What are /r/UWMadison's favorite Products & Services?
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577 -- Introduction to Algorithms (there is another option for this requirement but I do not recommend it for undergrads. You will get much more out of this course)

The courses I think are especially important are in bold. The courses that are pretty much required are in italics.

These are the courses that I'd recommend to someone doing a pure CS degree with no math or EE/CE double major. There are definitely a few other courses worth taking and you will not even be able to take all of these.

I, with the help of some more people in the [UPL](upl.cs.wisc.edu), put together a cs course guide that we update each semester with information about courses. There's lot of information there if you ever need more help.

3) NordVPN is a great vpn that I have used for the past few years, works for torrents and location switching for netflix and stuff 4) I have an international roommate, and he was able to make a fake with MS paint - that is how simple his ID was to replicate, all he needed was to laminate some paper. Otherwise I know people who are international will scan their passport and edit that scan's date.

Bart Miller would have this information, so if you're interested you should email him.

That being said, your salary in CS has very little to do with where you go to school. I know people at Carnegie Mellon who are doing extremely well for themselves, and others who are struggling to find a good job. Likewise, I know people here who have minimum wage internships this summer, and others who have internships that pay $40/hour. The difference between the two groups is their own personal motivation. CMU tends to attract driven students who spend a huge portion of their free time learning CS and contributing to open source. In other words, people who would get paid high salaries anyway. If Purdue has a higher starting salary, then it's because it attracts that type of person at a higher rate than we do.

If you're genuinely interested in CS and you make a concerted effort to keep up to date and learn outside the classroom, you'll be fine. If you're just in it for the money (which, honestly, is okay too), then you won't fare quite as well, but your school won't change that.

It's no external exposed hotplates. You can get coffee makers that have internal hotplates and those are allowed. A lot of these are the 'to-go' filler styles like This or even a kuerig works. I had a hamilton beach from walmart that made 4 cups and then dispensed it into a mug with a button and is housing approved.

EDIT: Here is a better example of an internal heating element coffee maker.Hamilton Beach

Anywhere in Big 10 area, it definitely will. If you're in the PNW, then yeah, Washington. Anywhere else is probably a crapshoot. I opened an incognito window in chrome and searched google for "UW" moving myself various places around the world via NordVPN. It came back as Washington for many, with Wisconsin as the second one on all of those. Some came as Wisconsin with Washington second. It's potentially more Washington globally, I'd say, but it's also not ever going to result in more than "Oh, I meant Wisconsin, sorry" if someone interprets it the wrong way.

You could go through online classes in whatever language is taught in CS301 ( Java?). Numerous websites have free classes. Here are a two websites that offer such courses:

Code Wars CodeAcademy

There are many more, but personally i like CodeAcademy.

You could use a free (or cheap) cloud VM. E.g. https://aws.amazon.com/free/ (EC2 instance is what you would want here, probably)

I'm sure there are other services that have similar free offers.

I rent a cloud instance for $20/month from panix.com

Digital Ocean has some cheap offerings: https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing/

Go to Devil's lake. Rock climbing and swimming and hiking and shit. Parfrey's glen is nearby for another beautiful hike. Probably a little cold now though...

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=devil's+lake&aq=0&ie=UTF-8&hl=en

I think it's the first time it is being taught.

Unity has some good tutorials

Unreal has some too

and of course there is /r/learnVRdev

It's a fantastic class. If you like music you will find yourself looking forward to lecture. You listen to famous/significant songs from different decades and then learn the cultural significance behind them. The exams are not difficult if you have been attending lecture/discussion and taking notes.

Here are professor Shashko's reviews http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=858277

Couple possibilities, aside from the EXCELLENT advice to talk to a librarian:

Pop the article title or authors into Google Scholar. If the article you want is listed, look for the "All # versions" link at the bottom of the search result, and if it's there, click it. With luck, one of the versions will be open (or at least free) access.
Install the Unpaywall extension into Chrome or Firefox. (I'm guessing it'd work fine in Brave, too. Not so much Safari, sorry.) This will quietly try to find a (legal!) open-access version for you when you're on an article's abstract/"pay us $$$ to see this article" page.

