COMPSCI 839 covers selected topics from advanced areas in computing.
Reviewers rate the difficulty as low to moderate, with ratings of 2 and 3 out of 5.
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Graduate/professional standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Fred Sala is highly praised for making the course interactive, intuitive, and engaging. Reviewers describe him as the best professor in the department and essential to take.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.98 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=66 letter grades); Fall 2024: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=103 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.99 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=71 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.83 GPA, 90.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.74 GPA, 88.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades).
No course-specific feedback yet.
Historical reviews of Manolis Vlatakis: Manolis Vlatakis is described as an engaging, supportive, and enthusiastic instructor who cares about student success. Reviewers highlight his detailed slides, approachable nature, and ability to make hard topics accessible, though some note the homework is long or the material is rigorous.
EARLENCE FERNANDES is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
FRED SALA is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
JOSIAH HANNA is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MANOLIS VLATAKIS is recorded teaching in Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
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| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 29 / 30 | 19 |
| LEC 004 | Classroom Instruction | 41 / 40 | 21 |
| LEC 002 | Classroom Instruction | 41 / 40 | 27 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Fred Sala teaches an interactive and engaging course on foundation models that students highly recommend.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.77 GPA, 88.6% A/AB (n=114 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.94 GPA, 98.3% A/AB (n=179 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.94 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=109 letter grades).
Reviewers rate the difficulty as low to moderate, with ratings of 2 and 3 out of 5.
Students find the class intuitive and enjoyable, praising the professor for making the topic engaging.
– average GPA
Approximate 80% prediction interval
The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.
The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.
5 earlier forecasts · 0.05 GPA average error.
Through Fall 2026
Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels
GPA
Higher than % of other courses in this group.
Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range
letter grades
More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.
Typical course in this group: letter grades.
1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.
Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Core Topics in Computing
Recorded 2026-09-07Adv Topics in Reinforc Lrning
Recorded 2026-09-07AI Agents for Science
Recorded 2026-09-07Next Generation Data Systems
Recorded 2026-09-07[
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"title": "Core Topics in Computing",
"credits_min": 3,
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"typically_offered": "Occasionally"
},
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"title": "Adv Topics in Reinforc Lrning",
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"title": "AI Agents for Science",
"credits_min": 3,
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},
{
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}
]Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
{
"model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
"model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
"task_version": "14",
"output_id": "09639fe97e6e7c882da9650b11bd60c92a6f19165d5337f2da8401878901c45b",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}