[echelon]

It is. It's a legitimate degree and they won't let you slack off.

Some of the classes have a metric ton of homework and projects, and the deadlines can be pretty rough. I know my coworker was sweating after work a few times (this was pre-pandemic) and told me they'd be spending a few evenings implementing project work.

[namelessoracle]

I remember a coworker telling me he had to learn assembly in a week for a major assignment his very first semester. And that caused a good chunk of his cohort to drop the program.

[Icathian]

I'd give 20 to 1 that was CS6035. Project 1 is a ret2libc buffer overflow, and it's a bit of a wake-up call for many students. Certainly was for me, though I got through it.

I can't say enough good things about OMSCS. I'm finishing my 7th class and got an SWE role during my 5th. It's the real deal.

[cji]

My guess was CS6265 which similarly jumps pretty quickly into reverse engineering and binary exploitation. One of my favorite classes!

[rripken]

Just a few evenings? I spent entire weekends, sometimes all-nighters and even taking days off from work to finish big assignments. But I was working full-time with a significant commute and family responsibilities. Btw, I enjoyed every minute of it.