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What makes some colleges tougher than others?
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:42 pm
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:42 pm
Ivy League schools, UNC, Vandy, Stanford, etc. are all viewed as having rigorous academic standards. What makes them different from other schools that teach the same things? I’ve never been accused of being smart so I figure someone on this board may be able to explain.
Calculus is calculus, for example. I guess those schools could have better professors, but the subject is still the same. Not talking about admission standards or anything. Once you’re enrolled, what makes academics at School X “tougher” than the same subjects at School Y.
TLDR: Why are academics more challenging at Harvard than at Tennessee. (No reason for picking those schools other than Ivy League vs. non-Ivy League)
Calculus is calculus, for example. I guess those schools could have better professors, but the subject is still the same. Not talking about admission standards or anything. Once you’re enrolled, what makes academics at School X “tougher” than the same subjects at School Y.
TLDR: Why are academics more challenging at Harvard than at Tennessee. (No reason for picking those schools other than Ivy League vs. non-Ivy League)
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:44 pm to sweetwaterbilly
They're actually easier, just hard to get in
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:44 pm to sweetwaterbilly
The hard part is getting in.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:46 pm to sweetwaterbilly
Just harder to get in.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:47 pm to sweetwaterbilly
quote:
Why are academics more challenging at Harvard than at Tennessee.
I'm not sure they are, at least not in any overall way.
People go to Ivy League schools for prestige and to build personal connections.
This post was edited on 3/21/20 at 6:48 pm
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:49 pm to sweetwaterbilly
Pretty sure UNC is known for fake classes
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:51 pm to sweetwaterbilly
Hopefully this plague gets rid of the big business we call college. Money pit for our youth. It’s amazing how many made up degrees they have these days just to get someone’s money.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:52 pm to sweetwaterbilly
It’s about professor and the requirements to get into a college. You can take the same class taught at the same college by different professors, and it’s not the same. Calculus is not calculus if one class is taught by a foreign professor you can’t understand and the other by a really great one.
I went to Loyola and LSU. Both schools have different requirements for the same degree. Loyola required 3 religion and 3 philosophy classes for an accounting degree while LSU doesn’t. Private colleges also don’t have remedial English or math classes like public ones do. LSU requires college algebra while Tulane and Loyola don’t have those classes. It doesn’t matter much where you got your degree, what matters is passing the state/national certification and licensing exams.
I went to Loyola and LSU. Both schools have different requirements for the same degree. Loyola required 3 religion and 3 philosophy classes for an accounting degree while LSU doesn’t. Private colleges also don’t have remedial English or math classes like public ones do. LSU requires college algebra while Tulane and Loyola don’t have those classes. It doesn’t matter much where you got your degree, what matters is passing the state/national certification and licensing exams.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:53 pm to sweetwaterbilly
quote:
Calculus is calculus, for example. I guess those schools could have better professors, but the subject is still the same.
It honestly depends on the professor. I had a professor that felt no one in our class was smarter than them and they only made a B in the class. So they would make the test virtually impossible to finish in the allotted time so they could make up the curve. Basically 1 person in the class could get an A a lot of B’s and C’s but nobody really failed unless they did not try.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:53 pm to sweetwaterbilly
TBH UNO was way tougher than Tulane. Despite Tulane being a top 50 school.
I was a TA at Tulane.
Profs would just pass kids along. Needed that tuition money.
If UNO or LSU fail a student it's really no skin off schools back.
Just my observation.
I was a TA at Tulane.
Profs would just pass kids along. Needed that tuition money.
If UNO or LSU fail a student it's really no skin off schools back.
Just my observation.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:57 pm to sweetwaterbilly
Professors at many liberal arts colleges actually require substantial reading and writing across the board, whether you are in biology or literature classes. If you show up to class unprepared, they'll call you out during discussions. And they provide feedback on your writing multiple times during the semester to develop your critical thinking skills.
The problem is that there's no way to effectively scale that kind of teaching and learning. It's time intensive and requires a lot of individual effort from both the teacher and the student.
The problem is that there's no way to effectively scale that kind of teaching and learning. It's time intensive and requires a lot of individual effort from both the teacher and the student.
This post was edited on 3/21/20 at 6:58 pm
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:58 pm to tigergirl10
quote:
It’s about professor and the requirements to get into a college.
who at big schools you hardly see the first 2 years
Professors mostly teach undergrads because they have to.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 6:59 pm to sweetwaterbilly
Business classes at LSU are a joke. Great professors like KSaul though.
At University of Alabama in Huntsville the classes are all quant based. Even intro marketing for an MBA is doing non-linear regressions, multinomial logit modeling, 3D modeling, etc. Its 100x tougher than LSU. Professors are all from China and terrible instructors.
At University of Alabama in Huntsville the classes are all quant based. Even intro marketing for an MBA is doing non-linear regressions, multinomial logit modeling, 3D modeling, etc. Its 100x tougher than LSU. Professors are all from China and terrible instructors.
This post was edited on 3/21/20 at 7:00 pm
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:00 pm to tigergirl10
All that really matters in college is crushing that goldman sachs interview. Nobody wants to work for Nomura.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:03 pm to sweetwaterbilly
quote:
UNC
quote:.
are all viewed as having rigorous academic standards

The answer to your question is: competition.
Competition:
Students are all the valedictorians or salutatorians. Highly competitive which makes for difficult classes (curves are set, little forgiveness for not grasping material, higher standard of results).
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:03 pm to sweetwaterbilly
quote:
Ivy League schools, UNC, Vandy, Stanford, etc. are all viewed as having rigorous academic standards
Just harder to get into. Not harder.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:04 pm to sweetwaterbilly
Undergrad it doesn't matter.
Grad school it does.
Grad school it does.
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