> prelecture videos or assignments and then lectures as review

This was an established technique for in-person classes, BUT lectures weren't so much "review" as "where you did the practice activities to cement the material" or what would traditionally have been homework. It's called a Flipped Classroom model and it's actually pretty popular at smaller schools (though the article I linked goes into some of the pitfalls that happen in practice).

I plan to keep using some of the short videos I made over the past year and a half as optional supplements to the actual in-person lecture, and I'll be livestreaming and posting videos of the in-person lectures because I don't want people feeling like they have to choose between missing content and getting everyone else sick. We're also keeping some of our "this seemed to work well" ideas from the virtual version, like quick weekly check-in quizzes where half of them get dropped, so you don't have to wait until midterms are returned to figure out if you're understanding the material.

But yeah. It'll be interesting to see how we go forward from the other side of the lecture podium, too. Unfortunately y'all are getting to be double lab rats: once as we all dropped into the virtual space without wanting to, and now once again as we all come crawling back out.

>most important so far as you have probably gone through internships and job interviews.

Algorithms is non-negotiable. You are going to tank interviews badly if they are the first place you see basic algorithm based problems.

This is a great coding interview prep book.

nah you need special bike lube, something like this https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-Synthetic-Blend-Bottle/dp/B000AOA290/ref=zg_bs_3405601_19?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TJH4MZDZFW64S7SRPK0Q

just stop by any bike store, they'll have it for cheap, or maybe even do it for free. If you do just buy some, don't be conservative with applying it. make sure you get it on everything.

Here you go!

Just be advised that the comprehensive edition goes farther than the class does. The class covers everything up to and including chapter 13.

EDIT: I do have a question for you. Have you looked into WES (Wisconsin Emerging Scholars) classes for the calculus series and 302? 304 sounds like 302 WES, and I think WES has been discontinued for that class (latest update is from 2011), so it makes sense that they just renamed it or something.

I was planning on taking 303 next semester too, and I don't know how much you look at/trust ratemyprofessors, but the professor for next semester has like a 1.5. I don't mess with that.

i struggled with 200 also but 300 is structured quite differently and i found it easy so don't think you should be too worried. having said that you could try to read up on inheritance, interfaces, Big O notation, and recursive methods

cs 300 is highly project based so i would suggest doing small projects instead of just reading you can try challenges on https://leetcode.com/explore/

We have end-of-term feedback questionnaires handed out as well, but I doubt these are made publicly available. It might be worth asking your department chair how this feedback is handled and if you can see the reports from it. You can see the grade distributions of recent courses held by Office of the Registrar reports which has sometimes helped me decide which professor to take a particular course with. Otherwise, your best resource looks to unfortunately be Rate My Professor. edit: grammar

I have only learned programming in formal classroom environments, but I have heard good things about Khan Academy and Codeacademy (as said by another user). You might be able to get a good head start with them.

In the past, I assumed they were under the GSuite business which would be unlimited space per user. Now that Google changed it to Workspaces, the limit may be anywhere from 2TB to unlimited still. I'd be curious to hear as well as I am under 2TB.

Bus Radar is great for seeing the current locations of busses, bus routes, or what buses stop at a specific stop.

Much easier to use than Google Maps imo, but it's Android only.

Absolutely! That’s a nice way of putting it. Just like with language there’s a steep learning curve but I promise you if you work at it there will be a day where you’re sitting with your notes and go “Ohhhhhhhhhh yup got it”. This is one of the few classes where I’d say the time & effort is directly correlated with your success. It’s a completely different thought process than for general chemistry, physics, or basic biology but I found it to be way more interesting and interactive.

I used a regular lined notebook and occasionally used blank printer paper to write out mechanisms, however this was before I started using an iPad. If that’s a feasible option for you I’d suggest that since there are so many handouts and you can save paper/have all your notes in one spot, but regular pencil and paper are just as good. There are also hexagon notebooks like this (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1090989547/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_AWDUFb1DJ0NPR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) that I saw some classmates use and was always extremely jealous of, so you could give that a try too.

