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re: Hardest College Majors(Rank 'em)
Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:33 pm to Duke
Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:33 pm to Duke
I'm in Mechanical Engineering and I've studied with people in Chemical Engineering and Physics.
Chemical Engineering is probably the hardest major at Auburn, but Engineering and Physics majors definitely as a whole take the cake for hard majors. People dealing with Chemistry a whole lot like people in Pre-Pharm have it pretty rough as well.
The LULZ factor of putting liberal arts over engineering in the OP is just too much.
Chemical Engineering is probably the hardest major at Auburn, but Engineering and Physics majors definitely as a whole take the cake for hard majors. People dealing with Chemistry a whole lot like people in Pre-Pharm have it pretty rough as well.
The LULZ factor of putting liberal arts over engineering in the OP is just too much.
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Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:36 pm to Ross
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Chemical Engineering is probably the hardest major at Auburn
It's arguably the hardest major at LSU too. I'm in the beginning phases of my ChemE major journey, so yay!!
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The LULZ factor of putting liberal arts over engineering in the OP is just too much.
Yeah, poor guy had no idea what he was talking about.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:44 pm to Duke
So would we say that a pure mathematics, or applied mathematics degree (not math education) is the hardest overall?
Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:48 pm to CheeseburgerEddie
A lot of my friends drop Mechanical Engineering and go into Applied Mathematics.
It's a hard major, but most engineers I study with are very good with math and struggle more with the physics and thermodynamics and Chemistry involved with engineering.
I'm probably biased, but I'd put Engineering over Applied Math, but the difficulty difference between the two would hinge on how the student performs in math vs physics.
It's a hard major, but most engineers I study with are very good with math and struggle more with the physics and thermodynamics and Chemistry involved with engineering.
I'm probably biased, but I'd put Engineering over Applied Math, but the difficulty difference between the two would hinge on how the student performs in math vs physics.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:49 pm to CheeseburgerEddie
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So would we say that a pure mathematics, or applied mathematics degree (not math education) is the hardest overall?
I would tend to agree with that.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:51 pm to Ross
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most engineers I study with are very good with math and struggle more with the physics and thermodynamics and Chemistry involved with engineering.
I can see that side of the argument, especially when it comes to the thermo and chem end of the equation. My experience with physics would suggest it's more about seeing how to apply the math to figure out the problem. Then again, I haven't seen 2102 in physics yet so I can't say with much certainty.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:55 pm to Duke
I don't know how LSU structures it, Auburn does Engineering Physics I and II (1600 and 1610)
Eng. Physics I involved Kinematics, force, momentum, kinetic energy, moment of inertia, blah blah blah and sets the foundation for future classes you'll take. It was hard but it definitely dealt more with application of mathematics to model situations, but that's pretty much all kinematics and dynamics is.
Eng. Physics II was Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics with a little bit of Thermodynamics but not really. That class obviously used a lot of math, but you had to learn a shite ton of physics as well. It definitely wasn't strictly applied mathematics anymore.
Eng. Physics I involved Kinematics, force, momentum, kinetic energy, moment of inertia, blah blah blah and sets the foundation for future classes you'll take. It was hard but it definitely dealt more with application of mathematics to model situations, but that's pretty much all kinematics and dynamics is.
Eng. Physics II was Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics with a little bit of Thermodynamics but not really. That class obviously used a lot of math, but you had to learn a shite ton of physics as well. It definitely wasn't strictly applied mathematics anymore.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:59 pm to Ross
I was a math major and just wanted someone to say it was the hardest.
Engineers have to go through the whole calculus sequence, and is it one or two of the diff eq courses? Probably some form of a numerical analysis or matrix theory course as well?
A lot of people dont realize how much math there is to take, but you usually take a lot harder than those courses depending on which track you choose and which electives you take. I took 3 or 4 grad level courses as an undergrad with nearly the same workload. The hardest math you take is the stuff that prepares you for graduate level coursework so it is possible to make the applied math degree easier on yourself.
Eta: one of the grad courses was probably required the rest I just wanted the challenge at the time. Also I think math physics and the difficult engineering courses are probably all on roughly the same level.
Engineers have to go through the whole calculus sequence, and is it one or two of the diff eq courses? Probably some form of a numerical analysis or matrix theory course as well?
A lot of people dont realize how much math there is to take, but you usually take a lot harder than those courses depending on which track you choose and which electives you take. I took 3 or 4 grad level courses as an undergrad with nearly the same workload. The hardest math you take is the stuff that prepares you for graduate level coursework so it is possible to make the applied math degree easier on yourself.
Eta: one of the grad courses was probably required the rest I just wanted the challenge at the time. Also I think math physics and the difficult engineering courses are probably all on roughly the same level.
This post was edited on 4/4/13 at 3:02 pm
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:01 pm to Ross
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I don't know how LSU structures it, Auburn does Engineering Physics I and II (1600 and 1610)
Same structure, different numbers. It's 2101 and 2102.
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Eng. Physics II was Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics with a little bit of Thermodynamics but not really. That class obviously used a lot of math, but you had to learn a shite ton of physics as well. It definitely wasn't strictly applied mathematics anymore.
