<p>I'm taking AP credit for CIS 110, so would it be beneficial to take CIS 240 first semester? How hard of a course is it? Anyone have any personal experience with the instructor (Amir Roth)? My options are getting kind of limited and I don't want to waste a single CU, so it's really either this or PHYS 150 (which I've been told is a ***** and would be better taken at a later semester). Comments? So far I've got Math 114, Frosh Writing Seminar, and CIS 120 and, for now, an intended CSE major. Any suggestions for the two remaining classes? Thanks.</p>
<p>How much have you coded? CIS 240 is normally a first-semester sophomore year class for most people, but it really has no prerequisites. If you’ve written a lot of code, and a good amount of it was in C, you might be ready for 240, but I’d otherwise suggest waiting, and taking physics instead, which is best taken freshman year (because that’s when your friends will be taking it).</p>
<p>Alternatively I guess you can PM me and we can talk more in-depth about the CIS curriculum and stuff.</p>
<p>It’s not an easy question. I wouldn’t say 240 is a hard class, but I don’t know if taking it freshman year would be a good idea, since almost everyone is already a sophomore, and that must have some effect. Personally, I find Phys150 harder than 240, but that may be because I suck at physics. From the perspective of “doing what most people do”, you’d be better off taking 150, a classical freshman course, but who knows, the alternative strategy may be better in the end… If I were you I’d look at the 240 web site right now and try to get a feel for the material. But why are your options limited? Can’t you take another elective (either engineering or humanities) instead of 240 or 150? AR’s lecture can get a little boring, but he is always willing to help if you email or go with him; personality-wise he makes very cynical jokes about everything and he is a very peculiar character, which may intimidate some people; you’ll understand what I mean once you attend the first lecture. Visit his web site to get a feel for his personality (see his pic).</p>
<p>How rigorous was your AP Computer Science class? I’m not saying you didn’t learn Java well, but CIS120 runs through the 110 topics in like the first week or so before the first midterm is given. You can use that to gauge your knowledge and then decide whether or not you are ready for CIS240. No one can gauge your programming knowledge as well as you can.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments. Yeah my experience with C is extremely limited unfortunately and I’m proficient with Java by ‘AP standards’ FWIW. As for other potential classes, could you guys suggest some that would be suitable for a CSE major with an interest in business/economics? Even if I end up taking PHYS 150 instead of CIS 240, I still need one more course. I’ve already gotten credit for Econ1 and Econ2 btw. Thanks.</p>
<p>I was advised to take CIS 160 this fall. My adviser said it was Comp. Sci math, and it looks like it primarily deals with proofs and such.</p>
<p>closeyboy39, your adviser hates you and wants you to suffer. The last thing you want to do first semester of your college career is go into comp sci math. I came across that stuff exactly once for 15 minutes and my head is still spinning (that was 10 months ago).</p>
<p>CIS 160 (formerly 260) is much harder for most (99.9%) people. It’s certainly a freshman or sophomore year course, but you don’t want your introduction to college to come in that class (unless Max Mintz is teaching - he is far better than the other profs)</p>
<p>CIS 240 is much more straightforward. You don’t need to know how to program, really, (and for what its worth, Java isn’t any help at all), but having spent some time in your life working on programming homework will certainly help you feel comfortable doing the work. I say put it off since most of the class will be sophomores, and they’ll be used to the college pace.</p>
<p>CIS160 this fall is not taught by Max Mintz.</p>
<p>Well I took the nasty plunge and ended up going with PHYS 150, at least for now. What a BS course, it’s 7 total hours of class/lab time. That’s absolutely ridiculous. My schedule is Math 114, Phys 150, CIS 120, Writ 065, and Econ 050. I hope it works out…</p>
<p>ugh… Ok i’m starting to get pretty intimidated by CIS 160… The thing is Mintz is my adviser and he has told me a few times to take 160 this fall instead of physics… If I discover I can’t handle it (yet), what are some good replacements? Right now, I have CIS 160, Math 104, CIS 110, Writing sem, and Psych 001.</p>
<p>Tell Mintz that Matt says to go with physics. Mintz tends to push people to their limits, encouraging them to take the most difficult schedule possible, which I don’t think is always for the best, particularly in freshman year. He also hates the phys 150 course. Personally I would say you’re best off taking physics sooner rather than later, since you’ll have to take it eventually.</p>
<p>On the other hand, they have renumbered it from 260 to 160 to emphasize that it’s an ok course for freshmen, so you may be just fine if they realize that you’re all freshmen. That might be the new Official Way They’re Doing Things - encouraging all freshmen to take 160. </p>
<p>I would say start off in 160, go to the first few classes, and then drop it if need be. 4 credits is fine, or if you drop it soon enough you can always pick up another (like phys)</p>
<p>I took CIS260 first semester freshman year, and it kicked my butt. Fortunately, it kicked everyone else’s butt too, so I was able to walk away with an A-. I don’t know if the course has changed since I took it, but it is completely proof based - there is no computation whatsoever. You may find yourself asking for help from a local math major on some of the problem sets. But a few hours of intense focus should get you through the homework, and a little bit of luck and a good memory of previous proofs will help on the tests. It’ll take a class or two to a week to get the hang of proof trees, and then suddenly the class topics change and you’re left with nothing again. See if you can take it second semester.</p>
<p>I am currently a CIS major. Here’s my experience with the courses so far.</p>
<p>CIS 120/121 are fairly straightforward Java programming courses. Nothing too special, requires decent amount of work per week.</p>
<p>CIS 240 is a very very difficult course. The beginning topics, esp. binary/hex are easy, but the minute you get past sequential logic and into LC4…things go downhill. The first coding assignment we got…it took me literally 30 hours to complete. The homework is very much a test of how well you can figure things out on your own. There is little guidance on Amir’s part; he merely gives you an overview of it. You will spent countless friday/saturday nights in Moore100A (the lab where 90% of ppl in this class do their work). You will also become BFFs with Unix commands, lcc, gcc and gdb. As far as Amir Roth’s personality…you will have to attend that first lecture and see for yourself. :)</p>
<p>CIS 260 (now 160) is difficult because of the abstract concepts you will learn. Proof trees take a good 3-4 days to fully understand and the first half of the semester…you will think it is easy b/c that is all you do. As soon as you finish the first midterm, you delve into the world of functions, relations,set theory and graph theory. There is also induction, which imo, is fairly easy, but everything else is all proofs. And there are no concrete methods taught. It will test your IQ sometimes.</p>
<p>^^ Compiled for truth.</p>
<p>Also, I have taken CIS262 now too. Not as abstract and mathematical as 260, but similar in its emphasis on proofs. Luckily, there are concrete methods to learn (pumping lemma, minimization, correctness of grammars by two-sided induction, etc.), so once you understand the material presented, you should be fine on homeworks and tests. Not a walk in the park by any means, though.</p>