Course Reviews
My thoughts on the various classes I've taken or am currently taking at Carnegie Mellon, grouped by subject area. These are my subjective opinions more than anything else.
Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
All ECE first-years are required to take this course. It provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental concepts in the field. The main feature is the labs, which for the most part were well-designed and fun. The weekly small group sessions were also a good feature for reinforcing the material. Also, Jimmy Zhu is a great lecturer, and is somewhat of a godfather figure within the ECE department. I would say this class has been, so far, one of my favorites, and it helped confirm my interest in ECE.
Review coming soon...
Currently taking
Review coming soon...
Review coming soon...
Review coming soon...
Review coming soon...
Currently taking
Computer Science (CS)
This courses teaches how to think critically about your code, as well as introducing the C programming language and some basic data structures and algorithms. The content is thorough and decently challenging, but I definitely learned a lot from this course. It's a very well-run ship, and there are plenty of office hours and resources available to help you succeed. Students have some strong opinions on Iliano as a lecturer, but I personally thought his lectures were fine.
Currently taking
Review coming soon...
Robotics
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Review coming soon...
Math
This class is an introduction to discrete/formal math, and covers topic including logic, set theory, number theory, and combinatorics. I found this class to be quite difficult, especially given I had no prior experience with proofs. Some question why this class is required for ECE majors, but I think it provides a strong mathematical foundation, even if you don't end up directly using discrete math later on.
Like Calculus 3, this is a standard linear algebra class. I do wish there was some more focus on real-world applications instead of just pure computation.
A pretty standard Calculus 3 course contentwise. It is mostly computation-based, so take a different class if you want to do serious proofs. For ECE however, this class definitely covers what you need to know.
Review coming soon...
Review coming soon...
Mechanical Engineering
Students in the engineering college must choose a second engineering intro course, so I took this one. It gave a solid overivew of the fundamentals, and some of Professor Aksak's lectures were interesting (particularly when he was discussing his research). I did like that they taught us some basic CAD and rapid prototyping skills. However, if you have prior experience with CAD or programming, the labs can feel a bit basic.
History, Psychology, and Writing (Gen-eds)
All first-years are required to take either this course or two of the three available half-semester writing courses. It's a decent but not super rigorous course on academic-level writing. My professor in particular was quite lenient with grading. Each section studies a different topic, so pick one that interests you!
Currently taking
Review coming soon...
This was a fun class. It explored the psychological principles behind game design and player engagement, as well as some concepts from experimental psychology. And, you literally get to play video games for some of the assignments! Erik Thiessen is a great professor, and does a fantastic job of making the material engaging. I highly recommend this course, even if you aren't a fan of video games.
StuCo (Student-taught Courses)
Review coming soon...
This was the first StuCo (student-taught course) I took, and I really enjoyed it. You are given a robot kit, and throughout the course, you get to assemble and program it to complete various challenges. You also get to keep the robot at the end, which is very cool. The content is approachable and suited for students of all backgrounds. In fact, I enjoyed this class so much I ended up being a TA the following semester, and now I am one of the instructors.