What is the hardest class you ever took in college?

statistics...for my business major....I'm lousy in math....

Got an A in calc, although it was the "calc for non-math majors" calc, not real calc. Flunked AP Calc in high school so any A in calc in college was a massive success...Oh, plus my XC coach was the prof. He was a hell of a classroom teacher. In fact,I still remember a few things from that class (20+ years ago).

Hardest class was Political Theology. Only reason I took it was the course filled a Religious Studies core requirement and fit my ski schedule. Whole semester was so far over my head it wasn't funny. Textbook was about 2500ppg the prof had compiled from numerous sources over the years. I remember sitting there every class wondering what the heck he was talking about. And then when I'd go in for office hours to try to figure it out I still had no idea what he was talking about.

Acoustical Foundations of Music was tough too. This was a Physics elective. I was about as far from science major as you can imagine but was interested in the subject matter so took it as an elective. Class was 5 of us in one of those massive lecture halls that seated 150, so nowhere to hide. Again, this was 2nd semester during ski season. I told the prof I was going to miss 6 Fridays to race and he told me he was going to fail me. Instead of doing that he spent the semester busting my balls. Learned a lot but worked way too hard for a C.

Shakespeare for Non-Majors. I was a "science" major, so math and science classes worked out for me...but that old English (and no, not the beer) crap sucked! And have I EVER used it in "real" life...no!!

the hardest class i took was Exercise Physiology. I freaking hated that class and failed it. Now I have to take it again.

that was the only class i have ever failed too.

Neutron Diffusion and Transport

Neutron migration, neutron slowing down and thermalization; neutron continuity equation, multigroup diffusion theory, homogeneous and heterogeneous medium, thermal and fast assemblies; numerical methods for multigroup diffusion equations; reactor dynamics, perturbation theory, reactivity coefficients; introductory transport theory.

cant believe i got a C+, i deserved worse

http://courses.uiuc.edu/cis/catalog/urbana/2006/Fall/NPRE/455.html

Statistical Inference: 43%.

Very tough. To be fair, I was 46 taking it.

Spanish...Needed 4 semester of it.

So many votes for math subjects. Wow. If you think math by itself can be that difficult, then you're in for a rude awakening when you start having to apply it. The hardest classes I took I'd say were:

Social science research methodology - mostly multivariate statistical analysis of survey sample data and such. Horrible.

International financial analysis - if you think financial models are difficult, wait till you add the complexity and uncertainty of currency speculation and exchange rates. Aaarghh!

COBOL and C++ - I was a programming major for 4 years before I switched to Business Management. It was probably the smartest thing I have ever done! I got D's in both programming courses. Got a D in Java, too! Somehow managed an A in VB.

Come on, Calculus?

Hardest class for me was Vector Calculus. Professor, me and about 5 others. First class everybody else is joking around, laughing when the prof walks out for a break so I ask what the big deal is. They just look at me and say I was the only one, out of the 6 of us, who was NOT auditing the class. They all knew there was no way they would pass it straight up so they were all auditing. I lasted till after the first exam. 5 or 6 questions, I got one right at least, and about a 30% overall on the test.

I agree with the other math major that posted in that i have rarely used anything above basic non-calculus based statistics for reporting procedures (State Health Care Analyst).

I mean if i started spouting off about population diffusion models and the 3rd order partial differential equation that only yields solutions for given bounds who the hell would really understand that?

Anything academic was pretty easy (I got through 3 sememsters of calc OK, and I was a history major). Hardest? Probably fencing. Here I thought I'd have an easy 1 credit class. Not so. The coach was some hard-ass Polish guy from behind the Iron Curtain who had defected (this was around 1990). He was one tough SOB. We didn't actually pick up an epee until about 9 weeks into the class. The first 8 weeks were spent with him "whipping us into shape", doing laps around a 100 degree gym, sprints, and any other number of drills and such. He would poke his chest and say "good fencing come from here" as he made us hop on one foot from one end of the gym to another. Yeah, that was a tough class, but looking back on it, I see what he was trying to do..

I found languages to be time-consuming, not difficult per se, but more of a volume management problem. Math and science can be challenging but there is a logic to it and once you get that, it's sensible, if not easy. Languages, on the other hand, sometimes seem downright arbitrary. I took both Spanish and German and the whole gender thing drove me crazy. What do you mean the sofa is "feminine"? Why is the table masculine? It's just a huge pile of random memorization. English certainly has its problems (such as weird spellings), but at least we have a gender-free "it".

Calc gets a bad rap from many people but if it's taught right (that's the trick) it can be very interesting, just like physics. Speaking of which, I think calc-based physics is easier than non-calc physics.

I have to agree with you on the gender in some languages JimF. Der, die, and the nuetral das. Then you had the accusative and dative forms and then you can start throwing in all of the tenses and of course the present tense of the verb always goes at the end of the sentence.

I enjoyed German but I was eager to learn a new language. In high school I disliked language classes and had no interest in them.

I am thinking of studying another language, maybe Italian or an asian language. I think the languages can be just as stimulating to the mind as any math/science curriculum.

Mine was Honors Analysis in Rn (that n is actually a superscript). Banach spaces, Hilbert spaces, oh my. As a sophomore in college is kicked my a$$. Baby Rudin was our text book, though it was mainly just a reference. A friend who eventually got a PhD in math was astounded that I took that as a soph.

Physics and math BS degree. In undergrad, it was either advanced classical mechanics (senior level), or E&M2 or Quantum Mechanics 2. C in mechanics, B in both E&M and QM. At one point I wasn't sure I was going to be able to complete mechanics and get the physics part of my degree.

Grad level, Advanced mathematics for physics and engineering. In the first 6 weeks, we did all the math I had done in undergrad, then it really started getting hard.

Advanced Astronomy - after taking 5 pre-requ Astronomy courses.

Made my Vector Analysis 3, Calc 3, and Diff Equations seem like kindergarten.

Quantum Mechanics, hands down.

i had a good professor, but the whole idea of quantum mechanics is completely contrary to all of our everyday experiences, none of it makes sense. Richard Feynman put it best when he said, "I think it's safe to say that NOBODY understands quantum mechanics."

I managed to pass all my engineering and math classes without too much difficulty, but into to music was the hardest class for me.

One portion of our final included 30 seconds of music from 20 clasic works that we had to identify. I think I got about 4 correct. I had to ace the rest of the exam to get my C-.