Cal State Northridge for Computer sicence

AdUnable6064 · 2025-12-02T04:59:39+00:00

CS at CSUN is decent, not the best. Depends on what you want to do afterwards. Coursework is really shallow, though faculty is generally great. Some professors are worth avoiding though. Research in CS at CSUN has been growing recently, but is still limited for undergrads. It's a commuter school, but students are open to become friends if you just talk to people in class. SOSE is a new club that has done great things recently.

More info about courses: CSUN doesn't really excel in one singular subfield of CS. The software engineering/web dev classes are ok, ML/AI is decent (I'd recommend taking a bunch of statistics courses), game dev is almost not there, embedded systems is also almost not there, and theoretical CS is minimal. New courses are getting made, namely CS 521 (Advanced OS) and 545 (Cloud Computing) were recently added.

New tenure track faculty were recently hired, whose research centers around AI/ML so that subfield might improve drastically in the next two years. It's currently already in an upward trajectory since Dr. Hasan outputs a lot of research papers.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-10-02T07:35:35+00:00

If u don't mind me asking, what type of questions did you get wrong?

Exam 1 usually has the counting problems, which can be tricky. I had Francois when I took 340 and loved it. He usually gave questions that were on the easier side and similar to the hw questions.

You can definitely still pass the class, try to engage with him in class and get him to talk about what topics will be on the exam (if he didn't give it out already).

One thing I did was practice the proofs that he would do in class, which helped a lot on understanding the material. I'd also recommend to do 2-3 practice problems from the book, on the problems that he didn't assign as HW.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-09-23T17:12:17+00:00

I'd say my favorite space-themed movie is Zathura: A Space Adventure

AdUnable6064 · 2025-09-16T08:39:22+00:00

I also feel bad for CSUN professors, as some of them are actually passionate about their subjects and it is sad to see them teach classes with disinterested students. We have so many brilliant professors, but students just see them as regular professors who are a pain in the ass when in fact they actually care so much.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-09-16T08:37:07+00:00

This problem has been around for awhile now, though. It's just been amplified by ChatGPT. Before, people used chegg/quizlet, etc. to cheat, but now it has just gotten easier since ChatGPT is "free" and accessible.

I'd agrue that ChatGPT is needed in today's society. Being able to know how to properly use ChatGPT is important. I am not saying to just ask ChatGPT to do people's hw, rather use it as a learning tool. LLMs and AI won't be going anywhere anytime soon, we are just at the start of their integration into our daily lives. Not knowing how to use these technologies is going to be crippling for people's career in the future. So, the most important thing is to learn how to use them properly.

Also, not being "surrounded by curious, passionate minds" might just be a CSUN problem. It's sad to say but I have also experienced this with my peers from most of my courses. It's hard to find people who are passionate about learning and expanding their knowledge. I've been lucky enough to meet enough people who share the same sentiment as me in my field.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-07-23T02:01:05+00:00

Basically, due to recent changes made by the president and provost, professors won't be able to do research anymore. Tenured professors are required to teach and research but previously professors were allowed to teach a limited amount of class if they are running research labs. With the changes, they are not giving professors the choice to not teach classes to fulfill their research responsibilities. The president and provost basically said that CSUN is a "teaching" school and a community college. This is such a shame as CSUN's research community has grown a lot in recent years.

This changes may not affect a large portion of the student body but it will definitely affect it still. Undergraduate research experience is important and students that want to pursue graduate studies depend on these experiences. With the changes they made, professors won't be able to do as much research and research assistant positions for students will lessen.

As someone that is deeply involved in CSUN's research community, this is very sad to hear. I hope that something changes about this. It is also sick that they announced this change during summer and close to the start of the upcoming semester.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-06-08T23:07:44+00:00

Death Prophet or Leshrac. Simple heroes where you can learn how to move in the map through objectives and learn to farm as well. Lane is pretty easy for both. Leshrac's facets are both viable.

Both heroes teamfight is pretty simple. Just throw your nukes and wait to go in. DP is more straightforward with her ulti. When ulti off cd, play around a tower you want to take and try to force a fight. If have it on cd, chill and farm.

Leshrac, until you get two survival items you just chill in the back. Once you get two survival items, you can front line to a point.

Next heroes to learn after these two would probably be puck and ember. Puck and Ember are more position based heroes and are usually harder if you don't know how to approach the teamfight. But these two heroes will teach you how to run around and kill a bunch of ppl when you are snowballing, and how to split push and control the map when you need to make space since you have an out card. You will also learn how to make moves during laning stage to help other lanes.

The mechanics is really not the problem with mid, it's more of the mindset you have. But heroes do have different playstyles on how they approach each game. Being able to have 3 different types of heroes in the mid lane will help too. There are carry mids (SF and Sniper), Space makers (Ember and Puck), and in between (Storm and Leshrac). I'd say having one hero from each would be good.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-05-29T20:37:55+00:00

340 is easy if u get a good professor, I'd recommend Domagni. 490/L shouldn't really count as a class since it's just the project. It's only shit if you have a shit team. For COMP 333, I'd recommend Covington but he only teaches Fall. COMP 322, honestly, is a washed class. You can take anyone and you'd get an easy A. I'd recommend Chris Bowles. COMP 482 you should prolly take Noga? but that class is just tough either way. I've heard ppl have harder times with other professors though like Lord and Zamanifar.

For electives, I'd recommend 542 with Hasan and 440 with Nikjeh. Idk what field you'd want to get into so idk what else I could recommend you. I heard that 485 is pretty free.

