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re: What makes some colleges tougher than others?
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:06 pm to RogerTheShrubber
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:06 pm to RogerTheShrubber
quote:
Not harder.
False. I’ve completed courses at 4 schools:
- BPCC
- LA tech
- Tulane
- UVA
All were drastically different in difficultly. Surprising how big of a difference Tulane and UVa was.
This post was edited on 3/21/20 at 7:07 pm
1
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:09 pm to TulaneUVA
quote:
where have you been? They have very little standards
Would you feel better if I replaced UNC with UVA?
I went to high school for a few years in Virginia. All my smart friends went to UVA, the rest went to ODU, VT, VCU. The basketball scandal aside, I know a few people who went to UNC and said it was tough.. unless you’re an athlete, obviously.
FWIW I went to South Alabama and LSU so I am certainly not an authority on rigorous academics.
ETA: I agree with your point above though. I don’t think it’s just a matter of harder or easier to get in. There absolutely is a difference in academics from school to school
This post was edited on 3/21/20 at 7:11 pm
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:10 pm to Privateer 2007
quote:
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.
There's something to that. It's much easier to flunk out of, say, East Carolina than out of Harvard.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:12 pm to sweetwaterbilly
I’m not sure they are harder but they do have a heavy workload and better professors than an average university.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:16 pm to Strannix
quote:im willing to bet MIT is quite a bit more difficult than LSU engineering and Columbia business school is much more difficult than LSU's
They're actually easier, just hard to get in
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:18 pm to GreatLakesTiger24
quote:
im willing to bet MIT is quite a bit more difficult than LSU engineering and Columbia business school is much more difficult than LSU's
My man
That’s a better comp than I offered. Now I’m just trying to figure out why/how it’s harder. But I probably wouldn’t understand the explanation. In any event, at least we can all have a non-coronavirus discussion Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:22 pm to sweetwaterbilly
quote:i'm just a state school dummy, but i'd guess the tests and examinations are much more difficult. more difficult, intricate questions. less partial credit. things like that.
Now I’m just trying to figure out why/how it’s harder. But
also the course grading structures are probably less forgiving. i'd be curious to see what any ivy leaguers or top school grads have to say
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:24 pm to sweetwaterbilly
I don't think any college or junior college is easy. If you don't study the harder courses you ain't going to cut it. A good friends wife taught earth science in a junior college in a large Texas city. She said many of the students simply would not apply themselves and hence made terrible grades she was blown away by how bad these students were.
So getting back to the topic, I worked with a man who graduated from Cornell. He was very smart but a bit eccentric. But he essentially said the same as some coments on this post. He said Cornell was very, very difficult to get into. He had very high SAT scores and was extremely well-read and very bright. But he said when you get in, it's pretty easy to make it out.
So getting back to the topic, I worked with a man who graduated from Cornell. He was very smart but a bit eccentric. But he essentially said the same as some coments on this post. He said Cornell was very, very difficult to get into. He had very high SAT scores and was extremely well-read and very bright. But he said when you get in, it's pretty easy to make it out.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:24 pm to sweetwaterbilly
College is mostly about how you perform relative to your peers.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:25 pm to CheEngineer
I had a meteorology professor tell me during our first meeting that if I made straight A’s in my science curriculum then I was enrolled at the wrong university.
Dr. M pulled out his transcripts from Carnegie-Mellon and showed us the ‘D’ grade he earned in physics as an undergraduate.
No matter how hard I tried, I always earned a “C” grade in the six courses that I took from him.
Dr. M pulled out his transcripts from Carnegie-Mellon and showed us the ‘D’ grade he earned in physics as an undergraduate.
No matter how hard I tried, I always earned a “C” grade in the six courses that I took from him.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:26 pm to GreatLakesTiger24
The quality of the discussion in the classroom when the students and professors are top caliber is a night and day experience.
The “bench” at the top schools is so much deeper than the average school. The top 20% at Harvard versus the Top 20% at LSU aren’t comparable. However, the top 10 grads from an LSU program can almost certainly hold their own against those from Harvard.
