Spiffocracy

I FINALLY graduate from the University of Houston with a Bachaelors of Science in Computer Science in the Summer of 2009. After a long 6 years of being in school. This piece of paper cost roughly 40,000$ to obtain, so was this all really worth it?

So lets break it down a bit then:
Plan : Computer Science, BS Major
- - - - - Beginning of Undergraduate Record - - - - -

FA 2003
Course : Number : Name : Grade : Instructor
COSC : 1410 : Intro Computer Science I : A- : Robert Anderson
This course was pretty easy. I had a strong C++ background already from 4 years of computer science in high school, so this was pretty much just a repeat.

HIST : 1378 : The U S Since 1877 : C- : Landon Storrs
Don't really remember much about this class, nothing about US history anyway.

POLS : 1336 : US and Texas Const/Politics : B : William Barnes
I liked this instructor, but I think I spent most of this course asleep.

SP 2004
COSC : 1320 : Intro Computer Science II : D : Kam-Hoi Cheng
This one professor is the source of most of my poor grades. He spoke very quietly, with a thick accent. It was a challenge to stay awake to say the least. I didn't really go out of my way to learn the course material though, so I suppose I deserved that D.

HIST : 1377 : The U S To 1877 : C+ : Eric Walther
This guy wrote a book, and I'm fairly certain it was required reading, or at least was some heavy bonus points on a test somewhere... another boring history class where I can't really recall anything specific.

MATH : 1330 : Elementary Functions : B- : Jennifer Travis
I took this class because my Calculus skills were lacking, and it counted as some elective or something. I could have skipped it, since all but the last few weeks were algebra review for me.

SOC : 1300 : Introduction To Sociology : C+ : Shayne Lee
A very interesting class, one of the few were I contributed to class discussion. I learned alot about social behavior. Some insight into the whole Nature vs Nurture debate. He had some poets come in occasionally and do reciting, which were entertaining. Not very practical to be sure, but still interesting.

Texas Tech Univ, Fall 2005

I spent 1 semester here because I had always really wanted to go here, and my friend finally convinced me to go. The biggest thing that prevented me from staying here was not being able to keep a job for more than 3 months. Living without disposable income isn't really living.

COSC : Intro to computer science : B : UofH doesn't keep track of this
Another into class, but much more interesting than the one at UofH. I learned path finding algorithms, and how to make a tic tack toe game play like a person (which is much harder than just making it win / lose)

ENGL : 1303 : Engl Comp I : C
I don't even remember taking this class...

MATH : 1431 : Calculus I : C
The professor called long equations sausages, and there was a cute girl with black / blond hair in the class. I remember some bits about calculus, but I still had to take it one more time to finally get it.

PHYS : 1321 : University Physics I : C
Actually a rather interesting physics class. I feel I learned alot here, at least compared to the physics class I took at UofH.

HIST : 2323 : World Civilizations to 1600 : B
Very interesting. I always liked this aspect of history. Good class overall.

SP 2005

COSC : 1320 : Intro Computer Science II : D : Kam-Hoi Cheng
This class again, some how taking it twice didn't help my grade at all. *SIGH*

POLS : 1337 : US Govt: Congress,Pres & Crts : C- :
Another big auditorium class I learned nothing in.

POLS : 3314 : Intro To Public Admin : B- : Robert Thomas
Higher level government always interested me, and this class didn't disappoint. I learned alot about what it takes to get a bureaucratic office, and how the internal parts of the government work. IE the full time people, who are not elected.

FA 2005

COSC : 2320 : Data Structures : C- : Robert Anderson
This guy isn't a very good teacher. He seemed very nervous teaching (I can't blame him), but still, made it difficult to learn. A strong C++ background helped me more than anything, so I was able to glide through this without actually learning much.

COSC : 3330 : Computer Architecture : B- : George Zouridakis
This course was all about how computers actually worked. Was very interesting and I learned alot, mostly about how the computer takes my C++ code, breaks that down into architecture specific assembly, and then into binary, and into something useful for me.

MATH : 1432 : Calculus II : C : Charles Tucker
Thankfull everyone else at school is as bad at Calculus as I am. The curve is what saved me here.

