I took this class in Fall 2010 and made a C. It was probably the second hardest class I've ever taken (I found it slightly easier than Calculus 2 which was my toughest class yet, but many say it's harder than Calculus 2). The class started out with about 450 students, and by November there were only about 150 still enrolled in the class according to Moodle, which means that about 2/3rds of students had to drop the class and of the 1/3rd who remained in, I know from Moodle that a lot of them didn't pass. It seems that only about 1 in 4 people who take this course actually pass it. It's that difficult. This is one of the classes in engineering that is perhaps designed to weed out the people who can't make it in the field of engineering. Ms. Jacobs is also a really tough and demanding professor (but unfortunately I think she's the only one who teaches it). She responds to emails and is helpful with office hours, but her exams are just RIDICULOUS. You also will have homework due every single day (sometimes two per day). The only way you are going to pass this class is if you spend at least a couple hours studying every single day and devote several days prior to each exam studying for it (so hopefully the rest of your classes are easy and don't require as much devotion to them). Remember, your chances of passing this class are probably 1 in 4, but if you do exactly what I did (listed below), then you have a good chance at passing: go to class every single day, read every chapter in the book that you're assigned, do every homework, devote 3-4 entire days prior to each exam studying for that exam. when you don't understand something, go to office hours (there is no tutoring). The class isn't impossibly hard, but it is very hard. But it's supposed to be... as a civil engineer, lives will depend on you understanding your craft. That's why classes like this are so hard.
