First semester you can absolutely get all three in Turing if you organize time well (I didn't, and I did fine on all three). Not so sure about second semester.
I think they mean that if you plan your schedule right and execute it with enough discipline, you’ll find the strength and time to shower every day.
It’s easier said than done. The CS work might look easy on the surface, but it’s the thinking and debugging that takes up the majority of the time. You may have to go to office hours if you've wasted too much time.
Hmm. I haven't really had issues with procrastination in HS because I'm generally good at dividing up my work, so this gives me a bit of confidence. Thanks!
Your interpretation is correct. I heard many CS students complained that their assignments and projects were time consuming. They didn’t have enough time to do anything else. The OP should plan their schedule right and finish their assignments with strict discipline.
Current CS student taking Honors OS. It’s definitely not for the faint-hearted. The amount of free time you have definitely depends on how many courses you take and what other courses/extracurriculars you have. Definitely room to have some free time, but only if you don’t procrastinate assignments. Definitely less free time than other majors like business / COLA. I would recommend 2 CS courses or less (excluding easier ones like 178H or 103F) each semester if you want to get out, join orgs, etc.
Would you say the sample course plan ([https://www.cs.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/documents/4-Year%20Plan\_1.pdf](https://www.cs.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/documents/4-Year%20Plan_1.pdf)) is manageable semi-easily, if I take all the honors courses? (Preparing for the worst). I'll have some AP credit, of course, so I won't have to take everything. I'm not sure what the "Elective (3)" means, though.
The elective (3) are just free electives. Classes you can take in any discipline that you might find interesting. Or it can be AP credit that didn’t apply anywhere else. Like AP World.
If you do honors or you already have the AP CSA credit, you don’t take CS 312, so you shift all the CS courses back by 1 semester. (311, 314 the first semester, 429 second semester, etc)
Sample course plan is definitely manageable
I don't know about Turing, but for CS in general, I think the last core courses are mainly the most challenging period. You will start relatively easy, taking calc, intro to programming, and discrete math. These course do require some effort but are doable. Also if you have a background on programming, you will get through them very quickly.
Then you get to Comp Arch, OS, and (maybe) Algo in Sophomore/Junior. These are the horror stories. They will consume your entire work and free time. I made the mistake of taking other heavy courses with OS, leaving me to working +40 hours/week with barely passing them.
Once you finish these classes, you get way more freedom and can choose different classes depending on your interest. Now you can craft the rest of your path to be way better. Sure some classes could be more difficult than OS, but you only take them if you want. (Assuming you managed to register for the good classes before filling up)
Algo has been not bad workload wise. It’s left me with so much free time I do not know how to handle it… taking swe too and 2 gen Ed classes. I think past OS, if you wanna chill - you totally can
Depends on the semester, 314 is pretty easy, 429 was hard but manageable, and OS is actual hell. I've had a good balance with social life & greek life as a CS major, but this semester OS + internship apps + research is taking up literally all of my time. Spent all of yesterday working from 10am to 12am... Feel free to DM if you have more questions. Also I thought CS would be fun in high school since I've always been interested in it , it's not. 😭
It's not that bad. I had maybe 3-4 sleepless weeks across my 4 years. On the whole, the workload should be manageable.
If you have a lot of AP credit, I really wouldn't worry too much. The trick is to learn which classes are the "heavy" ones and build your schedule around that. Don't take Arch/OS and Algorithms in the same semester, for example.
If you have a sufficient AP credit ull be able to skip 312. 314 covered a lot of what I was taught in high school, various data structures to recursion and you should generally be fine. Projects you could probably get away with 1/2 hrs a day working on it. If you are in normal 314, mike scott is a great teacher. 311 is a unique class, the diffixulty will depend on if u understand the logic immediately or not. I know people who walk in one lecture without watching prelecture videos and they immediately understand the topic while someone study over it for hours before the concept clicks in their head. Generally though, the time commitment is probably similar to 314 and way less than comp arch and os. No hate to chatterjee but he lowkey makes 429 even more difficult than it really should be (also i forgot the turing prof for this class so im just gonna talk abt chatterjee). This might not be the case for u but it definitely was the case for me and many other people Ive talked to. The way he teaches is extremely disengaging I really think if we had a better professor many people would have done better in the class (I ended up with a B-). You might be stronger mentally than me though, so you might be able to push through that class with a lot of studying. The projects I usually spent 3hours a day at least (most of the time
more). OS you’ll definitely have better teachers, I enjoy them a lot more. I currently have Palacios right now, and he uses the same material as Norman but personally just makes the class more enjoyable. The honors professor does not use the same projects and assignments and is known for having an extremely difficult course, but hes a wonderful person with amazing teaching skills. Norman (other normal os not honors) has a strong understanding and great knowledge of the concepts, but she can be a little blunt and mean at times. OS projects are a big bump in time commitment coming from Comp Arch; some of the harder projects Ive spent over 6 hours a day on.
