<p>Last semester I took a multivariable calculus class with a professor. I didn't feel that I learned anything and it was an automatic A. This year I'm currently signed up to take the next math level class (Differential Equations) with the same professor. However, there is another professor who has open spaces in his class. His ratemyprofessor rating is average, apparently he grades really tough (exam grades are in the C's/D's) and you're going to have to work hard in his class.</p>
<p>Would it be in my best benefit to get the easy A or actually have to do work and actually have to learn and master the material? I'm an engineering major.</p>
<p>Easy Professor. Grades are important. If you receive a bad grade in the though professors class you’ll regret not taking the easy one. Also, you won’t need most of the material in your future classes anyway, and if you do need something you can always look it up and relearn it on your own. Don’t mess up your GPA.</p>
<p>Definitely take the easy professor. Think long-term going to law school, med school, or something similar? If so, then really be sure you have a great reason not to take the easy professor. </p>
<p>If you are a math major and you really need to learn a certain type of math and the easy professor cannot deliver, this may be another story.</p>
<p>first thing i thought was just take the easy professor if this is just for credits or something. but if you’re majoring in it, then eh, but thomas pretty much covered that. i’d take the easy professor and just try to force yourself to work hard as someone else said</p>
<p>Take the easy class. I know a bunch of junior/senior engineers who have said that any math you need to know for an upper-div class will be either taught by the teacher, or gone over in the book. These classes are prerequisites so we have a basic understanding of how to work them, but the extra work isn’t necessary in this case.</p>
<p>Honestly if it is a subject you know you’re good at it might be more beneficial to go with the tougher one. You came to college to work and, more importantly, to learn. Sometimes it’s the hardest teachers that you will learn the most from- even despite the grade you receive. For all you know it’s not that he grades hard it’s just a bunch of students whining about having to do work. I’ve seen that situation in a few different classes, where students weren’t used to actually having to do work. It was weird…</p>
<p>I think the reason I’d chose an easy teacher would be if it were a general education requirement and I didn’t have a choice, and it was a subject I was not good in and didn’t care for.</p>
<p>If you want to learn Diff Eqs, there are lots of ways to do that without the stress of a tough grader. Go to the library. Check out MIT OpenCourseware. Get a tutor. Whatever. But grades do matter, and if you’re like most people, you went to college to get good grades, not learn things. You can start learning after you graduate, when you have a chance to actually focus on learning and not running after grades.</p>
<p>This is what I’m doing: Registered for easy A professor that is useless in teaching but gives easy A. But, I am also attending lectures for the hard professor that is great at teaching so I can learn the material.</p>
<p>I’m not actually registered for the hard class but I’m just attending the lectures to learn important information about my major. I don’t wanna actually be registered for that class and risk not getting an A. This way, I will learn and I will get an A from the real class.</p>
<p>It’s unlikely that the average grade in a class is actually a C. If it really is, then the professor is just being a dick and you probably shouldn’t take that class. If you think the material will be important to future classes/what you want to do with your life then you should take the class with the professor who is a better teacher. If it’s not important and you just need it to fulfill a requirement, you might as well take the easier one.</p>
<p>Also, how do you know the harder professor is actually a better one? Maybe his tests are just harder. Or maybe he’s actually a worse professor, and as a result his kids bomb the tests. Go with the easy one. Plus, the easy professor already knows you, which could be a plus.</p>