CMSC131 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Mohe Edeen Abu Maizer CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/15/2024	Helped me out in a pinch. nice dude.
Aaron Kyei-asare CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/04/2024	I really liked prof Aaron! He's really chill, and if you ask questions in class he really tries to explain it in depth. But, because he has been so deep into the CS world, if you're coming into 131 with NO prior coding/java experience, you will need to play catch up for the first half of the semester. But as long as you study, look at the slides, and come to class, you'll be okay! He's a very fair professor.
Mohe Edeen Abu Maizer CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 10/15/2024	He is an amazing TA, extremely helpful and he works through any issues with students, he is very passionate 10/10!
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 09/26/2024	READ THIS IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO TAKE ELIAS! Elias is a good professor, especially for beginners. His teaching style is effective, but projects get progressively harder, making it tough to rely solely on lecture material after the second project. Start your projects early and use all available resources, but avoid using AI or copying answers, as it will waste your time. Elias provides study guides and practice tests that closely resemble the exams. While attending lectures isn't essential—especially at the start, as they can feel slow—you should still review the recordings since they cover expectations or rare cases in Java that you will need to know for exams. TL;DR: Projects are time-consuming; start early and use all resources (don’t cheat or use AI). Elias is a beginner-friendly professor—attend lectures if you're new to coding, but if you’ve taken a AP CS class or have experience programming, just watch the recordings.
Mohe Edeen Abu Maizer CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 09/06/2024	He's a great TA 10/10
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/19/2024	Great lecturer, highly recommend. Lectures are very helpful and informative. Very beginner friendly as the exams are fair and he provides lots of practice for them. If you start projects early and put effort into the class, you'll do well.
Karan Agrawal CMSC131 Anonymous 08/10/2024	Karan is super nice and knowledgeable. He is very understanding and helps a lot throughout the class. By far, this is my favorite TA. Make sure to take full advantage of OH, especially with Karan.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/10/2024	Pedram is a pretty good professor. He is really monotone, but you can watch his videos on 1.5x - 2.0x finish the lectures relatively fast. The projects range from difficulty. I would say the harder projects take around 4-6 hours to complete and the easier ones anywhere from 2-3 hours. His exams are very fair and he gives many practice exams that are pretty much exactly like the actual exams. Pedram also posts like summary of the exam prior to taking it highlighting the types of problems we should practice and the methods we should know which makes it even better to study. One thing I didn't really like is how strict the grading is though. IF you want an easy A then I would just take Elias, however, if your in it to just learn and don't really care about getting an A ,Pedram is a pretty good professor. He is straightforward with the topics in the class and how they work. I also like how he records every lecture and posts them. If you have had no experience with java in the past the class will be pretty difficult, I had some experience and still struggled throughout the class. Pedram also curves a bit depending on the average grade of the class I would say around 2% curve compared to the standard curve. Overall pedram is a good lecturer and you can learn a lot in the class but it is definitely not an easy A. I would recommend starting projects early and also studying for the exams days in advance. Also try to do outside practice problems through leetcode or coding bat to just practice different approaches to problems especially for the exams. If you put in the effort you can definitely get an A in the class.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 08/02/2024	Strict grading, do not recommend, straight to the point so you will learn, but very monotone which makes it hard to focus. Exams are also kind of difficult and instructions suck.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/11/2024	Amazing. He is so nice and understanding and I built a really strong foundation in Java in his class. This is a great intro class where you'll learn a lot but won't feel overwhelmed.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 06/01/2024	Love Nelson, makes you feel welcomed even in a room of 300 students. His explanations and examples are adaptive and dynamic. He's great!
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an F Anonymous 05/21/2024	Weed out classes ridiculously hard for no reason. Strict grading, vague quizzes and assignment directions. The only good part about this course were the TAs, which advocated to Pedram to change the tests or grading. So many people struggled this class.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/21/2024	He was terrible for 131,just skims through all his code examples without much explanation
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/16/2024	His monotone voice can make it easy to fall asleep, but when I actually paid attention to his explanations and examples during lectures, I learned a lot about Java and its concepts. In case you miss a lecture, he records the lectures and posts the slides which are super helpful. Exams were challenging but relatively fair. He is very strict on due dates so be sure to not fall behind on the projects.
John Kanu CMSC131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/10/2024	Terrible TA it when you ask questions he makes it seem like you're dumb for asking the question.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024	I was retaking CMSC131 for GPA reasons after taking CMSC132 and all that, so I already knew all the content. Never went for lecture so I cannot really comment that much on his teaching ability. However, when I listened to him for 30 minutes before quizzes he was perfectly clear and understandable, more so than Nelson or Elias Gonzales ever were. I'm certain that if I was there for Pedram instead of Nelson my first time, I would have actually learned something in class. Nelson is very kind, understanding and so on but he always explicitly said he hated teaching CMSC131 so his teaching was also terrible because he was bored anyway. This course was a breeze with Pedram, but as someone who has taken this course twice and gone through the CS course here at UMD I'll give you points so that you can make your own decision: - The projects between Nelson and Pedram are all exactly the same and the descriptions are written by Nelson. Someone here commented that Pedram's project depictions suck; both of their descriptions suck equally. - Nelson will be funny but Pedram is solid and direct. If you're coming to lecture to actually learn the subject (because you didn't study Java before for example), then Pedram is better. If you want to have a good time and you have some mastery over the subject, then Nelson is better. - Nelson weighs projects more and has only one or two joke quizzes, which are worth only a few percentage points. Pedram has five proper quizzes which at least to me felt like easy points to me.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/08/2024	Really monotone but does a good job explaining concepts. Class isn't easy by any stretch but having prior knowledge helps a lot. Lectures can be found online and labs aren't the most necessary thing to go to. Good teacher.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/07/2024	He is great but not the best at teaching and his class can be hard to take notes. though he does recorded his lectures.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/03/2024	I had Pedram this semester and many people complained about his teaching style, exams, etc. I’ll admit that his lectures can be boring, but I just skip them and watch his recording at 1.75-2x speed and he is still fully understandable because of how slow he talks. His teaching and the information that he says is very useful and his example usually help a lot with grasping topics. His exams aren’t easy, but you know what to expect on the exams. Also, projects are not bad as long as you watch the lecture and use the Piazza for any questions.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/02/2024	Had no experience with Java before this course but the class is well organized and easy to follow. Pedram himself is extremely boring and hard to follow in lecture, just go to discussion it is the only thing that really helps.