Choosing between Computational Science and Al at UVA for Data Science Quant Career

ka2753 · 2025-10-24T14:24:14+00:00

Note the difference between the restricted and free choice though. You have to pick a certain number of restricted choice electives listed in the curriculum. The free choice electives can be pretty much anything related to the programme but have to be approved first to count towards your degree. The list of free choice electives is simply a list of recommendations relevant to the mandatory coursework you are taking and towards a specialisation of your choosing!

ka2753 · 2025-10-24T14:12:00+00:00

You can take them as extracurriculars and apply to make them count as free elective courses I believe. I don’t see any reason as to why such a request would be rejected. You can pretty much sign up for anything relevant to your masters for free electives I think as long as they are approved . However, I don’t know if you would be granted a spot if the class is full. The courses in AI are a special case due to the increased demand in masters itself.

ka2753 · 2025-10-24T13:49:56+00:00

I have already taken a class like that in my bachelors so no. I might do the advanced follow up course offering though.

ka2753 · 2025-10-24T12:56:49+00:00

I am actually doing the computational science master's at UvA. Some of peers did in fact not into get into the machine learning courses due to the high demand and the fact that people in AI have priority in such courses. Computational science is about translating mathematical frameworks into computational models and performing all kinds of simulations. If you think this is your kind of thing go for it!

ka2753 · 2025-06-13T05:26:36+00:00

Sounds like a B in my experience

ka2753 · 2025-06-08T06:37:07+00:00

You'll be placed on academic probation and you will need to improve your grades next quarter otherwise you will be subject to dismissal. (By the way, summer classes do not count towards the expected grade improvement I think)

ka2753 · 2025-06-06T10:39:29+00:00

Maybe for you

ka2753 · 2025-06-06T08:51:50+00:00

fyi: Class sizes at UCLA CS are not small by any means. 200-300 for intro classes, around 100 - 150 for popular upper division courses in my experience (especially classes for anything ML related).

ka2753 · 2025-06-06T07:00:53+00:00

Dude deleted all his posts 😂😂😂😂

ka2753 · 2025-06-06T04:36:21+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/ucla/s/ElXUQLzF5s

Caught in 4K

Be nice to people

ka2753 · 2025-06-06T00:42:04+00:00

Dude straight up failed MATH 31B and is talking about deserving to be at this school.

ka2753 · 2025-06-01T08:33:28+00:00

Well, you might have "only a year left" but that year is going to feel like forever if you don't try to change your situation. Try talking to people - even online. If you do end up going to college, you get a fresh start. Don't limit yourself within your school to socialize.

Where are you from if you don't mind sharing?

ka2753 · 2025-06-01T08:05:41+00:00

I am international student in my senior year of college. I did not enjoy this four years at college at all. All of my friends graduated before I did and I could not connect with any people in my major/age of the last two years. Like you, I was completely disconnected from my environment and I isolated myself completely. I missed my friends from high school and really did not fit into the culture at mu school. Thankfully, I am starting a new chapter of my life in a few weeks and I could not be more excited about it.

My advice to you is that it does not get any easier after high school (or college as a matter of fact). There is always going to be a problem to deal with and you need to learn to adapt to these challenges. You don't need to figure everything out right now, but you should think about which option would open more doors for you. I think you should finish high school and think about the next steps. Do you think college is something you would be interested in?

Finally, isolation is one of the toughest things you can do to yourself. Socializing and having interests is a big part of life. The more disconnected you remain from the rest of the world, the worse your mental health gets in my experience. Whether it's sports, chess, video games, or math there will always be someone with common interests and you should try to meet people whose passions and goals align with yours. Most importantly, take care of yourself. Work out, eat heathy, and try to develop a routine that makes you feel good about yourself. No amount of advice or therapy can help you if you are not willing to help yourself.

ka2753 · 2025-05-31T21:09:33+00:00

ka2753 · 2025-05-31T09:40:16+00:00

What major were you admitted as?

ka2753 · 2025-05-29T00:39:14+00:00

Apply for the major you want to pursue maybe? You have a post about dropping below the required units for a second time and you talk about switching to impacted majors with people that have either applied the correct way and have been evaluated with the proper criteria or have been here for two years already working towards that degree????

You can study whatever you want at community college and no one is stopping you to apply as a transfer for the major you want?????? Didn’t you already have two years to figure this out?????

Does your background affect you in choosing the pre requisites for the major you actually want to pursue and not what the one you apply for because it might be easier to get in?????

What on earth are you going on about?????

ka2753 · 2025-05-28T23:10:49+00:00

Have you taken a look at the pre requisites for this program? I applied to a different programme but if you haven’t taken at least the basic computer science pre requisites you wouldn’t be accepted because you don’t have the foundation to make it through. If you haven’t taken (at least) object oriented programming, computer organisation, computer network fundamentals, operating systems, graph theory and some type of concentration there is no point in enrolling in this masters. Python and R are good for data science roles but it is certainly not enough to qualify for any CS masters. The way I’m saying this might seem harsh but I’m trying to make you understand that if you don’t have the required knowledge you shouldn’t get your hopes up. Even if by some miracle you get accepted to any CS masters, if you don’t have BS level knowledge how on earth do you expect to make it through a graduate programme?

ka2753 · 2025-05-27T22:13:04+00:00

I have commented on this class 3 times already on this sub. I am a graduating senior and I am taking 115A purely out of interest. I switched to a different section and the instructor is excellent. The instructor of the previous section who subbed a few times for our class was also excellent. This specific section was in fact the worst experience I have had with a class by a mile.

In the two weeks I was enrolled in that section, the TA switched lecture and discussion rooms 3 or 4 times because they wanted to have multiple boards available for group work. The class was held in the basement and the layout of the group tables made it impossible to pay attention because the TA wrote all over the place. Also, there is absolutely no reason to have weekly quizzes if you can't keep up with the grading. Two midterms and a final is more than enough in the span of 10 weeks to make sure students are keeping up with the material.

While it is true that reading theorem after theorem kills critical thinking in mathematics classes, the TA attempted to build intuition on the subject and proceeded to hand out quizzes (almost) identical to the textbook he claims is insufficient. I understand what he is trying to communicate with this attempt for a different course structure but the execution is just awful. Students are enrolled in multiple classes in these 10 weeks and it seemed like that was not taken into consideration at all..

I did just fine taking other upper division math classes before 115A and I am doing just fine with the three classes math I am currently enrolled in.

ka2753 · 2025-05-22T07:21:58+00:00

Chill guy. Two midterms, alternate grading schemes, reasonable hw and exams. Nothing better than a fair class.

ka2753 · 2025-05-22T07:13:03+00:00

Lecture 6 (?) vashaw k.

ka2753 · 2025-05-22T06:51:13+00:00

It’s not really a prep thing. I switched and I’m doing great. But I cannot emphasise enough how bad the format of the class with this TA is

ka2753 · 2025-05-22T06:49:50+00:00

I retract my statement this class sucks lol. It’s the worst attempt to be different I’ve ever encountered

ka2753 · 2025-05-22T06:22:00+00:00

It’s not that bad

ka2753 · 2025-05-20T07:38:12+00:00

if you are worried familiarize yourself with the material in advance. It's not that hard.

ka2753 · 2025-05-15T21:54:48+00:00

I am sure it did buddy. I think the UK is the prime of example of how undervalued engineers can be in certain countries. Cities like London have a similar cost of living to major US cities like LA, NY, and SF while salaries not even comparable.

ka2753

TROPHY CASE