<p>What you are seeing in math and science exam difficulty is no different than what I saw as an undergrad at Michigan State many years ago, as a chem major. The p-chem exams would have averages around 50%, and these were courses for chem majors only.</p>
<p>I think a lot of this is because in the sciences and math, you can have both questions that test your knowledge of the material taught, whether in the book or from lecture, and also questions that test your ability to extend that knowledge into NEW areas, stuff you haven't seen before. The latter is what trips up a lot of students.</p>
<p>Remember that the purpose of an exam is to see what you DO know and what you don't know. And remember that you'll see more of this as you move ahead.</p>
<p>You think these are tough exams? You should see grad school in the sciences. Imagine a take home exam where the high score is 68%, and you had an entire week to do it. Been there. Done that. Got the high score, which is why they gave me the degree? :)</p>
<p>newmassdad is right, grad school can be fun, I once had to write 5, 10 page papers in a week as part of a massive take home exam in the biological sciences. It was ugly...</p>
<p>It's kinda like high-school, actually. Some people have tons every day, yet others don't seem to have any work at all. As for me, I'd say I can get by with doing 2-3hrs of solid work at night and be left with NOTHING on the weekends. Then again, the guy who lives next to me seems to be doing work 10hrs a day. The one thing which might set Chicago apart from most schools is that since we're on the quarter system, midterms and finals creep up on you, so those cramming sessions happen more often than at most schools, I would imagine. Fourth-week for me represented two nights of no sleep since it was midterms - not so bad. However, just two weeks from now most of us have yet another round of texts, whereas most college kids would have a month or so in between these things. </p>
<p>P.S.: The quarter system is awesome. I had my advisor meeting yesterday and it was amazing to see just how much flexibility and options the quarter system provides when it comes to scheduling classes and taking all those interesting classes that you would normally not have time to take. If you are left with the decision to attend a quarter schools vs. semester school, and you are 50/50 on it, go to the quarter school!!!! (Chicago, Stanford, NU -> Some awesome schools on the quarter system)</p>
<p>As I've said in other postings, when it comes to homework "your mileage may vary". </p>
<ul>
<li><p>It depends on personal expectations - how much you want out of a class. And that means more than just what grade you want.</p></li>
<li><p>it depends on the course, of course. Yes, there are always big differences among fields of study and sometimes from prof to prof (but less so in science and math, since there are departmental wide expectations of what will be covered in a class, especially introductory level classes, which would include classes like o-chem)</p></li>
<li><p>and it depends on the person - how their brain is wired. And it has nothing, IMHO, to do with smarts.</p></li>
</ul>