<p>There was a huge string of posts on reddit about 6 months ago, complaining about all of the problems that current UT computer science undergrads are having - not being able to get courses that they need, extreme disorganization and overcrowding in the department, etc. Which I found a little odd since they just got a nice new building for the CS dept. Can anyone confirm or deny those rumors? If I am lucky enough to be accepted, is it really a good place to be? Are people able to graduate in 4 years, etc.?</p>
<p>Yes, the rumors are true. It is very hard to get courses in your major as a CS student at UT. I bump into CS majors every semester who are not taking any CS courses because they couldn’t get any. For CS majors where graduation time is an issue or can be affected, advisors try to give preference to them to help them get the classes they need. I have heard of cases where students don’t graduate as early as they wanted to as a result of not being able to get classes, though. This also includes students that wanted to graduate in less than 4 years (came in with a lot high school credit) and transfer students. I know many CS majors and they always complain (rightfully so) at registration time and many of them contact the department head and other faculty to allow for more capacity. The CS department may be the singles toughest department for people getting classes in their major currently. The other problem this creates is that you don’t have much freedom for choosing which CS courses you want (especially with elective courses). You take what you can get. The CS department is ranked top 10 in the nation though.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s terrible. I wonder if the honors students have it better. Thanks for the info - not what I wanted to hear, but better to hear it now than later.</p>
<p>There are problems, but the CS students seem to approve of their education. Plus according to this thread, non-CS majors are denied access to upper levels of the GDC in order to minimize crowding. I heard you can apply to turing your freshman year if you sign up for honors classes and do well in them. I’m planning on going in that direction if possible if I get in. </p>
<p>Is that true…UT is my first choice, but my major is most important factor for choosing college. </p>
<p>Most CS majors I talked to are pretty happy with their professors and major. I can tell you that the CS facebook group has the most passionate students I’ve ever seen by far. There is constant talk about job interviews and employers which is something that never even shows up on the mathematics FB group (my major). The College of Natural Sciences have a career fair twice a year where over 250 employers are there and each time, around 90% of them are looking for CS majors (a chunk of them are open to other majors too). Our CS department is also top 10 in that nation. The difficulty of registering for classes is undoubtedly the biggest drawback and I can tell you that tons of students complain to higher up people every semester and nothing has happened yet. I am told that our CS department has tripled in students over the past 5 years. I believe that if you want to do UT CS and graduate in 4 years, it is do-able. If you are one of those students with tons of HS credit and want to graduate in less time, I would not guarantee anything unless something about our department changes.</p>
<p>I personally love the CS department even with its issues. I’m pretty sure it’s not the department itself but the actual College of Natural Sciences that refuses to give us more funding (despite CS being a much large major). From what I’ve seen, most people are able to get CS classes (they tend to open up more seats after seeing the student body panic). I also believe that they are heavily restricting transfers/new freshmen so that overcrowding won’t be a problem in the future. (CS used to be an open major to get into, anyone could transfer in so that’s how they ended up with such a problem) </p>
<p>My son is a CS major at UT Austin. He has two semesters left to graduate and I can tell you that he has had to be on the wait list about every semester to get certain CS classes, but has ALWAYS managed to get them after people dropped those classes in the first 3 or 4 days of the semester. If CS is your passion, don’t let this hinder you from choosing this school. UT has a great CS school and employers know this. My son has had numerous summer internship offers and I can tell you that they pay extremely well. UT is one of the top schools that these employers try to hire from!</p>
<p>Really appreciate everyone’s comments - makes me feel better about my choice. Now, I just have to get in!</p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>