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 04/24/2024	Honestly this course isn’t beginner friendly. If you’re new to coding then I’ll say make sure you are ready to put all your time into this course. You’ll definitely fail if you aren’t putting any effort. Pedram is a nice and honest person. He’ll teach you what you need to know and records his lectures. However, his exams and quizzes aren’t easy plus his project’s instructions have way too many filler and are vague. All his exams average 60’s which tells you something. TAs are alright but I suggest just to go office hours. Pedram lectures can be boring and sometimes you learn nothing out of it. Feel like this course is structured poorly overall so make sure you ready to give all your time.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Ayush55 02/24/2024	Project instructions suck.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/31/2024	Ignore the people saying he's not "fun". He is there to teach and that's what he does. Never went to his lectures, watched the recordings at 2x speed, and his content was super helpful. The exams are very fair, and there are no surprises on them. Definitely recommend.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/25/2024	3.64/5 makes sense, largely influenced by being a drier lecturer than the other 131 options. Pros: - uses spaced repetition style of teaching which is great if you pay attention - despite having 100s of students, remembered my name after having a fairly long conversation with me (personable) Con: - again, not an anecdotal teacher or a comedian. Effective, not entertaining.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/24/2024	Chill and funny professor that is very on top of things and regularly posts announcements / updates on piazza. He tends to make a lot of jokes and keep the lectures light-hearted so if you are struggling his lectures may distract you. Other than that I found that the TAs were very active on piazza so you could always posts questions there or go to their office hours.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/19/2024	Bland and definitely not as "fun" as Nelson but gets all the information out in a simple, non complicated way. Lectures are recorded and posted regularly so you don't really have to go to class. Projects are pretty straightforward and instructions/guidelines are thorough. Exams are pretty easy to study for, you're told everything that will be covered and practice exams are provided.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/18/2024	The class itself was really easy in my opinion. Elias is very helpful and actually teaches in his lectures. He even lets you know what topics will be converted in the midterms. This semester, he didn't make any mistakes (other than an occasional spelling error or something on an exam or quiz), but made the class very manageable and easy to pass. His TAs and office hours are really helpful and he is a great guy. TLDR - amazing teacher and easy class, take Elias if you wanna pass :)
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/06/2024	The people complaining about Pedram need to understand the frustration of taking other CS professors, i.e. Fawzi Emad, Paul Kline, Larry Herman. As a lecturer yes he isn't exactly the most interesting, but he gives us SOOO much material to succeed. Pedram records lectures, posts slides, gives us practice exams from previous semesters and his exams are much easier. Him, nelson, and elias basically follow the exact same curriculum when teaching their classes. I really don't know why his rating is not over 4 stars when you have teachers like Fawzi, who do not care much about his students well being and doesn't give us any practice material or any material outside of lecture, who has over 4 stars. This review is coming from someone who has taken CMSC131 with both Pedram and Fawzi so I have been able too experience their different styles of teaching, and Pedram's is by far more forgiving and has more intention to get you to succeed, while also understanding the content.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/05/2024	Nelson is a very nice guy, and just as everyone else said at times he is genuinely entertaining. Unfortunately this is basically where the pros end. I have to say Nelson as a teacher/lecturer is very poor. He constantly goes on tangents where he will start shit with someone in the class (usually jokingly), or explain how he has "Nothing but respect for nurses" for over 5 minutes (this is a real anecdote). Nelson will also explain things using superficial analogies, like stating that the "new" keyword is like a nurse, which is fine as a sort of mnemonic, but the issue is he never actually explains how many Java things actually function beyond that. After about the third week I didn't attend any more lectures and strictly watched lecture videos recorded by Pedram, another professor who co-taught this course with him. I have to say, Pedram did a much better job explaining things in detail and I found his lectures much more informative. Besides that basically all projects, quizzes, and exams were extremely fair in the class, and the only possible issue if you understand the subject is the time constraint on the exams. I think overall you should only take Nelson over Pedram if you really understand the material well and want to be entertained in his class. If you don't know anything about programming, and want to seriously understand the material, I really think you should start with Pedram, as he will give you a much better foundation in the information.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/05/2024	Elias is a great lecturer and professor overall. As someone for whom this was their first ever cs class, it was a bit overwhelming, but going to his and the TA's office hours is a huge help and will come easier over time.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/04/2024	Elias was about as good as a teacher as you could hope for. CMSC131 will be a bit challenging if you have no programming experience but he did a good job explaining the concepts and was happy to re-review things if you asked. 1/2 weekly discussions are required because he will give you a 'lab' to write in class, which is graded. Otherwise, discussion is completely pointless, Elias is very lenient with TAs, and honestly, TAs weren't very helpful with questions either. Use piazza to ask for clarification on projects because it will be much quicker and more accurate. Elias is also super responsive and is happy to talk to students so feel free to drop in to office hours.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/26/2023	Great professor. Tests weren't too bad and definitely easy to prepare for if you are willing to put in a bit of effort. He gives past exams and a list of test material to study off of. I would take him again in a heart beat.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/24/2023	Love this guy! Nelson = GOAT
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/23/2023	I love my man Pedram he is super-goated, very informative and helpful 10/10
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/21/2023	He's ok at teaching but his lecture style almost puts me to sleep all the time. Not a hard class so it doesn't matter that much though.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a D Anonymous 12/21/2023	He’s a horrendous teacher. Avoid him and Herman.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/20/2023	Definitely my favorite professor from my first semester! Personality-wise, he's great -- Nelson is kind, has a sense of humor, does his best to answer questions, and clearly cares about his students. Lectures and discussions are recorded, and attendance is optional. He's always happy to talk in office hours and before/after lectures. The projects are generally not that challenging, and the instructions are always clear. The exams are fair; they all come with a ton of practice material; do a few past exams and you'll be just fine. All in all, not a tough professor and he's very responsive to student concerns. My TA was ass, but he generally hires good ones. As for actually learning: the slides and coding examples he gives are great and basically all you need to understand the content and succeed. And if that isn't enough, he links you to a lot of other resources in the class website. However, keep in mind that in his lectures, he spends a lot of time just goofing around and cracking jokes. An example of this is when he scrolled through memes in Piazza for like 20 minutes one time. To be honest, those were the only times I actually paid attention, so I can't really speak on his lecturing ability lmao Bottom line - when people register, his sections fill up first for a reason.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/20/2023	incredibly understanding lecturer who cares about his students, but the problem is that his lectures just feel like a complete waste of time. it's pretty much 40% lecture, 50% him cracking jokes, 10% other downtime, and while he is incredibly funny, it does get old by the end of the semester. other helpful notes: -final was incredibly easy -projects are very easy to follow, accompanied with PDFs that basically hold your hand the whole way -a lot of his TAs tend to be bad for whatever reason; you do not need to attend discussions anyway -lectures are very digestible in the recorded format because you can skip through all the wasted time. albeit, you may find it easier learning some (not all) concepts yourself I'm giving 4 stars but think of this as a 3.5/5