Anyone that isn't using some sort of paid VPN such as NordVPN or Mullvad (only $5/mo) when torrenting is not making their lives easier. That said, only one notice won't do anything but if you rack up multiple the campus may take this seriously. Also these stay on your DoIT record... which may have brought up an awkward convo once

You're fine. Just stop doing it, and get a better VPN -- personally I use NordVPN, it has killswitch where it terminates your network connection of the VPN stops (you can also have it close applications instead).

It's Albany, New York. Same sign. presumably same person: https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/protest-against-coronavirus-related-regulations-in-albany-us-22-apr-2020-10621803d

Whatever you can put in a food thermos, and then put the thermos in your backpack, maybe with sides. Chili, curry, soup, stew, and have a roll/muffin/biscuit and some fruit with it. If you can't cook, nearly all of this stuff can be bought ready made. Preheat the thermos with boiling water to keep the food hot longer. If you like cold food - homemade grain bowl or burrito bowl, but use a watertight container you can fit in the backpack, like this one.

The textbook we used last semester was Français-Monde: Connectez-vous à la francophonie which was provided as free PDF files on Canvas. The materials were primarily supplementary for the class, so I cannot comment on whether it's suitable for self-study because my instructor digested the book for us in various forms like PowerPoint slides and in-class activities.

I think this pulls from the Metro site, but like CaptainTelcontar said, maybe they aren't the best about updating it. It's a great app otherwise.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=busradar.madison

For 340, I used this book to help me with concepts/problems https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0070380376/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . Cs300 and 252 don’t really use books (300 uses zybooks). The best thing you can do for 300 is make sure you are solid on the concepts from 200. Get eclipse up and running with Java 11 as well to save yourself the headache. For 252, it’s introductory so not much to do to prepare, I took it in spring 2020 so it was a shitshow.

Here’s that alarm clock.Link

AirGuard does a good job of detecting them on Android (and doesn't need to be opened periodically by hand like the Apple version)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.seemoo.at_tracking_detection.release&hl=en_US&gl=US

You can make 300 work on pretty much anything, we're not doing anything processor intensive for the most part (GUI in Processing but that's about it). Def had people literally do the whole class on an iPad.

That being said: I'm a former dedicated Mac user and I just can't recommend them anymore. Save yourself some money and get a Dell or a Lenovo or an HP or something.

Just saw this TI84 for sale for$29 in Madison $29 · calc on sale

As long as you don't take the course with Meyer you should be fine. Dont be fooled by the CS though, this is really a math class, any and all programming will be in pseudocode and that is only a select part of the class.

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=2357580

Ratemyprofessor.com: Hanhart Grizzard

I'll admit I haven't been there, so I won't pretend to have any authority over this, but from what I understand, this is very overrated. There's not much to see down there, it gets really got, and the risk of getting burned is pretty high.

Here's a discussion about it. It just doesn't seem as interesting as secret passages below ground usually would.

I don't mean to be a debbie downer, so feel free to convince me otherwise.

Would you be happy with your backup option in the long run (it's not very similar to neurobiology or psychology)?

To be honest, that may not be enough to get any job in software engineering. A lot of places prefer or require you to have at least a bachelor's degree in cs. Assuming you have the math requirements as well as other L&S requirements down, you'd be pretty close to finishing the major. If your other plans don't work out, you can try taking an extra semester or two.

With that being said, I think you may be able to get a job in software engineering still, especially if it has to do with neurobiology or psychology. It may be a lot of work, but you should try to excel in the technical interviews by practicing on LeetCode.com and reading Cracking The Coding Interview. I think you should also try to apply some of your knowledge of neurobiology and psychology to some side projects so employers can see the work you do.

Good luck!

I have to use noise-cancelling ear buds and/or these when I'm not in a room by myself. The earmuffs are super amazing--way better than the ear buds for noise like you're describing.

I have yet to have a problem with a zipcar. The ones I've driven seem to be in pretty good condition.

As for joining as a student, it'll save you a lot of money on the subscription fee. I believe it'll bring it down to $25 a year instead of $7 a month. Just make sure to use your student email address.