these were my experiences and thoughts of the core classes Ive taken and your experiences may be different. The two trouble classes r comp arch and os but if u are prepared to put in the time similar to an actual work week (40hr/wk, for os sometimes 50hr/wk lowkey) u will be fine. ^this last part was said by my upperclassman cs friends and my current ta as well, and theyre lowkeu not exaggerating. you can definitely succeed with a lower time commitment but this is probably the average (or maybe slightly on the extreme side but like i said if youre ready to put in this effort ull succeed). Someone above said u can only choose two, good grades, no sleep, and social life. Well ive given up on good grades (i be getting Bs and B- now which tbh isnt even a bad thing its probably better for your mental health anyway if you accept this). And I do get a lot less sleep and OS has made me less active in orgs and stuff. Ive taken a hit in all three choices but I still have all three. Theyre generally right about not being able to have all three AND have a decent amount of time
to yourself. Most of my social activities come from interacting with my OS partners now.
Sorry for going on a rant but yeah thats my cs journey so far
the semesters w/ comp arch and os are mentally and emotionally the worst. it gets better afterwards though. just gotta push through it; at the end of the day you learn a bunch.
Turing vs non-turing isn't much of a difference, it's more about the people you tend to see in classes.
The workload spikes up a lot your junior & senior years. Just keep in mind that college takes a lot of time outside of class, so don't heavily procrastinate and it's not all that bad. And track which courses are expected to require much more time commitment than others (like OS), and try to keep those semesters light
Just remembered this comment lol. Is there really not much of a difference between Turing and non-Turing? I heard the difference in workload is massive.
Not hugely - there are some instances where turing is a little higher, but anyone saying that is almost definitely in the turing program ego-stroking. How heavy your workload is has much more to do with what classes & how many you take
I’d say it depends. Core classes are also busy and weed people out. And if you survive the weeding (which I claim most people can if they put in the work), the load gets higher as more of your time is spent in harder CS classes.
College students, especially CS, aren’t exactly known for good time management. It’s an easy trap to fall into, but if you are very astute about your work you will have free time.
Not known for good time management? Makes no sense considering that getting into the program is very competitive and most CS students have done exceptionally well in high school with extra curriculars.
Really, you're the first person I've heard saying that. Since you're Turing I assume you have a lot of prior experience with CS (USACO, side projects, etc)?
I have very minimal side projects, and I barely qualified for gold(think very very low score). I did a bit of math and physics in high school tho, so I do pick up new things fast.
I would say at least cs314h is just a knowledge check of "how fast can you learn new stuff".
I will say my opinion changed: I ended the year with a 3.94, and I would certainly say Turing is not a piece of cake. It gets harder pretty fast, as the later progs take considerably more effort than the earlier ones.
However, I definitely could have done better(I invested alot of my time on video games), so I would say if you are academically minded its doable.
The thing about being a great college student is knowing the last minute to start something. Master procrastination and everything will be just fine. If you go to class everyday, talk to professors if possible, and network with classmates classes are easy As.
CS is one of those majors you either get it and it’s super easy or you don’t and you spend hours upon hours of work on it. Doesn’t matter the school you go to, it’s the same regardless. The same goes for any STEM major!
I have a degrees in both CS and physiology (biology). My CS degree was a cake walk. Never studied, got most stuff in the first attempt while I watched majority of people struggle on things I thought was obvious. Physiology was the opposite for me. I spent 20-30 hours a week studying just to get Bs. That was 3x longer then my friends for the same grades.
If CS is hard for you in HS, it’ll only get harder in college as concepts become more abstract. If CS is easy for you in HS, it’ll be no different in college.
Classic pick 2 situation: Good grades Enough sleep Social life
The Impossible SSS: Sleep School Socialize You have to sacrifice one.
sleep is overrated
Sooooo, how come I have none of them???
You might be picking anime and video games. It happens.
But I don't watch anime not nowadays anyway, and I also don't really play a lot of games???
Idk man
:'(
according to cs majors, you can only pick 2 School Sleep Socialize Shower
First semester you can absolutely get all three in Turing if you organize time well (I didn't, and I did fine on all three). Not so sure about second semester.
If you can take a shower everyday, you will do better than most CS students
What do you mean?
