What are the top 3 hardest college majors for average students?

[Mépris]

Interestingly, Oxford have a variant of their degrees in Physics, Maths and Computer Science which has a Philosophy option. (note: in the UK, one must choose their major while applying)

 

[Topher925]

You're all wrong. It goes like this;

1. Communications
2. Art
3. Guitar

 

[micromass]

LOLOLOL, philosophy the second hardest major? You serious

In my opinion, these are the hardest majors:

1) physics
2) engineering
3) medicine

 

[ArcanaNoir]

Anyways, you can't beat mathematics if you want to start measuring things.

I dunno, I'm studying mathematics and I'd say I've learned you CAN'T measure things. That's why I bury my head in number theory. Nothing to strain my sense of reality there. Just shuffle numbers and variables around and see what pops up. ;)

 

[Willowz]

Yeah, you can't beat math in measurements. Maybe because it's the 'medium' in which the measurements can be carried out.

Anything that needs a lot of chemistry in it is a tough major.

 

[rootX]

This thread is becoming a massive p!ssing contest. This type of question has never produced a meaningful discussion in my experience.

Comparing majors is nonsense. Becoming a field expert and leaving solid contributions whether in English, Philosophy, Math, Music or Communications will likely take same amount of effort.

 

[WannabeNewton]

LOLOLOL, philosophy the second hardest major? You serious

In my opinion, these are the hardest majors:

1) physics
2) engineering
3) medicine

I don't know micro, rick rolling is pretty high up there.

 

[206PiruBlood]

Well we can't quantify anything or meaningfully define what "hard" means in this context so comparisons are out. Anyway, it's the time and effort that matter and many students from all fields certainly do more than the bare minimum. So in my opinion, education is more or less as difficult as the student chooses it to be. It's almost like comparing different universities; they may be different in various ways, but in the end its possible to get a great education anywhere, including from the library for free so long as the individual gives the required effort.

 

[KingNothing]

You're all wrong. It goes like this;

1. Communications
2. Art
3. Guitar

Don't forget a degree in "elective studies", which is right about philosophy.

 

[206PiruBlood]

For me the most difficult tasks were the ones I had little interest in, but this is more often one particular aspect of a class rather than an entire field of study. For example while I love reading literature, I really don't enjoy writing about literature and quickly find it difficult to remain focused. On the other hand dedicating long hours to math and science is quite easy for me. So I wouldn't necessarily say one subject is easier than another, but I certainly find it easier to pursue those that I find enjoyable.

 

[flyingpig]

Guitar is a major...?

 

[Topher925]

Guitar is a major...?

Yes, at my university it is. You can also get a degree in trumpet and home making.

 

[flyingpig]

Yes, at my university it is. You can also get a degree in trumpet and home making.

Home-making? WHAT? How do you even get tested? I think I would actually take a Home-making course LOL

 

[AVReidy]

The hardest majors are where those things are applied, such as engineering.

 

[WannabeNewton]

The hardest majors are where those things are applied, such as engineering.

Hardly true. While it does differ from person to person, it is easy to argue that theoretical physics is much more challenging than engineering.

 

[micromass]

Hardly true. While it does differ from person to person, it is easy to argue that theoretical physics is much more challenging than engineering.

So I suppose you have experience with engineering studies?? Engineering is way harder than theoretical physics.

 

[WannabeNewton]

So I suppose you have experience with engineering studies?? Engineering is way harder than theoretical physics.

How so?

 

[micromass]

How so?

Because theoretical physics is just mathematics. And mathematics is very easy! Sure, it requires some thought, but I wouldn't call mathematics difficult at all.

Engineering and applied physics is way more difficult: it requires you to have skill in mathematics (often great skill) and it requires you to apply this skill to the real world. This applying is the most difficult part of the job.

 

[Pengwuino]

So I suppose you have experience with engineering studies?? Engineering is way harder than theoretical physics.

GTFO micro.

Engineers just have to work in 3-dimensions. We have to work in 11-dimensions.

And did you get my PM.

 

[micromass]

GTFO micro.

Engineers just have to work in 3-dimensions. We have to work in 11-dimensions.

And mathematicians work in infinite-dimensional spaces! Therefore: math wins

And did you get my PM.

Yes, I'm as frustrated as you with that thread

 

[Willowz]

GTFO micro.

Engineers just have to work in 3-dimensions. We have to work in 11-dimensions.

And did you get my PM.

Trolololo! You don't have to do any work!

 

[micromass]

Ok, let's not get divided between math, physics and engineering. Let's unite to bash philosophy.

 

[WannabeNewton]

Because theoretical physics is just mathematics. And mathematics is very easy! Sure, it requires some thought, but I wouldn't call mathematics difficult at all.

