Hardest science major?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>What is the hardest science major? in terms of requiring raw intellects.</p>

<p>I am a bioE major at UCSD and all the classes that I have taken so far have been pretty easy. </p>

<p>Higher level math? I think certains fields in mathematics do require a very high level of intuitive understanding, but a lot the higher level math stuff is so out there, I hardly see how that's ever gonna be useful outside of an academic setting. And there are also a lot of dumbasses majoring in math, like econ majors, so I don't want to associate myself with those. </p>

<p>Physics? prob not, it seems physics is just watered down applied math.</p>

<p>Chemistry? maybe quantum chemistry, it requires a very high level of physics and mathematics to be able to crunch that stuff.</p>

<p>bio? hhaaha, what a joke. pseudo science.</p>

<p>medicine? not challenging intellectually, but it is challenging in terms of practicality. it is really gross though. </p>

<p>Engineering stuff? like fluid dynamics? I am not sure, I haven't taken any advanced fluids classes. but stuff like stress strain, that stuff is easy, and boring too. </p>

<p>I heard chemical engineering was the most rigorous undergrad major, any ideas why? is that even true? </p>

<p>What about liberal arts majors? anything that's not a joke? maybe philo? or poli sci? </p>

<p>econ is a joke, but i think the really really advanced areas are pretty challenging, but there are so many dumbasses majoring in econ, so basically no.</p>

2

<p>and i don't understand why organic chemistry has such a bad rep, and people would drop out of bio/chem/pre-med because of that course, I took it over the summer, and it was a breeze. </p>

<p>seriously, bio/pre-med majors are the dumbest people ever if they think o-chem is some hard <strong><em>, god, try taking real analysis, *</em></strong>.</p>

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<p>ChemE is one of the hardest majors here...so is AerospaceE</p>

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<p>a lot of ppl say that chem eng. is the hardest of all eng. majors...</p>

<p>i wonder why?</p>

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<p>lol man what is your problem? </p>

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bio? hhaaha, what a joke. pseudo science.

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<p>I hope mollie sees this message.</p>

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Physics? prob not, it seems physics is just watered down applied math.

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<p>Um, no.</p>

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Higher level math? I think certains fields in mathematics do require a very high level of intuitive understanding, but a lot the higher level math stuff is so out there, I hardly see how that's ever gonna be useful outside of an academic setting. And there are also a lot of dumbasses majoring in math, like econ majors, so I don't want to associate myself with those.

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econ is a joke, but i think the really really advanced areas are pretty challenging, but there are so many dumbasses majoring in econ, so basically no.

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<p>What is your problem? You don't want to associate yourself with the "dumbasses majoring in math." How are they going to affect your learning? Get over yourself dude. </p>

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medicine? not challenging intellectually

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Are you joking? </p>

<pre><code> I hope you are extremely intelligent. Because your arrogant attitude is not going to be accepted in industry or academia unless you are.
</code></pre>

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<p>Seconding the harsh words of GatorEng, mainly because I'm in an expletive-y mood*.</p>

<p>You never really know how difficult a field is until you get up to your ears in it, so being an arse about other people's life work is just a dumb thing to do. There's a lot of interdisciplinary stuff that goes on in college, so if you talk smack, you'd better be prepared to back it up and face the music, because no matter how much you don't want to deal with math majors, or bio majors, or doctors, or even English majors, you're gonna have to deal with them at some point or another, and perhaps in a collaborative environment. Best not to make 'em hate you before you even get to that point.</p>

<p>As to your specific claims with regard to various fields, I'll let others tear you a new one, since you haven't yet specifically insulted my own intelligence... yet.</p>

<p>....gooooo, Mollie, go! Get 'im!</p>

<p>*See the Rice vs. UTexas football score</p>

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<p>grt........i thought i was the only one who found this "einstein'' arrogant.</p>

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<p>I think the OP is joking?</p>

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<p>EE, Chem E</p>

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<p>Yeah, I am not sure about EE, I have taken a course in circuits, it was more boring than intellectually challenging, IMHO. But I admit that I would not be able to get through 4 years of it, it is just too dry and boring. </p>

<p>Please, this is a serious thread, I am a second year BioE student, I have at least some experience in most the fields that I mentioned. </p>

<p>I wouldn't look down on literature or philosophy majors, those are pretty hard majors within the humanities, but I am trying to limit the discussion to the sciences only here. </p>