I’ve taken classes / have degrees from:
- Large average state university
- Small liberal arts college
- Tier one research institute / Top 20 program
In short, dramatic differences. The average state school had basically no classroom engagement or discussion. The liberal arts school requires a lot of engagement and tests were almost always written responses / papers (no scantron). The Top 20 program had elite professors that are some of the best in the world. Generally, classmates were strong and the school was very polished in how it ran. That’s my anecdotal experience to add.
The “bench” at the top schools is so much deeper than the average school. The top 20% at Harvard versus the Top 20% at LSU aren’t comparable. However, the top 10 grads from an LSU program can almost certainly hold their own against those from Harvard.
I’ve taken classes / have degrees from:
- Large average state university
- Small liberal arts college
- Tier one research institute / Top 20 program
In short, dramatic differences. The average state school had basically no classroom engagement or discussion. The liberal arts school requires a lot of engagement and tests were almost always written responses / papers (no scantron). The Top 20 program had elite professors that are some of the best in the world. Generally, classmates were strong and the school was very polished in how it ran. That’s my anecdotal experience to add.
This post was edited on 3/21/20 at 7:40 pm
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:29 pm to lynxcat
The better schools have few easy classes. The work load is heavier.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:30 pm to sweetwaterbilly
Since it is a sports board think of it like football.
Georgia State and UNCC play the same game as LSU, Clemson, and Alabama but they play at a different level.
The competition and natural talent of the average student at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Duke make it more difficult to excel in these schools. The professors, staff, and facilities will be better just like in the football analogs at LSU and Alabama.
That being said if you are an autodidact and have the will power and intelligence you can get a "Princeton" level education with an internet connection and a library card just like someone with talent and drive could become an MLB level hitter with only ever being pitched to outside a batting cage.
Georgia State and UNCC play the same game as LSU, Clemson, and Alabama but they play at a different level.
The competition and natural talent of the average student at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Duke make it more difficult to excel in these schools. The professors, staff, and facilities will be better just like in the football analogs at LSU and Alabama.
That being said if you are an autodidact and have the will power and intelligence you can get a "Princeton" level education with an internet connection and a library card just like someone with talent and drive could become an MLB level hitter with only ever being pitched to outside a batting cage.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:30 pm to lsu711
quote:im not so sure about that . maybe it was just my direct peer group but it seems like the grade distribution in tougher classes was something like
College is mostly about how you perform relative to your peers.
20% C
55% B
25% A
it definitely wasn't a bell curve
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:34 pm to sweetwaterbilly
It’s a question a lot of us ask. I remember looking up text books at LSU vs Ivy League schools and they were often the same. There were even instances Where they were written by LSU professors. We had and I’m sure still have many previous Ivy League professors and they don’t change anything.
It’s more of a disparity in passing and graduation rates. For example: Organic Chemistry is the same but even with grading curves, 90% of Ivy League students pass vs 50% of LSU students. I use that one because it’s one course I chose to take at Southern, which at the time had a more favorable curve. I needed that.
It’s more of a disparity in passing and graduation rates. For example: Organic Chemistry is the same but even with grading curves, 90% of Ivy League students pass vs 50% of LSU students. I use that one because it’s one course I chose to take at Southern, which at the time had a more favorable curve. I needed that.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:35 pm to sweetwaterbilly
quote:
Would you feel better if I replaced UNC with UVA?
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:36 pm to Klingler7
quote:
I had a meteorology professor tell me during our first meeting that if I made straight A’s in my science curriculum then I was enrolled at the wrong university.
Dr. M pulled out his transcripts from Carnegie-Mellon and showed us the ‘D’ grade he earned in physics as an undergraduate.
No matter how hard I tried, I always earned a “C” grade in the six courses that I took from him.
Doesn't matter how educated a meteorologist is -- they still can't get a 7-day forecast right.
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:37 pm to TulaneUVA
quote:
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).
This. People saying 'just harder to get into' obviously didn't go to a top tier school. Far easier to make an A at LSU than in the Ivy League.
This post was edited on 3/21/20 at 7:39 pm
Posted on 3/21/20 at 7:37 pm to TrouserTrout
quote:It's as equally amazing that idiots will take the courses to graduate with those degrees mostly just in an effort to say they went to college and got a degree.
It’s amazing how many made up degrees they have these days just to get someone’s money.
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