Most difficult university major?

[stinkynuts]

I would just like to see what is perceived as the most difficult major by most people.

Usually, this would also mean the most prestigious. I think most people would say sociology is by far one of the easiest. Not sure if this is true or not.

 

[Lil'Miss]

Pretty subjective, I'd say. Especially considering most people major in what they are interested in and what pertains to their individual strengths. The person majoring in Physics, which seems extremely difficult, just may think that an introductory English course is the most difficult class of their college carreer while breezing through their science courses.

Miss

 

[Joey Jeremiah]

Based solely on public perception, I would say pre-med is the most prestigious.

 

[stinkynuts]

I personally always thought that rocket science (aerospace engineering) would be perceived the most prestigous and difficult.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Chemical Engineering

Chemical Engineering which wasn't listed would get my vote.
Believe this field has long been considered one of the hardest majors.
Of course if your a math wiz most of those listed would be a snap.
Chemical Engineering wasn't listed, so I didn't vote but that is the one I would vote for.

 

[DateMasamune]

Philosophy is by far the most prestigeous; it is the crown of all the disciplines.

 

[stinkynuts]

Problem with Philosophy is that you can have anybody majoring in it, because it's more subjective.

But you're right. Despite the lack of mathematics, it's still very prestigous. Just think of all the people associated with philosophy: Newton, Leibniz, Descartes, Kant, Plato, Aristotle, etc...

What about someone who double majors in astrophysics and aerospace engineering with a minor in philosophy? I'm sure some super-nerd at MIT must have done this. Would love to see what his/her starting salary would be. Would probably be hired by NASA right away.

 

[Truncador]

Basket weaving. The general theory of the cross-woven matrix is exceedingly abstract, counter-intuitive and difficult to grasp.

 

[Joey Jeremiah]

LOL. Is it true or urban legend that UWO has a basket weaving course?

 

[DateMasamune]

I'm sure some super-nerd at MIT must have done this. Would love to see what his/her starting salary would be. Would probably be hired by NASA right away.

But being a graduate of MIT is pretigeous in itself regardless of which program they got their degree in.

 

[someone]

Each discipline is very difficult for those that chose another disipline.

I went to York, where there is a requirement to "broaden" a student's horizens. I had to take a science class, since I was in arts. I happened to excel at it because I had taken math/science in HS. But for many of the students, it was a tough struggle.

I did my undergrad at York and I will point that that that "science course" that Arts students had to take was not a real science course but a science for dummies course. It amazed me how much trouble some people (especially those planning on going into teaching) had with what must have been grade 9 science. The fact that people had problems says more about the state of the high school system than anything else.

Similarly, a number of very bright science students took on of my poli sci classes as their outside of core discipline, and some of them were lost.

From what I remember of York’s political science department, the problem my have been that the science students you spoke of were not left wing enough.

 

[shakenbake]

Chemical Engineering which wasn't listed would get my vote.
Believe this field has long been considered one of the hardest majors.
Of course if your a math wiz most of those listed would be a snap.
Chemical Engineering wasn't listed, so I didn't vote but that is the one I would vote for.

Hey WoodPeckr;

If that were on the list, I would have to agree with you. Are you a Chem Eng?

shakenbake

 

[holden]

LOL. Is it true or urban legend that UWO has a basket weaving course?

UWO was considered to be a elitest, rich and snobby school with hot girls who had daddy's credit card

the uni's with bad rep for not having the best education or was such a joke to get into(when I was applying was):

York (Dork U)
Brock (If you can walk and talk, go to...)
Carlton
Lakehead
and the hippy U in peterbrough(trent)

these were the easiest entrance grades back in my day

the harder ones were

queens
U of T (only trinity though)

 

[stinkynuts]

Interesting that out of 30 votes cast, not a single one went to computer science. Says a lot about the other nine majors.

I would think that if I had put chemical engineering as an option, it would fare equally well as the other engineering majors, which are all tied. At this point, physics seems to be perceived as the most difficult major.

I am intending to go back to York and do a double major in chemistry and biology. I think York is a decent university, and has many good programs. It may not be as prestigious as U of T or Waterloo, but it's still respectable.

Many college students have limited math and science skills. They end up in programs like sociology and psychology. Then those majors are perceived as easy majors, and viewed with contempt. The problem is that there are some brilliant people who take those majors because they like them. For example, even though I was good at math, I switched from a physics major to a psychology major because I found psych interesting. When I was a physics major, whenever someone asked me what I was majoring in, and I told them, they would say something like, "Oh, wow. You must be smart." Later, when I told them my major was psychology, it was like, "Why??" It's was so annoying, being labeled as an idiot because I majored in something that may not have been hard.

