General introductory courses here at Penn can be some of the toughest in the curriculum. The “econ scream” is a testament to that. And anyone who has suffered through Chemistry, Biology or Physics 101 will tell you — it wasn’t fun.
These courses are designed to provide students with a broad foundation of knowledge. Classes are large, curves are usually prodigious, and breadth takes precedence over depth.
Some schools are trying to change this. At Cornell, for example, professors have suggested amending the biology curriculum to rid it of large introductory classes and instead offer 5-6 smaller, more specialized classes.
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