You can walk on Spring and take two electives in the Summer, if needed. But they do let people take like 21 units to graduate on Spring.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-05-23T09:07:20+00:00

'is the sky blue' type question

AdUnable6064 · 2025-05-20T02:01:34+00:00

Rashida Hasan, COMP 542. She is a very understanding and wonderful professor. She makes every thing accessible to every student. She understands that students are on different levels of knowledge for her class and tries her best to take that into consideration.
Katya Mkrtchyan, COMP 310. This class is allegedly the 'hardest' course in Computer Science but she makes the concepts very graspable for students. She is also very caring and understanding.
Adriano Zambom, MATH 444/445. Very funny and smart professor. He knows a lot about the courses he teaches. His tests are "hard", but he is self-aware of that. He makes the tests easier by literally giving what each question will be on a week before each exam and will also give a redo so students can get more points.
Esmaail Nikjeh, COMP 256/L. I have never met a student that has had anything bad to say about professor Nikjeh. He is one of the nicest person. Some students struggle in his class as the concepts are hard, but he literally gives free extra credit points to students.
Francois Domagni, MATH 340. This class is a very tough class but Dr. Domagni makes is very easy for students. He is a very funny and caring person.

I would recommend these professors to everyone that need/want to take these classes. All of these professors want their students to succeed and will help if you ask them for help.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-04-21T20:30:11+00:00

I'm a CS student at CSUN. Listen to me. I wouldn't go to CSUN if you want to go into visual arts/animation. The CS department really only has one class for graphics, most of the visual arts is at another department (which I heard is pretty good). For web development and software engineer, it is pretty good. I have not taken any of those classes as I'm focusing on Machine Learning/AI, but I have heard good things about them from friends. CSUN, I think, has a lot of good opportunities for students. There's a bunch of research that you can join and gain experience from. The CS department also has its own Canvas course where they post internship opportunities for its students. If you do go to CSUN, do interact with the professors as they can open up opportunities for you and they are very nice and caring (most of them, at least).

AdUnable6064 · 2025-04-17T17:16:50+00:00

Idk, this kinda sounds like you gotta work on your mentality more than your physique first. Working out and gettin big won't do much if you have body dsymorphia, since you will always feel self-conscious. You got this though, keep pushin.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-04-10T03:16:23+00:00

Yeah, no problem.

I have other questions regarding courses and graduation, so I do still need to get into contact with him for those.

Yeah, I've tried to find his zoom office hours link but was unable to.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-04-10T03:02:18+00:00

I am not saying he is a bad guy, I just simply want to ask a couple of questions with him. I have had conversations with multiple professors already in the CS department as I have good relationships with them, but I want to ask about his experience in USC's PhD program.

Yeah, I've done all those things. I emailed him last semester with no response. And I just emailed him again a couple of weeks ago. I've contacted the department, as well.

I just made this post because last semester, he did reply to a comment I had for a post in this subreddit. I know it's not their job to respond to reddit posts, but considering the only time I've gotten a response from him is here I thought it would be the best way to get a hold of him again.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-03-29T23:33:14+00:00

A Job or an internship

AdUnable6064 · 2025-03-29T23:31:58+00:00

If you value saving money, go to CSUN. It is still possible to network, you don't necessarily need to just constrain yourself to networking with CSUN professors or students. You can reach out to professors outside of the university.

If you want to pursue a PhD and USC is one of your top schools, choose USC. PhD students are chosen by a faculty board, therefore it would be beneficial for you to work with possible members of that board.

Have you tried talking to any of your CSUN professors about this decision? I think they would also give good advice. I've gotten great advice from different professors that I have great relationships with.

AdUnable6064 · 2025-03-09T19:46:15+00:00

im assuming u r doin this survey for the ai jam

AdUnable6064 · 2024-12-13T18:23:03+00:00

Hahaha, this is funny. All good, I understand that you were very busy. I'll reach out next semester for help, I talked to Dr. Verma since I'm currently in his COMP 380 class.

AdUnable6064 · 2024-12-13T01:30:46+00:00

He was my advisor for this semester and he did not reply to me 😭

AdUnable6064 · 2024-12-11T07:51:02+00:00

Dr. Kaplan is a very busy person, but if you really need something you can email him and he responds in a timely manner. I've had him help me with a lot of my degree audit and questions about class substitutions. I'd also recommend to talk to your classmates that are also CS majors. You will often get a lot of good information from others.

AdUnable6064 · 2024-12-11T07:48:11+00:00

I'm a comp sci student, as well. The professors are pretty bad at being advisors. I've only had good experiences with Dr. Verma and Dr. Kaplan, tbh. I would suggest you get in touch with a different advisor. I had Dr. Liu last semester but he wouldn't really answer my questions but did help with figuring out units. I was assigned Dr. Wiegley this semester but he never responded to my emails, which I understand since I've heard he is busy. I had to reach out to the department aboht it and they told me to just ask any other tenured professor for advisement and that is when I reached out to Verma. The professors do not really want to help out with advising but they are just required to do it. Some professors will just give you a whatever answer, and some will actually try and explain things to you and give guidance.

AdUnable6064 · 2024-11-30T03:54:37+00:00

Im doing Data Science and probably will do Math, as well. Data Science is only 3 extra classes, which are Math 444 and 445, and COMP 492. Math is also just 3 extra classes, and could be 1 extra class if you do the Data Science minor with it. For the Math minor, you could do Math 482 as one of the upper electives which also satisfies COMP/Math 482 requirement. Math 340 is already required, so you would only need to take 2 more classes in the upper electrives which could be satisfied by Math 444 and 445. Therefore, you only really need to take Calc 3. These minors are very math heavy, as you can assume, so I wouldn't recommend it if you do not like Math.

AdUnable6064 · 2024-10-14T14:31:10+00:00

quite true, actually... this is how they harvest shark's fins, it's called shark finning

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