 

[Keebler Elf]

I don't think the most difficult is the most prestigious; not by a long shot. There's plenty of truly brilliant people out there who we've never even heard of.

If I had to pick one subject, based on my limited knowledge of the sciences, I'd pick physics just b/c it can get really theoretical.

As for which schools are the most prestigious, it really depends on the subject. Especially today, universities specialize in their strengths and want to become known for that rather than trying to sustain an excellent reputation in all subjects (which is next to impossible to do). While I would say that U of T probably has the most prestigious reputations amongst Canadian universities, it really all depends on what specific subject you're talking about. There are other universities that are more prestigious in their particular specialization.

 

[Keebler Elf]

The fact that people had problems says more about the state of the high school system than anything else.

More like the students probably had ZERO interest in taking the course to begin with and were simply taking it b/c they were required to.

I remember taking an economics course and a statistics course simply b/c they were requirements for my program. I hadn't taken a science course in about 5-6 years at the time. And man were those courses a chore to get through. I found them boring, repetitive, and inapplicable to my major (which, in fact, turned out to be true). And my effort in the courses reflected my lack of interest in the subjects.

 

[Keebler Elf]

Many college students have limited math and science skills. They end up in programs like sociology and psychology.

While that may be true, I think the truth of the matter is that students pick subjects based more on interest than ability. Most students don't want to be scientists, lab techs, or mathematicians. So they take something they find more interesting, like psych or soc. Which isn't all that bad since university is meant to teach critical thinking skills as well as specific subject matter. So even if you think the material is a joke, graduates still learned useful life skills in university. It's not so much what you learn, but the process of learning that proves invaluable later on in life.

 

[someone]

More like the students probably had ZERO interest in taking the course to begin with and were simply taking it b/c they were required to.

I had to work with these people in labs etc. It was a summer course and many of my fellow students where teachers trying to upgrade. Others were majoring in liberal arts disciplines. It was not so much a matter of lack of interest as lack of ability. They thought that plugging numbers into an equation you were given (i.e. not derivation or anything like that, just plugging numbers in) was very mathematical. I’m not saying that the education and arts students at the university I currently work in would be any better if it had a similar requirement. However, it is sad to think that many of these people were teachers.

I have taught in universities for a number years now and I have made some observations about the quality of students in different majors (generalizations of course, individual students will differ). Education students tend to the worse, followed by arts and business students. Math and science students tend to be a mixed bag. When I was at Waterloo, I found math students to be very good. At the university I’m at now, they are a mixed bag but, on average, better than the above groups I mentioned.

 

[DateMasamune]

UWO was considered to be a elitest, rich and snobby school with hot girls who had daddy's credit card

the uni's with bad rep for not having the best education or was such a joke to get into(when I was applying was):

York (Dork U)
Brock (If you can walk and talk, go to...)
Carlton
Lakehead
and the hippy U in peterbrough(trent)

these were the easiest entrance grades back in my day

the harder ones were

queens
U of T (only trinity though)

To my understanding, I think these stereotypes persist till this day.

Luckily, for the "crappier" universities, their stock has risen because of various programs. For instance, York's LLB and BBA and BEd as well as Glendon College has helped its rep. or should I say, the only things you should take at York. And like mentioned by others, their poli sci is way too biased in favor of the Left. Brock, Trent and Lakehead all have BEd's now and they are quite popular programs. As for Carlton, I myself have been rejected by them when I applied for a MA in poli sci and I ain't a bad student. Similarly, their journalism program is perhaps the best in the country (George Brown College could be better, I don't know. After all, the school was named after the well known jounalist, George Brown).

As for Trinity College at U of T, it is without a doubt the most prestigeous college you can graduate from in Ontario, arguably Canada. If you look back at the history of U of T, Trinity at first didn't want to join the U of T federation because Trinity was too good to join. And then through negotiations and some bargaining she join.

In Canada, we have different universities specializing in various disciplines and we don't really have any "elite" univeristies like they do in the States. We ain't got no Harvard or Princeton or Cornell or Columbia or Dartmouth. All our universities have their little own niche so it really is hard to say which ones are better then they other. That's why when Maclean's does their annual university rankings, they should do it by programs like they do in the States.

 

[t8rs]

When I attended UBC, oh, so many years ago (okay, not really that many but it seems like it) most of my fellow students believed that the U of Waterloo engineering program was the toughest in Canada. I have no idea if that's still the case today. However, the Engineering Physics program at UBC was right up there. Even amongst all the other engineering disciplines, the general consensus was that it was the most difficult. In fact, the Eng Phys students are known as "coneheads".