<p>Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to PSU for CivE next year and i was planning on focusing on bridge and structure engineering (I'd also really like to work on dams). Hopefully i can pull it off.</p>
<p>Civil is usually referred to as the "Communications" major of engineering...</p>
<p>All engineering can be tough and all of them have tough and/or time-consuming classes. The difference is based on what I've seen, civil is one of the more balanced ones. You may get to take one really demanding class but it's balanced by another that isn't so bad. Almost every single EE/chemE class is at least demanding, if not a grind, and when you put all of them together, it's what makes those two fields tougher than most others. I remember I was looking at the chemE curriculum as a rising junior and thinking to myself how there's no easy one; I wavered but decided in the end to stick to it anyway. Unlike most other engineering, chemEs also have to take organic chemistry and depending on which school, a semester of biology with other premeds.</p>
<p>Last week at work, I spent 6 hours looking for chemical/physical properties of a compound. It's exactly the same kind of chemE homework I got sometime while in school. What looks like a simple task in chemE often turns out to be a very time-consuming one. The problem is there's no single book that would list all the properties you need and so you have to pull from multiple sources. And the numbers sometime contradict among sources so you have to dig deeper and decide with ones to use and in the process, make educated guess and assumptions. This is just for collecting info you need and before you get to do the actual work. thenyse earlier said faculty usually provide students with all the information they need to know; that's definitely not the case for chemE when it comes to chemical/physical properties and there's a reason for it; teachers want you to get familiar with what sources are out there and what their limitations are. There are thousands of chemicals out there and there's no way there would be data for each chemical at every single condition you may come across with (at every temperature and pressure). Knowing how to deal with such limitation (e.g. the given data are for different temperature/pressure than one specified in you homework) is an important skill for practicing chemEs and especially researchers.</p>
<p>This thread ought to be renamed, "What are you majoring in?"</p>
<p>According to the grade data at my college, the 'easiest' majors to get A's in are generally the specialized majors that do not have a large enrollment. (ie: Nuclear Engineering, Geological Engineering, etc) while the most difficult are those with the highest enrollments (ie: Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, etc)</p>
<p>I'm not sure why this is so. All I can figure is that this is to help keep the departments funded by making the grading system and/or classes for the less popular majors easier in order to retain students that might otherwise drop/change majors. I was always lead to believe that Civil was among the easiest engineering majors, yet there are a lot of upper level Civil Engineering classes that yield only 20-25% A's and a lot of fails.</p>
<p>I noticed in my upper-level materials classes where we'd generally have less than ten people tended to get a higher grade than our lower-level ones were we'd have upwards of twenty. I think it's because it's a lot harder to draw "the line" between B and C, and typically in those tiny, upper-division classes everyone is willing to do the work and grades fell in a fairly narrow distribution. For example, I had one class where there were six of us in it. We all got around the same grade on homeworks (since we worked together), we all got around the same grade on the test (since it was hard as hell), and the lab grades were a pretty tight distribution as well. I think in the end all of us got As except for one guy that shafted his lab partner (it was a semester-long lab, so there was no excuse for him shorting out on all the work).</p>
<p>No no no, Industrial is definitely the Comms of Engineering. </p>
<p>You don't know crap about Nuclear Engineering classes either, but then again GT has lower GPAs than most, so your school might just be nice the NEs.</p>
<p>Only 20-25% A's...that's almost considered great at my school. Try Reactor Engineering with 13%.</p>
<p>Most Junior/Senior year Nuclear Engineering classes here average 40-50% A's in comparison, with plenty of 60%+'s to go around. (I generally consider 60%+ to mean everyone who wants an A gets an A based on prior classes i've had with that average.)</p>
<p>Our Calculus for Engineers I class averaged 18% A's and Engineering Physics I averaged 22% A's I believe. These are the hardest freshman year classes at my college.</p>
<p>What school do you attend?</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure we don't have any upper levels above 40% A's will the average around 20%.</p>
<p>hardest major to easiest major for undergrads</p>
<p>1st set:
chemical engineering *
electrical engineering *
computer engineering *</p>
<p>2nd set:
civil engineering
bioengineering
environmental engineering </p>
<p>3rd set:
physics (theoretical)<br>
chemistry (quantum)
pure mathematics (theoretical)
applied mathematics
pre med (biology)
economics/business </p>
<p>4th set:
nursing<br>
psychology
sociology
education
history </p>
<p>5th set:
anthropology
art history
film
fashion
dance </p>
<p>The first set of majors are excruciatingly difficult (typically 10- 12 hours a day are devoted to doing homework and study). grading is harsh. Even if your good at math and science, you'll still find these to be very very hard. Problems are sometimes so challenging that 8 hours couldnt even cut it. </p>
<p>The second set of majors are also quite difficult. They require you to study atleast 6 hours a day, and perhaps more. breaks are few and far between. </p>
<p>The third set of majors do not require as much learning as engineering, but they'll still knock your socks off just the same. You must study each day just to keep up with the material. problem solving and lots of memorization are emphasized. but you can still have have a life (except if your physics or chem ha). </p>
<p>The fourth set are the easier ones. Dont be fooled though, these majors are heavy on writing, and composition. lots of reading and research. Grading is usually generous. </p>
<p>The last majors on the list do require work but these are the types of majors where you can go out and party every night and still maintain a high gpa. </p>
<p>-college student.</p>
<p>I would say pure mathematics and physics might very well be in the first tier...</p>
<p>This thread should be locked.</p>
<p>Seriously.</p>
<p>Everyone just posts their major as the hardest and follows up with some common "agreed" hard major.</p>
<p>Where is mechanical, aeronautical and cs engineering?</p>
<p>i second that physics should be up on the first tier.</p>
<p>Wheres is IE?</p>
<p>I agree with Lacero. This thread should change to something like:</p>
<p>"My major _____ is hard because ______."</p>
<p>Or, to:</p>
<p>"____ major was harder than ____ major in my experience because ____."</p>
<p>
[quote]
This thread should be locked. Seriously.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Agreed. We all only do one or two or three majors, at most. We may take introductory courses for other areas of study, but we don't follow the majority of those course progressions to end up getting a major in that field. Not a single one of us is qualified to relegate certain majors to the bottom of the pack, and exalt others.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, we are. You're telling me it's hard to determine whether or not a Business Administration degree is more difficult than an Electrical Engineering degree? We can by looking at the subject matter, the courses, and so forth. I'd say it's a little difficult figuring out in what order to put the pure science, engineering, and mathematics degrees.</p>
<p>This thread shouldn't be locked. It's a good thread that has a lot of truth in it. If some people can't handle it they can leave.</p>
<p>Some majors simply are harder.</p>
<p>aero is the hardest, because you have to know a lot of mechanical, some electrical, some materials, a little cs and more additional stuff. while it seems extremely focused, it is actually very complex and multifaceted. the most difficult technical courses are in the aero department.</p>