COMP3121 Algorithm Design and Analysis (UNSW Sydney): rated 2.6/5 overall, difficulty 2.8/5 (higher is harder), would-recommend 2.8/5 across 36 reviews collected on UNSW Wall.
COMP3121 is a UNSW Sydney course taught by the Faculty of Engineering in School of Computer Science and Engineering. This page brings together its handbook details and what UNSW students say about it.
Review data updated 2026-10-24.
Chinese title: 算法设计与分析
Type: Undergraduate course
Credit points: 6
Subject area: School of Computer Science and Engineering
Faculty: Faculty of Engineering
Level: Undergraduate Level 3
Handbook year: 2026
How would you convince a colleague that your program is correct, and that theirs is flawed? How do you estimate how long a program will run for, and design test cases to find bugs?
COMP3121 has 36 scored reviews: overall 2.6/5 · usefulness 3.2 · difficulty 2.8 · would-recommend 2.8 (all out of 5; higher difficulty means harder).
Sources: 4 reviews by UNSW students on UNSW Wall (3.2/5 overall); 2 StudentVIP reviews (average 4.0 stars); 30 Reddit comments that an AI model judged to be reviewing this course (average would-recommend 2.5/5).
On Reddit: "Hey, I passed 3121 with a distinction in 2023 when admittedly the course was structured very differently. The week-to-week work was nonexistent but the final exam structure is more or less the same. My best tip for the course would be to formalise how you approach questions. The…"
On Reddit: "I have been saying this but COMP3121 is so fking a shit course. I wouldn’t say all but most tutors in this course are jokes. So many midwit tutors in this course like to flex they’re algo masters and yet every answer they give on forum are always so confusing and have so many mi…"
The course panel on UNSW Wall shows every review and discussion in full.
Q: Is COMP3121 hard?
A: Students rate COMP3121's difficulty 2.8/5 on average (higher is harder), which makes it moderately difficult.
Q: Is COMP3121 worth taking?
A: Averaged over 36 reviews: would-recommend 2.8/5, usefulness 3.2/5, overall 2.6/5.
Q: Which faculty teaches COMP3121, and when is it offered?
A: COMP3121 is taught by the Faculty of Engineering. Check the official handbook for the current year.
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