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2023	GOAT!!! Very helpful with everything and all TA's are great. Open note quizzes and group labs make maintaining a good grade easy. Midterms weren't to challenging and the final was extremely easy.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/17/2023	I had already had two years of experience in coding in Java before taking this class, so this class was easy for me. However, if you have no coding experience then CMSC131 in generally is going to be hard, but I think that Pedram is a great professor to take. He explains the topic so that even people who have never coded before can understand. He records every lecture so if you don't want to go to class you don't have too. Discussions are not required as they just go over the things you learned in lecture. I don't understand why Pedram has a mid rating, I think that he is better then Nelson and you should take him.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/16/2023	Overall, Nelson is a great professor that is willing to help his students. It is also fairly easy to get extensions on projects if you have a valid excuse or reschedule an exam or quiz if you were absent. Nelson also gives out plenty of practice exams and quizzes to help you prepare for the real exams/quizzes. However, for those with NO CODING EXPERIENCE who signed up for this course who want to recieve an A, I would suggest learning the basics of Java before the class starts in order to feel less stressed in the class. Also, even if you believe that the project will be light, start doing the project ASAP to alleviate stress.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B+ ysnim 12/15/2023	Nelson is a great professor. Cracks lots of jokes during lectures and keeps it casual but still teaches and explains the concepts well. Gives you a little breaks during the lecture to ask questions or talk to your seatmates. All the lectures and discussions are recorded (and there's no graded work during discussions) so you don't even have to go to class if you feel like you have a solid enough grasp on the concepts through watching the recordings, and TAs are almost always holding office hours either virtually or in person if you do need extra help. Projects near the end of the semester came with a LOT of direction -- like, 400 slide powerpoints with exactly what the projects expected to see, which can be overwhelming at first but they help a lot. Projects are fair and exams are too. The only downside is Nelson likes to tease his students and call them out randomly during lecture, noticing if they've changed seats since last lecture or maybe they're talking or doing something else instead of paying attention, which is funny if you never get called on because he plays it off lightheartedly as a joke each time, but stressful if you have anxiety about things like that. Easily avoided if you just watch the recordings or don't make yourself stand out during lecture though.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/15/2023	Nelson is a great professor. I like how he keeps the class engaged by telling jokes throughout his lecture. I also like how he gives out practice exams that prepare us well for all of the exams in the class. He's also pretty receptive when it comes to extenuating circumstances, and you will not have a hard time getting extensions. However, if you are a rising freshman and have NEVER CODED BEFORE, my suggestion would be to at least learn a bit of Java before going into this class during the summer or winter break depending on when your next semester starts. Even learning the very basics of Java before starting the class can make your life much easier down the line. If your goal in the class is to get an A or A+, I would strongly suggest doing this.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2023	Coming into 131 with somewhat prior knowledge of coding, I'd say Elias did very well with this class for Fall '23. Even though many other reviews seem to be shaky on Elias with his lecture style, frequent mistakes, glaring problems, etc, they seem to have been very much improved over this semester. While there were indeed still some typos on exams and quizzes, they were almost immediately addressed. Though while it would be better to see none, I assume it's going to be improved as time goes on as this is his second time teaching 131 (based on when reviews started for him). He is very humble, kind, funny, and like others have said, down-to-earth, especially being the product of UMD CS this past decade. Elias seems very passionate about teaching this course at his alma mater so I don't doubt his classes will only get better. His practice exams are extremely similar to the real exams, which have been very helpful studying tools! His office hours are also very chill and has no trouble explaining concepts or even just having a chat with him. I'll post another review of him in the spring as I will also have him for 132!
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/15/2023	Simply the goat, would stay far after office hours and discussion periods to explain topics or help us with practice questions, recorded the discussions sessions/notes and organized them in piazza, and even hosted review sessions for all of our midterms. He even took time out of studying for finals to host a review session for our final exam, which went till 12AM, compiling notes and making sure that we were comfortable with the material. One of the many reasons I did well in this course, thank you Gavin!
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/14/2023	Genuinely, the BEST TA you could ask for. Though not my TA, I went out of my way to only watch his lab sessions (all recorded); and I believe I learned more from 5 minutes of his videos than my TA the whole semester. In addition, he hosted 4+ hours review sessions before every single exam, open to all students to join and ask questions, and he is able to effectively communicate what he knows to students perfectly. Though I found this course easy, I didn't attend lab/lecture as I had prior experience, I still made it a habit to watch all of Gavin's material. Gavin is leagues above any other Professor or TA I have had at UMD.
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2023	always held long review sessions, so helpful
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/14/2023	Gavin is an incredible TA! He obviously really cares about his students and wants to help them succeed. CMSC131 has some confusing concepts, but Gavin seems to always understand what students need clarification on and explains it incredibly! He has gone out of his way to host hours long review sessions for the exams, which have been so, so helpful! Unfortunately, I haven't been to as many discussions as I would have liked (they're at 8 am lol), but when I was there, he was very eager to teach and make his students understand the concepts. Thank you so much Gavin, keep it up!
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2023	Gavin is an amazing TA. He truly cares about the success of the students in the class. He hosts extra review sessions outside of lectures and discussions for further understanding before tests. His discussion sections are engaging and he always answers any questions without judgment (even at 8 am!!). If I ever become a TA, I will strive to be a TA just as good as Gavin. I'm not sure if that's possible though because Gavin is just the best!!
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2023	Gavin was a delight of a TA. He consistently went above and beyond for us taking CMSC131. He is really approachable and accessible outside of class. He does a very good job explaining content and asking questions. He held exam reviews for students which comprehensively went through exam content and allowed us to ask questions. He is very knowledgeable, and explains concepts very eloquently and patiently. He really tries his best to be helpful (preparing content for review sessions, asking for feedback) and does so very cheerfully. Truly a delight. If you ever have the chance to have Gavin as a TA, do it, no regrets :)
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Anonymous 12/14/2023	by far the best TA. He is the only person I learned anything from
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Anonymous 12/14/2023	Gavin is an amazing TA and anyone who has him is very lucky. Not only is he kind, caring, funny, and VERY SMART, but he dedicates an INSANE amount of time just to help students. He hosts review sessions on zoom for every exam and posts them on piazza for anyone who couldn't make it, and also posts the pdf from the reviews. He is amazing, and his kind messages at the end of his emails genuinely helped me with my self-esteem and imposter syndrome. He's just the best.
