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Utdallas
engineering.utdallas.edu › academics › undergraduate-majors › undergrad-advising › current-students
Degree Resources - Erik Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science | The University of Texas at Dallas
2024-2025 CS Technical Electives · 2024-2025 EE Technical Electives · 2024-2025 MECH Technical Electives · 2024-2025 SE Technical Electives · University Honors · UTDesign · Internships (JCS) International Student Services ·
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/utdallas › recommended cs guided electives
r/utdallas on Reddit: Recommended CS Guided Electives
May 9, 2023 -

Still not sure what I want to do my degree when I’m done since I never got the internships I was hoping for. I was originally looking into Cybersecurity but now I want to explore my options.

I’m taking all my electives next Spring along with Computer Science Project and want to know what is best, here is my current lineup and what I want to change.

  1. 4375 (Intro to ML)

  2. 4352 + 4353 (Human-Computer Interactions 1/2) - switch for 4395 (Human Language Technologies)? Are they similar?

  3. 4365 (Artificial Intelligence)

  4. 4390 (Computer Networks) OR 4393 (Computer Networks Security) - which one is better?

I also wanted to take 4389 (Data and Applications Security) but I only have room for 4 electives before I go over the required credit hours. What do you guys recommend out of the ones I listed?

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Wpmucdn
bpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com › sites.utdallas.edu › dist › a › 909 › files › 2024 › 01 › 4YEAR-CS-Flow-2023-26a86e39a89c76e7.pdf pdf
Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Freshman Sophomore Junior Freshman Sophomore
CS Guided · Elective · Junior & Rhet 1302 · CS 3162 · Description · Course No · Introduction to CS&SE · CS 1200 · Introduction to Engr'g. & CS · ECS 1100 · Calculus I · Math 2413 or 2417 · Programming Fundamentals · CS 1436 · 6 hours CORE: Choices below ·
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/utdallas › which is the easiest guided elective to take at utd for software engineering
r/utdallas on Reddit: Which Is The Easiest Guided Elective to take at UTD for Software Engineering
August 30, 2024 -

Can ya'll give me an overview of which classes are the hardest vs. the easiest.
What the homework is like
What the exams are like
what the teaching is like.

Major Guided Electives: 12 semester credit hours

SE guided electives are 4000 level CS/SE courses approved by the student's CS/SE advisor. The following courses may be used as guided electives without the explicit approval of an advisor:

