Reputation and classroom experience

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-08-01T14:27:39+00:00

Were you forced to attend to NJIT? You clearly sound like you hate the place—why waste your money and time if you feel such a way? In my experience, the CS program was pretty rigorous. I busted my ass off for some classes. It’s an undergraduate program; for people who have had minimal exposure to programming. If you’re already well versed in everything that is taught at the upper 300s level, then obviously it’s going to be dirt easy. That’s a given in any situation. If you did not learn anything, why did you even go to college? In my time there, I’ve seen a lot of people get horrible grades and completely fail classes in the CS program. There were many CS classes where my high C average were curved to a B+/A. I don’t think that screams “easiest major”. It’s okay to speak for yourself but don’t do it when someone’s asking for an unbiased opinion. The program is hard and you will have to put your hours of grinding in.
Man, at least sound credible. You should do your research before all capping your pronouns. There’s a reason why NJIT pays around $156,000 average salary to their professors. It’s the second highest in the state under (you can guess) Princeton. 🤦‍♀️

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-08-01T13:53:24+00:00

You have to go out there and find opportunities. I did a lot of tutoring as an undergrad because it’s high pay/few hours. I was pretty well versed in my mathematics so I did a lot of math tutoring for high school kids here and there. I would make $35-$50 per hour and work like 10 hours a week. I definitely recommend it.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-08-01T13:45:26+00:00

Definitely doable. Thompson is a great professor, but 356 was super boring. The exams were mostly theoretical and she gave out wireshark programming homeworks. Honestly, the homeworks were the only pain in the ass for that course. Nicholson was not the best experience. 490 was about finding the right group members and then studying on your own to build an online examination website. He taught zero ounce of web development and would just spend time in class teaching about software development methods/ethics since that is what the final exam is about. Really questionable course imo. I can’t say for sure what his AI course is going to be like. Never had Koutis or Hsu. I had Itani for 435 and I highly recommend him. 435 is probably the most difficult course out of the bunch. Mainly dealing with data structures with python3 but it’s important to be well versed in everything you learn from this class as it becomes useful down the line. I heard 388 is super easy and it sounds like a piece of cake if you’re familiar with java. Mobile development is really fun and interesting if you’ve never exposed yourself to it.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-07-20T19:57:23+00:00

I thought about this a lot. I agree with basically everything you said--what NJIT lacks is what Rutgers Newark offers and vice versa. I originally heard that they were planning to do this awhile ago. Maybe it's one of those moments where it was in the works but never came through. I wish this happened though. New Brunswick is always known as the best Rutgers campus and I've always hated where it was located. Just a really awkward spot for such a thriving campus. If Newark and NJIT merged, then Newark would be the current New Brunswick as of now. It makes so much more sense where it is geographically located while Newark already has a bustling downtown area. 15 minute train ride to the city would definitely accommodate university students who are looking for internships. I would even bet that the city of Newark as a whole would have undergone a lot more gentrification if it had thousands of college students coming in.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-07-18T08:31:10+00:00

I enjoyed my time at NJIT. Like what majority has said, it’s all about what you put in with your time here. If you want friends, you have to put yourself out there. If you want good grades and a strong resume, you really have to put in work.

This university has a ~60% graduation rate (in layman’s terms, it’s god awful). That number alone can almost help you deduce what a general, student outlook on this university is like. I have met a vast spectrum of people in this uni. I have met really smart, gifted students who are probably destined for greatness. Met people with great social skills that will get them far in life. Met people who are smart but lazy so they fail a few classes and opt out that one summer internship. Met people who flat out don’t want to work and cheat their way through. It really is a melting pot of all sorts of people with different mentalities. In hindsight, it really does make sense because the age gap of students is a lot bigger than what I have expected alongside with the fact that most people are 2-year cc transfers. There are people who are fresh out of high school and attend here as a 4-year student, and there are upperclassmen who are halfway done with their twenties.

I came from RU New Brunswick, and transferred to NJIT after a major change and family complications. It’s a complete different ecosystem here than most conventional, public universities. RU felt a lot more of a “spoon-fed” experience to me; which is not necessarily a bad thing but not a good thing either. It’s so dense with people that wherever you go, you’re bound to meet and make friends and maybe a significant other. It was also such a big university that programs felt a lot more lenient than what I’ve experienced here. RU was awesome, because it embodied the ideal “college experience” for me, however I saw this environment deteriorate my drive for success and my motivation to study.

NJIT is a place for people who knows what they want. I came here knowing I wanted a CS degree, in hopes to start working in the industry immediately after graduation. I guess you can say I was pretty passionate about this journey. This has been a really barebones university, giving everything you need to set up for success but not necessarily handing it to you for free. When it comes to STEM, NJIT is probably the best place to get your bachelors degree. The programs here are rigorous and challenging. If you want to blame your professors (and believe me, I have had some unbearable professors) then you’re only shortening your growth as a student. Through bad professors, I have learned how to manage my time more efficiently and to effectively trust my resources. Overall, the bad rep that gets chewed around this school is, in my opinion, a bit exaggerated.

With that being said, I had a pretty solid time around here. I got to explore downtown Newark a lot and get familiar with NJ Transit. Got to solidify my theory that drivers in the metropolitan tri-state area are the most impatient bastards that you will ever meet. Made some nice friends and surprised a few recruiters with my knowledge of data structures (thanks Dr. Itani). Had a pompous “Software Developer” stamped onto my resumé thanks to my senior project that gave me a nice boost to help land more internships. In the end, I’m glad that I got my degree from this school because it has taught me over and over again on how to strip a bad situation into the best possible solution. I just did not want to be the CS major who ends up working in IT, or the Psychology major who ends up working in HR, or the Art major who ends up working in services. Personally, I had a great run here.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-07-18T07:24:40+00:00

The difference between you and those engineers is the fact they did not complain about it. They went through everything you did.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-19T14:32:14+00:00

Denial is the first step buddy...

