I got a B in a class I attended twice.

[uw_madtown]

Once to pick up the first take-home midterm test. Again to turn it in. The syllabus was e-mailed to a class list (so I didn't go on the first day) and the other two tests (also take-home) were mailed out as well. I spent approximately 20 hours doing the three tests, each about 6-8 pages long. Other than attending two class sessions and doing the tests, I put no other effort into this class.

Posting this for two reasons:

1) To see if any other college students have similar stories of ridiculously easy courses.

2) To brag.

[spamuell]

Edit: Decided I was being a dick. Well done.

[Bradyams]

I had an english course where we told the professor what grade we get, and the class was ridiculously easy. Over the entire semester we wrote one poem, and two 2 page magazine articles on a topic of our choice. I wrote both mine on poker, which made it even easier.

Oh ya, and I got an A.

[miajag81]

Weak. I got an A- in a class (Accounting I) I attended once.

[CallMeIshmael]

I've pulled an A in two courses in which I couldnt identify the professors until I saw them at exams.

[kurosh]

You're bragging because you took a ridiculously easy course, twice, and got a B? Good job!

[CallMeIshmael]

[ QUOTE ]
You're bragging because you took a ridiculously easy course, twice, and got a B?

[/ QUOTE ]

Attending a class twice does not equate to taking it twice.

[kurosh]

Oh, sorry, I misread.

[uw_madtown]

[ QUOTE ]
You're bragging because you took a ridiculously easy course, twice, and got a B? Good job!

[/ QUOTE ]

If you think I was actually bragging, you're pretty stupid.

It's a scenario that's pretty common and I figured others might have interesting stories along the same lines. Thus the thread. If I actually thought it was some achievement worth bragging about, I'd be telling people I actually know, rather than an internet forum.

In conclusion, stop sucking at life.

Edit to add: You misread, so your post is less silly. Although how you misread, I'm not sure.

[goofball]

U of Washiington has a numeric grading system wiht 0.0 being hte worst and 4.0 beinng the best.

I got a 4.0 in Econ 200, Introduction to Mircoecon.

I went on the first day, the first midterm, the second midterm, the day before the final (horrible, i know) and the final.

[kurosh]

Yes, I'm the stupid one.
[ QUOTE ]
Posting this for two reasons:

1) To see if any other college students have similar stories of ridiculously easy courses.

2) To brag.

[/ QUOTE ]

[spamuell]

OK I might as well post this in this thread. I have very little of understanding of how your grading system works, a girl I know who goes to Bryn Mawr just told me she got three 3.7s and a 3.3. Is this good?

[uw_madtown]

FWIW, this class didn't sound easy when I signed up for it. This happens pretty frequently, where a class just turns out to be a cake class that isn't worth my time. If I didn't have other things I consider more important, obviously I could have pulled an A by, you know, reading. Or showing up to class. But if I can essentially take a B in a class for doing virtually nothing, it lightens my load and allows me to do better in classes that I might actually learn something from.

I find it fascinating. I'm not at some Ivy League school, but UW is a pretty damn good school and I cannot believe how often I end up in classes that require little to no effort. It happens almost every semester.

[bisonbison]

Spam -

in most american colleges/universities, an A is the best possible grade:

A = 4.0
A- = 3.67 (3.7)
B+ = 3.3
B = 3

and so on and so forth.

Depending on your school and it's grade inflation and your major and your zodiac sign, a GPA around 3.5 is either good or average.

[uw_madtown]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, I'm the stupid one.
[ QUOTE ]
Posting this for two reasons:

1) To see if any other college students have similar stories of ridiculously easy courses.

2) To brag.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

OOT's ability to pick up on sarcasm and jokes has gone downhill in the last few months.

Next time I post something sarcastic, I'll make sure to include a /images/graemlins/tongue.gif so no one takes me seriously.

[spamuell]

Thanks bison.

[CallMeIshmael]

[ QUOTE ]
a GPA around 3.5 is either good or average.

[/ QUOTE ]

really?

I am not american, so I dont have any friends who attend an american school outside of mine... which means I have no idea what is good/average at other schools.

[CallMeIshmael]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not at some Ivy League school

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorta off topic, but, from what I've heard, Harvard and Brown are both very easy once you get in.

Can anyone confirm/deny this?

[tbach24]

Wow, I'm currently in a Physics class posting on 2+2, talking to friends and doing fantasy baseball and am getting an A. I have done this every day for the past 3 months. I rule.

[OtisTheMarsupial]

This hapened to me regularly in undergrad. But don't get in the habit if you plan on an advanced degree. It doesn't happen at all in Law School.

[uw_madtown]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
a GPA around 3.5 is either good or average.

[/ QUOTE ]

really?

