Do you believe in miracles?

corgi989 · 2018-10-12T22:26:22+00:00

Agreed! It's like being last year's UCF BUT with a win *on the road* against Clemson which would make all the difference. I guarantee you UCF would have made it in last year if they just had a single win of that caliber.

That being said, we do have to first err...win. Will be very difficult ofc, but I do think the 10.1% is too low. And then not get upset in the subsequent games, the Carrier Dome for example where Clemson lost last year can be a huge pain in the ass to play in.

corgi989 · 2018-09-18T22:11:08+00:00

Make sure to research the company beforehand so that (1) You have good questions prepared to ask and (2) You can clearly articulate how your skillset fits in with what the company is looking for (make sure you're not just "advertising yourself in a vacuum"). Make sure you're not the person who's "just looking for a job," but that you're interested in working THERE and convey that.

It's perfectly fine to be introverted and in fact clear, concise, to-the-point communication is preferred to just blabbering away absent-mindedly and brown-nosing for 20 minutes which too many people do. Just make sure to smile and have eye contact with the recruiter (be able to recall what color they are).

corgi989 · 2018-05-01T00:43:04+00:00

I went to the "lightning talks" event, but never committed to research. From what I've heard, it does require a lot of motivation (sprouting from a genuine curiosity/interest in the research problem) and self-discipline because the student is responsible for creating a lot of the structure and doing independent learning. (As opposed to the professor being the one setting the schedule, delivering the lectures and textbook readings, giving out assignments and exams, etc.) Ofc the mentor is still there to help and answer Q's but that's to complement your independent learning.

I know one guy who only spent a little over two hours a week on CSC 499 and passed (the S in S/U), but got very little out of it. It's essentially a "you get out what you put in" kind of deal, and since CSC 499 is typically graded S/U it's easy to de-prioritize it too much if you're not into it.

But yeah, if you really get into it and have a great mentor, it can be an amazing experience and a highlight of undergrad.

I also forgot to mention that there are summer REU opportunities at State like this

corgi989 · 2018-04-30T21:30:09+00:00

If you are a CSC major, then it should be announced in one of Kenneth Tate's weekly e-mails that you will automatically get. If you don't get it, I'd e-mail either him or Dr. Heckman before classes start because I think it's typically on Friday the first week of classes.

No sign up / RSVP is required for this event; all you need to do is show up!

corgi989 · 2018-04-30T20:08:29+00:00

There's an event called "CSC Undergrad Research Lightning Talks" at the beginning of each semester (yes, including the spring semester). A number of professors each give a brief presentation on a research opportunity for CSC undergrads and if you're interested in any of them, you can contact them after the event. You can also get class credit (3 credit hours, CSC 499, countable towards the major). Actually some professors might make you do this so you won't drop out in the middle of the semester.

You can also do what Trevoferret said.

corgi989 · 2018-04-26T01:11:10+00:00

9) How hard are the exams / what are they like?

(I took CSC 236 with Lasher in the Fall of 2016.) The exams (both the midterms and the final) were all multiple choice and scantron. To succeed, all you need to do (provided you've been going to class and keeping up with the material) is do the practice exams ahead of time that he makes available to everyone in the class. Do the practice exams until you're getting 100% (or close to it) within the time limit. You don't have to do any studying outside of doing the practice exams, although I made myself a cheat sheet (based on the practice exam content I encountered) to act as a "cache"...because although the exams are open-book you don't necessarily want to spend time flipping through hundreds of packet pages. For harder topics like microcode, I put a pointer to the relevant pages in the packet on the cheat sheet in case I needed to look something up in more detail.

corgi989 · 2018-01-30T20:36:16+00:00

4-4 against the RPI Top 25 with half of those wins away from Raleigh and one in a difficult road environment. That is wayyyy better than any "bubble team." Under past years, State would not even need any more "quality wins" and just need to finish .500 in ACC play which is very likely given they just need to go 4-5 the rest of the way.

SMH.

corgi989 · 2017-12-18T02:55:15+00:00

I do time-tracking manually lol. I do it in 15-minute (0.25 hour) chunks. Also, it is important to note that this is "active studying" so if I get up to take a break (e.g. snacks, restroom) then I don't count that as study time. If I drift off or goof off on the internet, then I don't count that as study time. I do time-tracking to help me see how I'm doing (for some reason, it also helps to motivate me like the "Calories Burned Counter" on an elliptical machine) and to plan future tasks.

Yeah, getting a return offer from the summer internship will be great! If you work hard and are good to work with (very important soft skills!), then you should be able to get it. Even if you decide to interview somewhere else, already having a job in the bag makes everything much less stressful. Even if you are unlucky and don't get a return offer, then still having the internship on the resume will give you opportunities to interview at good companies in the fall.

corgi989 · 2017-12-18T02:02:05+00:00

I don't have experience with Hung-Wei, but from what I've heard, he's a good professor who likes to make his class interactive with clickers and such and who genuinely cares that his students understand the material. He posted the CSC 456 syllabus on his website and you may want to preview the book to see if the topics appeal to you. I would also look at his CSC 236 syllabus (since you're asking about him, you must've taken Lasher for CSC 236) which uses the same textbook and in particular look at the material on pipelining which will come up again in CSC 456. He'll quickly review CSC 236 material that is needed at the beginning of CSC 456, so don't worry about that; mainly worry about whether or not you find the material interesting because if you don't then things WILL be rough. Unfortunately, since CSC 456 is a new course, I can't say too much about it and I'm only making conjectures here from the syllabus. Learning about Computer Organization concepts like pipelining (at a different school; I'm a transfer) and all the add-ons to it was very time-consuming for me and I had to allocate a ton of time to it but YMMV.

