It is the time of the year again to register for classes for the spring semester. Students, typically sophomores, juniors and seniors, are starting to take upper-level classes specific to their colleges. There are certain classes students take that are widely known as the most challenging. Compiled below are tips from professors and students in the various colleges of UF, on Biochemistry, Finance, Reporting and Thermodynamics - some of the hardest courses for students at UF.
Introduction to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, BCH 4024
This course is required for students majoring in many of the sciences and those planning to apply to medical, dental and vet school. Many students put this class off until senior year and end up taking it along with other hard classes. This four-credit class involves not only memorization but also understanding and analyzing biology and chemistry concepts and how they are interrelated.
Around 10 percent of students drop this course each semester.
"This is a hard class. But the material is not complex. This is not quantum physics," said Dr. Philip J. Laipis, course coordinator for Biochemistry.
Laipis said that passing the course is simple. "Be in class. Take notes. You have to study every day. Attendance is needed," he said.
Grading is based solely on four exams.
The range of scores on exams is massive, reaching from zero to 100 percent. Laipis said that it is because some students are always up-to-date on material, while others slack off.
Sumera Chohan, 21, biology junior, is currently enrolled in Biochemistry. She suggested being prepared to work hard and to have a fair amount of time devoted to the class. "You can't just pull an all-nighter and succeed in this class," Chohan said.
Chohan also suggested going to the professor's office hours whenever something is unclear.
This semester, Laipis has started to provide supplemental instruction to his students via study sessions. These are small group sessions led by some of his previous students who were in the top 15 percent of his class. The sessions are comprised of eight to 12 students in a group in which they discuss material from class.
Chohan said she finds the study sessions helpful.
On the first exam this semester, students who participated in the study sessions received an average of 81 percent compared to 61 percent for those who did not, according to Laipis.
You will understand, analyze and reiterate detailed processes. This is just a preview of what graduate-level science courses will be like.
"If you think this is hard, wait 'til you go to medical school," Laipis warned.
Business Finance, FIN 3403
This course is considered the hardest intro to business class at UF. It is a requirement for all business and accounting students. Students have heard horror stories from previous students about the tedious material that's difficult to comprehend and the challenging exams that no one seems to pass. Many students realize they don't want a career in the business field after exposure to this class.
In Finance, a four-credit class, students learn about the math behind the management of a business. The bulk of your grade consists of three exams. There are also 10 quizzes, online discussions and a course project.
A prerequisite for this course is Financial Accounting, ACG 2021C. Students typically take Finance soon after Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting, ACG 2071, since a lot of the concepts are related.
The material tested on Finance exams is known to be very confusing. Some questions take up two pages, some questions are hard to understand and some questions aren't even attempted by students due to the small amount of time given for the exam.
"You never knew what types of questions to expect, despite studying for weeks for one exam," said Stephanie Creamer, 20, who graduated with a business degree and took Finance in fall 2010. "A C grade on an exam could easily turn out to be an A with the curve."
Thomas Koenig, 21, a finance major who studied at UF last year during his study abroad, took Finance in fall 2010. He studied for at least two hours each day, read the entire book, did all the quizzes and did all the practice exams and problems. He also always went to all of the live lectures instead of watching them online.
"You have to study on a regular basis because the course builds on what you see during the class and subjects really overlap, so you always have to keep up," said Koenig.
He stressed the importance of doing past exams as practice.
"The questions to the past exams are very similar and you'll find it easy to get an A," said Koenig.
Creamer relied on TutoringZone, which is a Florida-based company offering tutoring, review sessions and class notes, for Finance.
"The TutoringZone problem breakdown is great when you are practicing problems," Creamer said. "It is much clearer and easier to understand what is being taught in class, and they have lots of experience getting students through the class."
According to Creamer, students who spend extra money and go to weekly TutoringZone sessions do better. Weekly exam sessions cost $228 for the entire semester versus about $105 for three exam review sessions for the entire semester.
"The majority of the people I know that received A's in this class did the weeklies. They were more updated with the material and received help with weekly quizzes," Creamer said.
After taking Finance, you will be comfortable analyzing the stock markets and will have a global understanding of how the global economy works. However, you may spend a lot of time and money simply trying to pass the class.
Reporting, JOU 3101
This course is regarded as the most time-consuming and most difficult course in the College of Journalism and Communications. Reporting is a core class for journalism and public relations majors. Many students switch to advertising or telecommunication after realizing the demand of this course.
