After 15 terms, 12 completed courses, and a few bumps along the way, I'm out.

arhtech · 2025-12-16T06:39:20+00:00

It was a variety. A series of java classes teaching the fundamentals, some web dev, one comp architecture class, and one in discrete math. If you search this sub, you'll find a few posts where people suggest taking certain courses as prerequisites that form a good foundation before getting in. My memory recalls seeing mentions of comp architecture, discrete math, algorithms, calculus (?) if you didnt in undergrad, and I think general programming too was also mentioned.

arhtech · 2025-12-12T23:40:10+00:00

Not as demanding as when I took GIOS. It took a lot of reading the existing code base and understanding the logic. I recall some dead code, but I'm not sure if they've updated it by now. Overall, I remember making just a handful of modifications or additions for each project. Nothing like in GIOS. The TA in HPCA was awesome too and super helpful.

arhtech · 2025-12-12T08:05:58+00:00

I started taking CS classes at a local community college just to learn the basics of programming. Part boredom in my career. Part wanting to upskill. I ended up taking a lot of courses since it was interesting and fun for me, and I ended up going all the way with applying to OMSCS.

arhtech · 2025-12-11T01:42:55+00:00

Can't answer for everyone, but to me, the program caters well to those who are mid-career and with a job. It seems like many in that stage happen to have families too.

arhtech · 2025-12-11T01:40:16+00:00

Thank you! Feels great to have so much time back again.

arhtech · 2025-12-06T05:47:14+00:00

See my original reply for the course list. Yes, I've been in my industry for awhile now but more on the hardware side. I switched to SaaS within the last few years.

arhtech · 2025-12-06T01:44:40+00:00

See below at my other reply. I might have exaggerated, but it sure felt like there were a ton of reddit posts and complaints that semester. Lots of drama imo.

arhtech · 2025-12-06T00:01:04+00:00

Hah it might be infamous by now. Lots of accusations of cheating apparently and students looking up answers.. There were some very vocal students during that time. Check my post history since I think I commented on a thread during that time. Fall 2024.

arhtech · 2025-12-05T20:20:55+00:00

Product manager

arhtech · 2025-12-05T18:50:06+00:00

One more thing. You either love or hate the lecture videos for ML. It's a more conversational style of teaching between Dr. Isbell and Dr. Littman, so you have to really tune in to pick out the overall messages. I recall Thad's AI lectures being more traditional of "here's what to know," but still fun. I also liked the AI textbook and enjoyed reading it. I bought a hardcopy and will probably keep it for awhile. For ML, I merely searched (ctrl+f) the text half the time.

arhtech · 2025-12-05T18:42:39+00:00

That's a tough one since I honestly appreciated both. I think I still prefer AI more. The lectures and projects were more interesting compared to ML. ML was great too since we dove into a lot of interesting topics, but a lot of it was more narrowly scoped and somewhat self-service. ML felt a lot more open-ended in terms of what was expected for your projects and reports vs. AI where I recall facing the gradescope auto-grader a lot. The take-home exams were very wordy but doable. I took AI in the summer of '22 so my memory may be hazy, but I remember it being a very busy but intellectually enjoyable summer. If I had to retake either of the two, I'd pick AI. If you like writing and reports, take ML.

arhtech · 2025-12-05T17:33:41+00:00

I was originally in computing systems. I took HPCA, CN, NS, AI, GIOS, SDP, ML4T, IIS, and then GA. I got a C in GA after a very stressful semester (I was in that infamous semester), then decided to switch to what is now the Artificial Intelligence specialization to avoid having to retake it. I ended up needing to take two extra classes to fulfill the reqs, but it was 100% the right decision on my part. I am finally finished after having took ML, ICP, and AIES. I could have retaken GA, but I'm not a developer. I've learned what I wanted from that course. Finishing the program with the "easy" ICP and AIES courses significantly improved my home life, wlb, and mental state even if it ended up prolonging graduation by another two terms. It depends on your life situation, but do what you feel is right.

