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Post by Jason Cerrato on Oct 15, 2010 21:24:46 GMT -5
Hey guys,
So as of Spring semester I'll officially be dual-degreeing Natural Science and Liberal Arts. More specifically, I'll be doing Computer Science and Philosophy.
So! Although I am changing majors early in my college career, I know there are a lot of CS majors that began studying and practicing during high school. Since I didn't work my first semester with CS in mind, I didn't take the beginner's CS course and will have to take it this spring. Although it may not matter much, I do feel a little behind, and would like to start learning on my own time before spring starts (especially during winter break).
Does anybody have any tips about where to begin, and what to look forward to? I investigated one of UT's CS305J websites and found all of the PowerPoints for the course available for download. Should I just work off those? (They concentrate on Java btw).
Thanks for all the help in advance!
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Post by Donald Chan on Oct 16, 2010 0:44:09 GMT -5
Yeah, I randomly chose CS coming to UT. I did not program in high school (or prior to my cs classes). You'll want to start on CS 305J and I would recommend taking that with Mike Scott. If you need help or want to learn some stuff ahead before taking the class, send me a message on gchat lol. You might want to take CS 313K the same year also (logic math class).
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Post by Jason Cerrato on Oct 16, 2010 13:10:37 GMT -5
I don't think the spring semester of CS305J has Mike Scott. Mitra's the only option, if you know who that is. I was thinking of taking 313K also. Is it work intensive? Edit: Oh nvm, it's during my chem class so I can't take it this semester.
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Post by Kevin Nguyen on Oct 16, 2010 13:25:02 GMT -5
take mitra, i really like him im taking my 3rd class with him right now im only getting a cs certificate though, so ive only taken non-major classes with him
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Post by Jackson Zhou on Oct 17, 2010 12:26:30 GMT -5
First of all, beware of the difference between software engineering and computer science (CS is really math oriented whereas SE is all about building actual things)
CS 313k with Lifschitz is the least work intensive class on the planet; it's also extremely tough (although rewarding). 313k is very CS/math oriented and you probably won't do any programming.
If you want to get into CS, I suggest the first thing to do is make sure you are interested. If you have never programmed before, your first class will probably have you doing things like making java programs that add numbers from 1 to 100 or something (incredibly boring).
Instead, if you really want to get into it, look up a guide on the internet on how to make a game in python and do it. Sure it will be a bumpy road and if you look at your code in a year, you'll realize how many retarded things you did; however, you can at least find out if you really want to do it.
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Post by Dustin Ho on Oct 17, 2010 13:02:08 GMT -5
I'm also one of those people who pretty much decided on CS right before going to college, so I can tell you right now that it's not hard to catch up (even with the kids who started programming in elementary school =P) if you're passionate about the subject. This: learnpythonthehardway.org/index is the best intro to CS/programming that I know. Work through that thing and you'll be more than ready to take any of the intro classes here. And as for what to look forward to, some of the classes I enjoyed the most here were actually the intro classes (CS313H, CS315H) and once you're past the required initial sequence, there's a ton of exceptional upper division classes (Network Security, Distributed Systems, Artificial Intelligence are some of my favorites). Let me know if there's anything else I can answer about classes/professors/internships/TuringScholars/whateverYouCanThinkOf
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Post by Daren Lunsford on Oct 17, 2010 23:53:48 GMT -5
I have had no prior experience programming either and only tips I have is actually do the practice problems and if you have eberlein you are going to need to study a little harder because she teaches it in a strange order and doesn't have the greatest of examples. take 305j and CS301k(foundations of logical thought).
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Post by Jason Cerrato on Oct 18, 2010 10:26:39 GMT -5
Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm really looking forward to starting next semester.
I'm also not going to dual-degree two BA degrees. Instead, I'm going to drop Philosophy and do a CS Bachelor of Science. From what I hear, BS will give you a better opportunity for the jobs you want to get in the future.
I wanted to take 301K this Spring but it takes place at the exact same time as Dr. Laude's Chemistry class, and so I'll have to take it next fall.
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Post by Jackson Zhou on Oct 18, 2010 17:34:30 GMT -5
Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm really looking forward to starting next semester. I'm also not going to dual-degree two BA degrees. Instead, I'm going to drop Philosophy and do a CS Bachelor of Science. From what I hear, BS will give you a better opportunity for the jobs you want to get in the future. I wanted to take 301K this Spring but it takes place at the exact same time as Dr. Laude's Chemistry class, and so I'll have to take it next fall. That's pretty cool man. Congrats on your decision. Let me know if you ever need help.
