UT Austin study guides, course by course
UT Austin is Texas's flagship and admits heavily from the top of every high school class, so its intro STEM courses are curved against unusually strong cohorts. Large lectures pair with TA-led discussion sections, homework often runs through UT's Quest online system, and a handful of high-stakes exams carry most of the grade.
UT Austin course numbers encode credit hours in the first digit — M 408C is a 4-hour math course, CS 314 a 3-hour CS course — with letter suffixes distinguishing variants in a sequence (408C/408D vs. the slower 408K/408L/408M track).
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M 408C — Differential and Integral Calculus
M 408C is UT Austin's accelerated first calculus course, covering differential calculus and a substantial dose of integral calculus in a single semester. It's the standard track for engineering, CS, and natural sciences majors, and it moves faster than the equivalent course at almost any other public university.
M 408D — Sequences, Series, and Multivariable Calculus
M 408D completes UT's accelerated calculus sequence, covering sequences and series, Taylor series, and a substantial introduction to multivariable calculus — vectors, partial derivatives, and multiple integrals. It's the second-semester course for the engineering and science track that began with 408C.
M 408K — Differential Calculus
M 408K is the first course in UT's standard-pace calculus sequence (408K, 408L, 408M), covering limits and differential calculus with thorough treatment of applications. It serves students who want the full calculus foundation without the compression of the 408C track.
M 408L — Integral Calculus
M 408L is the second course in UT's standard-pace calculus sequence, covering the definite integral, integration techniques, applications, and the introduction to sequences and series. It follows M 408K and precedes M 408M for students on the three-semester track.
M 408M — Multivariable Calculus
M 408M completes UT's standard-pace calculus sequence with multivariable calculus — vectors, vector functions, partial derivatives, optimization, and multiple integrals. It's the third course for students who came through 408K and 408L.
M 340L — Matrices and Matrix Calculations
M 340L is UT's applied linear algebra course — systems of equations, matrix algebra, vector spaces, eigenvalues, and orthogonality — required for CS and many engineering degree plans. It emphasizes computation and application over formal proof.
Computer Science
CS 312 — Introduction to Programming
CS 312 is UT Austin's introductory programming course in Java, designed for students with little or no prior coding experience — variables, control flow, methods, arrays, and object basics. It's the entry point to the CS major's programming sequence ahead of CS 314.
CS 314 — Data Structures
CS 314 is UT's data structures course in Java — lists, stacks, queues, trees, hashing, graphs, and algorithm analysis — and the load-bearing course of the CS major. Everything upper-division assumes it, and its material is the substance of internship interview questions.
CS 311 — Discrete Math for Computer Science
CS 311 is UT's discrete mathematics course for CS majors — logic, proof techniques, induction, sets, functions, combinatorics, and graph theory foundations. It builds the mathematical reasoning that the theory-side courses (algorithms, computability) stand on.
CS 303E — Elements of Computers and Programming
CS 303E is UT's introductory Python programming course for non-CS majors — the first course in the Elements of Computing program and one of the most popular programming credits on campus. It covers Python fundamentals, control flow, functions, and basic data structures, assuming no prior experience.
CS 313E — Elements of Software Design
CS 313E is the second course in UT's Elements of Computing sequence, covering object-oriented design in Python — classes, abstract data types, fundamental data structures and algorithms, and basic complexity analysis. It assumes programming at the CS 303E level.
CS 429 — Computer Organization and Architecture
CS 429 is the first course in UT's systems core, describing computer systems from the programmer's perspective — data representation, machine-level code, processor architecture, pipelining, and the memory hierarchy — with substantial programming in C and assembly. It's required for all CS majors and gates CS 439.
Statistics and Data Sciences
Chemistry
CH 301 — Principles of Chemistry I
CH 301 is UT Austin's first general chemistry course — atomic theory, bonding, molecular structure, gases, and thermochemistry — required across natural sciences, engineering, and the large pre-health population. Homework runs through UT's Quest system and grades concentrate in common-style timed exams.
CH 302 — Principles of Chemistry II
CH 302 is the second semester of UT's general chemistry sequence — equilibrium, acids and bases, thermodynamics, kinetics, and electrochemistry — required for pre-health, natural sciences, and many engineering tracks. Homework runs through Quest with grades concentrated in timed multiple-choice exams.
CH 320M — Organic Chemistry I
CH 320M is UT's first organic chemistry course — structure and bonding, stereochemistry, reaction mechanisms, and the foundational reaction families — the gateway course for UT's large pre-health population and chemistry-adjacent majors.
Physics
PHY 303K — Engineering Physics I
PHY 303K is UT's calculus-based mechanics course for engineering majors — kinematics, Newton's laws, energy, momentum, rotation, and oscillations. It's a core engineering requirement taught at scale, with homework through Quest and grades dominated by timed exams.
PHY 303L — Engineering Physics II
PHY 303L is UT's calculus-based electricity and magnetism course for engineering majors — electric fields, Gauss's law, circuits, magnetic fields, and induction — following PHY 303K with the same Quest homework and timed-exam structure.
Biosciences
BIO 311C — Introductory Biology I
BIO 311C is UT's first majors biology course, covering biochemistry foundations, cell structure, energy metabolism, and molecular genetics. It's the gateway for biology majors and UT's very large pre-health population, with exams that test molecular detail at depth.
BIO 311D — Introductory Biology II
BIO 311D is the second course in UT's introductory biology sequence — genetics and inheritance, evolution, and ecology — completing the foundation BIO 311C began for biology majors and UT's large pre-health population.
BIO 325 — Genetics
BIO 325 is UT's core genetics course — transmission genetics, molecular genetics, gene regulation, and genomic analysis — required for biology majors and a fixture of pre-health degree plans after the introductory sequence.
Economics
ECO 304K — Introduction to Microeconomics
ECO 304K is UT Austin's principles of microeconomics — supply and demand, elasticity, consumer and firm behavior, and market structures — required for economics and business pathways and a heavily enrolled social science credit. ECO 304L is the macroeconomics counterpart.
ECO 304L — Introduction to Macroeconomics
ECO 304L is UT's principles of macroeconomics — GDP, inflation, unemployment, aggregate demand and supply, and fiscal and monetary policy — the second course in the principles sequence after ECO 304K and a requirement across business and economics pathways.
Accounting
Government
History
Rhetoric and Writing
Psychology
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