<p>Or do you just compensate by working harder in the class? I have a couple of friends who always find ways to take the easiest professor possible and it ****es me off when they end up with a better grade than I do simply bc the other professor expected less.</p>
<p>Usually professors get their reputation for being “difficult” because grades suffer…</p>
<p>Those who offer hard course work but motivate you to work even harder to compensate, they’re usually called “good” professors as opposed to “difficult”</p>
<p>I second James098.</p>
<p>What do you consider a “difficult” prof? A harsh grader or a professor with high expectations?</p>
<p>If there are two professors for a course, I generally take the one with better reviews on ratemyprofessor if possible. It hasn’t always been possible and I have had to take the “harder” professor before, and yes my grades were lower than my classmates in the other class. But I always thought it was a good grade for the class so was happy with myself.</p>
<p>I consider a professor difficult if they expect more out of you than another professor would. For example there’s a bio professor at my school who tells you what you need to know for the exam and gives you a lot of extra credit. Then there’s another one whose tests are strictly essay/diagram based and has additional field trips that you have to attend for a grade in the class. </p>
<p>I am taking the latter next semester and a lot of people have told me she rarely gives out A’s which annoys me bc it’s like I go into the class knowing I probably won’t get one then. I can’t take the other professor though, clashes with my schedule.</p>
<p>You are contradicting yourself. You are saying that a hard professor is one with high expectations, yet the example you provide is a professor who rarely gives out As. A professor could have a policy to assign no more than 10% As. The class could be easy or hard in terms of workload, but all it comes down to is that the professor would be a harsh grader.</p>
<p>I am surprised though that essay-based questions whose topics are not announced beforehand are considered hard. That describes just about any exam I have taken in high school <em>or</em> college.</p>