Comment by sampleinajar

I think the parent is maybe using hyperbolic language, but I think, at least from my direct experience and second hand accounts, it is fair to say that, especially entry level and foundational, courses in STEM in US universities are used to "thin the herd". At my state school O-Chem and Physics I contributed to high drop and repeat-take rates. These things sure feel like "hazing" especially when you are told and then experience that the upper division courses are nothing like that, and you are suddenly treated better, from an intellectual standpoint.