Ranking the Top 5 Most Difficult ECE Courses

Having reached the last term in my undergrad, I figured I would look back at the courses I took. Some courses were definitely memorable for being more difficult than others. These rankings are my personal opinion and are not necessarily based off the grade I received in the course.

1. ECE 316 (Probability)

Why I found it difficult: Probability is less of a study of “in this situation, what is the chance of event X occurring?” and more of a study of probability theory (if that makes any sense). Because of this, the course tends to be quite abstract, which made the concepts harder to grasp. Frequently viewed as the most difficult course in 3A.

2. ECE 140/240/242 (Circuits)

Why I found them difficult: This one boils down to simply having a tough time with 140 (especially when Thévenin’s was introduced), which cascaded down to the remaining two courses because I didn’t have a solid grip on the fundamentals. 240 is a moderate step up over 140, but 242 was a much larger jump. One lab in 242 required us to design our own amplifier that meets a list of specifications, which required significantly more time to complete than other labs. Within this list, 140 holds the distinction of being the course with the lowest grade.

Also, relevant XKCD.

3. ECE 105/106 (Physics)

Why I found them difficult: Midterm/exams had questions that were far more difficult than any other problem encountered in homework/tutorials. MasteringPhysics (the online homework) was also very picky regarding answers (i.e. 1.03 is not acceptable when the correct answer is 1.033). Like 316, many ECE students view these courses as the hardest courses in first year.

4. ECE 103 (Discrete Math)

Why I found it difficult: Discrete math was different than calculus and other math courses where the focus was less on solving numerical problems, but rather the process behind theorems. Proofs were also a huge part of the course. This course was also notable for the prof giving a bonus question on one of the assignments that has never been solved by anyone in the world.

5. ECE 224 (Embedded Microprocessor Systems)

Why I found it difficult: Lots and lots of memorization in this course. Diagrams were quite complex.