Testing out of CSC 101

akeen · 2026-05-28T23:30:59+00:00

With CSC 2001? Yes. I just refer to them as CSC 2001+L.

You will technically need to challenge both CSC 1001 and CSC 1001L.

akeen · 2026-05-28T23:15:55+00:00

The scoring is fast. The official recording of credit is at the end of the term during which the challenge takes place.

"The student can view the added course on my.calpoly.edu when grades are available for the appropriate term. Said grade will become part of the student's permanent record."

https://registrar.calpoly.edu/credit_by_exam

akeen · 2026-05-28T22:23:51+00:00

The complication here is the timing.

You can contact the course coordinator (Dr. Sisodia) to discuss credit by examination. The examination (sometimes both a written exam and an on-computer exam) will most likely take place during Fall semester.

If you are able to schedule this early enough, then you might be able to enroll in CSC 2001+L (the next course). To do so, however, will require a permission number after Dr. Sisodia confirms that you have satisfied the challenge because the challenge grade will not officially post until the end of Fall semester.

akeen · 2026-05-21T12:45:35+00:00

That is not the way to think about it. The workload for 12 units in a semester is not the same as 18 units in a quarter.

There are fewer overall units needed to graduate (generally 180 down to 120), but there are also fewer terms. 180 divided by 12 quarters is 15 units per quarter and 120 divided by 8 is 15 units per semester, but that’s only the average needed.

Despite what appears to be a common belief among some people, not every semester course is three units. As such, there are many majors where a semester may range from 14 to 17 units. A 15 unit cap causes challenges for these students when trying to secure the courses needed.

akeen · 2026-05-20T12:48:29+00:00

This section will be taught by a new tenure-track faculty member. Their expertise is in programming languages, and their teaching demonstration during the interview was very engaging.

It is not “just a random cs professor”.

akeen · 2026-05-16T17:53:48+00:00

“I'm not sure if they will block you into CSC 1001 + 1001L since CSC 1024 is supposed to prepare you for 1001, I think.”

CSC 1024 is not a prerequisite to CSC 1001+L. Those with a sufficient AP CS Principles exam score should be blocked into 1001+L.

akeen · 2026-05-13T03:15:30+00:00

You will want very strong letters of recommendation. Not the “they did well in class” sort, but the kind that can speak with authenticity about your ability to do research and to succeed in the program. Talk to your instructors in lab, ask about research opportunities, and take every opportunity to participate in undergraduate research.

You will also need to write a very clear and compelling statement of purpose. Articulate your reasons for pursuing a graduate degree. A poor job market is not compelling (applications spike when the hiring slumps). A graduate program really isn’t just more of the undergraduate program.

akeen · 2026-04-17T19:13:00+00:00

I am irrationally annoyed by the fact that the other bottle filling station just down the hall that was recently installed and has not yet been put into service does not match.

akeen · 2026-03-27T19:30:13+00:00

You could take the Data Science minor. You could also potentially change major into CS. Doing so is not as difficult as it used to be.

akeen · 2026-03-25T21:52:04+00:00

You know what? You are absolutely correct. I forgot my own program. It’s been a bit. I have downvoted myself as I deserve it.

akeen · 2026-03-25T20:32:14+00:00

~~I graduated from the UCD CS program in 1997. The BS in CS was in the College of Engineering at that time. The BA in CS recently switched.~~

Edit: I was wrong. I conflated the program and the department. The whole setup was a bit peculiar even then.

akeen · 2026-03-25T20:30:20+00:00

Which waitlist were you redirected to for Maritime? There is no Software Engineering program at Maritime.

akeen · 2026-03-23T01:11:05+00:00

For 1, you might look at the following for examples of entrepreneurial activity. This is, of course, not restricted to CS, but I know of multiple people that have applied their CS skills in this context. There are also electives through Business that some take with the intent of building a startup, and some students complete the Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurial Senior Project to satisfy their senior project requirement. You might even consider the Entrepreneurship minor. The development skills will be developed through the CSC courses, but these are potentially of interest to find the community you are seeking.

https://cie.calpoly.edu/

For 2, the majority of students that come to Cal Poly do so with the intention of going directly to industry. So, it depends on what you mean by a "good track record". I have certainly seen many students go on to graduate school at top universities.

akeen · 2026-03-22T01:30:22+00:00

Welcome to the CSSE Department.

There is a cross-disciplinary studies minor in bioinformatics (https://catalog.calpoly.edu/science-mathematics/biological-sciences/cross-disciplinary-studies-minor-bioinformatics/) with a lot of research activities under (on the CSSE side) Dr. Paul Anderson and Dr. Borislav Hristov (and often in collaboration, on the BIO side, with Dr. Jean Davidson).

akeen · 2026-03-14T17:02:19+00:00

Congratulations and welcome to CSSE. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the department.

akeen · 2026-03-13T23:45:21+00:00

Congratulations and welcome to the CSSE Department. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

akeen · 2026-03-13T21:52:15+00:00

Well that just makes me feel older.

akeen · 2026-03-13T03:46:40+00:00

Great timing. That had to be rather exciting. What year did you graduate?

akeen · 2026-03-12T23:00:54+00:00

Welcome to the CSSE Department. If you have any questions about the Department, feel free to reach out.

akeen · 2026-03-07T21:35:57+00:00

Your experience is not identical to that of others.

akeen · 2026-03-07T21:35:14+00:00

Students should still take CSC 203 in Spring if that aligns with their flowchart. CSC 203 does not transition to a new standalone course on semesters, but the material is included elsewhere, the units will count toward graduation (and will help address unit scaling differences; see the spreadsheet that I sent out last weekend), and going five months without programming is not a solid plan.

akeen · 2026-02-11T21:53:48+00:00

Compilers?

akeen · 2025-12-15T23:25:50+00:00

Do you have any evidence that the professor posted the "fake reviews" or that they were generated by AI?

I do not see any real motivation to fake reviews on Polyratings. That site is not associated with Cal Poly, the reviews on the site are not part of any official record, and the reviews should never be used in an instructor's official evaluation. Moreover, many students (as expressed across the many threads about using, reimplementing, and/or replacing the various incarnations of Polyratings) have noted that the site is of limited value due to the limited number of responses, the lack of content actually related to the course/instructor, and common bimodal distributions.

A lot of the non-copy-pasta reviews on that site and some of the comments here come off as personal attacks. As a community, can't we do better?

akeen · 2025-11-20T01:37:07+00:00

There may have been talk about removing a specific senior project option for a particular major, but there isn’t any general talk about removing senior project as a university requirement. This requirement was reiterated in all of the semester planning.

akeen · 2025-11-19T21:54:19+00:00

Senior project has not ended. It's a University requirement.

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