UMD study guides, course by course
This page covers the University of Maryland's College Park flagship — the in-person R1 campus — not University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), the separate online university with its own course system. College Park's gateways run at flagship scale: huge lectures, departmental common finals in the calculus sequence, autograded CMSC projects with strict deadlines, and the famous CMSC 330/351 semester that CS majors plan their year around.
UMD courses use a four-letter subject code plus a three-digit number — CMSC 131, MATH 140, BSCI 170 — searchable through Testudo, the university's schedule of classes. Hundreds-level courses are introductory; the 300- and 400-levels are upper-division.
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CMSC 131 — Object-Oriented Programming I
CMSC 131 is UMD's first programming course for CS majors, taught in Java — objects, control flow, methods, arrays, and intro design — with weekly projects graded by an autograder against test cases you can't see all of. It sets the tone for the entire CMSC sequence.
CMSC 132 — Object-Oriented Programming II
CMSC 132 continues UMD's Java sequence into data structures and design — inheritance, recursion, linked lists, trees, hash tables, and intro threads — with bigger autograded projects and the same handwritten-exam format as 131.
CMSC 216 — Introduction to Computer Systems
CMSC 216 drops UMD CS majors below the Java abstraction: C programming, pointers, dynamic memory, the UNIX environment, and assembly-level concepts, with substantial autograded projects. It's taken alongside or near CMSC 250 in the sequence.
CMSC 250 — Discrete Structures
CMSC 250 is UMD's discrete math course for CS majors — logic, proof techniques, induction, sets, functions, combinatorics, and probability basics — the course where computer science becomes mathematics for a semester.
CMSC 320 — Introduction to Data Science
CMSC 320 is UMD's data science course — the Python data pipeline from collection and cleaning through exploratory analysis, visualization, basic machine learning, and communication of results, typically culminating in an open-ended final project.
CMSC 330 — Organization of Programming Languages
CMSC 330 surveys how programming languages work — functional programming in OCaml, regular expressions and automata, context-free grammars and parsing, lambda calculus, and memory-safety concepts. With CMSC 351, it forms the schedule pairing UMD CS majors plan around.
CMSC 351 — Algorithms
CMSC 351 is UMD's algorithms course — asymptotic analysis, recurrences, sorting, graph algorithms, and dynamic programming, with correctness and runtime arguments throughout. It has arguably the most fearsome reputation of any course in the major.
Mathematics
MATH 140 — Calculus I
MATH 140 is UMD's first calculus course — limits, derivatives, applications of differentiation, and intro integration — required across engineering, CS, and the sciences, with discussion sections and a departmental common final shared by all sections.
MATH 141 — Calculus II
MATH 141 continues UMD's calculus sequence — integration techniques, applications, improper integrals, and the sequences and series unit — with the same discussion-section format and departmental common final as MATH 140, and a reputation as the harder half.
MATH 240 — Introduction to Linear Algebra
MATH 240 is UMD's linear algebra course — systems of equations, matrix algebra, determinants, vector spaces, eigenvalues, and linear transformations, with a MATLAB component — required across engineering, CS tracks, and the sciences.
MATH 241 — Calculus III
MATH 241 is multivariable calculus at UMD — vectors, partial derivatives, multiple integrals, and vector calculus through Green's, Stokes', and the divergence theorems, with a MATLAB component — required for engineering, physics, and math-track majors.
MATH 246 — Differential Equations for Scientists and Engineers
MATH 246 is UMD's ordinary differential equations course — first- and second-order equations, Laplace transforms, systems, and qualitative methods, with a substantial MATLAB component — a core requirement across the engineering school.
Statistics
Chemistry & Biochemistry
CHEM 131 — Chemistry I - Fundamentals of General Chemistry
CHEM 131 is UMD's general chemistry lecture — stoichiometry, atomic structure, bonding, and thermochemistry — taken with the CHEM 132 lab and required for engineering, science, and the pre-health track's long chemistry road.
CHEM 231 — Organic Chemistry I
CHEM 231 is UMD's first organic chemistry course — structure, stereochemistry, reaction mechanisms, and substitution and elimination chemistry — the storied pre-health filter taken after the general chemistry sequence.
Physics
PHYS 161 — General Physics: Mechanics and Particle Dynamics
PHYS 161 is the first course in UMD's calculus-based physics sequence for engineers — kinematics, Newton's laws, energy, momentum, and rotation — followed by PHYS 260 and 270. It runs alongside the calculus sequence it constantly uses.
PHYS 260 — General Physics: Electricity, Magnetism and Thermodynamics
PHYS 260 is the second course in UMD's engineering physics sequence — electric fields, circuits, magnetism, induction, and thermodynamics — taken with the PHYS 261 lab after PHYS 161.
Biological Sciences
Economics
ECON 200 — Principles of Microeconomics
ECON 200 is UMD's introductory microeconomics — supply and demand, elasticity, consumer and firm behavior, and market structures — a large-lecture requirement across the economics, business, and public policy pipelines.
ECON 201 — Principles of Macroeconomics
ECON 201 is the macroeconomics half of UMD's intro pair — GDP, unemployment, inflation, aggregate demand and supply, and fiscal and monetary policy — usually taken after ECON 200 in large exam-driven lectures.
Psychology
English
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