The Hardest College Classes In The Country

What exactly makes a class difficult?

Is it a professor with indecipherable handwriting who mumbles through lectures and refuses to curve a test with a 47% average score? Is it hours upon hours of complex proofs or twelve-page research papers covering abstract concepts?

There's no exact science for makes a class tough. It's all subjective, to a point - what's a breeze for one student might be painful for another. But what we do know is that fighting through a semester with a truly difficult class is a rite of passage in college. The academics are supposedly why we're all here, after all, and you can't earn that diploma without putting in a little blood, sweat and tears. We can all relate to that one class that makes us feel like maybe dropping out and working at the local car wash wouldn't be the worst idea ever.

1. Thermodynamics II--Purdue University

If you're looking for courses to boost your GPA, signing up for a course in Thermodynamics (the science of heat transfer) is probably not the way to go. "At Purdue, the engineering courses are notorious for being particularly hard," says Amanda, a sophomore at Purdue. "Because Purdue is known for its engineering program, the standards for getting into the program are extremely difficult and the 'weed-out' courses are especially difficult." But engineering students beware: even if you've made it through Thermodynamics I, don't expect to find any relief in the next level. On MyEdu.com, the workload for Thermodynamics II is ranked as "heavy" and the official grade record shows 50% of the class received a C or lower (4% Fs and only 17% As.)

2. Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology--New York University

If you're partial to numbers and concrete answers, this class will send you running in the opposite direction: "the nature of cause and the existence of universals" and "the distinction between appearance and reality" are just a couple of the topics tackled in this advanced philosophy course. "I definitely wouldn't recommend this class to anyone who isn't comfortable with basic philosophic thinking and looking for a challenge intellectually," says Erin, a senior at NYU who took the class last year. With this course, NYU's top-ranked philosophy department proves that difficult classes are definitely not limited to the fields of math and science.

Read the rest of this article on Her Campus!

Comments

[Pandoras Folly]

03:47 PM on 03/30/2011

the two hardest classes I ever had were a trigw/ algebra class, conducted by the worst teacher i have ever ever ever had. The second was a international economics class, 300 level i think, and she counted off for punctuation, spelling, run on sentences etc. 6 questions on her tests, 6 sentences allowed per question, no equations or graphs were allowed to be used as answers. Her first degree was english. One question on the final was never covered in class or the textbook, it was apparently in the "suggested reading" portion of the course and only 1 student out of 75 got the 6th question right. . So many people failed the final that the dean had to intervene and give final grades on a curve. She was actually a decent teacher, but had ridiculous requirements on tests. Later got fired for banging a student.

[snaggle2th]

04:04 AM on 03/30/2011

Two factors:

Material: some things are naturally more difficult than are others: advanced topics within each discipline; and, I daresay, some disciplines are considered tougher than others: Maths/Engineering/Sciences vs Arts/Social Sciences.

People: even for the same topic some staff are tougher than others. Do they expect more? Or is it a personality flaw? I've seen both- welsome to the "real" world, bosses can be the same....

Ignoring the interplay between both of these is a mistake.

[TicTucTo]

09:41 PM on 03/29/2011

Come on, people... Organic chemistry is a cakewalk once you get the hang of it.

[Osakhomen]

12:50 AM on 03/30/2011

I wouldn't call it a cakewalk, but it's not at bad as people say, you definitely can't cram for Organic Chem.

[Konrad Klean]

09:21 PM on 03/29/2011

Hold on...17% A's 29% B's

That's supposed to be hard? Sounds like the finance course I took at a community college some years ago. Supposedly, getting an A in the class was impossible. So mine was the first A in roughly 3 years.

If the teacher is competent there is no such thing as a hard course. There, however, is poor scheduling, time management, and prioritizing of social life vs academics.

[marsjunkiegirl]

06:45 AM on 03/30/2011

That's because it's a community college, obvi. I took a chemistry course at a state school last year with a professor that had a reputation for failing people- more than 30% documented fail rate. As it turned out, the professor continued to live up to her reputation that term- only 15 people got As out of a class of ~150. I was one of them. How'd I do it? Well, I never cut class and I always did the homework. Most people I knew in the class didn't do any of the work and sometimes didn't show up for weeks on end (and someone the people who did show up watched movies on their laptops).
Now I'm doing engineering core at Smith College. Before one even gets to thermodynamics, course sequences require mechanics, calculus, linear algebra, and computer science. I've been struggling to get Bs, and I'm not the only one. Consider futher that the people who even get in the door at schools like Purdue have to be the best of the best to begin, while community colleges take anyone with a high school degree. Thermodynamics isn't looking so easy when one takes that into account, now is it?

