SYS 3060

This course was insanely difficult. The prof expects you to memorize the text that he has written and regurgitate mind-numbing details on tests. Don't take this course if you don't have to.

Holy crap this is the worst class ever. Better find a good group to do the homeworks with. Don't go to class, he just reads the notes, slower than you can probably read too.

Major: Systems

Basically once every 3 weeks you get a killer problem set. The TA's were very helpful, pretty much tell you what you need to get through the problem sets when you go to them. Class and book are the same thing, the prof is a very formulaic lecturer, and extremely old school. Problem sets take as much as 30 hours to complete, and are often 30 pages in length

This is the most time consuming and pointless class required for systems. It has no real world application, especially since some of the concepts are made up. The homework assignments take between 15-30 hours each but are worth 65% of your grade. Take the time to do these right and get As on them and this will help balance out your test grade averages. The tests and final are absurd. You have to memorize the book- there is no way around it. Going to class doesnt matter since the homeworks you teach yourself out of the book and the tests are memorizing the book. If you get As on the HWs and 50-70s on the tests you can walk out with a B.

One of THE hardest classes at UVA. Required for systems engineering majors... good luck.

Not overly difficult, just lots of work. Start the homeworks early!!

This class is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. All you need to do is start the homework early, since he gives you 3 weeks to do each one (and you'll need it). The material is very dry and doesn't seem very applicable to modern systems engineering, but it's not too hard to get through.

DON'T DO THE HOMEWORK LAST MINUTE. There's a reason why he gives you 2 weeks to do it. Go to office hours. The TAs are very helpful. The first 2 homeworks are the worst (my report ended up being 30 pages long for each). Also, if you fail anything (homework, exam) you fail the entire course. However, you're allowed regrades (except for the last homework and final, because there's no time). Make sure you staple the homework at 45 degrees--they take off points if you don't. This course is required for majors, so suck it up. The second half is better than the 1st half, though.

Get started on the HW sets early and go to office hours. These will take all night and then some if you wait til the last minute.

Just get started on the homeworks early and you'll be fine. People complain about the professor but really the only bad part is that he teaches straight out of the book (which he wrote) and seems to have made up his own notation. Good class overall.