Also look for a $25 free zip car credit promo code when you signup, which makes the first yearly fee effectively free. There were a bunch floating around the internet when I signed up.

You could look into working for Bucky's Locker Room's event staff. They always need people to work during the home football games at the store. I started off doing that and other events which were rarely during regular class times. I pulled their job application off their FB if that's something you might want to consider. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Spg5gcinI06wIMLUpj0dYpQsTRI3GStHj75XvClXMJlUMUlGRkRRTjBJRlpUV1hYTE4zVVlUSENENy4u

Consumer Finance 275 was one of the best classes I've ever taken. The professor I had was absolutely phenomenal. http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=1505853

The class teaches you everything from buying a house to stocks and bonds to credit scores and credit cards. I think everyone should take it. Not to mention an easy A.

But they might miss all of their money, if they do not. The closer the hotel is to campus/downtown, the more expensive it is. Supply & Demand, baby!

Plus, those are nicer places, and are likely to NOT rent to an 18 yo, sorry.

Try https://www.airbnb.com/s/Madison--WI--United-States?source=bb, you might find some place WAY closer for WAY cheaper, and not miss out on the downtown-ness, as wackywiener pointed out! :)

Super normal in the Before Times. I was a math major and would always P A N I K every fall, absolutely certain that I'd forgotten all my proof techniques and programming syntax. As a prof, I get questions about this all the time, too. You'd be surprised how much will come right back once you're back in School Mode.

If you're concerned about the Java, check out something like CodeWars? Just run through a few easy problems to reassure yourself. You'll be fine :)

I am assuming they will teach the fundamentals of thinking computationally and learning how to trace through your code. I was reading articles about CS education. They found higher satisfaction for people who have never coded before, if they have a first course in CS that does not have any syntax in the programming language.

https://scratch.mit.edu/info/research/

Check this out : https://tinychat.com/room/gottastudy (password : getstudying)

It's an amazing community with people all over the world and from different fields (medical, biology, computer science, law ...) the users either share their desktop screen or put camera on to avoid slacking while study periods. and eventually they can chat and help each other during breaks :)

Im about to send the best thing ever your way.

LOOOOOONG CAT

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PPD83Y4?ascsubtag=[]st[p]ckl1ev2cb0000vcnetxw5xrqp[i]72YPbD[t]a&tag=thestrategistsite-20

This one is cheaper. Looks smaller. Either good or bad thing idk. My first comment was sort of a joke but these things might actually work

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Hair-Cut-Catching-Cape/dp/B00M8UPXBQ/ref=asc_df_B00M8UPXBQ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309760582713&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=901993525720699022&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&amp...

You can buy your own security key and register it if you really need one. There are plenty on Amazon for around $20, like this. Make sure you don't pay extra for one with NFC if you don't have a phone.

Or have a friend who doesn't want a token/fob give you their free one.

I live in Lucky in a 2bed room 2 bath. My roommate and I use this router and so far it has worked great. I'm sure it's good enough for three people aswell.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R2AZLD2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The $90ish one

Although it does say up to 1500 square feet so maybe double check your unit size first.

Unfortunately, I don't think finding out if there's pictures of you online is very easy. I know there was a big thing online a few years ago trying to get rid of revenge porn, but other than trying to search through that (which I don't recommend), I'm not sure there's much for you to do.

One thing I can recommend though, if you want to feel safer in your home, is to invest in some one way window film like this. I originally bought some because I just wanted some window tint, but found out later that it's super hard to see through from the outside (plus it's removable/reusable).

This is a really shitty thing to happen to you.

Enrollment website says it's Introduction to Algorithms from MIT Press

Course Search and Enroll usually updates with needed textbooks, this is where I got the information

$50 seems like a lot if all your webcam needs to do is show your face.

If you are still able to return it I would recommend looking for another webcam to purchase.

Here is a link to a $30 webcam on amazon:

Here

A different link to a webcam on ebay for $20.

Here

Not sure if you are more comfortable with amazon more than ebay (I know I am). $30 isnt a lot less than $50 but hopefully $20 can buy a few good meals.