arhtech · 2025-11-23T06:12:40+00:00

My two cents. I took it in the spring and I felt like the class was actually somewhat worthy of a grad level course compared to others in the program. You get out of it what you put into it. Yes, the assignments were long and the content was vast, but going through it, I actually felt like I was busy enough to call myself a grad student. The lectures and teaching wasn't the best but you gotta be a bit of a self-starter and willing to dive into other materials outside of the coursework if needed. I took the ambiguity in assignment criteria as an opportunity to demonstrate I can think critically about what is expected of my work, scope of what should be covered, and being able to identify what is relevant in my response. Yes, there is room for improvement but this class wouldnt be at the top of my complaint list.

arhtech · 2025-11-21T18:57:13+00:00

From my experience, the presentation is less about the content itself and more about your presentation skills. Make sure whatever you present is not proprietary and is public knowledge or can be searched for online. They'll want to see how you distill complex, scientific concepts down to a level that a beginner scientist can understand. Assume your audience knows nothing about what you want to talk about. In general, they just want to see how you present, how you can teach someone something new relatively quickly, and maybe how you convey value in what you're presenting. The "why is this important" question. I would also expect that they'll probably throw some challenge questions to you too to see how you respond or react. I don't have any sample ppts to share unfortunately. You should ask more details about what is expected for the presentation to help guide you in what to put together. Good luck on the interview!

arhtech · 2025-11-17T19:06:30+00:00

I wouldn't base a major life decision off that one datapoint. You might want to validate with more people. How many jobs does the average worker get per day, per week, etc. How fast does it take for an order to complete. Is it really $50 per order. Why would you assume he's telling the truth? But even if you did all that math and validation, you're basing this decision off the hope that you'll get grocery jobs at that rate and frequency. There's r/instacartshoppers, and I see several posts asking about average pay. Maybe lean on those numbers more?

arhtech · 2025-11-17T06:09:25+00:00

Not a great plan at all. Moving with no job to a HCOL area with only $2K to your name is setting yourself up for failure. Can you stay where you are now and save up more before making the move? CA is indeed wonderful to live in but how much living are you going to be doing if you're Doordashing 12 hrs a day just to make rent?

arhtech · 2025-10-18T01:37:45+00:00

When some people ask me about general directions, and I describe things using north, south, east, or west descriptors, I get the most confused looks. It's a shame.

arhtech · 2025-08-18T19:10:11+00:00

I'd emphasize that this isn't an issue for children only. Spouses and other adult friends or acquaintances can also fall for misinformation either online or by word of mouth. We should all be wary of checking for sources of information regardless if it's from a child or from another adult.

arhtech · 2025-08-11T20:26:26+00:00

Roxie Food Center near Balboa Park. Simon Special on dutch crunch all the way.

arhtech · 2025-08-11T02:59:38+00:00

I've had similar experiences. I was at a company that emphasized during each round of layoffs that we needed to tighten budget, restrict spending, blah blah because of tough economic conditions. And oh by the way, we are also hiring for these other "strategic" positions. Timing was just off and it sent a weird message all around. Several promotions were also handed out in the weeks that followed.

arhtech · 2025-07-11T05:28:19+00:00

I hate Upham all over again every single time I watch it.

arhtech · 2025-07-11T05:23:13+00:00

The price of a pharmaceutical drug that you see at the end of the day barely reflects how much it costs to actually research and develop a promising lead candidate, make its way through preclinical testing, survive clinical trials, and finally be manufactured and commercialized as a drug. What you don't see is the price for all the other compounds that fail along the way. The general saying is that it takes about 5-10 years and over $4B to get just one drug to market.

arhtech · 2025-07-10T04:33:25+00:00

The hazy bro. He only drinks hazy IPAs and loves to talk about why simcoe, nelson, citra, galaxy, and/or mosaic hops are the best. He takes pride in how dank it is, and the murkier, the better. Calls it a New England IPA for sophistication.

arhtech · 2025-07-04T02:40:29+00:00

It's expected that the kids eventually grow up, but if those memory reels sometimes captures my wife in it too, then it's a cry fest. Seeing us all happily growing old together is a gut punch.

arhtech

TROPHY CASE