author: mustafa sadriwala, edits:

Finding the Right Classes

utdgrades

You'll hear it time and time again. Check out UTDgrades! You can find the grade distributions from any previous class going all the way back to Fall 2017. This is great information to have if you want to know if a class is an easy A or if there's more work to be put in. Additionally, it's useful to see if there's a pattern across several semesters and a particular professor (i.e. have they gotten easier on grading or harder? Do they generally always give a certain % of As or a certain number?)

RateMyProfessor

Our one true savior. RateMyProfessor (RMP) is one of the best sites to see feedback on a professor from anonymous student. Reviews should always be taken with a grain of salt however as a lot of times there's a negative bias since students who are upset by their grade are more likely to go back and write a poor review out of spite than someone who had a better experience. Overall though, a combination of RMP and utdgrades can give you pretty good expectations for a given class and professor.

Upperclassmen/Peers

Obviously if you know someone who is a year above you or maybe the same year but has taken the class before then ask them! Ask them which professor they took, how much work the class was, if the exams were hard, if they actually learned something, etc. If you don't know anyone directly then ask around on larger groups (Reddit, Discord, GroupMe, etc.). If you are a part of any mentor program on campus then this would be a great question to ask your mentor about.

Planning Ahead

It's easy to tunnel-vision on particular classes or subjects that you find interesting in a given semester but always make sure that you are taking all the classes you need to graduate. If you are unsure about prerequisites then you can email your academic advisor or do some research yourself in the UTD catalog. One of the things that benefited me the most was making a 4-year plan during freshman year that laid out all the classes I needed to take each semester. I didn't completely stick to this plan every semester but it meant that every time I needed to register for classes I didn't have to go digging through my degree plan to double-check my requirements and such.