The Hardest Classes Sub Heading

It is a common understanding that any engineering is a difficult major and that is well put for electrical engineering. In my opinion electrical engineering is one of the hardest engineering majors because it is more magical in nature, that is you cannot directly see everything happening like you could in mechanical engineering, and all the classes are challenging. However there are some classes that are considered to be more challenging than others and all electrical engineers fear taking them. These classes along with the semesters they are taken are listed below. These classes are classes all electrical engineers have to take so they will not include electives, it will also be based on the Michigan Tech curriculum.  This also will not include core subjects such as chemistry, physics, and the mathematics classes. With that said lets get into what I consider to be the most challenging electrical engineering classes and why they are so difficult.

The Classes in No Particular Order

1. Electromagnetics – Taken Semester 5
   1. It is a very specific topic to only a few industries so it is not taken as seriously as it should be by most students.
   2. The topics are very abstract with little explanation on the underlying fundamentals on the topics.
   3. The math is some of the most difficult math that will be done in school.
2. Control Systems – Taken Semester 6
   1. The course compiles everything you have learned in electrical engineering so far and focuses on practical applications of these concepts.
   2. The course also moves from strictly electrical systems into integration with mechanical systems.
   3. This class is the second great increase in course work and studying that students often face. I remember when I started this course I often felt behind and like there was a course in between this one and signals and systems that I did not take.
3. Signals and Systems – Taken Semester 5
   1. This is the most math intensive class in electrical engineering and it introduces many new concepts to be used to analyse different systems.
   2. It is not very interactive and there is no way to prove what you are doing in lab making it a very abstract topic.
   3. There is no direct application that can be found right away and there is no singular way to solve a problem that is given, so it is not very systematic.
4. Circuits 2 and Lab -Taken Semester 4
   1. Most of the time it is taken the second year and is the first major increase in workload so students are not ready for the amount of effort needed.
   2. It is no longer the basics of electrical engineering and it covers the basics of every course that will be taken after this point.
   3. Due to the fact there is no singular topic it expands on questions and topics without providing direct and detailed understanding.
5. Communication Systems – Taken Semester 7
   1. The concepts are very abstract and while it is easy to see their use it is not as easy to understand them.
   2. The math is very difficult and calculations and the approach to the problem is consistently changing.
   3. Because there are so many topics that can be covered there once again questions that are not answered.

As you can see there are many similarities as to why the classes are difficult. Most of this is due to increased workload, abstract material that poses questions without complete answers, and difficult mathematics behind them. I would warn you to be on the lookout for these classes and make sure you put in the work when you need to take them.