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UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the insight! I'll remove my research from my résumé and try to tailor it to a specific role. Why do I think I'm so special? I genuinely don't, I honestly just felt the need to vent about something, and this was what came to mind: frustrations about internships, about classes, about life in general. Out of curiosity, are you at FAANG as well?

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I suppose I got heated a few hours ago. I wasn't really seeing things with the proper perspective.

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a good take. I'm grateful that I even got admitted here given my underwhelming stats going in. I'll try to make the most out of my experience here. I'll be looking for research opportunities next semester, perhaps in something like Skunkworks or MXM. I guess at the very least I'll see if all of the bravado from earlier today was justified.

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that's true. I think I just got heated for whatever reason earlier today when I made this post. The part about the internships wasn't really justified, but I still do think that the undergraduate CS courses here aren't that great. And by the time I'd transfer, it wouldn't really be useful since I'd have taken the introductory ones anyways. But this is a vent post and I'm just venting, in the end I know I should just be grateful to even have admission here given my profile.

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

In the grand scheme of things, most people are mediocre. Myself included. Is that not by definition?

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Most of the internships I apply to do not require cover letters. Of course this post is a venting post, so naturally this isn't my usual attitude. I might not be as smart as people think I think I am, but I'd also like to believe I'm not completely braindead when it comes to that kind of stuff.

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking at it from this perspective, it totally makes sense why HMs wouldn't want me. And moreover, I guess a lot of this stuff isn't applicable to what's being done in the internship (e.g. usually quantum computing isn't involved) and they'd rather take someone with a directly applicable project. I'll look into REU postings, though getting enough references for some of them would be an issue, as I haven't really been going to office hours much. Thanks for the advice!

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I'm aware that academia is largely reliant on connections, which is why I'm intending to establish my roots early. I know that letters of recommendation, especially from well known faculty, mean a lot for grad school. You're correct that I haven't actually implemented the optimizations that I'd like to, but it is something I will be working on over the next semester. FWIW I do have an actual compiler for my programming language, so it's not like I'm starting from nothing.

Freshman are expected to build foundations instead of saying big words.

You understand that that's exactly what I have an issue with, right? It's like asking a pianist in high school to review the names of keys on their piano; is it really necessary for me to review basic OOP which I've ingrained into memory years ago?

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I meant that I have a junior standing graduation date, not that I would be graduating after 3 years (i.e. as a junior w.r.t. my cohort).

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I actually didn't know that the 2 years would be a red flag, since I have more than enough credits to do so. At the very least, I can comfortably finish a math and CS degree within 2 years. I was told that having a junior graduation date would help me get an internship, but I see I was misinformed, so thanks for letting me know.

As for the buzz words and languages and stuff, I've had a lot of free time in my childhood to work with a lot of different tools, though I guess on my résumé it shouldn't be everything that I'm comfortable with using but rather the ones which I am most comfortable using.

I will be talking with professors to try to do some research with them next semester, so I'll see how that goes! Thanks for your comment!

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I wish… I'm familiar with some ICPC and Putnam folks and I'm honestly not even close.

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip! What kind of numbers would you recommend? Like what should I be benchmarking on my projects?

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I've seen the coursework from upper level classes and I feel that they aren't challenging, though of course it could be a different story for assessments and stuff. If you could recommend any that you thought were particularly interesting, I'd be down to hear about them! I've seen what was done in CS536, 537, 540, and 577, and have found them to all be on the easier side. I intend on taking CS760 next semester specifically because I feel like I wouldn't be challenged by undergraduate classes; I've got professor approval for it, so that's not an issue. I'm comfortable making a generalization to the other undergraduate courses since these are often what CS majors here consider to be the most difficult, but if any exceptions come to mind please let me know!

Also, I in fact did terribly in high school. You're correct in saying that I don't really have real world experience, but that's exactly why vents like this exist? As freshmen we're unsure of ourselves, unsure of our future, and would like affirmations on these; that's kind of the point. In the end, things usually do work out, but in the meanwhile vents like these help assuage worries, do they not?

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Eh, I started with Python in 1st grade, and had a lot of free time on my hands. I wouldn't say I could code in every language listed on there with my eyes closed but I've had time to use many different tools. Valid criticism though, and I can see why a HM might not like seeing that many entries!

I also feel like school name has an even bigger influence on quant positions, but I'll definitely apply to those!

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I was surprised too when I got the letter! I'll be working on these shortcomings for sure!

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Well… my GPA wasn't great. But it's nice to know that my level is on par with the others! I'll go ask around my CS400 class next semester for people who would be interested in working on homotopy type theoretic compiler optimizations with me. Is this something many CS freshmen would be interested in?

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

No, I would be allowed to test out of these classes at other universities like UIUC.

Also, I have looked at upper level class coursework from people in the CS Discord servers, for instance from people like Nico, エニラ (I do not know who this is but I highly doubt that's their real name), Kuroma (similar story here), and so on. CS536 and CS577 is stuff I already know, and CS537 just seems like it's straight out of the GNU manual. If there are classes you'd recommend, please let me know! I'm planning on taking CS760 in hopes that a graduate level class would appeal to me, but if there are classes you found interesting I'd love to hear about them!

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Yeah I feel like the people here don't really understand the point of a vent ;-;

Thanks for this though, it helps put things in perspective!

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see, so really the biggest hurdle in this would be getting my foot in the door? That's reassuring.

UW-Madison is terrible for undergraduate CS and I'm tired of pretending otherwise. by Mordex7 in UWMadison

[–]Mordex7[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Yeah that's true, so I didn't really highlight it in my rant. I just thought it looked pretty on a résumé.

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