Students spend five hours in class a week for this three-credit class. Three hours are spent in a writing lab and two in a lecture section. The class consists of three tests and weekly AP-style quizzes. Most time is taken up by writing an in-lab story and outside story almost every week for lab.
Midway through the semester, many students just want to pass the course.
"I'm determined to get a grade higher than a C. Doesn't that sound like a great accomplishment?" said 19-year-old public relations sophomore Karina Cuevas, who is currently taking Reporting.
The lab portion of the grade is mainly comprised of finding outside stories each week. Students spend hours outside of class researching and writing their articles.
"What's hard is that Gainesville is such a small place, and you're afraid of never finding a story," said Cuevas. "But, trust me; a lot of news happens here more often than you think. Just think of everything that goes on campus every single day."
Students in Reporting often have decent content in their stories but continuously lose points because of mechanical errors (grammar, punctuation and AP style).
"You have to make your AP Stylebook your second bible. Bring it everywhere you go so that you can learn it and memorize it," said Cuevas.
After writing her articles, Cuevas goes back and reads them line by line.
"I question every little thing, each word, each punctuation mark, each number. I check the AP Stylebook. I read over my notes," she said.
Perfect content and grammatically-correct papers can easily be docked 50 percentage points for fact errors. Fact errors are given for incorrect information and even misspellings of names, addresses or titles.
Cuevas suggests signing up for the "easy" lab instructor's section. Lab instructors have a great deal of power over how a student performs in the class. They grade all articles, and there can be disparities in the way they grade.
"Professors who teach in the labs are in autonomy. Learn to please your boss. I grade hard. Life grades harder," said Master Lecturer Mike Foley, who teaches Reporting.
Foley said that he would appreciate it if students would come into his office and ask for assistance.
"I will look at their assignment line by line, word for word before they turn in an assignment," Foley said.
According to Foley, the average grade in the course is a 72 to 74 percent, which is barely passing, since there are no minus grades. Foley suggests that students take the course during the fall or spring semesters. The dropout rate is the highest during the summer because the term is short, according the Foley.
Foley sees no reason for students to repeat this course.
"I teach the same stuff," he said. "The jokes don't get any better."
Reporting will make it clear if journalism the right field for you. You will learn a lot in this course, with a huge blow to your grade point average and time. If you want to be a journalist, don't be intimidated. Once you are done with Reporting, the rest will seem like a piece of cake.
Thermodynamics 1, EML 3100
Engineering students are known to be strong in math and science. Many start to doubt their strengths when taking Thermodynamics, a required course for most engineering majors. Though the statistics are unknown, it is rumored that up to one-third of students drop the course by the end of the semester.
In Thermodynamics, students learn to apply the first and second laws of thermodynamics to closed and open systems and to cyclic heat engines.
In the three-credit course, grades are composed of three exams and homework assignments.
Dr. Subrata Roy, a mechanical and aerospace engineering assistant professor who teaches the class this semester, sees thermodynamics as the heart of engineering.
"If you want to work with a power plant, an aircraft, a refrigerator or a fuel cell, if you want to help the energy concern of the world understand and control the weather calamities, you need to start with thermodynamics and heat transfer," Roy said.
According to Roy, the reason for the difficulty in this class is because it is a concept course that requires connecting and thinking, more than just solving example problems and doing homework.
"We talk about specific heat of a gas that you cannot see, or ideas like heat transfers and work done that you cannot directly measure at a state or entropy that you do not even feel," he said.
Roy wishes students would visit him and his four teaching assistants during office hours to keep track of their grades in the class.
"I always regret a student dropping out of class," he said. "But I try to understand that in spite of trying, this course may just not be right for them, and they have to make the call to drop out."
Catherine Perez, 21, a chemical engineering junior, is currently taking Thermodynamics. She anticipates that she will pass the class after a generous curve is given at the end of the semester.
Perez reads the textbook, does the assigned homework problems and reviews class examples. For supplemental help, she does problems from previous editions of the textbook and goes to office hours to ask questions. She also watches videos online from MIT and Learner's TV, popular resource tools for engineering students nationwide.
Perez stresses the importance of going to the professor's office hours.
"Believe me, it is a waste of your time to go sit in class three days a week while not having a clue of what's going on," she said. "You'll just find yourself cramming for quizzes and tests."
Knowledge of thermodynamics is essential to engineers. Recently, Perez had an interview in which they asked her to solve a real-life problem concerning a pure thermodynamics process.
Thermodynamics is time consuming, but not impossible. It will be the first engineering class that forces you to apply what you have learned to actual situations. The real-world knowledge you will gain from this course will help you in your engineering internships and jobs.