I am not american, so I dont have any friends who attend an american school outside of mine... which means I have no idea what is good/average at other schools.

[/ QUOTE ]

From my experience, 3.0 is average, 3.5 is good, 4.0 is awesome.

[GoblinMason (Craig)]

I don't know if this counts, but one of my classes had a lab section that meant once a week and I skipped everyone but the test and got an A for my lab grade.

-Craig

[stinkypete]

[ QUOTE ]

Sorta off topic, but, from what I've heard, Harvard and Brown are both very easy once you get in.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is true.

[FishNChips]

what class? My guesses (in order) are: PoliSci / Econ / History / English

My "got a good grade with minimal effort" story:
had a roomate in college who was a poli-sci major and insisted that his major was more difficult than my Bio major due to all the reading. I assured him he was full of crap and we agreed to take one lower level / intro class from the other persons major (filled electives for us anyhow). We took the classes together.
I attended 2 lectures, did 1/4 of the reading and got an A. He got a B in the class. When I asked him what he wrote his term paper about he told me that he disagreed with the professor's position on some hot topic of the day. I laughed, gave him my term paper (I got an A, he got a C) that was 4 pages shorter, had fewer references, less defense of my position -- my position just happened to agree with the professors.

There is a hole in a wall of that apartment as evidence of the event.

FishNChips

[BreakfastBurrito]

[ QUOTE ]
This hapened to me regularly in undergrad. But don't get in the habit if you plan on an advanced degree. It doesn't happen at all in Law School.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd have to second this. I went to about 25% of my classes overall in undergrad, took an assload of classes, finished in basically 5 semesters with a degree in Mechanical Engg with highest honors. And I went to Ga Tech, which is a pretty good engineering school. With those same habits, which I had been developing since elementary school, grad school was a disaster of epic proportions.

[uw_madtown]

[ QUOTE ]
what class? My guesses (in order) are: PoliSci / Econ / History / English

[/ QUOTE ]

History and Culture of SE Asia to be exact.

While I don't think liberal arts majors are easy, I do think they're easier than many Engineering and Science majors. I was basically bred through HS to be an Engineering / Comp Sci major, and I started out on that track. I switched to a Film and English double major. I switched because I couldn't see myself as an engineer or programmer... I wouldn't be happy. But having taken the intro type stuff for Comp Sci, and knowing some science majors, I would never argue that my classes are, on the whole, more difficult. It's just not true most of the time.

[mmbt0ne]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">En réponse à:</font><hr />
</font><blockquote><font class="small">En réponse à:</font><hr />
I'm not at some Ivy League school

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorta off topic, but, from what I've heard, Harvard and Brown are both very easy once you get in.

Can anyone confirm/deny this?

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1121-02.htm

I had a link to a syllabus too, where the grade breakdown was something like 30% A+, 25% A, 25% A-, 15% B+, 5% B but apparently I deleted it.

[Jack of Arcades]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow, I'm currently in a Physics class posting on 2+2, talking to friends and doing fantasy baseball and am getting an A. I have done this every day for the past 3 months. I rule.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, but you go to retard school.

[SCfuji]

my astronomy teacher actually encouraged us to skip lectures because that is what he did during college. the only thing was that we needed to show up for testing. favorite class/prof of all time.

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Wow, I'm currently in a Physics class posting on 2+2, talking to friends and doing fantasy baseball and am getting an A. I have done this every day for the past 3 months. I rule.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, but you go to retard school.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, good call. Only for 10 more days and then I'm done with being a retard forever!!!!!!!!!!111

[snowden719]

this is standard for me, I almost never go to class, except when I find it incredibley interesting. The fact that I have a sleep disorder makes it almost impossible to wake up before 2 unless I go to bed absurdly early. You should strive for better, I've gotten A's in classes I'v never been to, although to be fair, I am a philosophy major.

[bump]

[ QUOTE ]
I've pulled an A in two courses in which I couldnt identify the professors until I saw them at exams.

[/ QUOTE ]

Two classes. ~$22,000 a semester. So you spent roughly $4,250 to learn absolutely nothing from some of the most brilliant minds in the world.

Well Played. At least you will leave with a sweet piece of paper that says "Cornell" on it.

[gumpzilla]

[ QUOTE ]

Two classes. ~$22,000 a semester. So you spent roughly $4,250 to learn absolutely nothing from some of the most brilliant minds in the world.

[/ QUOTE ]

So you think he's taking nine classes or so? Yikes. Doubtful. Furthermore, before you get all sanctimonious, there is a WORLD of difference between not attending a class and not learning. Reading, thinking and talking are frequently more effective than getting lectured at for a wide range of people.

