Disclaimer I am referencing the UCSD course “CSE 199: Independent Study”. A similar “course” may be available at other places, and what I have to say should be pretty applicable there too. I was not asked by any person or entity to write this, I just wanted to share what I think is a underrated resource at UCSD.
A Spiel for CSE 199
CSE 199 is an special “class” you can petition to take as an undergraduate for 1 quarter. It consists of finding a faculty advisor who will oversee you for the quarter, as well as a rough itinerary of what you want to do. Usually a student takes 4 courses (16 units) a quarter at UCSD, and a CSE 199 is usually a “half-class” (2 units) course you take for Pass/No Pass credit.
When I was an undergraduate at UCSD I was fortunate to be introduced to and took a couple of CSE 199’s with different faculty. Because of this I was introduced to the world of research, and it helped develop my interests in complexity/theoretical computer science. I would consider these 199’s I took as some of the most impactful courses I have taken with respect to how they have shaped my career. A pretty bold claim for a 2 unit Pass/No Pass class!
Below I’ll give some reasons why I believe students should take advantage of this not often advertised course.
Great opportunity to explore research and topics of interest
If you are interested in research, or took a course and are interested in learning more about a particular topic, this course is great for you! In addition to getting course credit (which I will also mention) you get an opportunity to pursue whatever you wish to do (provided you find a faculty willing to advise you , which will be my next point).
And in the off-chance you don’t like the experience, you only have to take it for 1 quarter! Your advisor won’t take it personally; they understand everyone has different topics they are interested in. CSE 199 is also repeatable, meaning you are free to continue one for multiple quarters your independent study, or try a different topic/advisor!
Personally I have used these courses to do a small research project/experiment, or go through a graduate level textbook in a topic I am interested in but the department didn’t offer a course on it. I would meet for about an hour once a week one on one with my advisor to talk about my progress and questions I had.
Build relationships with faculty and other students
Professors are often more than happy to advise you for a quarter of CSE 199, especially if you both share the same interest. The UCSD CSE website has a nice page here where you can easily find a faculty sharing your interest. A simple email asking about potentially starting a independent study next quarter and stating your interests would be a great start. It is also often the case that you will be introduced to other students in your faculty advisor’s lab, and it’s a great way to meet new people who are interested in the same topics.
Basically free course credit
Since you are taking this course for Pass/No Pass credit, there is a very low bar to passing this “class”. I have never heard of any student actually failing (I’m guessing the only way to fail is if you start ghosting your advisor or something along those lines). Note that you don’t need to “get anything to work”, there is no expectation to publish a paper, or get good results form an experiment. You and your advisor can define the goals of your independent study (recall I simply wanted to go through a graduate textbook and meet with them to talk about the topics covered and textbook problems).
If that didn’t sound good enough, even though CSE 199 is a Pass/No Pass course, the CSE major actually allows it to count towards your degree! While most courses you need to take for a letter grade (and get a C- or better or something), there is a special exception for CSE 199. All this to say that this class is a very low stakes environment to experiment with topics you are interested in!