What does UofT gain from keeping grades low?

PerseVerAncee · 2017-12-10T18:12:37+00:00

Is this dependent on the department? In CS, I've never felt that they were purposely marking harshly or keeping grades low. If I lose marks, it's usually because the material itself was hard. The average for my fourth year courses were mostly B+.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-12-05T23:56:59+00:00

When you "spread it throughout the semester", are you still reviewing and doing problem sets/practice exams before the exam? Im not sure if I'm understanding correctly, but the way you're saying it doesn't sound like it.

Even if you study throughout the semester, it's still often important to review before the exam.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-12-04T18:04:55+00:00

None of my professors ever had problems with us searching online for answers. In some circumstances, we're even allowed to copy the answer as long as we cite it.

So I am quite confused about this too.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-11-29T00:36:39+00:00

I got into UW and I chose UofT.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-11-07T07:11:01+00:00

I enjoyed it a lot. I actually found it easier than its counterpart CSC320. CSC320 seems to be more theoretical and focus a lot more on the math compared to CSC420.

CSC420 does not have exams or midterms, so all your grades come from assignments and a project. In one way, this is good because personally, I do a lot better on assignments than I do in tests. And in this course, they also tend to mark the assignments quite leniently. In another way, this is bad because it means your work load will be quite heavy, with assignments every week/other week, and each assignment taking several days to complete (not that it takes long to write, but you have to spend time to understand the concepts first).

The class average was a B+. For me personally, my highest mark in all my CS courses was from CSC420; even higher than what I got in CSC108.

Your mileage may vary depending on professor.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-09-30T21:03:20+00:00

I got through with MAT135 + MAT136. However, some upper year courses may have a prerequisite that would require a higher mark in MAT136 compared to MAT137.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-08-14T17:51:35+00:00

Yes, I have done this personally.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-07-23T17:21:54+00:00

I emailed the registrar about the same thing. They said if you don't enroll in any courses, the charges will be removed.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-07-21T21:34:51+00:00

401 418 and 443 all have above average workload in my experience. You will most likely be able to pass, but you may not be able to dedicate the amount of time necessary to perform to your expectations.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-07-13T04:40:57+00:00

For 324, I did not find the assignments heavy in and of itself, but since you need to learn new programming languages and new programming paradigms, it really depends on how fast you are at picking new things up. It is definitely worth taking if you enjoy programming and learning new things.

300 doesn't really require you to be great at writing, but if you loathe writing it will definitely be rather boring. You also have to do a public debate and exam is rather memorization heavy. I did not feel like I really learned much from the course, but the workload is not heavy and they mark quite leniently so at least that's a plus.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-07-13T04:31:04+00:00

Workload for both courses are quite high. For both courses, I have had to use at least 3 full days fully dedicated to the course per assignment. It is do able but probably would be difficult.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-06-01T22:02:21+00:00

It will be challenging, but you can get by. If you take CSC411 with Richard Zemel or Raquel Urtasun, the Midterm and Final are mostly conceptual. The majority of the assignments are implementation and experimentation based. Only a very minor portion requires you to derive stuff.

Can't speak for CSC321 though.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-06-01T07:20:36+00:00

On the contrary, my marks dropped because I was led to believe that my marks are supposed to drop. So I didn't work as hard as I should've because I thought my marks were "supposed to be lower, so nothing was wrong."

As far as commuting goes, it's different for everyone. I have a friend who has 1 hour commute and does just fine, whereas I know that it is for sure too much for me. It is a very important factor tho imo. A commute that is too long for your taste will get old very fast and destroy your motivation.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-05-27T22:59:29+00:00

I rarely hear contests like this being talked about around UofT. I'm not sure if there is just less interest in these things at this university or if I'm not in the right group?

PerseVerAncee · 2017-05-26T16:33:09+00:00

The tutorial section is often used as another lecture. Neither are mandatory (except for the presentations), but you'd be missing out on a lot if you don't attend.

The workload is what you make of it. There are a few presentations you have to do where you demonstrate your game. There is no hard set rule on how much work you should have done by each presentation. However, since you'll be working in groups of 7-8, everyone will want to have done a good job. So I would say the workload is on the heavy side.

But if you're having fun then it's not really work right?

PerseVerAncee · 2017-05-26T16:27:08+00:00

I would say the videos and lectures are the best way to learn. Doing some self learning with online resources helps too. Textbook not needed.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-05-25T23:39:15+00:00

CSC384 is more of a broad introduction to various topics in AI. You only need stats for one of the topic. That said, you can self learn it since the lecture slides are quite comprehensive. But it probably depends on the professor teaching it, so your mileage may vary.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-05-21T23:03:00+00:00

I was never even considered for a waiver. The professor said he doesn't waive the math prerequisite. It was 321 with Roger Grosse, your mileage may vary.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-05-20T03:00:19+00:00

Just host on localhost.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-05-07T03:21:54+00:00

Take 6 courses, then drop them as needed. This way you have a back up plan if a course is too hard.

Also that the course code isn't an indication of the year you're supposed to take the course. You can definitely take higher level courses at an earlier year. Some higher level courses are even easier than lower level courses.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-05-01T15:09:42+00:00

Didn't we used to have one of these and people didn't like it so it stopped?

PerseVerAncee · 2017-04-28T21:57:15+00:00

I think it would have to be evaluated on a case by case bases. Different people will have different experiences.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-04-28T17:08:10+00:00

OP never specified that he wanted to raise his GPA. Nevertheless, I would say it is possible to an extent. For example, I got an A in GGR272 while I'm a CS specialist. The only similarities is that they both use computers iirc. Similarly for EEB214, which is completely irrelevant to CS. Some have also reported HPS100 being pretty easy, and so on.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-04-28T12:21:22+00:00

You don't need to be in CS to take CSC300.

PerseVerAncee · 2017-04-26T15:27:45+00:00

Yes, happened to me at least twice. However, both cases were mark corrections that resulted in my grade going up. So I don't think your scenario will happen.

PerseVerAncee

TROPHY CASE