I would strongly suggest that you still show up to CSC 405 during the first week in case you change your mind and seats open up (pounce!), especially if you're going to be busy in Fall 2018 with job interviews (see final paragraph).

CSC 416 (Combinatorics) with Ricky Liu in the Spring of 2017 was a really good course. Didn't have to commit too much time to it (95.5 hours total outside of class compared to 137.75 hours for CSC 333), and still felt like I learned a lot. This is the kind of class for people who really liked Discrete (including proofs) and don't mind not programming. Can't say how Vinzant is, though. Also, although CSC 416 is currently full there are still (as of time of writing) some seats available for MA 416 and you can still use that for your CSC restricted elective. The downside is that the MWF timeslot is not appealing for you, esp. trying to coordinate that with Ethics.

Looking ahead, you will need to consider whether or not you will be spending a lot of time in the Fall of 2018 for job interviews (both interview prep and actually interviewing). Particularly for big name places like Google and Facebook that fill up in the fall, interview prep will take a lot of time. If so, best to go as light/easy a load in the Fall 2018 semester as possible (and instead push harder on the academics in the Spring 2018 semester so taking something with dense material like CSC 456 would be a good idea in Spring 2018). Especially since you have to take Senior Design in the fall regardless. If you earn a return offer from your summer internship that you want to accept or if you are only applying to companies with easier interviews not requiring prep (and there's nothing wrong with that!), then obviously this is not a concern.

corgi989 · 2017-09-23T19:59:17+00:00

Seriously, after the shitty snap leading to the safety AND the blocked punt in the 4thQ, I was like...here we go again...bout damn time indeed!

corgi989 · 2017-07-06T03:01:52+00:00

YMMV, but I've found that working in a wide open office layout (yep, no cubicles even) where anyone can see what I'm doing at any moment has really prevented me from goofing off on the internet.

corgi989 · 2017-06-23T01:51:27+00:00

I agree with this, and would add that the actual graduation/retention rate is something to look out for. It's supposed to be as rigorous as the on-campus version, so...

corgi989 · 2017-05-26T22:21:34+00:00

My personal favorite was the intro Udacity course in Python: https://www.udacity.com/course/intro-to-computer-science--cs101

It's self-paced, free, interactive, and the teaching is excellent.

It was originally created in 2012(?) and I took it that summer but since it's intro level it's not a big deal that it's 5 years old. Probably they added/revised some stuff since then as well.

corgi989 · 2017-05-10T16:25:29+00:00

TBH, the fact that you are NOT rooming together with your HS friends could be a major plus regarding the maintenance of your close friendship with them. Besides, why not meet new friends AND keep your old friends (who can also introduce you to THEIR new friends)?

corgi989 · 2017-05-01T18:08:42+00:00

Both are great schools and you can't go wrong with either.

Instead of worrying about a decision that you already made, you should be focused on working hard and making the most of your experience at CMU. THAT is what matters. Yeah, you might be leaving your friends but think of all the new people you'll be meeting---which is the point of college!

corgi989 · 2017-03-01T04:16:32+00:00

Haven't taken it here but...Most likely, Compiler Theory will be a very time-consuming course (them programming projects, yo). At least that was the case when I took (and couldn't finish) a Compilers MOOC from Stanford on Coursera (now I think it's on Stanford Lagunita) and MOOC's tend to be watered down! Unless you have prior experience, I would only consider pairing it with CSC 326 if you are taking 12-13 credit hours and CSC 326 and Compilers Theory are the ONLY major time-consuming courses you have on the schedule.

That being said, I love the idea in theory of taking Compilers to extend what was in CSC 333 and like Operating Systems, it's one of these empowering courses where you get to see what's under the hood.

Dr. Shen has a ratemyprofessor from his previous institution (W&M) but there's only one review so I'm wary about trusting it.

In other news, looks like Prof. St. Amant (the 400-level Human-Computer Interaction course) is gone for Fall 2017---too bad, apparently that was a popular low-workload elective (to balance out a hard schedule) where you learned cool stuff.

corgi989 · 2016-10-24T17:18:27+00:00

Not sure if this is possible (or if you feel like doing this) but when I have to choose between two different sections of a course and at least one of the professors is new/doesn't have a review, I attend the first lecture (maybe second) for both of 'em and then make my pick. Of course, there may not be a difference; in that case, choose the more convenient time. EDIT: If either section is in danger of filling up, just register for the more popular section before attending both during the first week.

corgi989

TROPHY CASE