<p>Biology is all about memorization, no analytical thinking required, it is a pseudo-science, whatever thinking bio requires is from other disciplines like chemistry or physics.</p>

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<p>It's the whole "some experience" thing that's deceptive, though. Be careful.</p>

<p>Just having a taste of a field doesn't tell you how difficult a particular field is, which is why we can debate this topic until the cows come home... Nobody's an expert in every field, so we don't really have anybody who's got a firm basis of comparison.</p>

<p>There's far more to biology than just memorization. (If that were true, how would biologists know what to memorize in the first place? People had to discover this stuff in the beginning, somehow, after all...)</p>

<p>The only thing that learning the elementary building blocks of a field tells you is how difficult the easy part of a field is. Don't judge a field on just that, because the learning curve in each field is incredibly steep.</p>

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<p>Anyone else wants to chime in on this?</p>

<p>Only smart peeps, please. I don't want to hear from whiny pre-med bio majors.</p>

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<p>
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Yeah, I am not sure about EE, I have taken a course in circuits, it was more boring than intellectually challenging, IMHO. But I admit that I would not be able to get through 4 years of it, it is just too dry and boring.

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<p>the thread is about difficult science/engineering....your subjective assertion about EE being a "boring" major has no bearing on the topic at hand :rolleyes:</p>

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Biology is all about memorization, no analytical thinking required, it is a pseudo-science, whatever thinking bio requires is from other disciplines like chemistry or physics.

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<p>really? biology is just rote "memorization"? no analytic thinking required? do you mean to say that the top biologists (plant, evolutionary etc.) are just rote memorizers? blanket statement, no?</p>

<p>btw you are just a second year bioE student...that's not really "some experience," and keeping in mind the fact that the first two years of engineering is just prep-work, it's more like "no experience"...it seems to me that you're basing your opinion on biology being a "rote memorization" only field after taking just a couple of intro biology classes....and it makes me wonder why you would choose to major in a field (related to biology) you clearly have no respect for :rolleyes:</p>

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<p>In terms of intellectual challenge (not necessarily grunt work), I think physics and theoretical math are probably the toughest. Things like EE and ChemE may be harder in terms of the amount of work, but they aren't conceptually harder.</p>

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<p>
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Things like EE and ChemE may be harder in terms of the amount of work, but they aren't conceptually harder.

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<p>engineering was always about applications....physics and theoretical math are not, so it's not fair to lump in these fields together</p>

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<p>CHEM E> EE as far as difficulty is concerned.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I am not an expert in bio, but I still do better than a lot of bio majors. It is too qualitative, and the real challenging aspects are all taken from chemistry or physics. </p>

<p>I agree about math and physics being up there, math more so than physics though. Physics is just finding ways to fit math equations into physical phenomena. </p>

<p>Could someone clarify on why chemE has a rep for being hard? Is it just grunt work like looking up constants, or crunching numbers, and stuff, or does it actually require intellects like math and physics? what about Mechanical engineering? I have taken a fracture mechanics, it was mostly plug and chug, but some parts were fairly challenging because you had to understand what was going on physically to know how to construct the equations.</p>

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<p>
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really? biology is just rote "memorization"? no analytic thinking required? do you mean to say that the top biologists (plant, evolutionary etc.) are just rote memorizers? blanket statement, no?

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<p>He didn't say anything about top biologists and people who have brought advancements through biology. He just meant biology as an undergraduate major.</p>

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<p>Statistics is one of the harder sciences. Spectral Density Function with Fourier Analysis isn't easy. Multivariate regression and Bayesian analysis aren't a piece of cake either.</p>

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Engineering stuff? like fluid dynamics? I am not sure, I haven't taken any advanced fluids classes. but stuff like stress strain, that stuff is easy, and boring too.

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<p>I think it's bold to say that any major is easy from intro classes. Most freshman/soph year classes are just memorization and understanding the basics. The basics come early and then you start to understand where everything comes from.</p>

<p>I'm a solids/materials guy and I can tell you those stress/strain curves you think are so easy become a lot harder when you have to actually understand what's going on. I think all branches of science are hard as hell when you get to higher level stuff, because you are trying to make sense of things that are not completely explained.</p>

<p>My personal thoughts on which major is the hardest? Whichever one you are personally bad at. I like and am relatively good at mechanical engineering, but I don't think I would do as well at pure math. I know people who do math who think what I do is extremely hard. I think the answer depends on the person you are asking. There isn't one right answer.</p>