Oregon State CS 325: Analysis of Algorithms

CS 325 is the program's algorithms course — asymptotic analysis, divide and conquer, dynamic programming, greedy algorithms, graph algorithms, and NP-completeness. It's the most theory-dense requirement in the postbacc and the course whose difficulty threads are a permanent fixture of r/OSUOnlineCS.

Fennie is independent and not affiliated with Oregon State University. This is an unofficial study guide.

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What makes it hard

The problem sets present problems that match no worked example, because problem-solving — not recall — is the subject being graded. Dynamic programming is the famous wall: students can follow every lecture and still freeze at a blank problem, since the skill of constructing a recurrence only forms through repeated, frustrating attempts. The quarter format compresses that frustration into weeks.

What you'll cover

• Asymptotic analysis and recurrences
• Divide and conquer
• Dynamic programming
• Greedy algorithms
• Graph algorithms
• NP-completeness

The CS 325 study guide

How to study for Oregon State CS 325, step by step.

1
Solve unfamiliar problems as the default mode
Re-solving lecture examples builds recognition and false confidence. For each technique, work problems you haven't seen and write down why the technique applies — that justification is the actual exam answer.
2
Build DP solutions recurrence-first
State the subproblem in words, write the recurrence, verify it on a tiny case — only then code. When dynamic programming fails, it's the recurrence, not the loop.
3
Budget struggle time, not just study time
Algorithm problems require sitting in not-knowing longer than any course before. Schedule the struggle on purpose — two days before the deadline is not when to discover a problem needs marination.
4
Form or join a problem group early
The course Discord and study groups exist because explaining your approach out loud is the cheapest correctness check available. Use them from week one, not week six.
5
Pace the theory with Fennie
Upload your CS 325 materials and Fennie's Daily Plan spreads each technique across multiple practice days with struggle time budgeted in, generating technique-selection quizzes from your actual content before the proctored exams. Free to start.
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How Fennie helps with CS 325

Fennie's Daily Plans give CS 325's techniques the multi-day marination algorithm problems actually need — spaced practice per technique instead of a deadline-night collision, scheduled around work. Use chat to pressure-test your DP recurrences and proof sketches, and drill generated problems that force technique selection cold.

FAQ

Is CS 325 the hardest course in the OSU online CS program?

It's the most consistent nominee on r/OSUOnlineCS, because it grades problem-solving rather than effort or recall. The students who fare best budget deliberate struggle time per problem and practice on unfamiliar problems — the exact opposite of cram-compatible.

How do I prepare for CS 325 before the term starts?

Make sure CS 225's proofs and CS 261's structures are warm, then get early reps on dynamic programming — it's the unit with the longest learning curve. Even a dozen DP problems worked before week one changes the whole term's temperature.

How is CS 325 graded?

Format varies by instructor, but weekly problem sets plus proctored exams is the common shape, with substantial weight on the problem sets. Start them the day they open — these are problems that need to sit in your head across multiple days.

Pass CS 325 with a plan, not a cram

Upload your CS 325 materials and Fennie generates a Daily Plan paced to your deadline — plus chat, flashcards, and quizzes built from the actual course content.

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More Oregon State courses

CS 161 — Introduction to Computer Science I

CS 161 is Oregon State's first programming course — variables, control flow, functions, basic data structures, and program design — currently taught in Python after the curriculum moved away from C++. It opens both the Corvallis CS degree and the Ecampus postbacc, where for many students it's the first code they've ever written.

CS 162 — Introduction to Computer Science II

CS 162 continues the intro sequence — object-oriented programming, recursion, basic data structures, and significantly larger programs, taught in Python like CS 161. It carries a reputation as the Ecampus program's first real filter: the course where assignment scope jumps and time management becomes the curriculum.

CS 225 — Discrete Structures in Computer Science

CS 225 is the CS department's discrete math course — logic, proofs, sets, functions, combinatorics, and graphs — required in the Ecampus postbacc and a prerequisite mindset for CS 325. For career changers from non-quantitative fields, it's often the first proof-based math they've ever faced.

CS 261 — Data Structures

CS 261 covers the core data structures — dynamic arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, hash tables, trees, heaps, and graphs — with implementation assignments and complexity analysis throughout. In the Ecampus postbacc it's taught in Python (older blog posts reference the earlier C version), and it's the technical-interview foundation for the whole program.