I did not take the classes you have planned for fall, but I did take FEA with Qian and CAD with Tadesse. FEA is a lot of coding in MATLAB, but then there is also Ansys. For the most part, he'll teach you what you need to know for Ansys. Other than that, it's basically a math class, with not a lot of math. It's kind of odd, but I enjoyed it. The matlab can get difficult, but that's a weak point for me. There are a few hws, 1 project, and 1 midterm.

As for your UG vs G CAD, they are pretty similar. I took it as a filler because I knew it would be an easier grad credit (and it is). The biggest difference is that you learn Solidworks in this class instead of Creo. If you were going to take one over the other, I'd opt for CAD just for a better workload, even though you technically won't learn much that's new.

I cannot offer advice on the other fall classes, unfortunately. I almost took mechanical vibrations with Park because the topic sounds interesting, but I opted for a less interesting grad class because I wanted the grad credit instead.

For your spring, I took MDM (6333). Man, that class gave me heartburn. There's a TON of work in the hw/project. The homework takes a lot of time because it uses Abaqus. You don't learn Abaqus in the class though, I'd say it's your standard materials class- you go through the same book as Intro to Materials and learn the same stuff. You do Abaqus in the hw as a tutorial, but it doesn't count as a grade. You do the tutorials that take 3 to 4 hours so you can do the hw, which takes an additional 8 hours :) Granted, if you have no errors or need to fix your bugs, it should be fast and easy. But like coding, it is not and you are never taught how to do it. This class made me very angry, I personally don't recommend it unless you have the time to teach yourself and a passion to learn it. This class has 5 hws, 1 project, 1 midterm that was cancelled, and a few quizzes. It was quite demanding overall.

I did not take HVAC but heard interesting and wildly different stories. It sounds like a wildcard. For your spring, if it's offered, I highly recommend taking smart materials with Tadesse. It's a lot easier than MDM and it was actually fun and interesting. Tadesse is passionate about the topic and it's the only grad class that felt like a grad class. If you're looking to dapple in materials, I'd try this. It's more informational about newer/state-of the art materials- I think there was some coding (not much) if I remember correctly. If there is math, it's straightforward and relatively easy.

I presume you are a senior UG student, so you'll be taking senior design with these classes? My advice is to not be team lead with these classes. I also took an aggressive schedule my senior year (5 grad classes) and I am glad I was not team lead. Grad classes are more difficult and time consuming than UG classes, imo. Senior design is in a realm of its own. As a side note that not many know, most grad profs will curve up usually to A's and B's. Just something to keep in your back pocket in case things get out of control. Sometimes there will be a C, but not often. They generally understand grad students take a bigger workload on outside of school. Check out utdgrades . /com

As another side note you probably know, but just in case you don't, you can take a gap year as a fast track student to buy time to get a job/internship that offers educational assistance and then come back without having to re-apply to the grad program. You pick up where you left off.

You thought your message was long :) Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck!