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  1. #1
    Nobody Important Member Somebody Else's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Hmm, well, one can always go for a higher level qualification. But in comparison to other courses available at the same level, I'd say A-level mathematics has a contender in the Edexel M6 module. That was nasty, I reckon the hardest exam on the entire A-level syllabus (assuming, of course, that the appropiate two years' study has gone into it).
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  2. #2
    Viceroy of the Indian Empire Member Duke Malcolm's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Thus far, I would say Higher Classical Studies.
    I am anticipating that one of next years Advanced Higher courses shall be somewhat trickier : English, Mathematics, Physics or Chemistry...
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    Resident Northern Irishman Member ShadesPanther's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Quote Originally Posted by Somebody Else
    Hmm, well, one can always go for a higher level qualification. But in comparison to other courses available at the same level, I'd say A-level mathematics has a contender in the Edexel M6 module. That was nasty, I reckon the hardest exam on the entire A-level syllabus (assuming, of course, that the appropiate two years' study has gone into it).
    Chemistry is worse.
    Maths A-Level (CCEA) is difficult but it is quite doable when you see a few examples and find the pattern of how to do it. Chemistry is bad, really bad. There is no real link with most of the topics ao you are expected to learn a massive amount of totally unrelated topics and are expected to know them so well that you can say them backwards. Of Course i'm in a class with almost everyone of them wanting to do medicine, so Iit seems terrible when I just can't grasp something

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  4. #4
    Boy's Guard Senior Member LeftEyeNine's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Well, our last grade presentation about China was the most exhausting course me and my friends had ever done. Getting rejected about our outline by the instructor's assistant on the previous day of the presentation , we had to plan everything from the scratch. What's more our instructor had even organized presentations about China, doubling the difficulty of our job that had to be something that she'd find interesting.

    It was around 6 am that we had to take a break for a 3-hours of sleep, then wake up and get ready for it.

    The result was perfect. Effort always pays back.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Senior Member English assassin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Also physical chemistry for me. Two of the three first year courses for biochemistry at Oxford were physical chemistry and organic chemistry. Pure misery. Actually doing some biochemistry in year two was a huge relief.
    "The only thing I've gotten out of this thread is that Navaros is claiming that Satan gave Man meat. Awesome." Gorebag

  6. #6

    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Ancient Greek
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  7. #7
    Nobody expects the Senior Member Lemur's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    The one that kicked my hiney was called "History of English." Sounds harmless enough, doesn't it? It was a trap. A dirty, evil trap. They crammed in more linguistics than anybody in his right mind could absorb in one course. And to top it off, we were all expected to become fluent in Old English, which is pretty close to old German. It was three things rolled up into one: Learn a language, dig deep into linguistuics and linguistic theory, and also learn the actual history of the language.

    I barely survived. A lot of people didn't. It was an insane amount of stuff to cram into a single-semester course. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody, not even my worst enemy. (Don't people normally take multi-year courses to learn a language? Yeah, that's what I thought.)

  8. #8

    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Physics with calculus (AP) was pretty hard. Diffeq's would have been hard but I had a great teacher.

    CS classes always seem hard while your doing them. But afterwards they seem really easy.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Senior Member Red Peasant's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Quote Originally Posted by Sjakihata
    Ancient Greek
    Agreed.

    The teaching courses are easy as long as you work at them, that old preparation thing.
    THEN, they throw the real stuff like Homer and Thucydides at you at some stage. Beeeatch! Practise, Practise, Practise.
    Still, it's worth all of the hard work.
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  10. #10
    Research Fiend Technical Administrator Tetris Champion, Summer Games Champion, Snakeman Champion, Ms Pacman Champion therother's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    In terms of course difficulty, probably one of my later quantum physics courses. Never was any good at relativistic quantum field theory. On the up side, the course was so challenging that they couldn't really ask all that much, so the exam was pretty straightforward if you'd done the past exam questions.
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  11. #11
    German Enthusiast Member Alexanderofmacedon's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Now, I'm only a freshman in highschool, but I'd say so far it would have to be Business Computer Programing. We're learning how to develop programs using Java code.

    It's pretty hard...


  12. #12
    boy of DESTINY Senior Member Big_John's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    probably music theory 2. unlike everyone else in the class i had exactly no musical experience or background. very steep learning curve.
    now i'm here, and history is vindicated.