Coming from you that's not fair game at all lol. Ask a neutral party if that kind of math really is easier than the applied math used in engineering. If YOU say math is easy then that just means its not easy for the general public =p. And I mean c'mon...3 dimensions...c'mon...=D

 

[micromass]

Coming from you that's not fair game at all lol. Ask a neutral party if that kind of math really is easier than the applied math used in engineering. If YOU say math is easy then that just means its not easy for the general public =p. And I mean c'mon...3 dimensions...c'mon...=D

What's not honest? I never had any problems with pure math, but engineering was far too difficult for me. Physics is also more difficult than math, by the way.

 

[estro]

Ok, let's not get divided between math, physics and engineering. Let's unite to bash philosophy.

 

[WannabeNewton]

What's not honest? I never had any problems with pure math, but engineering was far too difficult for me. Physics is also more difficult than math, by the way.

Never said anything about honesty. Just said that when you say math is hard that's not fair because math is like your first language.

 

[micromass]

Never said anything about honesty. Just said that when you say math is hard that's not fair because math is like your first language.

It is now, but I had to struggle to learn in anyways. And I would have struggled more with engineering.

 

[D H]

A party-time analysis is needed. I would venture that the amount of time various students can set aside for partying is quite indicative of the difficulties of their majors.

We can pretty much rule out a major if a student majoring in that subject can find time to go out partying Sunday night thru Thursday night, taking Friday and Saturday off because those are amateur nights. A major that let's you start partying Thursday night is still a bit breezy; you can find plenty of students in various majors who just can't afford that kind of party time commitment. Engineers: you might see them out the town on Friday and Saturday nights. That's still not hard enough.

None of you have named the hardest major. The hardest major is that whose students you never see at parties, you never see hanging out with friends, you never see period. In my school, it was architecture students. They crawled out from their nerdy digs once or twice during the course of a semester, then partied like mad once the semester was over.

 

[Pythagorean]

Ok, let's not get divided between math, physics and engineering. Let's unite to bash philosophy.

Ok, let's start with bashing this philosophy you have of finding causation between discipline and difficulty!

But seriously, math is not easy compared to engineering (nor vice versa) because you can't even generalize the two subjects like that. Some maths and engineering are hard, some maths and engineering are easy. A person, though, is not defined by their major.

Some maths are extremely hard, and so abstract that some people can't even grasp them; some engineering is extremely difficult because they're so technical complex and interwoven with other disciplines.

A party-time analysis is needed. I would venture that the amount of time various students can set aside for partying is quite indicative of the difficulties of their majors.

We can pretty much rule out a major if a student majoring in that subject can find time to go out partying Sunday night thru Thursday night, taking Friday and Saturday off because those are amateur nights. A major that let's you start partying Thursday night is still a bit breezy; you can find plenty of students in various majors who just can't afford that kind of party time commitment. Engineers: you might see them out the town on Friday and Saturday nights. That's still not hard enough.

None of you have named the hardest major. The hardest major is that whose students you never see at parties, you never see hanging out with friends, you never see period. In my school, it was architecture students. They crawled out from their nerdy digs once or twice during the course of a semester, then partied like mad once the semester was over.

Some people that get out get mental floss and declogging, some people that stay in over-complicate and fixate, so it depends on the person. One particular case, we had an undergrad that locked himself up and isolated himself for long periods of time (weeks!). Well, he wasted a lot of time doing the analysis wrong. Our more out-going students are more willing to communicate and get on track...

I doubt the major really has anything to do with it. A hard-driven ambitious art student can do a lot of productive things in their community that a barely-scraping by physicist professor wouldn't even have the motivation to attempt.

 

[Anonymous217]

I'm pure math, so I'm not sure how hard it is, but if I could guess, I'd probably rank the (very general) tiers as so:
1. Engineering/Physics/Maths
2. Other Sciences (Bio, Chem, [Pre-med], ...)
3. The Other Other "Sciences" (Geography, Environmental Science, Psychology, ...), Humanities (English, Phil., Langauge majors, Ethnic majors, Poli Sci, Business, ...).

This is all of course judging by the standard courseload for the majors. Obviously, if you do something like 36 units/9 classes of a humanities per semester, it would be harder than 3-4 engineering classes (but I might still argue with that ;D). But it's comparing similar unit-loads.

The hardest major is that whose students you never see at parties, you never see hanging out with friends, you never see period. In my school, it was architecture students. They crawled out from their nerdy digs once or twice during the course of a semester, then partied like mad once the semester was over.

Meh. I know about 5 architecture majors and they're all practically hipsters who socialize a lot but never party (because they're hipsters). A lot of them had to spend tons of nights at 'studio', but that was often because of procrastination and/or a need to 'perfect' the project, up to subjectivity of course. And some people are just better at drawing/expressing art than others. Some take just a few hours for projects and others entire weeks.

But I'd agree that it's easy to tell which majors are typically hardest by judging which ones stay locked up studying all day. And in Berkeley, that happens to be the engineers, physicists, and mathematicians. The brightest overachieving students tend to be in those 3 fields.