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/14/2023	Gavin is an amazing TA that actually cares about your success and really shows it. Has review sessions for each big exam that go for hours and the videos + notes are posted for those who can't make them (they are usually pretty late, 8/9pm) & they are incredibly comprehensive. He understands the core reasons for why things happen and explains them well to someone who doesn't, very willing to ask questions and actually KNOWS the answers (unlike some other TAs who often were just as confused as the students). He was not actually my assigned TA but I always ended up watching his posted discussion videos rather than going to my assigned section lol. If you get Gavin you are incredibly lucky!
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2023	Went above and beyond by holding multi-hour long review sessions before each exam (even the final!). Overall a great teacher although he made a few mistakes (accidentally stating incorrect information).
Hana Chitsaz CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/13/2023	Hana is the goat of TAs. Incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. Always open to answer questions and makes sure that no one is confused.
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/13/2023	He was great, and gave it his all in office hours, review sessions, and discussions. Some of the reviews went a bit too into detail because so many people had stupid questions for him to answer, but that isn't his fault. He tried to convey even more complex concepts in simpler ways; you can tell that he has absolute mastery over this content. He will also let you know if the stuff you are questioning is extraneous content, and always points you back in the right direction.
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2023	Gavin is an awesome TA who always goes above and beyond. He is very knowledgeable about our course content and explains things in an easy to understand way. He also hosted many multi-hour review sessions (with one being 6 hours long!!) before exams so students could ask questions and feel prepared. Overall, Gavin is a very dedicated and helpful TA and I would definitely like to take a course TA'd by him again.
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 shreyasanikommu 12/13/2023	Gavin is so sweet and helpful with his review sessions. He is very knowledgeable, and organized, and teaches the different subjects well. He tells us everything we need to know and makes sure to go in-depth for the harder topics.
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2023	Enthusiastic reviewer and explains everything clearly.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 12/11/2023	Nelson made this class easy and enjoyable for me. I had an AMAZING semester this Fall and I truly appreciate all the things Nelson has done for us. He has made a work environment where everyone belongs and there are a lot of great TAs and review sessions and practice material for everything so you will eventually learn everything super easily! His classes and sessions are very well structured and also the fact that he takes into consideration everything. So when it's a peak of a semester he wouldn't bother you with gaining out a hard exam or stressing you with taking quizzes. And also the projects he gives are not always hard with no purpose. He makes some projects easy to help you learn the course material and I would say don't worry about them if you have learned the course material well. If you are unable to do the projects don't panic and go look for answers online or from your friend because that won't help you in the exam. Try understanding where you are going wrong and then try to learn it and do it yourself. When you feel like you have learned then that's it! You know that subject very well since it's very similar to what you'll see in exams and honestly exams are way easier than projects so if you write them yourself and know projects well you know everything! Also based on the difficulty of the projects some of them were only based on the public test or release test results and there were no secret tests or style or student test regulations on them. I think it helped a lot and was absolutely very considerable of Nelson! He also has an amazing personality and I really enjoy learning from his experiences and trying them! He is one of the BEST PROFESSORS I HAVE EVER HAD !!!!!
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A kam 12/11/2023	Great reviewer and great at explaining things - always makes sure you leave understanding the concept or your problem is fixed.
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023	coolest TA! very approachable and knowledgeable
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023	Reviews things in detail and always makes sure that you understand or fix your problem.
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/11/2023	Gavin is probably the best TA I have, or may ever have. In discussion he is incredibly thorough and covers all of the content possible while ensuring that each of us students understand the topics. He also hosted review sessions before each exam which ran until nobody had any more questions which was exceptionally helpful for studying the content. His thoroughness and ability to explain complicated topics in a way that beginners can understand make him the ultimate TA and made the introduction to CS a lot more manageable.
Gavin Crisologo CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2023	This man is dedicated to teaching you concept and will go the extra step to make you understand. His review sessions before exams are quite long but resourceful if you ask questions. He is the most real TA you meet.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2023	Really nice guy, but can't comment on lectures because I didn't go at all. Office hours are helpful, he's understanding and will take the time to help you. He tends to make mistakes on assignments and exams, which is annoying but not a big deal. Start projects early and you shouldn't really have a problem finishing them on time, and he gives 3 48 hour extensions. Exams are pretty fair but the study guides can be a bit confusing. Class really shouldn't be that hard if you have prior experience or just make sure to not fall behind.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/09/2023	Class is fairly straightforward, but Pedram will put you to sleep. Would recommend watching recorded lectures at 1.5 times speed, but he regularly forgets to post these. Quizzes and exams are very fair because previous tests are posted, and follow the same structure.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2023	To all the people that have given him anything below 4 stars, y’all don’t know what you’re saying. The biggest “problem” I’ve seen about Pedram in the lower reviews is that he is monotone, dry, not exciting, etc. Sure, I watched a Nelson lecture, and he had jokes and said funny things in general, but Pedram is the better lecturer. As someone who has never done CS before this class, I feel like I genuinely understand everything he taught us. He explains things SO WELL, and in addition, he draws out what’s happening using memory maps (if you don’t know, they’re basically a tool that helps you visualize what’s happening behind the scenes in code) which helps you understand just so much better (from what I’ve seen, Nelson does not do that). I would come into that 50 minute lecture and feel like I was only in class for 15 min. It’s genuinely incredible how interesting the class was and how fast it moved. And back to the point about him being monotone, if you can’t find the lecture interesting because of that, maybe re evaluate if you should even be in CS. Any subject can be made exciting with a funny professor like Nelson, but if you don’t find the lectures interesting with a “boring” professor, the professor is not the problem. During lecture, he would give us a min or two to discuss with our neighbors and see if we understood, which was also an opportunity to go up to him and ask a question. I only ever came up to him once, and when I did, he was so excited to answer. He knows his stuff and is excited to answer your questions (but his TA’s exist for answering most questions, and the TA’s are good too). However if you do need to email him about excused absences, he’s very prompt. As for exams, I saw another review about how they’re 8-10 pages long, which is true. But the vast majority of the exam is space for you to write your code, and most of the time you don’t even need 1/2 that space, they just give it in case. If you paid attention in lecture and did well on the projects, you’ll do well on the exams. There’s also a resource we have in class called Piazza (essentially a CMSC131 online board) where you can post questions regarding topics and project clarifications. TA’s and other students can respond. You have everything you need to succeed in this class, now you just need to put in time.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2023	I honestly think that these reviews hype him up a little too much. He is actually a pretty annoying lecturer as he never stays on topic and he might talk about random stuff for 60% of the class and would only teach the other 40%. He is too unfocused and it makes lectures so hard to go to. But his exams and quizzes are pretty fair.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/08/2023	Pedram is your average CS professor. His lectures are very informative, but incredibly slow. He wants everyone to learn and understand the topics, but often seems somewhat disorganized or presents uninteresting examples. He would not be my first choice, but is not terrible by any means.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 12/08/2023	probably one of the most genuine professors at the school, and the most genuine teacher ive had in my entire academic career. he's simply a great character who just wants to see his students succeed, both in the class and outside of it. the class itself was really well organized, the projects were well explained, the TA's were helpful, and the tests were fair. the only slight downside i felt was that i think nelson isn't the best lecturer in terms of explaining his ideas, but the code examples he reviewed were always helpful and he records lectures anyway if you need to revisit a topic. nelson is also very understanding if you need extensions. great guy, well structured and fair class, theres not much more you could ask for. definitely recommend.