Hardest undergrad course?

by Petrichor Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:30 pm

"Probability and Stochastic Systems: An introduction to probability and its applications. Random variables, expectation, independence. Poisson processes, Markov chains, and Brownian motion. Stochastic models of queues, population dynamics, and reliability."

Will that be it? what are the other candidates for the title toughest course?

by Idéfix Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:34 pm

That depends on the student... back in college I probably wouldn't have thought of that probability and stochastic systems course as the hardest. The hardest -- and most enjoyable -- undergrad course for me was an elective on aircraft control systems.

by smArtha Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:46 pm

Don't remember the course name but given below is the main text book. Was tough for more about 75% of folks I sampled from our immediate seniors and juniors.

Electronics and Devices and Circuits - by Jacob Millman & Christos C. Halkias

by MaxEntropy_Man Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:48 pm

the hardest courses for me were the ones that had no math. i bombed most of my humanities and ss required courses and electives -- philosophy, psychology & sociology, and population and demographics. i aced econ though.

by smArtha Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:49 pm

The whole of that text book constituted one of the freshman courses in Electrical Engineering

by MaxEntropy_Man Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:51 pm

but of the courses that had math, the toughest one was probably basic electric circuits. it was taught by an excellent excellent teacher whose nickname was the first four letters of the more formal word for gay. you can guess why he was called that. he taught it from a book he had written which used to be called "the cube". such simple material, but he thought of infinite variations on them. very crafty guy.

by Guest Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:57 pm

Petrichor wrote:"Probability and Stochastic Systems: An introduction to probability and its applications. Random variables, expectation, independence. Poisson processes, Markov chains, and Brownian motion. Stochastic models of queues, population dynamics, and reliability."

Will that be it? what are the other candidates for the title toughest course?

Stochastic is the meanest one, even for Grad courses. I shudder still when I think of it.

Our prof was also a visiting dude from some European country. God knows what he taught in the class too, went way over my head. I bombed the midterms, but fortunately/unfortunately, he never graded them. He made some PhD student grade the tests, but never gave us the scores. But I knew I had done bad. Then, I prepped a lot for the finals but 2 hours before the test, XH brought coffee for us (even he was in school at the time), and it was bad coffee, too strong. He mixed a lot of milk in it, and we drank it while studying together.

God knows what that coffee was, I felt dizzy throughout the exam. Every question I saw, I would go, 'hmm I know this, easy!'. But when I would begin writing, everything would flow around my eyes like a daze, and I would forget what I had thought 3 seconds ago. I went in this spin for the full 3 hours. I somehow finished the test, and got out. Turned out it was a tough test for all. XH said even he felt dizzy, but he had no exam that evening, so he escaped. I cried bitterly for 2-3 hours to XH thinking that I will fail miserably, while still feeling very sick. Took my head another 2 hours to stop spinning.

Luckily there was this leader sorta amrikan guy (I think the only amrikan) in our class who was also good friends with us Indians, would always come to us to chat. He said that if he gets a bad grade, he will challange the exams coz the midterm grades were never given to us, and thus the studetns didn't have the option to withdraw out of the class. Another breach being making an unrelated PhD student grade us. This PhD student was our friend, he told us he graded it, but he never told us our marks. But it was a breach still. The visiting prof had to fly back to his country the next day. This guy apparently went to him and told him the same. All of us got a blanket B grade. Dunno about others, but I was mighty pleased.

by Petrichor Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:06 pm

VB - voted Most Likely to be invited to the bar for happy hour after final exams!

To me, probability and stochastics shall always remain the equivalent of the 'god particle'.

by Seva Lamberdar Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:36 pm

Petrichor wrote:"Probability and Stochastic Systems: An introduction to probability and its applications. Random variables, expectation, independence. Poisson processes, Markov chains, and Brownian motion. Stochastic models of queues, population dynamics, and reliability."

Will that be it? what are the other candidates for the title toughest course?

There was a general consensus about this among undergrads in IIT ... the hardest course being "the theory of machines" (TOM). I heard the same thing (TOM as the most difficult course) from students when I taught it at a middle-eastern university.

by Petrichor Tue Sep 17, 2013 3:29 pm

Sounds like fun!

