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Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

nytimes.com

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Re: Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

#271

Post by tedmiston »

asdff wrote: post #205
el_cujo wrote: post #105

>Aafia Ahmad, a sophomore computer science major at U.T. Austin, had hoped to take an elective course in computer security this semester. But when she tried to sign up during early registration in November, the course was already full. I know this doesn't refute the point the article is trying to make, but it doesn't seem that unreasonable to me that an underclassman might not get into a highly sought after elective.…

A couple of my friends in the CSE program (not at texas though) had to take on a 5th year due to the poor scheduling. Doesn't help that you have to apply to the program after you are already a freshman, so if you bomb a tough math or physics class your first semester you are set back pretty far and have to build up your GPA to even get into the major.

You can workaround this with advance planning though.

I wasn't affected by bombing any classes and got direct admit to CS [^1], but there were classes of interest offered only once a year which filled up quickly. I just took them e.g., a year early than expected to make up for that or disregarded the prereqs and learned just enough on the fly. Another technique that helps is emailing the professor in advance of registration or after it's full and letting them how interested you are. Even better if you can stop by their office in person.

Another trick is to get into your school's Honors program which typically allows early registration vs non-Honors.

There were also 1-2 courses I audited for knowledge instead of officially taking which let me invest in basic learning without adding the pressure of a grade to a heavy course load.

Ideally everyone would have an academic advisor that lets them know this kind of thing in advance.

If I were graduating high school today, I would give serious consideration to Lambda School instead of a CS degree; though I also believe that we haven't seen enough time pass for the long-term implications of a decision like this to play out yet (e.g., future career discrimination based on lack of degree).

[^1]: I feel for people that don't get direct admit into their engineering major. This part feels unfair IMO. I think that everyone should be able to start in their desired major by default and disqualify out vs default out and qualify in.

Re: Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

#272

Post by tedmiston »

fatnoah wrote: post #267
el_cujo wrote: post #105

>Aafia Ahmad, a sophomore computer science major at U.T. Austin, had hoped to take an elective course in computer security this semester. But when she tried to sign up during early registration in November, the course was already full. I know this doesn't refute the point the article is trying to make, but it doesn't seem that unreasonable to me that an underclassman might not get into a highly sought after elective.…

I learned a "trick" to getting into these types of courses when I was in college. I was always polite to the department secretaries and treated them like human beings instead of people who exist only to serve me. The number of other students that failed to treat the department staff like people always shocked me. In any case, they were almost always able to just add me to classes, even when the registrar indicated th…

^ This

I worked in the CS Dept in college and this is a big one. Everyone in the department is there to support you and is happy to help, and the chair too. It's surprising how few CS students actually take advantage of these resources.

You can also use this to get into grad classes as an undergrad even if the course scheduling system blocks you.

Signing up on a course waitlist also helps give the department more info to be able to potentially move it to a bigger room or add additional sections.

Re: Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

#273

Post by lenticular »

fatnoah wrote: post #267
el_cujo wrote: post #105

>Aafia Ahmad, a sophomore computer science major at U.T. Austin, had hoped to take an elective course in computer security this semester. But when she tried to sign up during early registration in November, the course was already full. I know this doesn't refute the point the article is trying to make, but it doesn't seem that unreasonable to me that an underclassman might not get into a highly sought after elective.…

I learned a "trick" to getting into these types of courses when I was in college. I was always polite to the department secretaries and treated them like human beings instead of people who exist only to serve me. The number of other students that failed to treat the department staff like people always shocked me. In any case, they were almost always able to just add me to classes, even when the registrar indicated th…

There's often the ability for professors to accept more than the limit on a case-by-case basis, at their discretion. If you approach a professor and come across as a motivated and serious student, there's a good chance you'll be able to get in. Contrary to popular belief, most professors care about undergraduate education and want to help motivated students.

