<p>I know colleges have this thing about making their lower level class difficult (especially science class), so that they can weed out people who don't fit the bill. Does this stop at any point or does it continue for all four years? Is Freshman and Sophomore year the only years that colleges try to weed people out? After these years did anyone notice that their upper level classes weren't as bad as their lower level classes?</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a matter of the material becoming “easier” - but it becomes more focused (and thus, perhaps, less difficult to grasp) in upper-division classes. That is, instead of the broad but shallow survey courses you take as a freshman and sophomore, you intensively study one particular subdivision of the field for an entire semester.</p>
<p>Also, the classes become much smaller and more personalized - junior/senior-level courses should usually be no more than 40 students, if even that. Most of mine are more like 15-25. This gives you more time to work with the professor and less opportunity to fall behind.</p>
<p>The weed-out classes are primarily designed to fit in lower-division curricula, catching students who aren’t ready for, or capable of, higher-level work in a particular field before they get upper-division class slots.</p>