CS 4141 Digital Systems Laboratory

CS 4314 Intelligent Systems Analysis

CS 4315 Intelligent Systems Design

CS 4334 Numerical Analysis

CS 4337 Programming Language Paradigms

CS 4341 Digital Logic and Computer Design

CS 4349 Advanced Algorithm Design and Analysis

CS 4352 Human-Computer Interaction I

CS 4353 Human-Computer Interaction II

CS 4361 Computer Graphics

CS 4365 Artificial Intelligence

CS 4375 Introduction to Machine Learning

CS 4384 Automata Theory

CS 4386 Compiler Design

CS 4389 Data and Applications Security

CS 4390 Computer Networks

CS 4391 Introduction to Computer Vision

CS 4392 Computer Animation

CS 4393 Computer and Network Security

CS 4394 Implementation of Modern Operating Systems

CS 4395 Human Language Technologies

CS 4396 Networking Laboratory

CS 4397 Embedded Computer Systems

CS 4398 Digital Forensics

CS 4485 Computer Science Project

EE 4325 Introduction to VLSI Design

SE 4376 Object-Oriented Design

SE 4399 Senior Honors in Software Engineering

Any other organized SE 4300-level course

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Rating from 1 (easy) to 10 (Hard) CS 4485 is probably the best pick here. It has variable difficulty but you win either way (assuming you're ok with working for free/paying to work for a company) - get an easy project, it's easy. Get a hard project, it's a resume builder. CS 4341 with Hamdy is about a 4/10 if you attend every class. HW is about 30-50% harder than the exams, lectures are great. CS 4141 might be a corequisite though, I'm not sure CS 4384 with Erbatur was a 3/10 when I took it but I heard he changed the course structure. When I took it, your grade was entirely dependent on the exams, but now I think HW is factored in. CS 4389 with Cankaya is a 3/10 if you study and print the slides for the exams, and have someone carry the project for you before you even get a chance to start (5/10 if not). Prof. Cankaya made it clear that the project is graded on effort in implementing security, not if the final product is actually functional. CS 4390 with Khiem Le is 5 or 6/10, pretty standard class. Not hard, not easy. Everything (exam, hw, project, difficulty) is as default as can be. It's a class of all time CS 4398 with Neeraj Gupta is a 4/10 with survivorship bias, maybe 6/10 without. His lectures are actually decent, and if you understand them, the exams are rather simple. The semester-long project is broken into bite sized chunks and is fun. I don't remember if we had any HW outside of the project. Main caveat is there isnt much provided to study with - only whatever notes you took during lecture. CS 4393 with Nguyen is about a 6 or 7/10. Get ready to handwrite a lot of notes and spend quite a bit of time on the assignments. He's also pretty mean.
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University of Texas at Dallas
personal.utdallas.edu › ~gupta › IAB › BS-CS-Courses.pdf pdf
Computer Science Course Descriptions
CS 1325 Introduction to Programming (3 semester hours) Computer programming in a high- level, block structured language. Basic data types and variables, memory usage, control · structures, functions/procedures and parameter passing, recursion, input/output. Programming · projects related ...
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UT Dallas
catalog.utdallas.edu › 2025 › undergraduate › programs › ecs › computer-science
Computer Science (BS) - UT Dallas 2025 Undergraduate Catalog - The University of Texas at Dallas
The Computer Science program continues ... offer a rich choice of elective studies, including courses in artificial intelligence, computer graphics, and compiler design....
Find elsewhere
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UT Dallas
catalog.utdallas.edu › 2025 › graduate › programs › ecs › computer-science
Computer Science Program - UT Dallas 2025 Graduate Catalog - The University of Texas at Dallas
Sufficient CS electives for a total of at least 75 semester credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. At least 9 semester credit hours of organized advanced Computer Science electives must be taken at UT Dallas.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/utdallas › 2024 spring possible courses
r/utdallas on Reddit: 2024 Spring Possible Courses
June 7, 2023 -

Hey yall,

Out of these Guided Electives for me, what are considered the easier courses and harder courses? (Content-wise and not including the professor) Got a busy schedule so I wanted to manage properly. Thanks a ton!

CS 4301 Special Topics in Computer Science

CS 4334 Numerical Analysis

CS 4337 Programming Language Paradigms

CS 4349 Advanced Algorithm Design and Analysis

CS 4361 Computer Graphics

CS 4365 Artificial Intelligence

CS 4375 Introduction to Machine Learning

CS 4384 Automata Theory

CS 4386 Compiler Design

CS 4390 Computer Networks

CS 4391 Intro to Computer Vision

CS 4392 Computer Animation

CS 4395 Human Language Technologies

SE 4376 Object Oriented Design

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CS 4337 depending on who you get can be a lot of work. I had karami and it was a lot of homework. Like really long assignments. But she didn’t grade hard, so is what it is. I personally didn’t enjoy this class very much. Didn’t really understand the material until the second half of the semester lol. Luckily got saved by a final that replaced my midterm grade but yeah, this class I think all around is just going to be a tough one. Difficulty: medium to hard, depending on who you get ———- CS 4349 this is one of those classes that sneaks up on people. It’s not about code, it’s math basically. It’s discrete 3 or 4 arguably. You might write some code, my class didnt at all in this class. But if your looking for a professor that isn’t too hard but also not incredibly easy but grades in a fair way, then take ding du. You won’t learn much from lecture, he’s hard to understand and the material is out there, but he understands what it’s like to be a student and he’s really chill when it comes to tests and stuff. He does reviews which are usually pretty close to the actual test and let’s you use the reviews on the test, or did when I took him. Safe to say I think that you’ll probably have an easier time grade-wise taking ding du over anyone else, and that’s not to say anything about you or whether your capable, what I’m trying to say is you don’t have to try as hard if you take ding du. Difficulty: generally hard but with du, easy ———- CS 4365 I never took this. But I’ve seen what Ng gives to his students one semester and it was pretty heavy. Lots of algorithms, lots of math, and some coding here and there. It seemed to be mostly conceptual lecture-wise, but work-wise they were expected to implement. So projects + theory basically, but hard. I don’t know for sure but probably some stats or something in there. I would think at least. Difficulty: generally hard I would think ——— CS 4384 If you get Farage, take good notes and focus on his notes. Don’t listen to what the book says listen to what he said. And that’ll be all you need to know for that class. If you don’t get Farage, idk didn’t happen to me but good luck lol Difficulty: generally hard but easier with Farage ——- CS 4390 I actually liked this class. It was a lot of theory. Mainly theory honestly. But just walked through the basics of computer networks from the ground up, in reverse, lol osi model from the application to the physical layers is basically what we talked about. But in a lot of depth. I took nidihidiben solanki I think was her name, I thought she was really good. I liked her style of teaching, but I had a friend who took her and didn’t feel the same. But overall, not extremely difficult, genuinely interesting imo. Difficulty: medium ——— And that’s about all I know. Good luck!
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UT Dallas
catalog.utdallas.edu › 2024 › undergraduate › courses › cs
Computer Science - UT Dallas 2024 Undergraduate Catalog - The University of Texas at Dallas
CS 4V95 Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science (1-9 semester credit hours) Subject matter will vary from semester to semester. Additional prerequisites may be required depending on the specific course topic.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/utdallas › any easy cs electives anyone would recommend?
r/utdallas on Reddit: Any Easy CS Electives Anyone Would Recommend?
November 18, 2023 -

