Rating my Experience in Each of my First Year Courses (CS/CPSC @ UCalgary)

Fall

CPSC 231 (Intro to CS with Python), Required - This course was a nice introduction to the basics of programming with Python. It was fairly easy for me since I had some prior experience with coding, but I think it would be manageable for beginners too. The only downside was that the assignments were graded by a computer program, so even a minor mistake like a typo or a missing comma could lower your mark significantly. I heard that this course is better organized and taught than CPSC 217, which is the online version of it. I would give this course a 7/10 because it was good but not very challenging.

PHIL 279 (Logic and Proofs), Required - This course was pretty interesting and different. It teaches you how to use logic and mathematical symbols to construct and evaluate arguments, and it required a certain way of thinking that was not intuitive at first. I took the online assessment version of the course, which gave me more flexibility but also required more self-discipline. I enjoyed this course a lot and it was quite special, so I would rate it an 8/10!

MATH 265 (Calculus), Required - If you took Math 31 in high school this is mostly review with some extra topics and should be relatively easy, however it can be time consuming if you put in the practice to get an A (I also did Math 31 a year before I took the course so I forgot a lot). My professor taught it really well, so I'd rate this course a 7/10 (it was good, but didn't learn too much new).

ENTI 201 (Introduction to Business Venturing), Option - This course was a roller coaster of emotions. On one hand, it was fun to learn about entrepreneurship and how to start your own business. On the other hand, it was a lot of work and stress, especially the group projects with a randomly assigned group. This course is NOT a GPA booster (I thought it was), but it is a prerequisite for some cool courses later on. The professor was passionate and engaging. I'd give this course a 6/10 (minus 4 points for the sleepless nights and group drama).

FREN 213 (Intermediate French), Option - Take this if you're already decent at speaking French and are willing to attend almost every lecture/lab (participation counts for a part of your grade). The professor I had was really good and the assessments weren't too difficult, however this course does have labs where you may have to present or do other assessments. Personally, I felt that my lab TA marked me very harshly causing me to lose a lot of marks on my oral presentation. I'd rate this a 7/10 for me but lower for most other students (you probably won't do well with just French 30).

Winter

CPSC 233 (Intro to OOP with Java), Required - Good course, if not a bit boring due to the teaching style (which is not a big problem). It's really important stuff! This course was not auto-graded which I greatly preferred because you get a bit of autonomy as to how you do things. But don't underestimate the difficulty of the content: the midterm was tricky and the final assignment was brutal. Even though I had some programming experience before, I struggled a lot with the final project. I'd give this course a 7.5/10, because I learned a lot but also suffered a bit near the end.

LWSO 203 (Intro to Legal Knowledge), Option - This course was taught by a super kind and fun professor who tried his best to make the course interesting. I did find the content relatively interesting but I did have a bit of difficulty paying full attention to the lectures (maybe law is not for me). Most of the marks given were based on a midterm and final, and unfortunately I didn't do great in the final even though I felt confident. It was all multiple choice too! Maybe it's just me, again... I'd rate this course a 7/10 mainly because of the great professor and interesting content. It did end up being my worst mark this year so maybe I'll stick to watching Ally McBeal.

MATH 211 (Linear Methods I), Required - I didn't really like the way this course was taught (it was all online through a platform called Lyryx) because I felt like I didn't understand why I was doing some strange math operations and some explanations were very mathematical with little to no clarification in English. It was a lot of work, however, the course grew on me over time (as did my marks in it after studying a lot) and it's pretty important. I'd rate it a 5/10 because I believe students' first introduction to linear algebra should not be so impersonal, and it's mostly my personal interest that kept me afloat.

CPSC 251 (Theoretical Foundations of Computer Science), Required - This course introduces interesting concepts like proofs, probability theory, and data structures. It was well-taught and I really enjoyed this course and it is definitely worth your time to understand everything in it because it's kind of the crux of computer science. I'd rate this course an 8.5/10.

DATA 201 (Thinking with Data), Option - This was a pretty nice option that took a bit more work than I expected. You learn how to clean data, make visualizations, and explain this process. If you put in the work, you can definitely get a good grade. This class also had a big group project and I was fortunate to find a good group (tip: go to your labs to find a group, otherwise you'll be randomly placed in a group). I would rate this course a 7/10.

Overall

I really enjoyed my first year courses even though they were harder than I expected. To be honest, sometimes a lot of hard assignments or finals would occur at the same time (I took 3 finals in one day) and I would feel overwhelmed (...I may have cried several times...) but those moments were rare and most of the time I had a lot of fun. It helps to meet some friends to share notes with and discuss courses together, and it definitely helps to know you're not alone. I don't regret choosing any of the options I did and I can't really regret choosing any of my required courses :).

Please feel free to ask me any further questions about my first year in the comments below!