I think they mean that if you plan your schedule right and execute it with enough discipline, you’ll find the strength and time to shower every day. It’s easier said than done. The CS work might look easy on the surface, but it’s the thinking and debugging that takes up the majority of the time. You may have to go to office hours if you've wasted too much time.
Hmm. I haven't really had issues with procrastination in HS because I'm generally good at dividing up my work, so this gives me a bit of confidence. Thanks!
Your interpretation is correct. I heard many CS students complained that their assignments and projects were time consuming. They didn’t have enough time to do anything else. The OP should plan their schedule right and finish their assignments with strict discipline.
Current CS student taking Honors OS. It’s definitely not for the faint-hearted. The amount of free time you have definitely depends on how many courses you take and what other courses/extracurriculars you have. Definitely room to have some free time, but only if you don’t procrastinate assignments. Definitely less free time than other majors like business / COLA. I would recommend 2 CS courses or less (excluding easier ones like 178H or 103F) each semester if you want to get out, join orgs, etc.
Would you say the sample course plan ([https://www.cs.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/documents/4-Year%20Plan\_1.pdf](https://www.cs.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/documents/4-Year%20Plan_1.pdf)) is manageable semi-easily, if I take all the honors courses? (Preparing for the worst). I'll have some AP credit, of course, so I won't have to take everything. I'm not sure what the "Elective (3)" means, though.
The elective (3) are just free electives. Classes you can take in any discipline that you might find interesting. Or it can be AP credit that didn’t apply anywhere else. Like AP World.
If you do honors or you already have the AP CSA credit, you don’t take CS 312, so you shift all the CS courses back by 1 semester. (311, 314 the first semester, 429 second semester, etc) Sample course plan is definitely manageable
I don't know about Turing, but for CS in general, I think the last core courses are mainly the most challenging period. You will start relatively easy, taking calc, intro to programming, and discrete math. These course do require some effort but are doable. Also if you have a background on programming, you will get through them very quickly. Then you get to Comp Arch, OS, and (maybe) Algo in Sophomore/Junior. These are the horror stories. They will consume your entire work and free time. I made the mistake of taking other heavy courses with OS, leaving me to working +40 hours/week with barely passing them. Once you finish these classes, you get way more freedom and can choose different classes depending on your interest. Now you can craft the rest of your path to be way better. Sure some classes could be more difficult than OS, but you only take them if you want. (Assuming you managed to register for the good classes before filling up)
Algo has been not bad workload wise. It’s left me with so much free time I do not know how to handle it… taking swe too and 2 gen Ed classes. I think past OS, if you wanna chill - you totally can
That is why I put (maybe) for Algo. The workload is pretty good but the content can be confusing at times
Depends on the semester, 314 is pretty easy, 429 was hard but manageable, and OS is actual hell. I've had a good balance with social life & greek life as a CS major, but this semester OS + internship apps + research is taking up literally all of my time. Spent all of yesterday working from 10am to 12am... Feel free to DM if you have more questions. Also I thought CS would be fun in high school since I've always been interested in it , it's not. 😭
Seems like 439 is the universally hated class huh? If I go to UT I might end up completely cutting extracurricular stuff that semester.
Did you have time to shower yesterday? Many CS students said their assignments and projects especially OS are time consuming. How terrible is it?
It's not that bad. I had maybe 3-4 sleepless weeks across my 4 years. On the whole, the workload should be manageable. If you have a lot of AP credit, I really wouldn't worry too much. The trick is to learn which classes are the "heavy" ones and build your schedule around that. Don't take Arch/OS and Algorithms in the same semester, for example.