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Post by Vikas Gupta on Oct 21, 2010 10:40:42 GMT -5
I'm a philosophy major. don't drop it.
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Post by Mary Zhou on Oct 21, 2010 14:09:46 GMT -5
I wanted to take 301K this Spring but it takes place at the exact same time as Dr. Laude's Chemistry class, and so I'll have to take it next fall. If you end up wanting 301K, try Sutcliffe for chemistry instead. She's a really engaging (!british!!) professor and gives out +10 bonus points to your semester average (if CH301) or +5 bonus points ( if CH302).
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Post by Mitchell McMullen on Oct 26, 2010 13:24:53 GMT -5
Aww, it's flattering that you decided to change your major so you could try to be as awesome as me.
Keep at it. Computer Science is incredibly rewarding and will alter the way you think, I assure you.
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Post by Jason Cerrato on Oct 26, 2010 17:00:30 GMT -5
Okay, so this is slightly frustrating. I won't be able to sign up for 305J this Spring since I'm not a CS major (yet). I'm gonna have to e-mail Rob and hope he can get me in. Do you guys know if the class fills up in the Spring? Otherwise I'm gonna have to wait til the 3rd class day to try getting in again. Chem lab from 8-1 is screwing up everything else. I need another course on my schedule just in case I don't get to take CS this semester. Any suggestions for something to knock out early?
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Post by Jackson Zhou on Oct 26, 2010 18:15:56 GMT -5
Okay, so this is slightly frustrating. I won't be able to sign up for 305J this Spring since I'm not a CS major (yet). I'm gonna have to e-mail Rob and hope he can get me in. Do you guys know if the class fills up in the Spring? Otherwise I'm gonna have to wait til the 3rd class day to try getting in again. Chem lab from 8-1 is screwing up everything else. I need another course on my schedule just in case I don't get to take CS this semester. Any suggestions for something to knock out early? Rob can do anything, he's the good advisor. We had one crappy advisor named Jennifer, but she peaced a couple weeks ago. The bad news is that because Jennifer left, all the other advisors are busy picking up her slack so it's hard to get an appointment. My advice would be to wait to take chem lab. Take CS courses now while you are interested in it. Chem lab will always be there in the future... looming... knowing that you cannot escape.
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Post by Jason Cerrato on Oct 26, 2010 18:27:51 GMT -5
Haha of course I'll be taking CS next semester, granted Rob gets me in there. xP
But I'm also planning to get Chem Lab out of the way, while I'm still taking Chem courses. I figured out what appears to be a workable schedule, just hoping to get into CS.
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Post by Steve Turner on Oct 27, 2010 20:41:33 GMT -5
Unless they changed something really recently you can take 305j without being a cs major. You need to go speak to a CS advisor and tell him to add you. That is what I did. Do this immediately you cannot afford to start the cs sequence later. It takes a long time to get to the point where you can take multiple classes and really begin getting your degree.
I switched to cs last year with 0 experience. You wont really be behind. Most of the people who programmed in high school or before really have no idea what they are doing. Just do all the problems in your 305j and read the book. Also most of cs is not programming in the beginning.
You should probably just drop philosophy. CS is crazy hard / time consuming and is one of the most complex fields you can get into. If you don't have the passion to really devote all of your studies to it you probably wont be happy being a cs major. You will also need to study and learn things outside of your classes and course work on your own.
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Post by Jason Cerrato on Oct 28, 2010 3:03:00 GMT -5
Unless they changed something really recently you can take 305j without being a cs major. You need to go speak to a CS advisor and tell him to add you. That is what I did. Do this immediately you cannot afford to start the cs sequence later. It takes a long time to get to the point where you can take multiple classes and really begin getting your degree. I switched to cs last year with 0 experience. You wont really be behind. Most of the people who programmed in high school or before really have no idea what they are doing. Just do all the problems in your 305j and read the book. Also most of cs is not programming in the beginning. You should probably just drop philosophy. CS is crazy hard / time consuming and is one of the most complex fields you can get into. If you don't have the passion to really devote all of your studies to it you probably wont be happy being a cs major. You will also need to study and learn things outside of your classes and course work on your own. Yeah, i can get in, but I need to email them. However, it basically just turned out that the lady put the wrong major change in, so I might be able to just sign up on my own now. I'm definitely focusing all my attention to CompSci B.S. and dropping Philosophy. I don't really have any problems with learning on my own. I think it's a lot more flexible and fun that way, and I have potential to learn more (but also the danger of learning less). I think it'll be good.
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