They're surprisingly cheap. Mine has 500lbs of pulling force which works great for most objects unless they're huge. It's $15 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Neodymium-Countersunk-Diameter-Retrieving-Magnetic/dp/B074BTSR1L/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=magnet+fishing&qid=1597014499&sr=8-4

Honestly I don't see any of the labs on campus letting you get away with using a solder for free. How about something from amazon or something?

I use my dad's soldering iron that he used forever and it's older than I am. Soldering irons are pretty simple stuff.

Jansport Big Student Backpack (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E3D2VM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_aJFnDbYA2KCV0

The Jansport Big Student has always been my go to. Fits a lot of stuff and has a ton of little compartments. Depending on the color, its $30-50 and they last forever.

VPN - ExpressVPN. I've never used VPNs for downloading TV shows though, but I do know that if you download them without a VPN, you'll be served a notice upon your first violation, and will be fined upon subsequent ones.

Netflix, Amazon Prime Video & Hulu can be pretty convenient, and their monthly subscription will probably cost less than ExpressVPN's monthly subscription. BTW, don't take an HBO trial via Amazon Prime, but via HBO's own website. Starz & ShowTime also offer trials, but it's cheaper to sign up multiple times for trials, than to sign up for a VPN service for the purpose of downloading TV shows - both of them are unlawful but signing up for multiple trials would probably be more convenient (& cheaper - it'd be free!) for you because Digital Content Providers probably won't sue you for $10 even if they detect fraud. That being said, I'm not an international student so I don't know if such infractions can be held against you in the future.

Elements-Programming-Interviews-Insiders-Guide This book is also offered in Java, Python

This book goes into better details than the normal tech interview (Cracking the Coding Interview) it will teach you common ways to solve problems as well as good programming practices as well as how to handle the interview and the offer.

Then you could be practicing problems on Leetcode.com, however I cannot speak for exactly how Epic interviews but I have interviewed at larger companies they should be similar.

The other option for CS 577 is CS 520 - Theory of Computation. As an undergrad who has taken 520, I will give it a good recommendation.

Had a good time, challenged my brain, felt like I learned information that I would have not searched on my own.

Do keep in mind, if someone wants to learn Introduction to Algorithms, there are many alternative online sources and MOOCS they can use.

302/367 is Java. I have no recommendation for a book for Java. 354 is C. Buy "The C Programming Language" - K&R and you'll be set. It's honestly a terribly boring book though.

Everything else is dependent on the instructor if there is any programming at all. For some courses there is a movement towards language agnosticism, in that it won't matter what you develop in.

Also with a U-lock, it is nicer to get a larger one, because that way you can usually get your front wheel and frame locked to the bike rack which is safer

This is the one i have and it works great

Congrats to your friend! Pharmacy school is a lot of phun. I'd recommend this: http://www.amazon.com/BigMouth-Inc-The-Prescription-Coffee/dp/B0085MQPSG

If you were thinking of bigger gifts, then I'm not too sure what they would want.

It's not a plastic mug, it's like stainless steal. Looks like this. What time is after classes. Sorry if that's a dumb question, but I genuinely don't know.

It is a Tivo Series 3 HD. Here is a link to an Amazon listing for the model I have (except mine is the more modern looking design). It has two cable card slots, so idk how this would work with UW's Charter service.

If you ever wanted to know how busy the SERF and Nat are, there's this app which is updated every hour (or so) by the people working there.

What are /r/UWMadison's favorite Products & Services? From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

The most popular Products mentioned in /r/UWMadison:

The most popular Services mentioned in /r/UWMadison:

Rate My Professor

LeetCode

Library Genesis

Scratch

Codewars

Microsoft OneDrive

Airbnb

Unreal Engine

Tinychat

Schoology

Ghidra

Processing

Nextdoor

Unpaywall

Codecademy

The most popular Android Apps mentioned in /r/UWMadison:

BusRadar for Madison

Canvas Student

How Full is the SERF?

The most popular VPNs mentioned in /r/UWMadison:

The most popular reviews in /r/UWMadison:

What are /r/UWMadison's favorite Products & Services?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments