 16:10:37 GMT -5
Posts: 6,364
|
Post by CarolinaKat on Dec 9, 2013 13:54:32 GMT -5
What's Behavioral Ecology
Behavorial ecology is the study of animals and how they interact with each other and their environment. Sounds like fun My hardest class was Calc II. Dude was Russian and would slip to teaching in Russian and then refuse to admit he did it so we had no clue what he'd been saying for 15 mins. Gave us homework so hard that it confused other professors. It wasn't unusual for the highest grade on his test to be 14/100 points. I think I made a 8 once. He was 'let go' at the end of the semester I had him for failing to teaching anyone anything.
|
|
Plain Old Petunia
Senior Member
bloom where you are planted
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 2:09:44 GMT -5
Posts: 4,840
|
Post by Plain Old Petunia on Dec 9, 2013 13:56:11 GMT -5
Physics, both in high school and college. I just didn't get it. Chemistry was also a struggle. The only reason I passed chemistry was because the equations were easy, the rest was an uphill battle.
I have always loved math classes. Even in grade school, but especially high school and college. Math is a fun, fun puzzle. It is always logical and always follows the rules. What is not to love?
I took accounting in high school and thought it was so simple and obvious. I took bookkeeping in college for fun, and thought I might want to learn enough to get an entry level bookkeeping job while I was pursuing my degree in mathematics and supporting myself on multiple minimum wage jobs. I did that, and eventually it dawned on me that I should just study accounting, duh.
|
|
reader79
Well-Known Member
Joined: Dec 30, 2010 8:48:07 GMT -5
Posts: 1,053
|
Post by reader79 on Dec 9, 2013 14:00:41 GMT -5
Hardest was Games Theory at NYU. Easiest/most fun was drafting in high school. I also liked the Medical Ethics class because there wasn't a 'wrong' answer so long as you could defend your position.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 9, 2013 14:05:57 GMT -5
My hardest class was Calc II. Dude was Russian and would slip to teaching in Russian and then refuse to admit he did it so we had no clue what he'd been saying for 15 mins. Gave us homework so hard that it confused other professors. It wasn't unusual for the highest grade on his test to be 14/100 points. I think I made a 8 once. He was 'let go' at the end of the semester I had him for failing to teaching anyone anything.
Sounds like my physics class. It was taught by an professor from India and for the first couple of weeks, I thought I was going to fail out. Then all of a sudden, it clicked in my brain that the gasin that he was talking about was cosine, therefore he must be discussing other trig terms.
However, there was a horrendous curve in that my 28/100 got me an A in the class on the midterm and final.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 9, 2013 14:09:42 GMT -5
My favorite classes in my undergraduate were the theater classes I took. I had to take 12 credit hours in liberal art electives and as most of my science classes were in early morning/afternoon, then Theater was the only curriculum that had classes that fit into my schedule (logically, since many times the class went directly into performance rehearsals). They were easy, mindless and FUN! Also, I spent the rest of the day seeing the same students in the same classes. Those who were in my biochemistry class were also in my molecular biology class and immunology, so it was nice to hang with a different group of people.
|
|
CarolinaKat
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 16:10:37 GMT -5
Posts: 6,364
|
Post by CarolinaKat on Dec 9, 2013 14:12:33 GMT -5
My hardest class was Calc II. Dude was Russian and would slip to teaching in Russian and then refuse to admit he did it so we had no clue what he'd been saying for 15 mins. Gave us homework so hard that it confused other professors. It wasn't unusual for the highest grade on his test to be 14/100 points. I think I made a 8 once. He was 'let go' at the end of the semester I had him for failing to teaching anyone anything.Sounds like my physics class. It was taught by an professor from India and for the first couple of weeks, I thought I was going to fail out. Then all of a sudden, it clicked in my brain that the gasin that he was talking about was cosine, therefore he must be discussing other trig terms. However, there was a horrendous curve in that my 28/100 got me an A in the class on the midterm and final. Honestly, I think someone from the Academic Board came in after the guy and curved our grades because the Russian refused to grade on a curve. I ended up with a B+ as my final grade, even though I never broke 20 the whole semester.