[Konrad Klean]

11:01 AM on 03/30/2011

Obviously there is a general difference in the competence curve between community college and private university students. However, I will go on and tell you that there are professors at CC's who maintain an academic rigor matching, and sometimes exceeding that of private schools.

During the semester I spent at the CC I also had the fortune of taking an epidemiology course with a professor whose pedigree included a double M.A. from NYU and a Ph.D from NYU. The workload was fairly brisk, heavy on analytical skills, and there was absolutely no hand holding. This professor also had a reputation for failing students, and followed her deadlines to the minute. If an assignment was due at 12:00, it was an F if submitted at 12:01.However, the only thing necessary for passing with an A was the same set of factors you listed: consistent attendance, hard work, and attention to detail, and outside-the-box thinking.

Now, getting back to Therm. Dyn. I don't believe that the course itself is "challenging" for the people who already perform sufficiently well (A- and above) in the math courses preceding it. It might, on the other hand, be a triage for those who were below the curve in the first place (B- and below)

[1967Tbolt]

01:36 AM on 03/31/2011

An engineering student at SMITH is dissing community college students. That's a belly laugh.

[SangZe]

05:49 PM on 03/29/2011

Nonsense! All of it!

[hoodsell]

05:16 PM on 03/29/2011

Do you have a list of the most toughest college professors? Maybe it's not the class or material but rather the professor and how they grade?

[jackstpaul]

05:02 PM on 03/29/2011

I don't think classes that are hard because the prof is so disorganized and hard to understand should count, like the econ class at UT-Austin. They're hard because of teaching malpractice, just because of difficult material. Get new profs or get the prof in place in order, otherwise a school is failing to serve its students. If the material is hard, that's different, because students benefit from that, unlike with a teacher who doesn't have his act together.

[wwhitfie81]

04:07 PM on 03/29/2011

"Statics and Dynamics" kicked my entire butt at the University of Illinois @ U-C. So glad those days are behind me. So very glad those days are behind me!

[1967Tbolt]

01:30 AM on 03/31/2011

Sum of the Moments! Sum of the Forces! Some of the most tedious things imaginable.

[Transverseangle]

02:02 PM on 03/29/2011

The reason why we have a shortage of scientists in this country is because most Americans don't want to put the time and effort into them because they are too hard. Business degrees are the new basketweaving diplomas, unless one has good connections are graduates from the ivy's.

[Alexandra Cean]

05:03 PM on 03/29/2011

Well, I am a dedicated and hard working individual. It's incredibly insulting to imply that all students do not pursue science because they are lazy. The main reasons students do not study science is due to a lack of interest and or positive and early exposure. I was also forced to undergo instruction from under-qualified, rude, cold and snobby science teachers though out my public schooling. I enjoyed attending science camps and learning about the natural world through public library books, but the instruction I received in the sciences was consistently sub-par. Why not focus on improving pay and treatment of teachers in all disciplines- science in particular? I love my current field, but I know that many students are turned off from science due to bad experiences with inept teachers. However, I'd love to issue a thanks to all of the devoted teachers in all disciplines, for they are plentiful! My goal is not to blame teachers; it's to instead improve their working conditions! I'd be rude if I were paid a pittance for dealing with (often) problematic students!

I am not enthused about the proliferation of business degrees either. The last thing America needs is more bastardy business people or piggish politicians.

[Transverseangle]

05:23 PM on 03/29/2011

Well my children had positive experiences with sciences, it depends on the school district. And yes, people choose the business courses because they are easy. I have a child studying the sciences who has a room mate studying business, the room mate had made mention that my child doesn't know how to construct time responsibly. Being I have two degrees the first in business, I can attest the difference in difficulty. No comparison.

[Angela Saunders]

11:51 AM on 03/29/2011

I love going on myedu to look at hard classes and seeing what students have to say about those kinds of courses. You can really see what kind of student the reviewer is by their reviews and ratings.