This post might seem a bit late with classes starting in a couple of days. But UTD being UTD screwed me up very last moment. I was taking CS 4390 with Farago and the instructor got changed last moment with Nhut Nguyen. Don't even like networks. Was just taking it for the easy grade, since I'm taking a lot of credit hours the upcoming semester.

With that being said, does someone have any easy elective choices they'd recommend I look into? I know classes will be full for all the good professors, but might try my luck until Census Day.

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Wpmucdn
bpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com › sites.utdallas.edu › dist › a › 909 › files › 2024 › 01 › Options-for-CS-Guided-Electives-23-24-f8f4d618858a2f75.pdf pdf
OPTIONS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR GUIDED ELECTIVES (2023-2024)
Students are required to take 9 hours of major guided electives. ... Instructor consent required. ... Students may also use CS 4V98 Undergraduate Research in Computer Science or CS 4399 Senior Honors in Computer Science.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/utdallas › cs elective course selection
r/utdallas on Reddit: CS Elective Course Selection
September 9, 2024 -

Hey guys, I'm between taking these CS elective choices:

  • EE4325 Intro to VLSI Design

  • CS4396 Network Lab

  • CS4459 Cyber Attack and Defense Lab

  • CS4391 Intro to Computer Vision

  • CS4301 Special Topic (anyone know what the topic is??)

All suggestions/advice will be appreciated!

Top answer
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CS 4459 is one of the hardest/most time consuming classes in existence, but it's extremely rewarding for anyone going down the cyber path (to the point where it should be required for cyber imo). The entire class is a pwn CTF. You should be able to see the topic of 4301 when clicking on the section in your shopping cart in galaxy. It varies by professor.
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For CS 4459, I've heard to expect 20 to 30+ hours a week on the CTF challenges. And your entire grade is those challenges every 2 weeks. Its is probably the best course for learning cybersecurity for this reason - its so difficult and hands on that you learn a ton. I've also heard the first half of CS 6332 (Systems Security and Binary Code Analysis) is 75% of CS 4459 so if you're headed for Masters then that's another reason to take it. I'm also planning on taking CS 4459 aka CANDL as well, but I wouldn't just select it casually. Its a big commitment and even the profs know the course really should be split into 2 semester. Its just that big. I found last year's course website with all the slides and challenges, but the website is down now. Basically it mostly looked like hacking in assembly. Here are the bullet points/keywords I took down from the website before it disappeared: 32-bit Intel x86 Assembly Linux/Bash Shellcode Buffer Overflow (Including understanding and dealing with ASLR, Stack Cookies and DEP) Return-oriented programming Arbitrary read/write vulnerabilities Format string vulnerabilities Python Heap Overflow
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Wpmucdn
bpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com › sites.utdallas.edu › dist › a › 909 › files › 2024 › 06 › CS-Flow-Chart-24.25-Final-updated-06132024.pdf pdf
Semester 1 and 2 Semester 3 and 4 Semester 5 and 6 Semester 7 and 8 RHET 1302
CS 2336 · Free Elective · BS Computer Science Eight Semester Plan 2024‐2025 · Prerequisite · Pre‐ or Corequisite · critical path · MATH 2413 or 2417 · MATH 2414* or · 2419* Calculus II · PHYS 2326/2126 · Electricity and · Magnetism and Lab · PHYS 2325/2125 ·
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/utdallas › easy cs guided electives
r/utdallas on Reddit: Easy CS Guided Electives
January 18, 2022 -

Hi guys, so I'm gonna be taking some cs guided electives starting next semester. I was wondering which electives don't require TOO much work or are too hard. I'm graduating early and I'm taking some hard classes, so I just wanted to know which ones aren't too bad.

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Wpmucdn
bpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com › sites.utdallas.edu › dist › a › 909 › files › Options-for-CS-Guided-Electives-15.16.pdf pdf
Revision Date: 6/1/2015 OPTIONS FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR GUIDED ELECTIVES
Students are required to take 9 hours of major guided electives. ... Students may also use CS 4V98 Undergraduate Research in Computer Science or CS 4399 Senior Honors in