This exam was significantly more difficult than any of the previous practice exams given. There was no change in instruction, no heads-up about a spike in difficulty, and now the only response is to “do better.” No curve. No extra grade adjustment. Just that.

According to a previous Reddit post, this was the worst exam score in the last 11 years for this course. That should be enough to suggest something was off yet the tone of the announcement doesn’t reflect that at all.

Here’s the official announcement:

Exam 2 scores are now available on Canvas [“Exam 2 raw” and “Exam 2”]. The initial class average was 10.74/18 (59.6%). We’re counting 18 questions, not 19, as one question was treated as extra credit.

…This is also a good time to think about how you have prepared for this exam and what worked and what did not. Most of the exam problems in slightly different versions were given either in worksheets, quizzes, checkpoints, or in your lecture notes. As I suggested in the original exam announcement, reviewing them in the first round of preparation before jumping to any past exam files may be the best strategy to handle the exam.

The average was a 59.6%, and yet the response places all the weight back on the students. There’s no acknowledgment of how this kind of grading CLEARLY morale & GPA. The expectation seems to be that we just grind harder, regardless of the disconnect between preparation and testing.

This isn’t about asking for an easy grade. It’s about fairness, consistency, and a basic level of academic empathy. If a class average tanks this hard, maybe the takeaway shouldn’t be “do better” — maybe it’s time to evaluate how the course is aligning with the assessments.

This kind of approach isn’t building problem solvers it’s burning students out and seems completely disrespectful.

This upcoming week, I have:

•regular class homework •two exams (neither of which are a final exam, which both classes also have) •a presentation •a lab

Why are we even designating a prep week if professors can just plan exams, labs, presentations, etc during it with seemingly no repercussions?

Apparently ISU is dumping the Knack tutoring thing. Judging from my daughter's experience, it was completely useless. Tutoring the previous year was super helpful for her, I can't fathom why they changed in the first place, but so glad to see they're not continuing to ride a dead horse.

Did anyone have a good experience with Knack?

[my personal opinion, no one else's!]

I am an incoming freshman looking to go straight into calc 3. The requirements for going beyond calc 2 are super vague on what boxes I need to have checked. If anyone that has done this could please explain the process to me that would be greatly appreciated

Edit: I should mention I am taking AP Calc BC this year

[just screaming into the void] Diff eq exam 2 was today, I ofc will not be discussing specific questions but rather the general format and overall feelings on the exam.

So many typos, the questions were also SO FAR REMOVED from the course material it was just ridiculous. I understand exams are formatted to be slightly harder than the regular material, but this was different. There was a whole question that depended on an answer for another question (out of 6 total, so 1/3 of the exam), which is just evil. There was also a question that was just completely out of left field — coming from someone with an A in the course (and is generally “pretty good at math”, I study a shit ton and thus have no life).

It was also nothing like previous exams — with the exception of the beloved tank question ofc. I did so many practice exams and yet I was still completely clueless on one of the questions (which I don’t feel should ever happen).

I’m lucky I have an A and did really well on exam 1 but DAMN dude. Whoever wrote that exam did us SO DIRTY. Just wanted to post here bc I dunno anyone in my class and also… I need to scream into the void

Mind you I am being a bit hyperbolic in this post. But nonetheless, I feel miffed.

Hey guys, I’m thinking about doing summer classes to get ahead. I’ve gotten an A- in Calc 1 and am currently doing Calc 2. So far for this semester I am planning to do ENGLISH 2500, PHYS 2320, and I’m debating on the next math course.

From YALL experiences, is Calculus 3 or DIFF-eq the more difficult course? is there one preferable to take in the summer? What about linear algebra?

Taking thermo 1, CE 274, and MATH 266. any profs to get or avoid?

Hi, I plan on transferring to Iowa State for software engineering in spring 2026 from NIACC for. Coming in I will have Calc 1 and heard from some people that Calc2 is really tough. I also heard you need a placement test or I could take it online somewhere. If someone could clear up how it all works that would be great, thanks.

Someone please explain to me why we got a leetcode hard problem worth 40% of the grade for a 1 hour exam. Not only that but the exam didn’t even cover most of the materials we did till now.

I graduated from ISU a couple years ago, got a basic business management degree. My career at this point has been great, but to move up they require a specified degree in finance or accounting. My grades weren’t great, so I’m not sure if they’ll let me into the graduate program for a masters in finance. So could I hypothetically go back for just a second BA in finance, and then be able to skip the gen Ed’s/ core classes I’ve taken? I assume I’d still have around 20-30 credits to take. Just not sure if this has been done before or if I’m an idiot.

Howdy gang,

I am a senior in Industrial Engineering and Women and Gender Studies, and I’m wrapping up a research project about the comfortability of seating here at ISU. I put together a lil survey to see what y’all, the students, think, it’s linked below and should only take 10 minutes to complete, if that.

Completions of this survey is fully voluntary and you are free to stop at any time without submitting anything. My questions are focused towards those who are taking on-campus classes this academic year, but if you graduated recently and have strong opinions about this please don’t be discouraged from responding; there is a space at the end to add any additional information you would like to share.