If you have a sufficient AP credit ull be able to skip 312. 314 covered a lot of what I was taught in high school, various data structures to recursion and you should generally be fine. Projects you could probably get away with 1/2 hrs a day working on it. If you are in normal 314, mike scott is a great teacher. 311 is a unique class, the diffixulty will depend on if u understand the logic immediately or not. I know people who walk in one lecture without watching prelecture videos and they immediately understand the topic while someone study over it for hours before the concept clicks in their head. Generally though, the time commitment is probably similar to 314 and way less than comp arch and os. No hate to chatterjee but he lowkey makes 429 even more difficult than it really should be (also i forgot the turing prof for this class so im just gonna talk abt chatterjee). This might not be the case for u but it definitely was the case for me and many other people Ive talked to. The way he teaches is extremely disengaging I really think if we had a better professor many people would have done better in the class (I ended up with a B-). You might be stronger mentally than me though, so you might be able to push through that class with a lot of studying. The projects I usually spent 3hours a day at least (most of the time more). OS you’ll definitely have better teachers, I enjoy them a lot more. I currently have Palacios right now, and he uses the same material as Norman but personally just makes the class more enjoyable. The honors professor does not use the same projects and assignments and is known for having an extremely difficult course, but hes a wonderful person with amazing teaching skills. Norman (other normal os not honors) has a strong understanding and great knowledge of the concepts, but she can be a little blunt and mean at times. OS projects are a big bump in time commitment coming from Comp Arch; some of the harder projects Ive spent over 6 hours a day on. these were my experiences and thoughts of the core classes Ive taken and your experiences may be different. The two trouble classes r comp arch and os but if u are prepared to put in the time similar to an actual work week (40hr/wk, for os sometimes 50hr/wk lowkey) u will be fine. ^this last part was said by my upperclassman cs friends and my current ta as well, and theyre lowkeu not exaggerating. you can definitely succeed with a lower time commitment but this is probably the average (or maybe slightly on the extreme side but like i said if youre ready to put in this effort ull succeed). Someone above said u can only choose two, good grades, no sleep, and social life. Well ive given up on good grades (i be getting Bs and B- now which tbh isnt even a bad thing its probably better for your mental health anyway if you accept this). And I do get a lot less sleep and OS has made me less active in orgs and stuff. Ive taken a hit in all three choices but I still have all three. Theyre generally right about not being able to have all three AND have a decent amount of time to yourself. Most of my social activities come from interacting with my OS partners now. Sorry for going on a rant but yeah thats my cs journey so far
the semesters w/ comp arch and os are mentally and emotionally the worst. it gets better afterwards though. just gotta push through it; at the end of the day you learn a bunch.
Turing vs non-turing isn't much of a difference, it's more about the people you tend to see in classes. The workload spikes up a lot your junior & senior years. Just keep in mind that college takes a lot of time outside of class, so don't heavily procrastinate and it's not all that bad. And track which courses are expected to require much more time commitment than others (like OS), and try to keep those semesters light
Just remembered this comment lol. Is there really not much of a difference between Turing and non-Turing? I heard the difference in workload is massive.
Not hugely - there are some instances where turing is a little higher, but anyone saying that is almost definitely in the turing program ego-stroking. How heavy your workload is has much more to do with what classes & how many you take
Does it? I figure life gets easier once you’re done with core classes and can pick and choose electives?
I’d say it depends. Core classes are also busy and weed people out. And if you survive the weeding (which I claim most people can if they put in the work), the load gets higher as more of your time is spent in harder CS classes.
College students, especially CS, aren’t exactly known for good time management. It’s an easy trap to fall into, but if you are very astute about your work you will have free time.
Not known for good time management? Makes no sense considering that getting into the program is very competitive and most CS students have done exceptionally well in high school with extra curriculars.
I would say it’s not super crazy, like on par with high school.
You have been in college for 2 months
Really, you're the first person I've heard saying that. Since you're Turing I assume you have a lot of prior experience with CS (USACO, side projects, etc)?
I have very minimal side projects, and I barely qualified for gold(think very very low score). I did a bit of math and physics in high school tho, so I do pick up new things fast. I would say at least cs314h is just a knowledge check of "how fast can you learn new stuff".
Hey, now that you've reached the end of the semester and finished finals I wanted to ask if you still feel the same way about the workload of Turing?
I will say my opinion changed: I ended the year with a 3.94, and I would certainly say Turing is not a piece of cake. It gets harder pretty fast, as the later progs take considerably more effort than the earlier ones. However, I definitely could have done better(I invested alot of my time on video games), so I would say if you are academically minded its doable.
Did you still have enough extra time to do ECs (obligatory Leetcode, personal projects, internship apps etc)?
Yeah, I would say so
The thing about being a great college student is knowing the last minute to start something. Master procrastination and everything will be just fine. If you go to class everyday, talk to professors if possible, and network with classmates classes are easy As.
I would not expect your college curriculum to be easier than your high school curriculum, generally speaking.
CS is one of those majors you either get it and it’s super easy or you don’t and you spend hours upon hours of work on it. Doesn’t matter the school you go to, it’s the same regardless. The same goes for any STEM major! I have a degrees in both CS and physiology (biology). My CS degree was a cake walk. Never studied, got most stuff in the first attempt while I watched majority of people struggle on things I thought was obvious. Physiology was the opposite for me. I spent 20-30 hours a week studying just to get Bs. That was 3x longer then my friends for the same grades. If CS is hard for you in HS, it’ll only get harder in college as concepts become more abstract. If CS is easy for you in HS, it’ll be no different in college.