University Difficulty: What Makes Some Degrees Harder Than Others?

When people talk about university difficulty, how demanding a degree program is based on workload, exam pressure, and conceptual complexity. It’s not just about how smart you are—it’s about how the system is built. Some degrees feel like climbing a mountain with no map. Others? You can see the trail, and it’s still steep, but you know where to step. The difference isn’t luck. It’s structure.

Academic rigor, the intensity of learning expectations and assessment standards in a program varies wildly. A computer science degree at a top school isn’t hard because it’s full of math—it’s hard because you’re expected to solve problems no one has solved before, often with no clear answer. Meanwhile, a business degree might seem easy until you’re juggling five group projects, a 50-page report, and a 3-hour final exam—all in one week. Student workload, the total time and mental energy required to complete coursework and meet deadlines doesn’t always match the title. Some programs hide their pressure behind friendly syllabi. Others scream it from the first day.

It’s not just the subject. It’s the culture. At some schools, failing a midterm means you’re on probation. At others, you get a second chance and a pep talk. The toughest degrees aren’t always the ones with the most math—they’re the ones that demand perfection, sleepless nights, and zero room for error. Think engineering, medicine, law, and advanced physics. But even those can feel manageable if the support system is strong. On the flip side, a degree in education or literature can be brutal if your professor grades like a hawk and expects you to read 200 pages a week while teaching part-time.

And here’s the thing no one tells you: university difficulty changes depending on where you are. A course that’s considered easy at one university might be the hardest in another. The same syllabus, same textbook, same professor—but different expectations. One school measures success by grades. Another measures it by how much you learned when no one was watching.

What you’ll find below are real stories from students who’ve been there. They broke down what made their degrees feel impossible, which subjects tripped them up the most, and how they survived. You’ll see how JEE coaching centers prepare students for exams that feel like life-or-death. You’ll read about why CBSE and ICSE are called India’s toughest school boards—and how that pressure carries straight into college. You’ll learn why some online degrees move fast but leave you drained, while others feel slow but build real depth. And you’ll find out which government exams are harder than any degree because they don’t just test knowledge—they test endurance.

This isn’t about scaring you. It’s about preparing you. If you’re thinking about what’s next after school, you need to know what you’re signing up for. Not the brochures. Not the rankings. The real, messy, sleep-deprived truth.