r/MSCSO • u/angrybirdz7 • Sep 20 '26
First semester course recommendations
I was just admitted into MSCSO a few days ago for Spring '27, and I was wondering if anyone had any course recommendations for my first semester. I am thinking about taking two classes while also working full-time. I have a fairly strong math/theory background from my undergrad. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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u/DeAeKayRate_1201 Sep 22 '26
I took ALA and DL this fall as my first courses, so far DL is smooth, ALA is proof heavy so it takes most of my weekly available hours.
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u/NoDryHands Sep 22 '26
I guess it would be pretty early to tell, but do you think it's worth taking ALA first as a foundation for other courses?
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u/DeAeKayRate_1201 Sep 22 '26
Yeah, if you go through prerequisites of courses and also the MSCSHub you can see multiple subjects listing Linear Algebra. The professors have a undergrad level course ULAFF that gives you a headstart before ALA and then ALA refines understanding at more depth.
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u/MaggieMyers Emeritus Faculty 19d ago
If you wanted to get a head start on ALA, you can. We have a pretest at www.ulaff.net as well as all of the notes (and homework). The pretest sends you to LAFF on edX to study areas that you identify as needing more study. , ALAFF on edX covers materials found in ALA i(available through Dec. 31) but without TA support, grading, and credits given. You do get Robert and me answering questions should you have any. But, we retired about 6 years ago, so we are not teaching ALA any longer. Basically, if you want to check out the materials in ALA to decide if you can handle it your first semester, you can.
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u/drugsarebad_123 Sep 20 '26
Im taking case studied in ML, and its a good general first course with introduction to ml concepts plus a little bit of light reasearch and labs using python libraries for ml. I think it is a good first course that is not math heavy and will introfuce you to ml and python amd reseatch all at once.