<p>I've been admitted to pre-CS. I've heard and also read however that they try to flunk out a lot of students, especially in the first two classes; and that only 50% of those who start pre-CS actually make it to the major.</p>
<p>On CS307 Syllabus for this semester it says:
"Last semester 144 students enrolled in the course. 100 students got a C or better. 28 students got a D or F. 16 students dropped the course. The majority of students getting Ds or Fs missed 1 or more exams without an excuse, had a failing homework average, and a failing quiz average. (In other words they quit trying.)"
From: CS</a> 307 Syllabus</p>
<p>That means 30.5% failed to pass the first course. There are two other pre-CS courses and Calc which also I've heard have similar failure rates. You can only take the courses once (including drops!) without special permission, too.</p>
<p>I'm just looking for experiences or anecdotes if you've have any to share. Thx.</p>
<p>Basically the college just wants to be serious about it's students. If you really want to take CS and really like it, you will succeed. If you don't really know what you want to do, then you'll fail. The college doesn't want to waste it's time and yours either.</p>
<p>i don't have a direct relation to computer science, but electrical engineering has a killer weed-out class in the 1st semester. the stories about the class with a certain professor are suitable to tell at a campfire to scare the crap out of little children.</p>
<p>however, in the words of that professor, "if you are in the wrong major, i would be doing you a disservice by passing you. it is better to find out now and switch to something you enjoy, rather than realizing you made a huge mistake 2 years from now."</p>
<p>weed-outs are not designed to destroy the possibility of higher education for those who do not do well in them. they are put in place to separate those that belong in a major from those that are uninspired.</p>
<p>if you are dedicated, show up to all classes, do your homework, and study, there is no reason you shouldn't get a B or higher. the classes are not impossible; they just require that you work.</p>
<p>you mentioned calculus as a course you are worried about. calculus isn't hard. the only reason you think it's hard is because you were told it is. it is the quintessential "advanced" class that people are impressed that you are taking. the intro calc class is nothing more than learning a few basic formulas to create algebra problems. it really just requires learning some concepts (which start confusing/scary/whatever, but become crystal clear), and knowing how to multiply/divide/work with exponents in annoyingly long complex fractions.</p>
<p>people who fail calc go in thinking it's impossible, so they don't even try. if you do the homework assigned (even if the professor doesn't grade it), and then do EXTRA problems for the types of questions you don't understand, there will be a point where it just clicks, and after that, whatever you were so frustrated with before becomes extremely simple.</p>
<p>Before choosing your class you should have used Pick-A-Prof. Its a website that shows what grades professors give out. It helps a lot knowing what your chance of getting an A is before starting the class. Some professors give out 5% A's, others give out 40% A's. I recommend using it so that you don't end up in situations like yours.</p>
<p>There is just one professor that is bad for the EE first semester "weed out class," which is the guy who wrote the textbook( I still don't see how people considered it a weed out class, it was pretty easy in comparison to my classes now). I didn't have him, and I had a pretty solid grounding in that class, and so it was fairly easy for me. You do see the girl population sharply drop off after that class for sure. I think if you don't know what your getting into, you probably will do poorly in CS or EE, but if you are sure you want to do it, and have had a little bit of experience before, it should be doable</p>
<p>Calculus was a joke here for me. I took AB and BC in high school, and took 408D my first semester. I was pretty relaxed about the first test, since I knew all the material from high school Calculus, and I just did the review. And the review WAS the test, and the class average was a 60 something. I got a 100 on it without even trying. If you haven't taken any calculus in high school, it might hard for you, but if you have calculus AB and you start from the beginning is really easy in my estimation.</p>
<p>
[quote]
There is just one professor that is bad for the EE first semester "weed out class," which is the guy who wrote the textbook( I still don't see how people considered it a weed out class, it was pretty easy in comparison to my classes now). I didn't have him
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</p>
<p>The information you are expected to learn from any of the professors is a sane amount. The information you are expected to learn from Patt is the textbook, plus all the subtleties within it. The reason you don't know why it's a challenging class is because you didn't have the specific professor. According to most people I've talked to, an "A" in that class is comparable to knowing enough information to getting a "C" in Patt's class. That's not to say a person with an A would get a C, but they would definitely have to work more than they did.</p>
<p>The point is, the professor CAN make all the difference, but sometimes it's unavoidable. When that happens, show up, study hard, and anyone with determination will succeed.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Before choosing your class you should have used Pick-A-Prof. Its a website that shows what grades professors give out. It helps a lot knowing what your chance of getting an A is before starting the class. Some professors give out 5% A's, others give out 40% A's. I recommend using it so that you don't end up in situations like yours.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I would be surprised to find out that this would matter much in a weed-out course. It would kind of defeat the purpose of having a weed-out course. I would suspect that the department would set targets on the percentage of students that pass the course and the professors structure their classes accordingly. I understand if this is inconsistent for many classes, but if it is inconsistent for a weed-out class, then the college/department is poorly run and is doing a huge disservice to it's students.</p>