Re: Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

#274

Post by asdff »

tedmiston wrote: post #271
asdff wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple of my friends in the CSE program (not at texas though) had to take on a 5th year due to the poor scheduling. Doesn't help that you have to apply to the program after you are already a freshman, so if you bomb a tough math or physics class your first semester you are set back pretty far and have to build up your GPA to even get into the major.

You can workaround this with advance planning though. I wasn't affected by bombing any classes and got direct admit to CS [^1], but there were classes of interest offered only once a year which filled up quickly. I just took them e.g., a year early than expected to make up for that or disregarded the prereqs and learned just enough on the fly. Another technique that helps is emailing the professor in advance of regis…

It definitely depends on the school, while you can direct admit to engineering, you are still not in the CSE major yet. If a prof let someone in a class because they 'expressed interest' over the 50 people in purgatory on the waitlist, there'd be protests at my campus. Classes fill to fire code room capacity. Honors scheduling is big though, but there are a lot of people in honors as well so it isn't always guaranteed.

Re: Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

#275

Post by goobynight »

akhilcacharya wrote: post #139
electricslpnsld wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

95K a year for a starting professorship... or 3.5X that in total comp in industry. Not a terribly difficult choice!

Starting professors make less at my alma mater...a lot less. Since it's a public school you can find out how much each one makes - https://www.newsobserver.com/news/databases/public-salaries/

Dr. Falk at Chapel Hill pulling that phat $800K base salary.

Meanwhile, the random dude sitting next to me is making more than every single person that works at Asheville.

Re: Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

#276

Post by kd0amg »

tzs wrote: post #196
AznHisoka wrote: post #44

"The university is looking to hire several tenure-track faculty members in computing this year, he said, but competition for top candidates is fierce. I know of major departments that interviewed 40 candidates, and I don’t think they hired anybody." That doesn't sound like fierce competition if they were able to interview 40 candidates... Did they give them all high-paying offers and they all rejected?

I don't understand how you can infer from the number of candidates they interviewed how fierce the competition is. Don't you also need to know the number of positions available at other institutions that those candidates are also considering in order to estimate competition fierceness?

That and the number of candidates they chose not to interview

Re: Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

#278

Post by philsnow »

scott_s wrote: post #85
gumby wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US university system is quite unusual (I believe Canada also has a similar system): at the undergraduate level you typically don't apply to a specific program; all students are expected to take a variety of classes (confusingly called "courses"), only some of which apply to a specific course of study. Domain-specialized classes become an increasing proportion of your overall classes after the first or second year…

I'm not sure how universal this is; I suspect that's the case at more liberal arts schools, but not the case at engineering schools. My undergrad was at Virginia Tech, and I applied to the CS program as part of my university application. I was in the CS program from day one. But I did part of my graduate school at William and Mary, and they are as you described.

While I was in undergrad, the chemical engineering major required over 200 quarter units, and was only barely manageable if you started right away and carried 4-5 classes each quarter for four years. There wasn't any time to chill out your freshman year and take fun classes, not if you wanted to finish in four years.

It looks like they've consolidated it somewhat in the intervening years, now it requires only 186 units: https://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/curric-14-15/21curchem-14.html

Re: Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

#279

Post by [deleted] »

amvalo wrote: post #152
mesaframe wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't agree enough. I am a autodidact, and am still learning. And really every other week I wish I had a mentor/professor. Even though good books somehow covers up for no teacher. But, you can't just read thousand of books before solving a petty problem and there's where a Professor comes. They provide you with a distillation of years of work and experience. and not to mention the resources available for you at Uni

But your mentor can just be your coworker! That's how many professions have worked for a long time. I don't get where this idea that academia has a monopoly on difficult skills and knowledge comes from.

[deleted]

Re: Hard Part of Computer Science? Getting into Class

#280

Post by goobynight »

s09dfhks wrote: post #277

> It can also favor male students — because women on average are less likely to have taken a computer science course in high school. How is that the school's fault?

Step 1: frame it as an injustice

Step 2: worry about the details later

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