OMS.fyi

CS-6250

Don't take this class. The content is the most boring content in the universe, and the exams don't cover any real content it's 100% a memorization exam both times. Like literal picture of a diagram from class with blanks over some of the words, let's hope you know you them. The projects are also boring and can be brute forced to get the solutions. The lectures are the worst lecture videos ever created. The prof sounds like she is reading a hostage letter for every video and just reads what's already on the section description. Save yourself and don't take the class.

ISYE-6740

Very interesting (and in my opinion, time consuming) course. It has a perfect balance between theory and applications (as all the homework involved both some mathematical proofs and the implementation of algorithms). The first part of the course is a bit scary, as it asks you to implement algorithms from scratch, and it's not that easy when you need to build something that can't take too long to run. After the second or third homework, it gets easier, specially because you get used to what is being asked. With that in mind, I'll leave some tips here: 1) Don't ignore the prerequisites: knowing some basic linear algebra and calculus will save you a lot of time. 2) Use LaTeX: if you already know it, review it. If you don't, try to learn at least a little bit - I used it at university and it helped me a lot with the reports. 3) Be aware of project related deadlines: I work full time (and go to the office almost every day) and unfortunately forgot to send my project proposal while travelling. I'm probably ending the course with a B because of that. They give you a few extra days for each homework, but the same is not applied to any project related stuff.

ISYE-6501

I came into this course with very little R experience or knowledge, so the ramp in the beginning was pretty steep. While the initial shock softens after 2-3 weeks, the class is by no means easy, but the effort and time are worth the volume of useful information you learn. If you want to make the most of the course, use the ISLR as a supplement and make the most of the homework assignments - experiment & go beyond the assignment. It's worth it. I've read some reviews complaining about the wording on test questions. I think they're mostly correct: some of the questions do seem to be worded/structured to create confusion. Still - it's Georgia Tech. Every class you take is going to try to make sure you're thinking, learning and applying the info, not just regurgitating facts. They don't just give away Master's degrees.

CS-6210

Background: - 5th course in the program. Have taken GIOS, SAT, AI4R, CN with A grades - non-CS engineering degree for undergrad - work as a devops eng Time: hw0: 5hr prelab: 5hr lectures: 33hr papers: 18hr; included the 2 paper summaries, as well as reading other papers that sounded interesting, like Lamport clocks, Xen, and Dynamo, as well the MR paper for P4 exams: 46hr; includes time to take the exams, as well as study and prep time P1: 60hr P2: 38hr P3: 20hr P4: 92 hr Experience of the course: Challenging course, with interesting projects, but didn't give the satisfaction that GIOS did. Spent way too much time with a stupid hidden bug for P4 that ended up leaving me feel burnt out by the end of the course. There was a small period (2-3 weeks) of lull during P3, which had the lightest load and also did not have any exams. Otherwise, the rest of the time felt immensely stressful. This course convinced me that, although it was my ultimate goal for OMSCS, I probably cannot handle the time commitment of SDCC, along with my other commitments in life. Course administration was ok, but could have been improved by adding small but important details into the project descriptions instead of addressing it later in an edstem post. I had heard of Prof Kishore's enthusiasm, but unfortunately, could never make the weekly hangout.

CS-8803-O08

This was an enjoyable and interesting course. The TAs were friendly and helpful. They answered questions quickly on Ed and held weekly office hours (though not many people attended them) to answer questions live or to discuss questions posed on Ed. Overall, the course filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge of compilers though there is still a lot more depth to the material than what was explored in the course. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the subject, though if you took an upper level (4xxx level) compilers course you may not find it as satisfying. If you only had a lower level compilers course in your undergraduate program or none it will introduce you to the subject or expand your understanding. The course consists of a four-part project, four homework assignments, and the final exam. Exam: For me, this is the weakest part of the course. It is one cumulative final exam with material drawn from all the readings, homework, and lectures. This made studying for it difficult as a lot of material was not fresh in mind after wrapping up the project. Studying the homework assignments helps a lot but there's still a lot of material to review. I'd suggest that they split this material across the semester with multiple graded quizzes or exams to make it easier to prepare or at least reduce its weight in the final grade. Homework: The homework assignments were challenging but followed the book and the lectures. Three weeks were available to complete each set which was enough time. Don't procrastinate on them, they can be tedious if you do them entirely by hand and you may need to reread some of the book or rewatch lectures to understand the tasks. They also overlap with the projects for their release and due dates. Try not to focus on the homework to the exclusion of the project, it'll eat up your time. To prepare better for the exam, I'd suggest reviewing the completed homework assignments every few weeks. Project: The project is completed in either Java or C++. I chose C++ as I have more familiarity with it (professionally, academically, and for hobby programming). Each phase of the project was given three weeks except for the last which ran for five weeks. I tracked my time and spent about 10 hours on the first phase, 20 hours on then next two, and 30 on the last phase. Those weren't perfectly focused hours, but a rough upper bound of how much time each took for me. As mentioned in other reviews, no starter code was supplied. At some point they provide an ANTLR grammar file that can be used instead of your own in case you had issues creating it in Phase 1. However that's just barely enough to get started on the later phases. Each phase builds on the prior phases so the structure of your code is important. Poorly structured code will make the next phase harder. The ANTLR book is a good resource, but it is slightly outdated. It will lead to subtle errors or grammars that don't work if you rely entirely on the book, check out the online documentation for more current documentation. They offer unlimited submissions to Gradescope, I recommend taking advantage of that. For Phases 2 through 4 I leaned heavily on it to test my code and incrementally develop my solutions. I got my program working and then refactored it using Gradescope and a local test suite to verify my changes didn't break anything. This helped a lot in Phase 3 and Phase 4, I didn't have to change my old code except for a few edge cases that hadn't been caught in earlier testing.