|
|
Plain Old Petunia
Senior Member
bloom where you are planted
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 2:09:44 GMT -5
Posts: 4,840
|
Post by Plain Old Petunia on Dec 9, 2013 14:14:29 GMT -5
What's Behavioral Ecology
Behavorial ecology is the study of animals and how they interact with each other and their environment. Sounds like fun My hardest class was Calc II. Dude was Russian and would slip to teaching in Russian and then refuse to admit he did it so we had no clue what he'd been saying for 15 mins. Gave us homework so hard that it confused other professors. It wasn't unusual for the highest grade on his test to be 14/100 points. I think I made a 8 once. He was 'let go' at the end of the semester I had him for failing to teaching anyone anything. That brings back memories. My first semester of college, I tookk Calc I from the math department chair. He was Pakistanian and had a thick accent. He also had a temper. He would get furious if anyone asked a question about something he had already addressed. His face would turn red and he would stamp his foot and scream "I tell you! I tell you already!". You could see the steam coming out of his ears. He also had a habit of writing on the chalkboard with his right hand while he erased with his left hand. You had better write it down QUICK, because it was going soon and he would not be repeating. At the time, I was so timid I just struggled on. Live and learn.
|
|
cronewitch
Junior Associate
I identify as a post-menopausal childless cat lady and I vote.
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 21:44:20 GMT -5
Posts: 5,979
|
Post by cronewitch on Dec 9, 2013 14:23:08 GMT -5
Math at a school that wasn't used to math. The school was for adults getting degrees in accounting or MBAs. Most of us had been out of school 20 years so not just finished another math class and this was the only math class they offered. We took the classes in 5 weeks at night while working full time. The instructors weren't real teachers but business people or IRS agents. This instructor was a Boeing Engineer who taught at Boeing and it was his first time teaching at a college. He thought we needed to learn everything in the book like negative exponents. We didn't we only needed enough to get past the statistics class we took next and would never take math again. Since the classes are only 5 weeks you got a mid term at 2.5 weeks and a final at the end and since we all worked full time and took other classes the other nights we could only study weekends. So we were all struggling and some asked him to slow down but he said if we don't master this we wouldn't do well in future classes. We explained there weren't future classes and he started to catch on that we weren't future engineers. The final was open book and take home so a bunch of us met at a student's apartment to do the test. Her husband was an engineer so helped us with the final.
I always did well in math at the college before that but it had been 20 years.
The school required a two year degree to get in and we went 4 nights a week for 4 hours 6-10PM taking two classes every 5 weeks so the whole two years was hard. I was working 8-4:30 school 6-10 and maintaining a home and relationship so spent all weekend on homework. They required a term paper for every single class.
|
|
Waffle
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 12, 2011 11:31:54 GMT -5
Posts: 4,391
|
Post by Waffle on Dec 9, 2013 14:30:38 GMT -5
hardest - macro economics - just didn't get it at all. I could regurgitate some of it - so I managed to pass, but I never did truly understand it.
least favorite - biology - I managed to avoid it in high school, but I worked myself into a schedule box in college. I needed one more science credit and it was the only science that would fit into my schedule. I aced the first test and then we started having to dissect things - yeeccch. I ended up with a D.
Easiest Bowling & Billards! It was actually called something like social games, we played bridge and pool and went bowling.
I don't know what my favorite was - I actually liked lots of classes.
|
|
econstudent
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 4, 2011 15:36:44 GMT -5
Posts: 2,288
|
Post by econstudent on Dec 9, 2013 14:30:49 GMT -5
Quantitative Methods was my hardest. Some crazy person thought it would be a good idea to make that class online-only and I couldn't learn math that way. I was thrilled with the B-. I found most of my economics classes easy, but that's because my brain works that way. Consumer Economics was the easiest--it was basically like sitting through a discussion of YM topics.
|
|
busymom
Distinguished Associate
Why is the rum always gone? Oh...that's why.
