CS 3120

Pettit is really good IMO

The class structure is much more difficult than other CS classes (75% of the grade is quizzes) but HW grading isn't strict

Definitely use the textbook+practice quizzes+lectures when studying for the first exam, it will help you gauge how hard the rest of the class will be

Cramming for this class is doable but it's still really risky, a lot of the quiz questions (especially on the back page) rely on intuitive understanding. IMO only a genius could cram any of the reductions in unit 4 or unit 5, it's wayyyy better to just learn the concepts ASAP so you can absorb them better

Don't rely on the final to save your grade

W class, I'm sure most people taking it will find the material fairly interesting. Professor Pettit goes over the material pretty well with some helpful analogy/commentary for some of the more mind-wrappy concepts. He's always been willing to walk through slide examples and student questions which I greatly appreciated.

The grading rubric is the same as Floryan's syllabus with 75% being for exams, with 48% of consisting of four quizzes that you can retake on the day of the finals. I definitely suggest prioritizing the first attempt of the quizzes tho because they're generally easier and allow for regrade requests. As for how to study for the quizzes, I'd recommend the slides/lectures + homeworks + previous quizzes + textbook. The textbook is short & easy to read, and it generally fills in knowledge gaps that might not be obvious from the slides. For the finals, definitely take the time to study for it because it will require precise knowledge from all the modules.

TLDR; Pettit's a great choice for DMT2, the vibes he brings to class is consistently positive. Just make sure to set some time aside to fully understand/digest the material on your own time and you should be fine.

The material of this class seemed less challenging than DSA 2 and CSO 2, but it was harder to get a good grade in. There are 5 quizzes, with an opportunity to retake the first four quizzes on the day of the final, and the fifth quiz has no retake since you take it on the day of the final, along with the cumulative final exam. The retakes were a bit harder than the original quizzes, so try to do as well as you can the first time. Also try to do as well as you can on the first three quizzes, because module 4 and 5 are significantly harder to do well on. The homeworks are not too hard to get full credit on, but they aren't weighted too much. The quizzes really align with what is covered in lecture, so I recommend the lecture recordings as a good source to study from.