  13. #13
    Nobody Important Member Somebody Else's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Quote Originally Posted by English assassin
    Also physical chemistry for me. Two of the three first year courses for biochemistry at Oxford were physical chemistry and organic chemistry. Pure misery. Actually doing some biochemistry in year two was a huge relief.
    It was the organic that did it for me. I couldn't be bothered to learn all those minutely different little reactions. Plus the stick diagrams started to do my head in. The physical was pretty dry as well (but I passed that one in prelims).
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  14. #14
    Nobody Important Member Somebody Else's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Quote Originally Posted by ShadesPanther
    Chemistry is worse.
    Maths A-Level (CCEA) is difficult but it is quite doable when you see a few examples and find the pattern of how to do it. Chemistry is bad, really bad. There is no real link with most of the topics ao you are expected to learn a massive amount of totally unrelated topics and are expected to know them so well that you can say them backwards. Of Course i'm in a class with almost everyone of them wanting to do medicine, so Iit seems terrible when I just can't grasp something
    I did chemistry. Got an A in it without even trying. I also did three maths A-levels. Single maths is easy. Double maths requires some time awake. Triple maths is doable - just so long as you work for the easy bits - M5 and M6 I didn't expect to get an average percentage of more than 50.

    Of course, I will agree that A-level chemistry is largely senseless. As with GCSE, they teach you a simplified version, that is immediately shown to be wrong at the next step. I took the next step. A-level chemistry was shown to be a load of tripe. Degree level chemistry also happened to bore the hell out of me. So I changed to Ancient History.

    No subject is difficult given that the work's been done for it. It's subjects for which one is completely unprepared that there's trouble. I haven't written an essay since GCSEs. Now I'm expected to write degree level essays. That's hard work, for me. For most other people on my course, not a problem.

    It's all in the preparation.
    Don't have any aspirations - they're doomed to fail.

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  15. #15
    probably bored Member BDC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Quote Originally Posted by Somebody Else
    Hmm, well, one can always go for a higher level qualification. But in comparison to other courses available at the same level, I'd say A-level mathematics has a contender in the Edexel M6 module. That was nasty, I reckon the hardest exam on the entire A-level syllabus (assuming, of course, that the appropiate two years' study has gone into it).
    M6? You must have done a lot of maths modules...

    M1 is so easy lol...

    Chemistry at A2 is pretty tricky.

  16. #16
    Nobody Important Member Somebody Else's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Quote Originally Posted by BDC
    M6? You must have done a lot of maths modules...

    M1 is so easy lol...
    18.
    P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6
    M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6
    S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6

    The lower set did D1 and D2 instead of M5 and M6. (That is, if they did 18 modules at all, some were dropped to double maths instead).

    M1 and M2 are quite possibly the easiest exams I've ever had to do. If I remember, I got 100s in M1, M2, S1 and P1. (Really should have got 100s in P1, P2, S2 and S3 as well)
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  17. #17
    Vermonter and Seperatist Member Uesugi Kenshin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Honors Pre-Calc.

    I'm not done with it yet, but it is already the hardest I've ever taken, mostly because I don't like math and am not particularly good at it.
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  18. #18
    karoshi Senior Member solypsist's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    this is the hardest course i've ever done: the akina downhill against a trueno 86!


  19. #19
    Master of Few Words Senior Member KukriKhan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    this is the hardest course i've ever done: the akina downhill against a trueno 86!
    LoL. Good one, Soly!

    For me: 'Call for Fire'; an Army course to teach infantry guys to call for artillery fire on a position not their own. They gave you a plastic thing called a 'whiz wheel' that I (a highschool dropout at the time) could never make sense of, to supposedly help you decide distance, declination and armament - I think (Redleg could probably straighten me out on that). That whiz-wheel thingee got pretty banged up in the mud and various bodily fluids that happen upon it during combat, and even combat simulations in Army schools.

    Then there was the litany of the call itself. You were supposed to follow the prescribed format, and have all your ducks in order (like 10-digit grid coordinates) before you call. Thank gods for the forebearance of actual artillerymen on the other end of a real call; coaching idiots like me, so they understood where I was, and where the bad guys were. And which to throw heat at.

    But for training, they had no patience. It took 4 no-go's before I got it.

    'Course it doesn't compare to chem or physics (huge holes in my education). I admire your achievements, fellas.
    Be well. Do good. Keep in touch.

  20. #20

    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Ancient greek composition. Gah.

  21. #21
    probably bored Member BDC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    Quote Originally Posted by Somebody Else
    18.
    P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P6
    M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6
    S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6

    The lower set did D1 and D2 instead of M5 and M6. (That is, if they did 18 modules at all, some were dropped to double maths instead).

    M1 and M2 are quite possibly the easiest exams I've ever had to do. If I remember, I got 100s in M1, M2, S1 and P1. (Really should have got 100s in P1, P2, S2 and S3 as well)
    I'm impressed. I have done C1, C2, C3 and S1 so far. All been pretty easy. C4 and M1 coming up. Haven't got 100% in any though. I find it physically impossible to do more work than I need to get the grade I want. It's very peculiar.

  22. #22
    Not affiliated with Red Dwarf. Member Ianofsmeg16's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hardest course you've ever done

    French GCSE :D
    its not even finished yet :(
    When I was a child
    I caught a fleeting glimpse
    Out of the corner of my eye.
    I turned to look but it was gone
    I cannot put my finger on it now
    The child is grown,
    The dream is gone.
    I have become comfortably numb...

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