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2023	Amazing professor. Really cares about his students and wants them to do well. He makes lectures really funny while simultaneously teaching the material. His teaching style definitely doesn't work for everyone but I learned a lot from him.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/06/2023	If you like a professor who makes a lot of jokes and talks with the students in lecture a lot, you'll probably like Nelson. He's funny and nice, but I found it pretty annoying how he'd stop lecture every five minutes to talk about something unrelated or tell us to talk to our neighbors. I stopped going to lecture and just used the slides he posts because the material isn't difficult. I had no Java experience but this class was pretty easy. The projects aren't too bad, just start them kinda early and make sure you know when they're due (they sometimes have smaller parts due earlier than the rest of the project) so that doesn't catch you by surprise. The exams are harder imo, but they're usually pretty similar to the practice exams he gives you. Also super lax about extensions for projects and exams, I got extensions for two projects and two exams.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2023	An amazing instructor who truly makes an effort to take an interest in his students' learning and lives. The content is reviewed multiple times in class and then applied to enjoyable projects so you learn the content well. Exams are extremely manageable with multiple practice tests to work from. I plan to take any class that I can with him in the future.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/05/2023	Elias is a great lecturer who explains all of the topics very thoroughly. He's kind, has a great sense of humor, and is always willing to help if you don't understand certain topics or need help on a project/assignment. He's also a relatively younger lecturer here and is a UMD alumnus himself, which is a huge plus for freshmen adjusting to campus. It does take a while for him and his TAs to grade certain assignments, but that's perhaps the only drawback I can think of. I 100% recommend him for CMSC131 and plan on having him for CMSC132 next semester!
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/05/2023	Underrated professor. This semester, he cotaught 131 with Nelson, so they had the same material, projects, and exams. His lectures are monotone to the point where some students fell asleep. Initially, I found him boring, but as the semester went on, he grew on me. But if you can put his dryness past him and stay focused and alert in class, he is very good at explaining the material. He doesn't waste time and focuses on teaching the content. He also records his lectures. Pedram is generally friendly and very willing to help you during office hours. Pedram & Nelson provide plenty of practice exams from previous years and don't weigh too much. Projects were a good mix of easy and challenging. You're assigned a project during Thanksgiving or spring break, which sucks, and it's probably the most difficult one. TIP: PLEASE start your projects early and go to TA office hours when you're stuck or want to review material. Although Pedram said this class is geared toward students without coding experience, the class moves fast, and you will struggle if you procrastinate. It's more challenging for students without experience, but it's still very much doable if you do the work.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2023	While I was scared to go into this class, even with 2 years of programming knowledge from high school, Nelson helped me feel so much better about CS as a whole and I've learned far more about programming in this semester then I did in those 2 years. He's a great lecturer and super approachable, although he does stop frequently during class to make jokes which can throw your focus off sometimes. I would still highly recommend taking him though.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/03/2023	my favorite teacher! he keeps the class light and cracks lots of jokes but is great at teaching the material. really easy quizzes, tests, and projects but you still learn a lot. definitely recommend him!
Henry Tran CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/30/2023	He helped me so much on a particularly hard project, and fully dedicated himself to helping me work out all of the different issues with my code, not just one or two. He also helped me understand what was going wrong so I could avoid it in the future. Eternally grateful.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/20/2023	DO NOT TAKE NELSON IF YOU HAVE NEVER CODED BEFORE. I feel like he is a very FUNNY professor, but as someone who has never taken a CS course before, he is IMPOSSIBLE to follow. He jumps from different concepts very quickly, and this, paired with him making a joke every 2 minutes, makes it really tough to fully understand the concepts if you're actually trying to learn. I think something people don't tell you is MOST of the people in 131 have taken AP Comp Sci in high school but just didn't do well enough on the exam to test out of 131, so they at least have some basic understanding of coding. Therefore they enjoy the jokes he makes class since they have seen most of the material before and don't need to really sit down and think about new concepts. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a fun break from classes if you have a background in coding! However, if you've never done coding before, you will surely struggle. I would've MUCH rather taken Pedram as his lecture style is very straight forward.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/16/2023	Nelson is an absolute gem of a professor. He explains everything very clearly/eloquently, goes over lots of examples in lecture, and makes content digestable and engaging. He has a passion for CS and teaching that comes across in his teaching method, which includes good humor and 1 minute respites to talk to the person next to you about content (if you don't understand smth or if you got lost during lecture). He also posts the lecture recordings (godsent)! He manages to make the course very engaging. Additionally, he's genuinely a really nice person. I had an accident that really uprooted my semester, but Nelson was very understanding and accommodating. He understands that students are people too and life happens. If you have the opportunity to take a class with Nelson, do it. You won't regret it one bit I promise. Singlehandedly one of the best professors at UMD. Additionally, the TAs for CMSC131 are all very kind and helpful (thank you Fatima, Gavin, and Henna)
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/02/2023	Truly among the greatest professor I've ever had. Inspired and proved to me that truly can code as well as anyone else. The summer course that I took with Fawzi was probably my most impactful experience in higher education.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/02/2023	Not sure why people seem to give ol' Pedram so much shit. Very informative lectures that go into a lot of detail. If you actually like CS, you will likely find them interesting unless you find his droning voice problematic. IMO, this is a superficial problem, especially given lectures are recorded and can be viewed at 1.5 speed, and the actual content of what he says is valuable. Personally, I found projects, exams, and quizzes extremely easy, with the only issue being getting used to completing exams in a timely fashion. Nelson is definitely more "entertaining", and if you find that necessary to pay attention you should chose him, but remember that comes at the cost of constantly going on pointless tangents, and Nelson keeping the explanations more shallow with the use of amusing analogies in place of complete representations.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 10/22/2023	Easy but is the driest
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/29/2023	Ngl if you don't already know java it is hard to learn from him. He's a really nice guy, but class time is mainly spent just joking around. I personally already knew Java, but I can see how if I didn't have any experience coding beforehand I would struggle in the class. Still a really nice and funny guy tho, class assignments overall pretty easy.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/29/2023	Nelson is the goat. Best computer science teacher especially when breaking into computer science and wanting to become interested int he field. He makes it interesting and informative. I love you
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/19/2023	Prof. Sadeghian (he will tell you that you can just call him Pedram) did a good job, given the mass class size for 131 and the amount of material and projects to get through in a couple months. Lecture material is relevant to the projects you’ll be doing and the exams are fair and not stressful to study for if you were paying attention and practicing what you learned by doing the projects. I won’t claim that he was the most engaging or interesting lecturer, and as you might expect for a gigantic class he’s not the easiest to reach either - his army of TAs fill that role. While there is a of work involved for this class (it is a CS gateway requirement, after all), and it may feel overwhelming if you have no prior Java experience, I do recommend this course and this professor. You will succeed with little to no issue if you: -start the projects THE DAY THEY’RE OUT so you have time to debug or get help if something -always attend discussion if possible; the info there is often relevant to your projects -take advantage of the TA office hours, and -don’t cheat. If you have a legitimate interest in computer science and programming, you’ll enjoy Pedram’s class.