I'm curious what subject this was in. My last semester as an undergrad I turned nocturnal about halfway through in an effort to lead something resembling my normal social life while also working on my thesis. I gave up on my classes other than the one physics class I had that had one meeting for an hour a week with me and one other guy. In particular, I stopped going to topology immediately after the midterm, eight weeks or so before the end of the semester.

After my thesis was handed in, I decided to go back to topology. The professor for that course, who I hadn't spoken to about this move at all, acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary and conversed with me when I came in and sat down (it was a seven person course or so, so my absence was super conspicuous.) I talked to him afterward about whether he'd be available to talk to me about homework for the course, of which I'd handed in nothing, as I tried to feverishly learn two-thirds of a semester in topology in two days before the final. Over the next two days I did basically two-thirds of the homework for that class and then took the final, and got out of the class having never handed in any of the homework which was 30% of the grade with a B.

Stunts like this make good stories in some ways, but it's a mixed bag. I was back at my college recently for a reunion and was talking to a current senior in the physics department. A professor that I had for one course apparently told a story about me doing five problem sets for his classical mechanics course overnight at the end of the semester (the structure of the course made it so that these were five heavily worked-on problem sets, so this was mostly tying up loose ends but still involved a lot of work). I know the story was about me because he apparently MENTIONED ME BY NAME to a crowd of people, none of whom had been at the college at the same time as me, so there wasn't any reason for him to think that they would have any clue who he was talking about. I reiterate that I had this professor for one course almost five years ago. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I heard that.

[fluff]

One of my professors pointed out to me once that "Students are the only consumer group that want less for their money".

[jgorham]

I am taking a class this quarter titled The History of the Indian Ocean. My professor posts detailed notes online, as well as posting our exact tests on the web about a week before we take them (2 map quizzes, a midterm, and final for the class). I have been to class more than you - more tests - but have put in a lot less effort as the tests are exactly what he puts online.

I currently have 100%

[Supersetoy]

[ QUOTE ]
FWIW, this class didn't sound easy when I signed up for it. This happens pretty frequently, where a class just turns out to be a cake class that isn't worth my time. If I didn't have other things I consider more important, obviously I could have pulled an A by, you know, reading. Or showing up to class. But if I can essentially take a B in a class for doing virtually nothing, it lightens my load and allows me to do better in classes that I might actually learn something from.

I find it fascinating. I'm not at some Ivy League school, but UW is a pretty damn good school and I cannot believe how often I end up in classes that require little to no effort. It happens almost every semester.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's your major?

At UW (probably at many schools...and I just graduated last year as an Information Systems major) it's easy to pass classes without attending them. As long as you can easily grasp concepts and test well, college is a piece of cake.

How I miss it... /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[CallMeIshmael]

[ QUOTE ]
Two classes. ~$22,000 a semester. So you spent roughly $4,250 to learn absolutely nothing from some of the most brilliant minds in the world.

Well Played. At least you will leave with a sweet piece of paper that says "Cornell" on it.

[/ QUOTE ]

You arent looking at the whole picture though...

If you don't attend classes, you get to add other things to your life:

1. Sleeping in
2. Poker. ($$$)
3. Free time with friends who dont have class at that time
4. Volunteer work (this looks good on the med/grad school app)

But... I have to point out that, its not like Im not learning from these minds.

You can get the lecture slides off of the internet. Some even have audio recordings.

Also, you can purchase the notes from this thing called TakeNote for like $50/class.


Just because I dont see the teacher doesnt mean I didnt learn.

[sam h]

[ QUOTE ]
OOT's ability to pick up on sarcasm and jokes has gone downhill in the last few months.

[/ QUOTE ]

Looked like bragging to me.

[CallMeIshmael]

Also...

[ QUOTE ]
~$22,000 a semester.

[/ QUOTE ]

WOW... no. Way too high.

[edtost]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
a GPA around 3.5 is either good or average.

[/ QUOTE ]

really?

I am not american, so I dont have any friends who attend an american school outside of mine... which means I have no idea what is good/average at other schools.

[/ QUOTE ]

From my experience, 3.0 is average, 3.5 is good, 4.0 is awesome.

[/ QUOTE ]

for some reason, my school has decided to rank students into 'quintiles' .... the cutoff for the 5th was something like a 3.1

[BK_]

there are just some classes that going isnt worth to, especially if you can get take note. ive found that 2 of my 4 classes a semester are this way; you can do just as well by using spending a little extra time with the book.

ishmael, im at cornell also. well, i will be for 1 more week. what year are you? man senior week is fun

[BK_]

no matter how you look at it, going to astro 101 lectures wont help you learn astronomy any more fully. there are lots of upper level classes i would never miss, but alot of entry/mid level lectures arnt anything groundbreaking, especially in areas like math science or econ