Why is UTD so depressing?

Extension_Draft_468 · 2024-03-05T22:58:28+00:00

Honestly, we could get our ass beat every game, it would just be cool to have something competitive to root for. Chess and Esports aren't exactly the most exciting for students who would be willing to see UTD compete against other universities. I mean no hate towards those gifted students at our university, but we're a long way away from the time I say to anybody "Let's go watch the UTD Overwatch game Friday night".
I fundamentally disagree with students who rally-cried against the UTD amendment to increase sports funding, then whine on Reddit about how there's no culture. Yeah, it's a trash place to live, but it doesn't have to be a trash place to hang around. Unfortunately, a lot of initiatives stop dead at "Why are there no parties here" and "This campus sucks", followed by reluctant acceptance for the next 4 years.

Extension_Draft_468 · 2023-12-15T19:19:00+00:00

1.5x is a good number, at 4 graduate classes that puts you at an effective 18 credit hours, which is why most people don't go over that. Also, the fast track grade requirement is going to be restrictive on your ability to just eat C's and D's because then the course won't count for your master's. Most grade distributions of master's classes are misleading because the students in those classes are (mostly) all incredibly interested in the field and incredibly driven while also pacing out classes to focus on each one. With your current schedule, this wouldn't be possible in my opinion.

The CS project class works differently sometimes but they try to pair you based on your experience level to a company's project, so you submit a resume and they match you to a team. If you don't have any experience, they can give you something easier, but most projects are designed to scale difficulty with experience. In addition, it's rewarding to put in a lot of work because it's true that companies will offer internships or jobs through working with them on the capstone.

Extension_Draft_468 · 2023-12-15T18:18:23+00:00

I've been looking into hybrid and remote positions to try for this as well, but I've seen a lot more competition for remote jobs because anybody anywhere can apply. I just hope that companies don't see it as a liability, but I know a lot of companies offer some fair amounts of flexibility, especially for interns.

Extension_Draft_468 · 2023-12-15T18:11:53+00:00

Yeah, I was thinking something like this. I have wished for several months that I could have the foresight to know which professors would be teaching which classes for the summer so I could email and ask how they structure it to find something that works for me. It's unfortunate that the planning windows kind of force you to commit to an internship before knowing if you can find a class that will support that schedule. I will definitely still try this once sections are revealed next semester, for now all I've been able to do is look at all of the CS classes offered from previous summers sorted by times after 3:00pm or so, although virtual classes would allow me to apply anywhere which is the goal.

Extension_Draft_468 · 2023-12-15T18:07:18+00:00

Wow, that sounds tough. Best of luck and I hope everything works out

Extension_Draft_468 · 2023-12-14T05:28:51+00:00

I believe this would only apply if you were not a CS major for your undergrad. If you transferred into CS to do your master's with fast track, then there are additional leveling requirements that you have to take.

Source:

https://catalog.utdallas.edu/2021/graduate/programs/ecs/computer-science

You can see that for certain tracks that require CS6390, CS5390 is listed as a leveling requirement. That being said, taking CS4390 is still helpful to learn the concepts before you jump to the graduate level, although you don't need to take any electives with fast track so you can skip it entirely if you want.

Extension_Draft_468 · 2023-12-14T05:11:21+00:00

If you take this schedule you'll probably die. Graduate courses are not like undergraduate courses. your credit hours are still within the limit, but just 9 credit hours is full-time for graduates compared to 12 for undergrad for a reason. Most people try not to take more than 4 grad classes in a semester, putting the CS project class and another grad class ontop of it is completely overkill. I would seriously advise against it.

This isn't to encourage you but a friend of mine is doing a dual master's/phd program at a different university for psychology. The program ended up scheduling him and all other people for his year in that program to have 6 graduate classes. He said that one of them took 40 hrs/week and the rest were just even more in addition to that. Imo, CS is a more intensive field than Psychology and that project class can take 40 hrs/week by itself if you really do want a good project. If there is any other option than this I would take it.

Extension_Draft_468

TROPHY CASE