I got you. That is probably a huge reason why that course is notorious along with thermo.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:02 pm to DanMullins4Life
You can judge the difficulty of a major by how many of it's successful students are out at the bars everyday.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:04 pm to CheeseburgerEddie
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Engineers have to go through the whole calculus sequence, and is it one or two of the diff eq courses? Probably some form of a numerical analysis or matrix theory course as well?
At LSU for Chem E it is just Calc I and II and one Diff Eq. I don't know why Calc III isn't required though, because it seems like it would be useful in PChem.
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A lot of people dont realize how much math there is to take
If I hadn't wasted so much time in college already I probably would try and take a few more math courses. Just so I can say "Nana Nana Boo Boo, I'm smarter than you" but I think my courseload of exclusively major driven classes for my next five semesters ought to be enough.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:06 pm to CheeseburgerEddie
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Engineers have to go through the whole calculus sequence, and is it one or two of the diff eq courses? Probably some form of a numerical analysis or matrix theory course as well?
All Engineers go through the whole Calculus sequence, and I took one Diff Eq class that went up to Laplace Transforms and Inverse Laplace Transforms, and we only ever did ODEs. We also take Linear Algebra, which I'm currently in (and find outside of the systems of equation solving, is completely pointless) for the matrix manipulation. There is an Engineering class called Computer Aided Engineering that I know MECH and CHEM have to take which covers Numerical Analysis for solving stuff like differential equations using MATLAB and blah blah blah.
After that though, we're done with math centric courses.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:08 pm to Duke
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At LSU for Chem E it is just Calc I and II and one Diff Eq. I don't know why Calc III isn't required though, because it seems like it would be useful in PChem.
Cal III at LSU isn't required?
Double and triple integration is very useful in Mechanical Engineering for finding mass moments of inertia and area moments of inertia, and partial derivatives are used all the time in Engineering.
Also, Electricity and Magnetism use the definition of flux and line integrals a lot in proofs, which you learn near the end of Cal III at Auburn.
I'd suggest taking it if it isn't required.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:13 pm to Ross
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Cal III at LSU isn't required?
It's required for everyone but Chem and Petro.
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I'd suggest taking it if it isn't required.
I most likely will, because I see where it would turn out to be very useful through the rest of my course work.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:37 pm to Duke
The nan nana boo boo thing is pretty much why I majored in classical mathematics and took extra grad level corses for electives. I loved I but unless grad school is in your future, not really worth it for the job market. I lucked out and got a great gig doing research for a commercial real estate services company. I am now taking grad level courses in my spare time because my job is so easy.
Above the engineering courses are a diff eq 2 class and then some boundary value courses (this is for most applied math) you can also take a complex analysis course where you work in the complex plane with real numbers represented on the x axis and imaginary (a + bi) on the y axis. That isn't too difficult until you start using the methods taught to try and solve previously unsolvable integrals in more advanced courses. The general idea is that the integral of any closed loop given certain conditions equals zero in the complex plane, so you create a loop by using the unsolvable integral on the x axis( the real value you want to solve for) then create a closed loop through the complex portion of the graph that you know how to integrate based on the complex analysis course, then the real integral value is just equal to the opposite of the value of the rest of the integral.
I love math.
Above the engineering courses are a diff eq 2 class and then some boundary value courses (this is for most applied math) you can also take a complex analysis course where you work in the complex plane with real numbers represented on the x axis and imaginary (a + bi) on the y axis. That isn't too difficult until you start using the methods taught to try and solve previously unsolvable integrals in more advanced courses. The general idea is that the integral of any closed loop given certain conditions equals zero in the complex plane, so you create a loop by using the unsolvable integral on the x axis( the real value you want to solve for) then create a closed loop through the complex portion of the graph that you know how to integrate based on the complex analysis course, then the real integral value is just equal to the opposite of the value of the rest of the integral.
I love math.
This post was edited on 4/4/13 at 3:39 pm
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:41 pm to CheeseburgerEddie
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The nan nana boo boo thing is pretty much why I majored in classical mathematics and took extra grad level corses for electives.
I respect that.
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The general idea is that the integral of any closed loop given certain conditions equals zero in the complex plane, so you create a loop by using the unsolvable integral on the x axis( the real value you want to solve for) then create a closed loop through the complex portion of the graph that you know how to integrate based on the complex analysis course, then the real integral value is just equal to the opposite of the value of the rest of the integral.
Interesting stuff though. I could see where someone would enjoy doing that.
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:42 pm to trickydick12
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You can judge the difficulty of a major by how many of it's successful students are out at the bars everyday.
I always say the biggest thing I've learned as a business major at Ole Miss is how to drink with grown folk
Posted on 4/4/13 at 3:56 pm to DanMullins4Life
My brother got a liberal arts degrees in his sleep
Posted on 4/4/13 at 4:05 pm to cas4t
Yea he's a troll if not he's a complete and total moron with this thread
Posted on 4/4/13 at 4:34 pm to Duke
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It's arguably the hardest major at LSU too. I'm in the beginning phases of my ChemE major journey, so yay!!
Best of luck to you, sir. When in doubt do a mass and/or energy balance and you'll get through like a
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