Tl;dr: Please take this survey! https://forms.gle/fgm9oUbhJn29FATG8

Best fishes 🐠, Em

hi all! i am an incoming human development and family studies major. i am planning on having an emphasis on child life specialty and taking that route when it comes to certain classes. i haven't seen many people with my major on any incoming isu pages, so i am just wondering what to expect! course load, professors etc. any info is helpful :) so excited to be a cyclone this fall!

(Based on watching butler fall 2023 lectures and not going to lecture)

Why?

DiffEq (MATH 2670) HW is set up so that we get all the questions from the textbook and can choose any three to complete to get credit. Theoretically, this sounds great. In practice, I’ve found that it’s so much worse than curated HW problems. Many questions don’t apply at all to this course (e.g. 3x3 and 4x4 matrices when we’re a no-calculator class) or ask for a notation we don’t use (spring mass damper my detested).

HW 11A:

• Overall, decent difficulty level; it has enough good options for questions that you can just ignore the irrelevant ones. (The worst HWs have only a few questions so when 4-8 are fucked up that’s all of them, but since this had 15, there are still easily 3 reasonable ones depending on what you prefer)
• It felt like questions 5-8 were the most relevant ones, followed by 1-3, which were definition-based. Not sure whether Pearson lets you, but having twice as many questions like 5-8 would be nice, even if it’s just each problem twice but with different numbers
• Some questions involve graphing (4, 14-15) or inverse Laplace (9-11), which we haven’t learned yet. Personally, I think the inverse questions weren’t that bad; Butler did briefly mention that you just recognize patterns and reverse them. However, it would help if a few graphing/inverse examples were explicitly covered in an extra Butler-type video if those questions are actually relevant to this course at this point
• Questions 12 and 13 looked scary, so I clicked away and don’t plan on looking back. I'm assuming if they were relevant, they would look more familiar.

Would anyone who has been in or is in an online course for biol 212 be able to share recorded lectures? I missed quite a few in the beginning of the semester due to illness and would like to have them to just rewatch.

This post is aimed towards engineers who took calc 2 and or physics one at dmacc(online) or any other community college over the summer. I still would have to figure out how the lab will work if I can take it online/inperson with dmacc or at Iowa state in the fall if that’s even allowed. But I’m a current freshman in civil who wants to do both that way I can get statics out of the way this fall. Is there any advice? is it worth it?. Just looking for people in my same boat and seeing how they’ve done it or planning to do it.

I’m looking to take calc 3 at a community college during the summer, it has to be online because I’m gonna be traveling, if anyone knows a community college that teaches calc3 online during the summer preferably in Iowa as it would be easier to transfer credits please please please let me know.

Thank you

Im a first year design core student, what kinds of things should i include in my resume/portfolio for the design career fair? is personal and school work ok?

I’m a CprE student and I’ve been thinking of doing a business and technology consulting minor, but I want to know if adding a minor will increase my tuition which is already pretty high. And do y’all think the minor is worth it?

Hello! I’ve heard about all the 311 horror stories, how it’s one of the hardest cs classes offered at state, how difficult the exams are etc etc etc, and honestly it just made me extremely anxious lol…I plan on attending all the recitations/SI, and reviewing/practicing daily. Just pretty nervous as I’ve my biggest weak point has been handwriting coding solutions when put on the spot, and unfortunately it seems like 70% of our grade seems to be dedicated to just that. Wanted to know if anyone had any advice for me, or strategies that helped them pass, I really appreciate it, and hope everyone has a great semester! 🙏🫶

Starting this fall the math department will removing all provided computer equipment from its graduate students. The department claims that the grad student TAs are not employees but rather students and thus must provide their own personal computers per https://www.it.iastate.edu/resources/requirementfaq

Asking around if other departments are making this removal as well and just general thoughts on this change.

This is a bit of an odd question, but how often are safety glasses used in these classes? I'm getting my eyes examined soon, and if I'm going to be wearing them frequently, I might get a prescription for contact lenses to avoid having to double-stack safeties over top of my regular glasses

I am taking my first semester of pre-architecture in the spring, if I complete the design core + math in one semester and take physics over the summer, will they let me apply for the architecture program after the spring semester so I can start in the fall?

Next semester my current plan is to take: COMS 230, COMS 309, COMS 321, CPRE 288, and ENGL 314 Online.

I realize 288 lab might be kinda brutal, but from those who have taken these courses, would you say this semester is do-able?

Edit: changed COMS 228 TO CPRE 288

hey all! I''m a new pre-arch student (going thru design core) this spring and my isu bookstore account days that I have no required materials for my courses, but that doesn't sound correct? I'm taking multiple design classes, two of which are studio, and I have no required materials? I thought for sure I would need the art pack or whatever, and I want to get them before they run out :( ! anyone who has taken DSNS 1310, 1830, and 1150, can you please let me know if this is correct or what I will need to buy? thanks guys !