PHYS : 1322 : University Physics II : D+ : Guanghua Xu
This class made no sense to me. I love physics, but this killed it. The test problems were just so obscure it was depressing. I regret not taking astronomy for my other science class.

SP 2006

COSC : 2410 : Cmp Orgniztn & Prgming : D : Willis King
Again, more about low level computer stuff, were I learned a bit more. This was a killer class though. I took this with two co workers, who both failed, but I some how managed to scrape by with a D.

COSC : 3410 : Digital Logic Design : C- : Robert Lea
I like the course material on this one. we got to design logic diagrams which would take input and do the various login things on it. Like multiplying the input by 2 or something. It was interesting to see how that all went into the production of computer bits. The professor though was utterly boring, he basically read from the book for the lectures.

MATH : 2431 : Linear Algebra : C : Christopher Murray
I really liked this class. Linear Algebra was a subject I felt I actually understood. Until the last section though, which was about graphs and things that I didn't really get. Which is why I have a C instead of a B, but what can you do.

MATH : 2433 : Calculus III : D : Robert Lea
This guy again, still very boring. I don't remember much about this class really. my knowledge of Calculus never really got much further than Cal 1.

FA 2006

COSC : 3340 : Int To Automata & Comp : F : Kam-Hoi Cheng
After getting a D in this guy's same class twice, you would think I would have learned my lesson, but no. I actually feel I learned alot about Automata in this class, but I guess it wasn't enough to pass. This really helped me understand how regular expressions work.

COSC : 3480 : Design File Database : A- : Victoria Hilford
My job working for ThePlanet brings me into contact with databases alot, so I was well prepared for this class. I did learn alot about oracle, stored procedures, and relational databases. This class was VERY easy though.

MATH : 3338 : Probability : B+ : Jiwen He
I learned a great deal in this class, and actually found a use for some of that calculus I was learning. So now I feel I have a better understanding of how probability works.

SP 2007

COSC : 3340 : Int To Automata & Comp : C : Rakesh Verma
After taking this course and failing with Cheng, I decided a different professor was needed. This guy wasn't great, but I did learn alot more about Automata, and the differences between deterministic and non-deterministic machines. Also some bits about Turning complete and regular expressions. I did a report about Stochastic Finite Automata for Musical Style Recognition which I thought was very interesting.

COSC : 4111 : Computer Scientists & Society : A- : Ernst Leiss
This class mostly went over some of the issues Computer scientists face, with regards to copyright law, patents, and that sort of thing. Reading http://www.techdirt.com/ will give you a good idea of what this class went over.

COSC : 4351 : Fundmntl Softwr Engr : B : Venkat Subramaniam
Venkat is by far one of the best professors at UofH. In this class we basically formed groups of about 6, and had the whole semester to do a project. I got in a group with a guy I had worked with in a few other classes and some other random people. Our project was a website that would take bibliographical information (frome onenote and others) and make it into a xml document that we could then import into other formats. The project got the highest grade in the class, and I learned a great deal about how to code on projects using all sorts of agile programming methods. The lectures were not much of anything, mostly Venkat just reliving consulting stories, which were still very informative.

COSC : 4371 : Web Security : A- : Ernst Leiss
Leiss is unfortunately stuck in the 1990's of web security, but this class was still very educational. I learned a great deal about how RSA works, inso much as I had to encrypt a RSA message by hand on a test (it was only like 4 bits, but still). And there was also some other little web security tricks we went over, but mostly the RSA thing stands out.

SU 2007

COSC : 4330 : Fundmntls-Operating Sys : B : Jehan-Francois Paris
Taking this class over the summer was a challenge, but worth it. This was a very unix heavy class, which thankfully I was very familiar with. While most of the class was trying to figure out how to compile a program on the command line, I was already finished with the first assignment. I learned alot about how semaphores are used, socket programming, and even some important bits about parallel programming. The professor did like to make a bunch of segues into his life stories, which made focusing difficult. Most of what I actually learned in this class I learned from google.

FA 2007

COSC : 4368 : Artificial Intell Programming : C- : Robert Lea
This class is one of the reasons I actually got into computer science in the first place. ROBOTS! But as you can see who is teaching this class, and my comments on the other courses I've had to be in with him, you can imagine how this class went. BORING! I did nothing in this class and got a C-. I did learn some about LISP though and why people complain about all the )()()(()()((()()().