CS-6515

Waste of time. I knew it was going to be hard going in but this class is quite pointlessly hard. Frankly, I was looking forward to this course as I thought it would prepare me better for leetcode style interviews. Instead, it felt more like a combination of a math theory and writing class. You have to memorize how to write solutions the way THEY want them to be written. TA's claim to be supportive but quite literally if they would just program a bot to write "Practice more" over and over again, it would do 90% of their job. I will never be taking this class again and it leaves me with a really bad taste of the overall OMSCS program as none of the other classes are like this.

CSE-6250

I believe the course content has been changed a few semester earlier. The workload now is less and I believe can be managed in combination with another class if you are planning that. Overall if anybody is looking for basics of big data tools, healthcare data concepts and ML, this course would serve as a very good introduction and get more details. The course videos serve well to introduce each topic. TA are very helpful if you are struggling with concepts. Only change would be if the course can be restored to old difficulty/time commitment, would be even better.

CS-6515

You will cry hard; you will feel like you’re being set up to fail. If you’re not absolutely sure you’re ready for a brutal academic assault, don’t even think about CS6515. And if you are considering it, think again—this course is practically engineered to break you. Here’s my personal view, others may think differently: From the moment you sign up, you’re thrown into an environment that seems to exist solely to drain hope and energy from you. The exams are designed with no mercy—one tiny mistake and you lose big points. Even if you manage to grasp the core concept, every minor detail is held against you. It feels like the grading system is not about measuring progress, but about finding any reason to dock points. Exams are another nightmare. They’re weighted so heavily that one disaster of an exam can crush your overall grade, no matter how hard you tried in all the assignments. The exams are a cluster of tricky questions that test not just your understanding but your ability to guess what the graders want to see. It’s not about learning algorithms—it’s about surviving the punishing tests. The course structure itself leaves you feeling abandoned. There’s no autograder to offer the instant feedback that could help you learn from your mistakes. Instead, you’re left waiting, for a grading process that feels more like an afterthought. The delay and opacity of feedback leave you questioning your entire approach. And then there’s the support—or more accurately, the lack. The instructors seem more like distant overseers rather than engaged mentors. You’re expected to fend for yourself, which is fine if you thrive in isolation, but most of us need real help. The TAs? They’re not much better. Their guidance is minimal at best, often worst. Instead of feeling like you’re part of a team working together, you’re forced into a battle against a system that seems determined to ignore your struggles. The overall vibe of the course is as if it were designed to discourage you from ever pursuing further challenges. Every component—from the homework assignments to the relentless exams—feels intentionally crafted to wear down your confidence. The course is about exhausting every bit of enthusiasm you have. You might even start to feel like you’re not smart enough or capable enough because theynever give you a break. Every week brings a fresh wave of disappointment. The assignments often seem like they’re written in a language of their. If you manage to scrape through one assignment, be prepared to receive a grade that seems to have nothing to do with the actual quality of your work. It doesn’t matter how many hours you’ve spent perfecting your solutions—whatever mistakes they find, no matter how minor, will result in harsh penalties. This course is not about growth; it’s about testing your limits until you have nothing left. In the end, you end up with an overwhelming sense that this course was more about creating a high-pressure, no-win situation than about actual teaching. If you value your mental health, your self-esteem, and even your desire to learn, steer clear of CS6515.

MGT-8803

Third attempt at this course after withdrawing the first 2 times due to bombing the first module (Accounting). Luckily that module has been revamped and completely redone with Prof Blunck. I did much better on it this time! He also stays with you the entire course making appearances on the weekly zoom calls to relay any news. I was absolutely dreading this course but it wasn't so bad this time. First 2 modules are heavy math-based, then supply chain moves to 50/50, then the last 2 are mostly memorization.

CS-6601

Great class, brutal workload. I spent 20 hours at least on each assignment, and probably 30 on the first. Midterm and final took me at least 20 hours each as well. Some assignments have a limited number of attempts to submit to Gradescope, so you can't just make small changes and submit until you get the right answer. Loved the content, loved the assignments and would absolutely take it again! Just take it as the only class in the semester.