Benjamin Weatherhead CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 09/14/2023	Previously the goat of La Plata, supreme hooper in those dope ass crew necks. He is always available to help after his office hours. He always gives high quality assistance and instructions, regardless of content.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/04/2023	I would say that Pedram is very helpful when you ask him questions and he tries to make sure that you understand the lecture. I believe he does a good job reviewing the information, but his exams can be a bit difficult if you do not have any prior experience with CS. He does record his lectures so you can always go over the information again.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Anonymous 07/21/2023	Please Pleaseee don't take this class!!!! If you have no prior coding experience this class is going to be extremely difficult for you. The exams are like 10 pages and are very hard. Even the quizzes are hard and I remember one of the quizzes average was 5 out of 30! He is also not caring and understanding at all so if you are a late arrival and you ask for an extension on your project he would just say NO and it takes almost two weeks to give you back the project grades so granting an extension isn't a big deal. Speaking about projects, I remember everyone crying almost everyday the project was due because of how hard it was. If all other professors and classes are full and you HAVE to take this class then be prepared to have a hard time. But if you can choose someone else please stay away from this one. People are waitlisting on other professors' classes and almost most of the seats for this class is open (You take the conclusion) I had a very very hard time last semester so I'm just telling you my experience and to mention all my other grades were A so I'm not a lazy student. I wish you the best of luck guys!
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/25/2023	Pedram did his job well. His lectures may be a little boring, but he gives you everything you need in the course to succeed as long as you put a little bit of effort in on your side. He also records his lectures so if you don't go for some reason, you are able to to watch online.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/19/2023	This is a review from someone who has had to retake 131. I had Fawzi Emad for 131 the first time I took it and I got very sick so had a tough time catching up since fawzi does not record his lectures at all and doesn't have proper posted slideshows so had to retake 131. I realized that I had a much better time taking 131 with Pedram as he believes in the importance of recording lectures and posting the detailed slideshows. As a lecturer, I can say Fawzi does a better job in making lectures engaging, but it all doesn't really matter when you cannot really review notes afterwards. Pedram also has practice exams and practice quizzes from previous years which makes it much better to prepare for midterms. He also has three midterms, compared to Fawzi only having 2 midterms, so I would say it is preferable to have three less weighted midterms. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I felt Pedram's midterms were quite easy and fair, especially compared to Fawzi's. Pedram also only had quizzes every couple of weeks, compared to Fawzi having a quiz every week, on very random topics. Where Pedram falls against Fawzi is his projects and their god-awful descriptions. I was able to complete Fawzi's projects much easier and in faster time compared to Pedram's which were unclear many times. TAs can always help out on projects though. Personally, I would say if you had to choose between Fawzi and Pedram, choose Pedram.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/16/2023	Okay, so Pedrem is a great guy. Here's a breakdown Lecture: He records lectures (yay!) and he is very organized with his schedule, his tas are great! The discussions are good for a review to keep the memory fresh 5 quizzes every two weeks or so: He posts practice worksheets so make sure you do them. it won't be exactly the same but will have the same logic. He tells you what the quizzes are on so you know what to study so make sure you study! 9 Projects: Start early, no like seriously and these go for every cs class. Tip: Go early to office hours so you can have the ta's full attention and not have to fight for it with about 13 other people 3 Exams: So his exams are okay. The averages for the three this semester were 65, 60, and 79 just to give you an idea. The tip I have for this is to work on your static methods and know how to manipulate a variable or array. One thing I LOVE about Peddie is that he gives us the format for what the exam will be and also practice problems which again is not the exact same as the exam but the same logic. Final (25% of your grade :( okay so I literally just took the final yesterday and do the freakin practice problems, crap them if you have to, it is the same logic. Overall if I had to compare him to the other cs teachers: Pedram > Fawzi (fawzi does not record, and does not post relevant practice problems) Nelson > Pedram (Nelson is known as the best and he usually has high exam averages) Pedram == Elias
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/16/2023	Okay, so Pedrem is a great guy. Here's a breakdown Lecture: He records lectures (yay!) and he is very organized with his schedule, his tas are great! The discussions are good for a review to keep the memory fresh 5 quizzes every two weeks or so: He posts practice worksheets so make sure you do them. it won't be exactly the same but will have the same logic. He tells you what the quizzes are on so you know what to study so make sure you study! 9 Projects: Start early, no like seriously and these go for every cs class. Tip: Go early to office hours so you can have the ta's full attention and not have to fight for it with about 13 other people 3 Exams: So his exams are okay. The averages for the three this semester were 65, 60, and 79 just to give you an idea. The tip I have for this is to work on your static methods and know how to manipulate a variable or array. One thing I LOVE about Peddie is that he gives us the format for what the exam will be and also practice problems which again is not the exact same as the exam but the same logic. Final (25% of your grade :( okay so I literally just took the final yesterday and do the freakin practice problems, crap them if you have to, it is the same logic. Overall if I had to compare him to the other cs teachers: Pedram > Fawzi (fawzi does not record, and does not post relevant practice problems) Nelson > Pedram (Nelson is known as the best and he usually has high exam averages) Pedram == Elias