ENGL : 2307 : Intro To Drama : B+ : Kathy Fellers
I needed a performing arts class where I didn't have to perform... and this was it. Not bad overall, the plays we read were all considered classics, so I guess that counts for something. I still remember the Medea play.

MATH : 3339 : Statistics : C : Fabien Marpeau
Basically the second part of Probability. Learned some more things, but basically more of the same. Decent class overall.

MATH : 4377 : Advanced Linear Algebra : C : Klaus Kaiser
I thought I liked Linear Algebra until this class. I don't think I ever studied any subject as much as this one, and still BARELY managed a C. This was basically Linear algebra, but instead of numbers it was generic symbols, which made everything very difficult for me to comprehend.

SP 2008

COSC : 4352 : Software Development Practices : A : Shishir Shah
Another group development class. I wanted to do the Sun project, were the objective was to port the wireless drivers or something like that, but no one else had any unix background, so I ended up stuck doing the planetteach.com project. The site redirects to the founders personal site now I guess. The guy basically wanted to make a video learning / teaching site in a semester from undergraduates for free, so you can see why this failed. Overall as a group we did ok, we got an ASP.net site up which allowed for video / picture uploads and profiles and a few more features. Thankfully no one knew how to run a server so thats what I did (moving them from a GoDaddy VPS to a dedicated server at ThePlanet). I learned alot about ASP.net programming by accident though.

MATH : 3336 : Discrete Mathematics : B : Giovanna Guidoboni
The thing I remember most about this class is the professor like wine and was Italian. There was some math too, but none of it really sticks out. Its likely I learned stuff here, but just stuck it in the general math category of my brain.

FA 2008

CHEM : 1111 : Fundamentals of Chm Lab : B- : Vladimir Zaitsev
Chemistry labs are ok, I learned a lot of things I never wanted to know about chemicals and their reactions.

CHEM : 1331 : Fundamentals of Chemistry : C : Russell Geanangel
This guy kept his lectures on YouTube, which was the best thing ever. I feel I actually learned chemistry, even though most of it is getting fuzzy even now.

COSC : 1320 : Intro Computer Science II : A : Hakan Haberdar
I don't even remember taking this class... I guess I did well, for taking it a third time.

POLS : 3341 : Pol Tht From Mach & Ren : A : James Knight
I liked this class. We read text from some of the greater political writers. Reading the prince was particularly educational to me. The test were basically 10 page essays, but aside from that horrible bit, was a very good class.

SP 2009

CHEM : 1332 : Fundamentals of Chem : D : Edwin Carrasquillo M
This guy really only seemed to care if people showed up to his lectures, so no YouTuve lectures here. I'm not sure if it was just the fact that I didn't have a lab here to reinforce my knowledge or what, but this class was significantly more difficult than Chem I

COSC : 4397 : Medical Robotics : A : Nikolaos Tsekos
This class was so much fun. Myself and a friend from work basically just spent the entire semester building a Lego Robot. The robot was supposed to be able to automatically fine the center of someone's eye under a track. However due to the fact that image manipulation is difficult, it was just able to be manually controlled down a rather poorly made track. Aside from that I did learn about medical imaging tech and some of the advances going on in the field.

SU 2009

CHEM : 1112 : Fundamentals of Chm Lab : B : Vladimir Zaitsev
I procrastinated a bit on registering for this class, or else I would have been done in the spring, oh well. Pretty simple Chemistry lab course. Made some aspirin and nylon, but other than that pretty normal.

So, all in all, I think I learned a good deal of information from going to school, and I do think the quality of my education might have been slightly higher by going to Texas Tech. However I don't think that quality would have outweighed the fact that I was able to get a job in the field I was studying in while going to school. And lets face it, most of the classes were just an excuse for me to learn about the subject. Even then, I think I did most of the actual learning from Wikipedia, as I takes a great effort for me to pay attention to the in class lectures. The material needed to be learned though, and I'm not motivated enough to do that by myself. So school was worth it, I just wish they would have cut out some of the Freshman requirement crap, and actually hired teachers who knew how to teach.