cmu course reviews | Edward G. Friedman

This page has a pretty informal way of writing, if your a potential employer, im sorry…. idk maybe jus like click off and look at a different page.

Overview:

WHY?

Past CMU students (mostly SCS) have had a history of writing course reviews. When I was applying to colleges, and even after I got into CMU, I used to love reading peoples course reviews.

So yeah I was lwk excited to create my own when I became a student here. Its sort of like a lil log of all the courses/experiences I have over each semester.

Key

: Represents some of my favorite courses that semester.
(Will) Represent very important classes that I took

Inspired by past cmu scs alumni Abigale Kim, Fan Pu and others reviewers.

Sophomore Fall (2026)

Courses Took:

15-210 Parallel and Sequential Data Structures and Algorithms
15-213 Intro to Computer Systems
15-259 Probability and Computing
85-170 Foundations of Brain and Behavior

Activities:

Overall Semester Review:

Summer (2026)

Courses Took:

15-150 Functional Programming

Activities:

Overall Semester Review:

Freshman Spring (2026)

Courses Being Taken:

11-485 Intro to Deep Learning
15-251 Great Ideas in Theoretical CS
21-266 Vector Calculus with Matrix Algebra
76-101 Interpretation and Argument(Writing)
07-180 Concepts in AI: Ended up dropping :(

Activities: Board member on Carnegie AI Safety Initiative(CASI), SCS Student Advisory Council(SAC)

Overall Semester Review:

Freshman Fall(2025)

Courses Took:

15-151 Math Foundations of CS(also called “Concepts”) Mackey, Kuszmaul: This is our intro to discrete class/intro to proof-based math class. It stresses the importance of writing rigorous proofs. From someone who didnt come from a comp-math background(unlike many in SCS), it was lwky really difficult, but so rewarding. Prof Mackey and Prof Kuszmaul(who teach like yin and yang) are goated professors and made it so enjoyable. I gen left this course thinking that im actually smarter, and yeah I surprisingly finished with an A which made me feel more accomplished then when I got into CMU ngl My TAs were also goated, we had like 40 people showing up to our recitations so shout out them. The environment in the class was so tuff, a 200-person lecture room had everyone actively talking/participating, which helped me stay motivated even when it got tough. Yeah this class was one of my fav experiences from the first semester and I feel like it will be one of those classes that I always remember taking.
21-241 Matrices and Linear Transformations Kovalev: Sadley I dont have as much to write unlike the previous class because this was a pretty standard linear algebra class. Prof Kovalev was teaching it for the first time and was extremely nice to everyone in the class. I really enjoyed the project at the end which had us extend one of the concepts to a list of topics in CS. This class was my only B because I felt like it was always lower on my priority list since I already took a linear class, which… yah didnt go too well for me.
15-122 Principles of Imperative Computation Kohlbrenner: As someone whos been learning code since 7th grade, and seen many diff types of college courses on programming, 122 is hands down the best ive ever seen. 122 is sort of a catch-all class that teaches you C, DSA, and most importantly, reasoning about code. The lectures and quizzes ask very intuition-based questions that have you reason about what the program is doing(i swear ts was actually unqiue). It was so tuff that Prof. Kohlbrenner was the head-TA for 122 when she was an undergrad at CMU, and she ran very engaging lectures which not only solidified the concepts, but also(and more importantly) built intuition needed for the quizzes and approaching programming in general. The projects were actually really fun and were connected to common software-engineering topics(not just dumb stuff like “build a maze app”). Yeah 122 was fire, the online discussion board was also fun.
80-100 Intro to Philosophy: Mohseni. So, lwky half of this course was logic and epistemology, cuz prof Mohseni is an epistemologist. While I would have liked to learn more about like metaphysics and ethics, I remembered that CMUs Philosphopy dept is very focused on more analytic philosophy. Mohseni was very nice, and taught epistemology very well, having me want to take a course on it in the future. *Still a enjoyable experience just a bit diff then the traditional intro to philo class.
07-128 First Year Immigration Course (FIC) This was just the seminar for cs majors, it was fun to see friends when i went.
07-131 Great Practical Ideas for Computer Scientists(GPI). This mini class taught like practical tools, very chill and it helped keep me on deans list so its tuff.

Activities: Carnegie AI Safety Initiative(CASI), SCS Student Advisory Council(SAC), MMA Club

Overall Semester Review: Honestly all I gotta say is shit bruh they did not lie when they said it was gonna be hard . I really enjoyed my semester though, I liked almost everyone I met in the CS program(and they were mostly the only ones I saw…). My life was fully centered around my classes, and with the few time I had outside, I dedicated it to looking into interesting research, CASI’s intro technical ai safety research reading group, and going to the gym/mma. Honestly when I thought about college in high school, this is exactly what I wanted. At some points I did try to experience the “traditional college life” things, but I think it was to just say I did it so I wont feel insecure ab it in like 10 years