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/04/2023	Best CS professor ever!!! Very chill, records all his lectures, can use three 48-hrs extensions among all the projects per semester (but if u email him, he will grant u more). Very reasonable and flexible.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/03/2023	Took him last semester. Personally vibe with his faster teaching pace. Just make sure you're on top of things because it is abit difficult to catch up. Also go to lectures and take notes.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a B+ FozzyBear1 05/03/2023	Pedram was pretty good for 131. Lectures are the cure to insomnia. Pedram has a very monotone voice and speaks very, very slow. However, when I managed to stay awake I found his lectures to be really helpful and informative. As someone who has never programmed before his class, I can say that I was able to learn a lot from his lectures. I also liked that he recorded his lectures. I'm taking off a star because his exams were very hard for a 100 level class (averages in the low 60s), and he says that he doesn't curve. But if you want to challenge yourself with a professor who is a dry but effective lecturer, I would recommend Pedram.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/25/2023	Projects require some thinking. Exam 2 covers lot of material and final exam had tricky questions. The final topics that are taught are not covered by quizzes and exams so things like recursion only showed up on the final exam, not even in the projects. Good lectures but doesn't record, teaches some interesting topics slightly outside Java. Good prof, would recommend.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/25/2023	Projects require some thinking. Exam 2 covers lot of material and final exam had tricky questions. The final topics that are taught are not covered by quizzes and exams so things like recursion only showed up on the final exam, not even in the projects. Good lectures but doesn't record, teaches some interesting topics slightly outside Java. Good prof, would recommend.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/04/2023	Horrible lectures. Does not care about his students and absolutely rude.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 03/10/2023	Professor Elias was a fantastic teacher. He genuinely sounds passionate about the things he's teaching and most often is able to explain in a way that anyone, even students who have never taken a programming class before, could understand. We had 3 midterms which were curved according to class averages and, with a certain exam, Professor Elias recognized that it was too long to be finished within the given time constraint so the class was given extremely lenient grading. We also had about 8 programming projects which were actually pretty difficult despite being an intro-level CS course. You are however given a generous timeframe to complete them (about a week or-so). I definitely recommend taking Elias.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/09/2023	Amazing professor. Teaches the subject very clearly and obviously loves the subject he teaches as well as teaching itself. Readily engages with students during his lectures. You do need to attend his lectures if you cannot get notes from a classmate though, as he does not record his classes and his lecture slides are really just so he remembers what to say during class.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 02/09/2023	His lectures are kinda useless (records them too) but Elias is a fabulous instructor and really cares about the success of his students. Class isn't too hard. Make sure utilize office hours if you need help.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/06/2023	He is a funny teacher, but he gets off topic way too much. If you are looking for an easy grade, this is a good professor, but he is not that good of a teacher.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 02/01/2023	Had Nelson for CMSC 131 in fall 2022 and he's the best CS professor I've ever had. Like it's not even close. He genuinely cares about his students and will do just about anything to help you succeed. I ended up doing horribly on the second midterm and when I emailed him asking for help, he told me to meet him in his office hours. I went there and the man spent over 30 minutes with me going over my entire test in detail like what I got wrong and how to avoid falling into the traps I fell into going forward (which helped big time). His lecture slides and in-class code were very helpful and enabled me to finish the projects in a timely manner. He would dig deep into different complex methods and better explain them using analogies which I also found very helpful. The projects can be challenging but are doable if you don't procrastinate and start on time. He's also very understanding and will grant extensions if necessary. Exams are a mixed bag but for the most part, if you complete the practice exams he provides, you should be fine. If there is one complaint I have about his class, it has to be the amount of unnecessary stoppages that eventually start to get pretty annoying (like a student may not be paying attention and if Nelson notices, he'll stop lecturing for a few moments and press him/her on the spot) and the sometimes corny jokes he'd blurt out during lecture. Despite this, I overlooked all of this and quite frankly didn't really care at all because I was gaining a lot out of his class despite the fact that I had prior coding experience. All this being said, if you have the opportunity to take 131 (or any other class) with Nelson, DO IT! You won't regret it. He is very friendly and shows that he cares about his students. He will give you the necessary resources to do well in his class and he's perfect if people who have little or no coding experience.
