how hard is cs70 compared to cs61 series?

<p>Im catering my schedule for next semester and I'm trying to keep it at a challenging, but healthily doable difficulty level.</p>

<p>I took cs61a and am currently wrapping up cs61b. I found the cs61 series quite difficult so far (I got a B in cs61a, working hard). I would like to know, from those of you who have taken the classes, how cs70 compares to cs61 in terms of workload and difficulty.</p>

<p>Im taking math54 next semester, along with cs70, but will save cs61c for the semester following.</p>

<p>How hard is cs70? What kind of schedule did you have when taking the course?</p>

<p>It would be great if you could describe cs61c in the same way, as I would like to plan ahead with my schedule for that semester as well.</p>

<p>The CS 70 workload is very manageable: it is one problem set a week. There's no programming. However, the subject matter is extremely difficult to understand (far more so than 61ABC, in my opinion), and the students who take it are very bright. As a result, you'll spend most of your time trying to comprehend what the heck is going on :). Everyone will.</p>

<p>I took CS 70 with CS 186 and CS 150, and one reason I didn't do well in CS 70 is that I didn't devote enough time to simply processing the information being taught.</p>

<p>On the other hand, the material taught in 61C is relatively easy to understand (in my opinion), but there are about 5 projects that each take about 10 to 20 hours (for me) to complete. When I took 61C with Wawrzynek, I found the workload to be very manageable; I've heard that it's worse with Garcia.</p>

<p>I have the same question, and I would like to extend the request for a description of someone's experience with math 55 as well.</p>

<p>In terms of workload, CS 61C is easily the worst with Garcia. Those taking it next fall are lucky, as someone else will be teaching it.</p>

<p>I'd go with Math 55 instead of CS 70. It covers a broader range of material (though in less detail), and the grading curves are usually more generous, since math professors don't have to abide by the B- class average as dictated by the EECS departmental grading policy. In 55, you will learn logic (useful for CS 61C, 150, etc.), sets (EE 20), orders of growth/asymptotic analysis (61AB, 170, etc.), induction and recursion (CS 61A and onwards), discrete probability (good stuff to know), and some basic statistical concepts (mean, variance, std dev, etc.)</p>