<p>306 isn't really that big of a weed out class. Patt is just a hard professor. When other teachers teach it, I am pretty sure the grades are fairly average, although the drop rate is a little higher than normal because it is the first semester.</p>
<p>Why didn't you test out of calculus? I have seen a number of people in classes where they shouldn't be, whether taking calculus courses or in foreign languages or whatever. Instead of taking courses which were a "joke" to you, why not be placed at the correct level?</p>
<p>I couldn't test out of all of calculus, so either way I was stuck with 1 semester. The way it works is, there are 2 calculus routes, you can either take 408C and 408D or 408K, 408L, and 408M. So basically Calculus AB gives you credit for 408 C or 408 K, however, Calculus BC only gives you credit for 408C or 408 K and L. So basically, no matter what I am taking 408D or 408M. I didn't know all this at the time, but I did know I had one semester to take, so I though my only option was 408D. However, I could have taken 408M( moves much slower), but taking D ended up helping me in that I had a easy first test to boost all the other tests where it was all new information. </p>
<p>So basically, I was at the highest level I could be at with the credit I had, and it was still a joke. Math here has generally been a joke in my estimation(and I have taken a lot of math).</p>
<p>Can anyone post what it's like to major in EE? How can I tell if I will enjoy it or not if I have no experience with circuits and very little knowledge of physics? I took Calculus AB AP last year as a junior and I got a 4 on the AP exam but I already forgot a lot of the stuff so will it be best for me to retake M408C next fall? Will I be able to tell fairly quickly if EE is the right major for me (in the first semester or so)?</p>
<p>It's hard to say what it's like. Take a semester, you will have a pretty good indication by the first couple of classes. Circuit design is kind of boring, but I really like working with hardware and ****. Just take 408C again.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Can anyone post what it's like to major in EE? How can I tell if I will enjoy it or not if I have no experience with circuits and very little knowledge of physics? I took Calculus AB AP last year as a junior and I got a 4 on the AP exam but I already forgot a lot of the stuff so will it be best for me to retake M408C next fall? Will I be able to tell fairly quickly if EE is the right major for me (in the first semester or so)?
[/quote]
EE 302 is the introduction to electrical engineering class in the first semester. It goes excruciatingly slow and it doesn't cover a lot of material, so your lack of experience with circuits doesn't matter at all. I had none either, and it was an easy A for me. Just use pick-a-prof.</p>
<p>You lucked out on EE 306 intro to computing (assuming you are entering next fall), because you will not have the hard professor.</p>
<p>Take 408c. You will be perfectly on schedule to graduate in 4 years, and you will have a solid foundation in calculus. Lots of people make the mistake of jumping to 408d when they are not ready, and they end up dropping back to C. 408D expects you to have mastered limits, derivatives, and all integrals to the point where you can do things like u-sub in your head; at least my professor did.</p>
<p>If you are truly an engineer, it is hard not to find something you enjoy in electrical engineering. There are around 10 specializations at junior year, and you can choose between electrical and computer engineering, or specialize in areas from both. You will know you are in the wrong major if you don't see yourself enjoying -any- aspect of 306 or 302. Those classes are basically the (sometimes slow and boring) foundation of the fun things to come.</p>
<p>yea i would recommend seriously reconsidering if ur not absolutely sure about a major like EE and CS. i was in Patts class and did average on the test but failed the programming assignments because thats just not my thing i got a D in it and its not like i was a bad student had A's in all other classes and was in engineering honors, now pretty much because of that class im transferring my major. any other professor would be better but still try to be as sure as possible before going in to these type of majors. and if you do take them drop out quickly if it seems like its not ur thing u dont want to be stuck with a bad GPA that can hurt ur transfer chances within UT for example if u want to transfer to McCombs you would need a high GPA. and trust me u should be able to figure out before the drop deadline if its ur thing or not.</p>
<p>Yeah I plan to use Pick-A-Prof to choose the easiest professors for my classes next fall. I would still appreciate it if yall told me which professors are good for which classes and what not because it will help me narrow down my list because sometimes on pick-a-prof there are like 2-3 professors that seem to be good. Yeah I think I'll try out EE my 1st semester and see if it appeals to me and if it doesn't then I'll transfer out but most likely it will. I am interested in new technology and I like to mess around with tech stuff like computers, cell phones, etc. Idk how I would feel about building them though because I don't really like physics or calculus it's alright to me but I don't feel like I love those subjects. In reality however I can't see myself being a science major like biology or chemistry because I don't think I could study and memorize so much stuff. I was also wondering is it possible to minor in business if you're doing EE? I am slightly interested in Actuarial science because it involves statistics and I sort of enjoy statistics more than calculus (I'm in AP Stats right now and I took AP Calculus AB last year).</p>
<p>ASEE database of enrollments by engineering major support that University of Texas is among the worst engineering departments for admitting students to engineering, and then intentionally crushing them. Those students could have been good engineers, contributing to our society and economy; They were caught in some sadistic cult called UT-engineering. What happens to the souls and careers of those intentionally damaged by UT?</p>
<p>Note: I'm a UT alumni, and ashamed that UT is one of the last of the "crush 1/3" rite of passage schools. Most school have moved on to a more success driving model.</p>