GT Academic Horror Stories
- Thread starter kg01
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- Savannah,GA
OK now - DROWNPROOFING!!!!!!
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- 4,531
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- Savannah,GA
Let me add this to my own post - a fat girl in drownproofing is not a pretty thing! I did not automatically float!
- Messages
- 12,104
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- Marietta, GA
to funny jwsavh
presjacket
Ramblin' Wreck
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- 678
My first try at dynamics I had Virgil Smith. He wrote on my midterm, "This looks like nothing I have ever taught." I sat down with my paper for a few minutes and watched many of my classmates receive their midterms back and immediately walk out the door. I waited until he started teaching to get up and walk out and headed straight to get a drop form.
LongforDodd
LatinxBreakfastTacos
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- 3,194
Good god, that's the name I was trying to remember. with that same class.
00Burdell
Helluva Engineer
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- 1,298
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- Parts Unknown
I graduated a long time ago.
But I still have this recurring dream. I signed up for a class, showed up for one or two - enormous work load; I dropped the class. I was close to graduation and didn't need it - just thought it would be interesting.
Fast forward to the last week before end of the qtr - final exams next week.
Check my mailbox or something....
What's this?!?!... I DIDN"T DROP THE CLASS and have to make an A+ on the final or else I won't graduate. Talk to a buddy in the class to find out I have to memorize (practically) hundreds of pages of dense, incomprehensible information to even have a chance at passing.
Wake up in cold sweat.
Thanx, Ma Tech. Does anything think I qualify for PTSD benefits?
But I still have this recurring dream. I signed up for a class, showed up for one or two - enormous work load; I dropped the class. I was close to graduation and didn't need it - just thought it would be interesting.
Fast forward to the last week before end of the qtr - final exams next week.
Check my mailbox or something....
What's this?!?!... I DIDN"T DROP THE CLASS and have to make an A+ on the final or else I won't graduate. Talk to a buddy in the class to find out I have to memorize (practically) hundreds of pages of dense, incomprehensible information to even have a chance at passing.
Wake up in cold sweat.
Thanx, Ma Tech. Does anything think I qualify for PTSD benefits?
Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau
Banned
- Messages
- 2,077
Had Prof. Johnson for German II. He demanded only German be spoken once you entered the class. If you lapsed into English he would scream "Auf Deutsch!" and flick lighted cigarettes at you. Yes, long ago they smoked in class.
thocut
Jolly Good Fellow
- Messages
- 344
My dad had that same dream recently and he graduated 30 odd years ago. I've had the same dream as well, but unfortunately I'm not out yet.
- Messages
- 12,104
- Location
- Marietta, GA
Anyone ever have Prof. Stamford for Physics back in the early 80's. Supposedly teachers could also be on probation or warning if too many students didn't do well and apparently he was always on probation or warning.
During the 1st class of 1st quarter Physics had made comment regarding what freshmen are told the half teh folks that enter Tech won't graduate fro Tech. Then he proudly states that we should look around and that only one of every three students would be in this class come drop day.
We'll darned if he wasn't right. No partial credit... if you hosed up the "b" part of the problem you most likely messed up "c" and "d" becasue you had to have "b" correct to be able to answer "c" and "d".
Ended up with a 69.87 average - a D - for the class all becaseu the SOB would round it up to a 70 so I'd get a C for the class.
Too many teachers took it as a source of pride to give you the Ma Tech Shaft.
During the 1st class of 1st quarter Physics had made comment regarding what freshmen are told the half teh folks that enter Tech won't graduate fro Tech. Then he proudly states that we should look around and that only one of every three students would be in this class come drop day.
We'll darned if he wasn't right. No partial credit... if you hosed up the "b" part of the problem you most likely messed up "c" and "d" becasue you had to have "b" correct to be able to answer "c" and "d".
Ended up with a 69.87 average - a D - for the class all becaseu the SOB would round it up to a 70 so I'd get a C for the class.
Too many teachers took it as a source of pride to give you the Ma Tech Shaft.
GTJoeBrew
Helluva Engineer
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- 1,099
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- Loganville, GA
I had a similar experience with Matlab. I transferred into Tech after two years of junior college and then a one year stint at Clemson (didn't get into Tech after my first two year). While at Clemson, I took many courses that supposedly would transfer into Tech, but ended up not transferring or I needed to pass a test before I got in. I took C++ at Clemson thinking that would satisfy the matlab requirement... Boy was I wrong. To bypass the class, I had to take a shortened semester of Matlab with no homework and only one chance to pass the test after 3 weeks. I forget the professors name, but he basically told us all that no one was going to pass his test. I think maybe one or two of us did out of 40 or 50 students... Ended up putting Matlab off until my last semester and got a B.
- Messages
- 10,063
- Location
- Williamsburg Virginia
Mulligan for calculus was one who gave my wife fits. I helped her a lot and she got a C from him and was overjoyed. It was touch and go for a while. Many flunked.
Death Ray was one I had for some math. Most dropped or flunked. I took a math class every quarter except one, so I kind of look at it as a logical language. Most people look at it as an alien being fermenting their brain.
The hardest class I ever took was a Chemical Engineering class with a text book by Bird, Stewart and Lightfoot. (Bird**** edition) I still have the damn book with duct tape holding it together from all the times I threw it at the door so many times. I don't remember the profs name, but he did use the English language. Just he didn't use English in a way which was relevant to the class.
