<p>What was your most difficult course during your freshman year at U of M?
And what made it especially challenging?</p>
<p>Math 116. I did fine, but the tests were killer (averages usually in the low 50’s). Didn’t help that I was only one of two non-engineers in my entire section, either.</p>
<p>116 is definitely the most difficult of the calculus sequence at michigan. However, I have taken many more difficult courses like upper level chem and bios since then (just finished my junior year).</p>
<p>chem 125/126 was really hard to get an A in becuase of the lab reports/presentations grading
and english 125 depends on your gsi. i think my gsi was purposely giving us lower grades so we would work harder on each paper.</p>
<p>didnt have much trouble with the rest of classes as long as you keep up with material and get help when you need it.</p>
<p>Well, I can’t say anything from experience yet, but my APA said Intro to Logic was her hardest course freshman year.</p>
<p>is wolverineaccess lying to me or will my math 115 only have 24 people in it?</p>
<p>all math 115 and 116 sections have less than 30 people in it.</p>
<p>Probably biology at the graduate school, because</p>
<ol>
<li> It was biology</li>
<li> It was at the grad school</li>
</ol>
<p>Add Math 295 and Math 289 due to sheer difficulty of material. I actually could not make the time commitment to stick with the 295 sequence (It’s really hard for me to admit, but I couldn’t devote 10+ hours per week to homework and 3-5 hours per week to reviewing my notes. Being undecided in terms of a major, I wasn’t ready to make this commitment. I don’t even know if I would have survived had I stuck with it). 289 was equally crazy. Nevertheless, the 295 sequence is so great that I will be sitting in on it.</p>
<p>is math 115 similar to high school calculus? how much harder is college calc? i took calc my senior year in hs and i got A-/B+ average and i got placed into math 105, but i’m scheduled to take 115. should i change to math 105 or stay with 115? right now i’m in LSA and i want to transfer to Engineering CS. Would it take longer if i went with 105?</p>
<p>Just gonna address some questions in this thread…</p>
<p>1) Hardest freshman course, for me, was bio 162. This was winter 2007 when they still had it. Basically it was 5 credits, lecture+lab+discussion, and combined cell/molecular bio and ecology/evolutionary bio. Now the introductory biology sequence is split up into 171 (EEB), 172 (CMB), and 173 (LAB)…I believe the credit distribution is 4, 4, 2. Now, each individual class is much easier than was 162.</p>
<p>2) As far as calculus is concerned…I am a math minor and AP tested out of calc 1 and 2. First of all, for those interested in Engineering and other math-related majors, calc 3 and 4 are not hard at all. In fact, the farther you go in the math department, the smaller classes are and the easier it becomes to get an A (except Math 425, probability, which is very intuitive and tricky).</p>
<p>3) For calc 115 and 116, I tutored both classes and believe that the issue is not that the exams are overly hard (occasionally there are b.s. questions, but mostly they are fine, especially in 115), but rather that there is a huge discrepancy in the exams and how students are prepared for them. It seems that the gsi’s have way too much to cover, not enough time to do it, and that most of them have not done intro calc in a very long time. Either way, one possible resource for people who need help is the comprehensive studies program, which will set you up with a tutor (yes, it’s free).</p>
<p>4) For the person who asked, your math 115 will have only 24 people in it because it is a recitation, not done in a lecture hall, and run by a gsi. Structure-wise, it will likely be very similar to a high school math course.</p>
<p>5) Ace, honestly, if you understood the concepts in hs calc (and didn’t just get a good grade because the class was ridiculously easy), then I wouldn’t worry. 115 is not that much harder. The trick is to keep up with the pace, do homework regularly, and seek help when needed. The vast majority of your grade is exams, so you gotta be prepared. Especially if you want to do Engineering, I would definitely not recommend starting with 105. Keep in mind that you need to take 115, 116, 215, 216, so 4 semesters of calc. I would definitely have it all done before you start 3rd year, so that you can focus on your major.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>