Before I get started here, allow me to define the term "artsie." Here at my engineering program the university is divided into two main groups: us, the engineering students, and them, every other program. We are by far the superior ones in intellects and everything else while the artsies are barely struggling along on this planet. Before you try to argue this point like a fool, ask yourself this: Have you ever seen somebody with an engineering degree flipping burgers? No? Good.
Now back to my main topic. Recently I had to write a 10 page research paper for my elective course (an artsie one, mind you). My TA is a graduate student, so she should know what the hell she's doing by now, right? Wrongo. I had handed in my paper 3 days late knowing that there would be a 3% penalty for every day it was late. I just got back the paper today and it has an interesting comment for the grade.
Oh well, at least I got a good grade! Any other horror stories out there? I have puh-lenty more, but I'll save them for a rainy day for now.
Now back to my main topic. Recently I had to write a 10 page research paper for my elective course (an artsie one, mind you). My TA is a graduate student, so she should know what the hell she's doing by now, right? Wrongo. I had handed in my paper 3 days late knowing that there would be a 3% penalty for every day it was late. I just got back the paper today and it has an interesting comment for the grade.
Now in case your math skills are not up to speed, not a single number here makes any sense! What the hell is this? Is this some kind of joke? No matter how much I try to adjust any of the numbers it still doesn't come out right. How the hell does somebody like this become a grad, not to mention a graduate student? She was even telling us that she was going to go get her PhD after this! If there are any artsies that are reading this, sorry if I insulted your kind earlier, could you please try to interpret this piece of garbage to me?The TA with dubious math skills said:
Oh well, at least I got a good grade! Any other horror stories out there? I have puh-lenty more, but I'll save them for a rainy day for now.
i suggest you visit me in Croatia someday and see our local Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. i study day and night, go to classes regularly and consider myself very lucky if i manage to do 50% of a test or exam correctly. if i manage to get all 2's (2 is Croatian equivalent of D) i'll be one of lucky 25% students who managed to pass - EVERYBODY ELSE FAILS! it's a massacre! when i walk down the halls of my college all i see are desperate students crying about how they flunked this and that, how the last test was incredibly difficult, how the assistant bullies them on lab excercises, and so on, i begin to wonder how severe is the psychological damage on these young people. you are pissed because the professor didn't give any info about the exam? here professors don't even know what the exam is ABOUT. exams are mostly devised by assistants, who all have one thing in common - they hate your guts! they disqualify you if you so much as lend your fellow student an eraser. even if the student manages to pass this HELL, there's still oral examination, and guess who's there? yep, the professor. but no reason to celebrate. the bastard will ask the hardests things from a 600 page book and when you don't know something he'll ask you closely related stuff over and over again. answers like "but sir, you didn't explain that in the classes" are a guaranteed failure, because professor won't take crap from no-one. bastards. mind you, those 75% who flunk every year aren't by any means stupid. because the faculty has a very difficult qualification exam which includes both "elementary" and higher mathematics, and only 30% applicants pass. these 30% are best of the best, finest young mathematicians in Croatia (yes, you have to know derivatives and integers in order to get into college which teaches you programming 