The humanity classes were always a crap shoot back then before the computer information which tells kids what the past curve for every prof has been. I would sign up for 24 hours with the intention of dropping my most difficult non-required class. I thought a Philosophy class would be interesting. In the first class we were told we had to read 6 books and write papers on them in addition to standard class work. The solution was a priori knowledge. An immediate drop.
Death Ray was one I had for some math. Most dropped or flunked. I took a math class every quarter except one, so I kind of look at it as a logical language. Most people look at it as an alien being fermenting their brain.
The hardest class I ever took was a Chemical Engineering class with a text book by Bird, Stewart and Lightfoot. (Bird**** edition) I still have the damn book with duct tape holding it together from all the times I threw it at the door so many times. I don't remember the profs name, but he did use the English language. Just he didn't use English in a way which was relevant to the class.
The humanity classes were always a crap shoot back then before the computer information which tells kids what the past curve for every prof has been. I would sign up for 24 hours with the intention of dropping my most difficult non-required class. I thought a Philosophy class would be interesting. In the first class we were told we had to read 6 books and write papers on them in addition to standard class work. The solution was a priori knowledge. An immediate drop.
I had the same nightmare for years. Not so frequently anymore. I got out 20 years ago, FWIW.
- Messages
- 10,063
- Location
- Williamsburg Virginia
My recurring nightmare is that I forgot I had a class. One day with three weeks to go in the quarter, I realize that I have to do a lot in a little time and will be lucky to pass if I ace the final. It sounds stupid, but with 7 or so classes that changed every three months it could have happened.
It was at GT that I learned how to manage my time. I learned to put something off until I only had enough time to finish it. I became very efficient at getting it done and being focused. Probably not the way you are supposed to do it. But now I like going from slack to full out and back to slack.
BTW, the teacher's name for my wife was "Shaft" Mulligan. I don't remember who the four horsemen of the Apocalypse were, but "Shaft" was infamous for good reason.
It was at GT that I learned how to manage my time. I learned to put something off until I only had enough time to finish it. I became very efficient at getting it done and being focused. Probably not the way you are supposed to do it. But now I like going from slack to full out and back to slack.
BTW, the teacher's name for my wife was "Shaft" Mulligan. I don't remember who the four horsemen of the Apocalypse were, but "Shaft" was infamous for good reason.
Animal02
Banned
- Messages
- 6,269
- Location
- Southeastern Michigan
Had an English class in which the prof smoked a pipe. One day, after class started, he pulled out all his smoking stuff, pipe tobacco, matches etc, and sets them on the desk. Proceeds to pack his pipe while lecturing, and ended up setting some papers down that covered the matches from his view......but the entire class could see where they were. He spent the next 40 minutes lecturing and checking every pocket of his pants and jacket countless times. No one said a word. He just kept reaching into pockets one after another while rambling on about something. We kept looking at each other and tried to maintain the giggling as much as possible. We all bust out laughing once we were out in the hall after class ended.
TheSilasSonRising
Helluva Engineer
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- 3,729
Yeah, but you gotta remember; people like that were most likely only successful at understanding one subject in their entire life and their major accomplishment in life was playing freaking mind games with 18 year olds. Well over half of them could not integrate into the average American social scene and only survived by sapping a living off tax payers.
Thankfully a wise person taught me that back in the day and it took me a long way in surviving MA T.
redmule
Ramblin' Wreck
- Messages
- 664
Calc III back in the quarter days. Had a professor named Robinson in the summer quarter. Without a doubt, the best professor I ever had. Made it seem like simple addition. Guy in the class had been lucky enough to have Robinson for the first two classes of calc and said it was that way in those classes. I had an A at midterm, then Robinson went on sabbatical or vacation or something, and was replaced with Dum-Dum Demke. Worst professor ever had. After a couple of weeks, one guy asked, "Professor, can you tell us where in the textbook is the material you're covering so we can study it." Answered with WTTE of, "It's probably not in the book." Wound up getting a D in the class, and was dumb enough not to go to the Hill and raise hell. My last week at Tech, I went to see Dr. Robinson and told him that he was the best teacher I had my entire time at Tech. I think he was really glad I did that.
Animal02
Banned
- Messages
- 6,269
- Location
- Southeastern Michigan
Finals week in winter quarter.....I had already finished up. Went to meet up with a couple of friends at Grumpys. Sitting with them was a EE prof that I had met a couple of times. He said he was giving a final in the AE building and told his class that if they had any questions to come across the street and find him. I really didn't believe it, but 5 minutes later, we see this kid dodging traffic on North Ave. with bunch of papers stuffed under his arm. Comes in, kneels down next to the prof while we continue with our cocktails (it was happy hour after all) He asked a bunch of questions, got answers, gathered up his stuff and hustled back across North Ave. Don't think you could get away with that these days.
I came pretty close to actually living "the dream." I was never a big fan of going to class at Tech, so I skipped a lot (I would just assume learn myself from the book than from a lecture). Anyway, optics was one of the classes that I never went to. When it got time for the final exam, I did remember and did show up, but nobody was there. The classroom was empty. I ran around panicked checking the nearby rooms, but none of those rooms were the optics exam. Finally, I found a small sheet of paper on the wall stating that the exam had been moved...to the next day. Apparently the professor announced it in the classes leading up to the final, but I was never there to hear it. I took the exam the next day and did fine. But I still remember that 5-10 minutes of sheer panic and thank god the exam wasn't moved to the day before instead of the day after!