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 21:09:36 GMT -5
Posts: 29,228
Mini-Profile Background: {"image":"https://cdn.nickpic.host/images/IPauJ5.jpg","color":""}
Mini-Profile Name Color: 0D317F
Mini-Profile Text Color: 0D317F
|
Post by busymom on Dec 9, 2013 14:31:07 GMT -5
Chemistry was the worst. I've never needed it in real life, & don't miss it either. I always loved any class that had to do with music. Band! And, I loved both PE & English class, especially the classes that dealt with reading.
|
|
muttleynfelix
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 15:32:52 GMT -5
Posts: 9,406
|
Post by muttleynfelix on Dec 9, 2013 14:34:16 GMT -5
Physics 2 (I don't remember the actual number, but second semester of Physics for engineering majors) and Calc III (in the same semester). I also had free time for the first time in college since I wasn't running track and that screwed with my sense of timing and getting everything done. Calc III I had no respect for the professor. He made some really ignorant comments regarding 9/11 (it happened during the semester) and killed my ability to want to learn from him.
Hardest class in my major was Building Systems. My brain just doesn't work that way. I aced fluid mechanics, but ask me anything electricity or thermodynamics related and I STRUGGLE big time. Thankfully I design storm sewer systems for a living and NOT the interior of the buildings.
I did walk out on my water/wastewater final. I was graduating, I had a job, I knew what my grade was going into the final and I got stuck about an hour into it and decided I was done. It was my last final and I was out of there. So, I calculated what my grade was more than likely going to be. Decided I was easily going to get a C in the class and turned in my final. My classmates looked up and asked me if I was done (I was one of 2 who were graduating taking the final but the other one was staying for her Master's). I said nope, C is for complete and walked out. I professor called me and said that I had done so well in the class up to that point that he was just going to give me an A.
|
|
muttleynfelix
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 15:32:52 GMT -5
Posts: 9,406
|
Post by muttleynfelix on Dec 9, 2013 14:38:35 GMT -5
Oh easiest class was Geological Engineering for non-engineering majors. Just a bunch of memorizing and it was pretty interesting.
The class I did the best in was dynamics. I actually got a 100% on the final. The next semester the professor asked me to grade papers for him. I got paid for 6 hrs a week (professor's request), but only spent about 3 hrs grading them.
|
|
Phoenix84
Senior Associate
Joined: Feb 17, 2011 21:42:35 GMT -5
Posts: 10,056
|
Post by Phoenix84 on Dec 9, 2013 14:39:07 GMT -5
Hmmm, the single hardest class I think I ever took was quantum physics. I was a physics major, and quantum was where things started getting really weird, assigning probabilities to matter never made much sense to me.
I also remember I had a really hard time a Java course I took. I had taken some C++ programming classes before, but for some reason I could never grasp Java.
I also struggled with math, which may be surprising for a physics major. I did ok in high school math, algebra, geometry, trig and the like. I started having some problems once I got to calculus in college. I was able to muddle along until I hit calc 3, and really struggled.
Overall, I can do ok in math, probably better than the vast majority of the population, but I still don't feel up to par with a lot of "scientists" or at least physicists. Though I think I have a pretty good grasp of algebra, geometry, and trig.
My favorite subjects were always the sciences. I took a TON of science in high school, chemistry, physics, biology, astronomy, meteorology, eath-space science ect.