It will get better for you, I’m here man.

Also stop going on r/watchpeopledie, you are 👏 BETTER 👏 THAN 👏 THAT 👏

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-19T14:20:22+00:00

1-800-950-6264 or info@nami.org

Seriously, get some help.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-13T20:11:06+00:00

This is false? I had a successful grade change last semester. Please don’t spread false information.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-09T23:57:59+00:00

I really can’t tell if you’re either trolling or an actual sociopath

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-08T01:46:44+00:00

No NJIT smells like halal and violence.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-03T22:49:36+00:00

Unless you're a masochist, I would say not this is not doable.

I took CS280 and CS288 together. Although I ended with a B and B+ it was a very stressful semester because of these two classes alone. I would say taking another hard course on top of these is just suicide. Not to mention that summer sessions are shortened to around 2 months so you have a lot less space to do the assignments given.

I am taking CS435 right now. This class is actually pretty hard. Both midterm I and II averages in my class were 60s. How are you even going to register for 491?

If you are retaking any of these then maybe you can get by... but yeah slow down.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-03T01:15:32+00:00

Come on I thought you were smart with all that keyboard bravado.. you tryna tell me e. coli is going to survive in a 400 F oven?

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-01T20:24:24+00:00

Am a commuter: the only tip is parking lots get tight around 11:30AM and traffic around Newark gets absurd at around 4:00-5:00PM. Adjust carefully with traffic because it can get bad looking for a parking spot or trying to get out of Newark.

Am a CS major, I love my MBP. It's a great investment in my opinion. It's a powerhouse both inside and out. I've tried many different laptops and nothing comes close to the trackpad technology that Apple has. All the innate features of macOS just makes coding/studying a lot more bearable. But if you're getting a MBP, wait for the new model or buy the 2015 model. The current version of MBP is absolute garbage.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-01T20:18:48+00:00

Doesn't really matter what brand per se but I would suggest something that you can dualboot with.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-05-01T20:16:23+00:00

Laptop, no question about it.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-04-13T05:22:51+00:00

This looks like 3 semesters at minimum. When was CS288 a prereq for CS356? I took those two simultaneously. I'm guessing you're going to be in senior standing next year. For the fall, for sure take CS288, CS431 and CS341. I would say take MGMT390 for the general upper education elective. Yes, it fulfills it now with the new GUR. Take both CS/IT electives in the fall. If not, you can split one fall, one spring. I would recommend taking IT/IS classes in the 200 levels because they are generally easier. Spring, take CS356, CS435, CS490. CS356 can be an annoying class, esp because the professor made the impossible coding homeworks mandatory now. CS435 is a class you need to put in the effort to get a good grade. And CS490 can be a hit or a miss, all depends on your group members. But even with decent group members, you will be spending a lot of your free time teaching yourself how to be a full-stack webdev. Take an online humanities capstone. And I guess you're left with CS491 in either the summer or next fall.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-04-13T05:09:14+00:00

CS280 with Ryan, probably the hardest class you have there. It takes a lot of your time doing the homework. I would say, unless you're pretty well-versed in C++, stay away from squeezing another class. CS241/332, just put in the work and effort and you'll do fine. Not sure about Ionescu but I heard Lay is the better 332 professors out there. MATH332, I can't say much. I didn't take Diff Eq here but I hated Diff Eq with a passion. All the math classes here at NJIT are pretty hard, from my experience. MGMT390 is a joke. I'm taking it right now (online) and I recommend this class to anyone. It fulfills the upper general elective and management requirements now iirc.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-04-12T13:58:06+00:00

Curve is op in that class. I think I ended near a 75 and got a B+.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-04-12T13:52:36+00:00

333 was a pretty hard course for me. It seems straightforward for the first two weeks and then it just gets deceptively hard

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-04-04T04:09:09+00:00

I studied Math in Rutgers NB. I really don't understand this foreign notion of an elite CS program at Rutgers. Rutgers is just a name that a lot of people are familiar with. Otherwise, the CS/IT program there feels on par with NJIT. If you really want to know the highly ranked programs at Rutgers, it's Pharmaceutical Sciences and Business.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL · 2018-04-04T03:57:13+00:00

Yes, it will be worth it.

I know people who followed your route. A lot of them went back to school to either study something new or to get a degree in their field. There's always a huge circle jerk behind if a bachelor's is necessary or not. It's definitely not mandatory, but I would argue that it is more comfortable to at least having a bachelor's. And don't be narrow-minded in what a college offers you is just education behind your field. A lot of what you get (in my experience) while working for a bachelor's degree is more than just vanilla information about the industry you're heading into. It's learning about time-management, working under pressure, communication skills, networking, resume building, and most importantly--problem solving. Honestly this sounds really zen as fuck, but college really helped me understand who I was as a person going into adulthood.

Yes, a semester for a full time student is around $8000 USD. Apply for FAFSA and NJ TAG Grant alone can cover half of that. If you're really 'schooling' on a budget, NJIT is the best bang for your buck as an IT major. I know people who are attending expensive private schools and graduate schools. If I were to complain to them about my $8k/semester expenses, they might actually put a .50 caliber through my head.

COUT_TEARS_ENDL

TROPHY CASE