PART I: The Fundamentals
Week 1 (Sept 12):
• Course overview
• Why do we need quantum mechanics?
• Energy quantization
• Wave-particle duality
• The Planck-Einstein relations
• The de Broglie relation
Week 2 (Sept 17):
• The wavefunction
• Operators and observables
• Quantum measurements, expectation values
• Eigenfunctions and eigenvalues
Week 3 (Sept 24):
• The Schroedinger equation
• Superposition and collapse of the wavefunction
• Commuting operators
• Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle
• Time-dependence and stationary states
• Summary of the Postulates
PART II: Exactly solvable systems
Week 4 (Oct 1):
• Free particle
• Particle on a ring
• Particle in a box
• Quantum harmonic oscillator
• Tunneling
• Applications
Week 5 (Oct Cool

:
• Angular momentum
• The rigid rotor
• Intro to rotation-vibration spectra
• Review for first test
Week 6 (Oct 15):
• Quantum phenomena -- a digression
• First test Oct 17.
Week 7 (Oct 22):
• One-electron atoms (Hydrogen-like atoms)
• Atomic orbitals, energies, quantum numbers
Fall break
PART III: Many-electron atoms and molecules
Week 8 (Nov 5):
• The Helium atom
• Atomic ionization energies
• Introduction to electron spin
• The Pauli principle
• Atomic term symbols
Week 9 (Nov 12):
• Introduction to the chemical bond
• Molecular orbitals (MO)
• Linear combination of atomic orbitals
• MO diagrams
• Valence bond theory
Week 10 (Nov 19):
• Review
• Second test Nov 21.
PART IV: Applications
Week 11 (Nov 26):
• Introduction to electronic spectroscopy, potential energy surfaces
• Thanksgiving Nov 28.
Week 12 (Dec 3):
• More on electronic, vibrational and rotational spectroscopy
• Introduction to NMR spectroscopy
Week 13 (Dec 10):
• Advanced applications: quantum computers etc

by MaxEntropy_Man Tue Sep 17, 2013 3:38 pm

Petrichor wrote:Sounds like fun!

PART I: The Fundamentals
Week 1 (Sept 12):
• Course overview
• Why do we need quantum mechanics?
• Energy quantization
• Wave-particle duality
• The Planck-Einstein relations
• The de Broglie relation
Week 2 (Sept 17):
• The wavefunction
• Operators and observables
• Quantum measurements, expectation values
• Eigenfunctions and eigenvalues
Week 3 (Sept 24):
• The Schroedinger equation
• Superposition and collapse of the wavefunction
• Commuting operators
• Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle
• Time-dependence and stationary states
• Summary of the Postulates
PART II: Exactly solvable systems
Week 4 (Oct 1):
• Free particle
• Particle on a ring
• Particle in a box
• Quantum harmonic oscillator
• Tunneling
• Applications
Week 5 (Oct :
• Angular momentum
• The rigid rotor
• Intro to rotation-vibration spectra
• Review for first test
Week 6 (Oct 15):
• Quantum phenomena -- a digression
• First test Oct 17.
Week 7 (Oct 22):
• One-electron atoms (Hydrogen-like atoms)
• Atomic orbitals, energies, quantum numbers
Fall break
PART III: Many-electron atoms and molecules
Week 8 (Nov 5):
• The Helium atom
• Atomic ionization energies
• Introduction to electron spin
• The Pauli principle
• Atomic term symbols
Week 9 (Nov 12):
• Introduction to the chemical bond
• Molecular orbitals (MO)
• Linear combination of atomic orbitals
• MO diagrams
• Valence bond theory
Week 10 (Nov 19):
• Review
• Second test Nov 21.
PART IV: Applications
Week 11 (Nov 26):
• Introduction to electronic spectroscopy, potential energy surfaces
• Thanksgiving Nov 28.
Week 12 (Dec 3):
• More on electronic, vibrational and rotational spectroscopy
• Introduction to NMR spectroscopy
Week 13 (Dec 10):
• Advanced applications: quantum computers etc

there is no better resource than the no-frills but crystal clear lectures of prof balakrishnan on youtube as a foray into this material. he doesn't discuss the applications at the end of your list but much of the other stuff. where is this syllabus from?

by Petrichor Tue Sep 17, 2013 3:45 pm

Thanks.
http://registrar.princeton.edu/course-offerings/course_details.xml?courseid=000991&term=1102

by Sponsored content

Hardest undergrad course?

Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?

Re: Hardest undergrad course?