More specifically, I fell in love with nuclear physics in college. For some reason, I could just "see" nuclear reactions more easily than other physical concepts, and having a good professor helped. Really, nuclear physics is a lot like imagining billiard balls on a pool table. At least that vision has worked for me.
|
|
Tiny
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 29, 2010 21:22:34 GMT -5
Posts: 13,488
|
Post by Tiny on Dec 9, 2013 14:49:28 GMT -5
The 'hardest' class was a Business Calculas class I needed to get my B.A. It was like "math for dummies" but since I'm math challanged (and have a TON of math anxiety) it was a really hard class. Facing a bunch of inner demons was way harder than doing the simplified math in this particular course. As for the hardest classes I ever took - back in the mid 80's I took a bunch of certification courses (for inventory control and such) and being a foolish youngun' who had little trouble with routine HS and college courses I figured I could get by with the minimum. The tests at the end were eye opening...I failed miserably. Those were the hardest test(s) I've ever taken - the multi choice answers ALL looked good (I couldn't narrow it down to 2) and there was no gaurentee that if you worked thru the problem and got an answer that was in the choices that that was the correct answer (you did the work incorrectly - or missed something). I can do 'math' as long as I don't have to do the actual calculations - I know what formulas/steps whatever to use/apply - I just always screw up the add/sub/mult/div parts and get the wrong answer. I can work the same problem a handful of times and come up with a handful of different answers (and usually NOT the right one). But then, that's what computers are for! I like math it's quite amazing...I just can't get the numbers right. I aced Discreet Math and a 'logic' type course (can't remember what it was).... few if any numbers involved. Easy Peasy. that said -- my favorite courses tended to be the liberal arts ones- literature, philosophy, religious studies...
|
|
Phoenix84
Senior Associate
Joined: Feb 17, 2011 21:42:35 GMT -5
Posts: 10,056
|
Post by Phoenix84 on Dec 9, 2013 14:49:47 GMT -5
Graduate level quantum mechanics was the hardest. For obvious reasons, I think. Most fun and easiest was some poetry class. We'd sit outside under the trees and read poetry and opine about what it was about and sip coffee. LOL Ah, another one had trouble with quantum. To be fair though, my quantum course was undergrad. But I got a C in it. But it was probably the hardest C I ever earned.
|
|
Cookies Galore
Senior Associate
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 18:08:13 GMT -5
Posts: 10,891
|
Post by Cookies Galore on Dec 9, 2013 14:52:13 GMT -5
My College Math class. Yes, the first semester math class. The teacher was from Russia, which shouldn't have been bad because I had other instructors that weren't native English speakers and I did fine in their classes. This one just had an odd way of explaining things and was really just an odd duck. The entire class did bad. I finished with a 40-something percent and that was curved to a C. A lot of his students in his other classes were just as frustrated. I took statistics the semester and kicked its ass. So at least I wasn't a complete math dummy. My political philosophy class was fun difficult. This math class was just painful difficult.
|
|
The Captain
Junior Associate
Hugs are good...
Joined: Jan 4, 2011 16:21:23 GMT -5
Posts: 8,717
Location: State of confusion
Favorite Drink: Whinnnne
|
Post by The Captain on Dec 9, 2013 14:55:40 GMT -5
Intermediate Accounting. I think it is by design, the hardest course in my major (accounting). At my school, this was the class that weeded out the kids not serious about accounting.
Out of a starting class of 38 we had 6 drop after the first test. We eventually only had 30 accounting majors graduate so it did it's job.
A lot of material crammed into one class. It was not the difficulty, but the volumn that almost did me in.
|
|
msventoux
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 12, 2011 22:32:37 GMT -5
Posts: 3,037
|
Post by msventoux on Dec 9, 2013 15:05:31 GMT -5
Hardest courses were statistics and calculus. I was home schooled, which in my case meant taught myself everything since my parents couldn't be bothered and wouldn't have been able to help with math anyways. I was sooooo behind in math when I went to college, even though I managed to do enough self-study that I tested into the standard 100-level classes instead of the lower remedial classes.
Favorite subjects were introductory biology and geology. If I'd had a better educational foundation and any guidance I probably would have chosen to go into the sciences rather than being practical and studying accounting.
Worst class was a basic income tax class taught by an IRS auditor. The entire class passed, but he was so bad that people were given the option of taking the class again the following semester.
|
|