Anton Goretsky CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/26/2023	They’re the goat soa
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/13/2023	Nelson was a great professor imo. He brought humor to lecture, although I barely went and just watched recordings. Discussions arent mandatory so I only went to one discussion session which had a quiz. The midterms were easy and were basically clones of the past midterms which he gives you to study off of. Projects werent that bad I just recommend starting them when they are released. Most of the projects were very to the example code shown in the lecture or on the class site with a bit more complexity to it. I fortunately had some prior java experience so I was fine with following the topics, but I do think without experience it could seem pretty fast for some people.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/11/2023	Elias is down-to-earth, lenient, and very smart. His lectures are well planned out and very informative. He's very easy to approach about issues your having with your code (or anything really). He gave someone in our class an extension on half of the projects because their computer got bricked earlier in the semester. One complaint I have however is that he sometime does not respond to emails but that's what piazza is for so it is not too big of a problem. I made sure to take CMSC132 with him next semester.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/10/2023	Nelson is a really great professor. He keeps lectures fun and engaging and explains challenging concepts really well. His quizzes and exams are not super difficult (they’re pretty much identical to the sample exams so as long as you study those you should be fine). TA office hours ran pretty much 9-5 weekdays so it’s easy to get help. Some of the projects were challenging and they definitely require the full amount of time to work on them so don’t procrastinate! I think this class would be more difficult for someone without CS experience but still definitely doable as long as you start work early and get help when you need it.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/08/2023	Elias is a great professor, very lenient, open, helpful, and genuinely wants you to succeed; if you have him, do not be scared to talk to him if you are having trouble in his class. He made lectures relatable and engaging, you could even submit a picture of your pet, and he would put it on the slides the next time we would have a lecture. The reason why I am giving 4 stars though, is because of certain TAs. Later in the semester, I began to realize that TAs that do not teach discussion was not helpful at all. I would often find myself and other students at office hours staring blankly at our code because we would be more confused after asking for help. A certain TA though, Takeshi, who would be at office hours in the morning had a terrible attitude towards students, there would be times when he would make comments and snarky remarks that discouraged me from even attending office hours in the morning. I hope no other student had a similar experience to what I did but I prefer TAs who teach discussion for help with coding projects.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 01/05/2023	I think it's a myth that he is one of the best professors. I am switching to Fawzi next semester. For simplicity I will make a pro and con list Pros - Website is easy to navigate. - Projects, once you get the hang of them after the first few, are easy and the single most helpful thing for my learning - At surface level seems a nice, personable man - Gives extensions for projects easily - Him and TAs responsive on Piazza Cons - Overall, not a good lecturer: Disorganized, hard to follow examples. Even the pauses during lectures, half the time when we were supposed to discuss what he just told us, the people around would just look at each other and talk about something else because no one could pay attention long enough to understand what he said. - To follow up on that, he claimed that "I get about 20 minutes of your undivided attention per lecture, the rest is filler and jokes". I have other professors who were able to capture everyone's attention the entire time. He's just unable to keep attention because he is all over the place. He tries to make up for this and get our attention with jokes, which I will address. - The jokes were funny at first but got boring and just seems to be pandering and trying to get our attention, which he couldn't. - The exams are graded pretty harshly, and some of the material on the multiple choice questions was never specifically addressed in class. - My TA was awful and unhelpful in answering questions, which didn't help. I hope you're luckier in this regard.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/31/2022	Absolute sweetheart, funny, and caring. Despite having hundreds of students, he makes sure to memorize people’s names during lecture and interacts with students in a way that keeps lecture lighthearted and easy to feel comfortable in. He has an interesting way of pacing his lectures- it may seem that his pauses to allow for individual discussion and jokes cut the total amount of material learned, but it doesn’t. He is still a lecturer that can teach you a lot about java while also making it digestible and not overwhelming, especially for someone like me with zero prior coding experience. His humor is wonderful and him allowing us to talk to other students at certain points of his lecture makes the material that may seem daunting at first much more manageable. His exams are fair and he gives out many practice exams that you can do to succeed. I only got a B because I slacked off in the middle of the semester- with Nelson, as long as you attend lecture and engage in the content, you will absolutely succeed.
Sinaan Younus CMSC131 Anonymous 12/28/2022	Sinaan is an absolute legend and an amazing TA. The guy definitely needs to become a college professor one day with how well he explains concepts so that everyone can easily follow. He always came to our discussion sections every day excited to teach and everyone could see his passion for computer science. Sinaan would always go above and beyond and provide help for his students outside of class to make sure that we fully understood the material. He is a phenomenal person overall who wants the best for his students no matter what and having him as my TA definitely improved my experience in the class.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/26/2022	Awesome dude, taking him again for 132
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a D+ Anonymous 12/25/2022	So I can see the appeal of Fawzi's teaching, however it did not work for me. He made his projects interesting and was overall an interesting person who would take time to delve into concepts using examples in lectures which sounds very helpful. However, I found it quite frustrating when I had been sick for a little over 2 weeks when the only way for me to catch up on what we are learning was through someone else's notes. There not being recordings and how little information there is on his slideshows made catching up nearly impossible for me. Also weekly quizzes were a nussiance since he would not really tell us what topics would exactly be on the quiz. I remember one week, we were learning 2D arrays and the next quiz was coming up, so I thought the quiz would be on 2D arrays. I studies 2D arrays quite a bit, however the quiz was on something completely different. On a random topic taught weeks ago. I guess it can give incentive to be ontop of previous topics but that was quite the nuissance. TAs can be helpful, but they are often crowded and you have to wait your turn for every question you want to ask. Overall, he is a decent lecturer and I see the appeal, but did not work for me, or anyone who needs to review topics through recordings.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 12/24/2022	Nelson is fair with his grading and is funny. Although he does not curve and his class is fast-paced, he is understanding, provides review for midterms through previous exams, and he records his lectures. Good professor
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B- kathleenMiles 12/23/2022	"Nelson = best teacher" has become something of its own myth at UMD. From all of these reviews you can see that he has many rabid fans. Effectively, this is a man who is SICK AND TIRED of teaching CMSC131. He gives off comments such as "I will be teaching this class till retirement" and "well, the paycheck keeps coming and that's what matters". Nelson also has an awful way of communicating. He sends massive email blasts, often multiple times every single day. These are weirdly formatted and read like strange tweets, and often completely irrelevant. I wish he would actually put some thought into the emails he bombards his 800 students with. Sure, he replies to emails and you can go to his office hours. But you will never meet with him for more than a few minutes. One day he suddenly decided that all TA office hours would be cut short and go online. His reasoning was this: "I was walking along that building at night, when I suddenly felt this urge: I want to MUG somebody! That was when I decided that this place was too dangerous for my TAs." During lecture, he CONSTANTLY gets distracted, cracks lame jokes, and picks on you. It is actually better to just watch his lecture recordings. because he edits out all the wasted time. Despite his nonsense, Nelson is very lenient with project extensions and make-up exams. Apparently his exams are easier than Fauzi's as well. Maybe I will choose him solely based off of this fact next semester, because now I know that I should never attend lecture anyways.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2022	Nelson is decent, but I do feel like he could be better. There's a website called Piazza where students can ask and answer questions, and TAs and Nelson himself are active on there too, posting announcements and answering questions. This is definitely helpful when you're working on a project and confused on wording, for instance. All lectures and discussions are recorded and available on Canvas, so if you ever miss a day or want to go back on a concept discussed in a lecture or discussion, you can always do so. The projects really weren't hard, but that might not be true for others because I have previous programming experience and many others in the class do not. Just make sure to start them early and get them done with; I usually finished projects a day or two after they were released so I could focus on other classes. That being said, I do feel like his exams were frustrating. If you misinterpret what a question is asking (you can't ask a TA or Nelson on wording either; they won't and can't really help you on that without giving you hints on it) you will lose points, even if you knew the answer to another interpretation of a question. However, I do feel like the content itself on the exams were very fair, and he did give information on possible content the exams would have. His final is pretty easy as long as you go over previous midterms and finals. The thing that annoyed me the most were lectures, because while Nelson joked around and gave us time to talk to our classmates, he spent a lot of time off-track and I felt like this could have been better used to teach us concepts from 132 and above. He does give you knowledge that you will see or need to understand later (such as memory maps, and you will need to understand how memory in a program works in 216), but I feel like he could have done more in this regard. Lectures were genuinely boring for me; I tried following what he was showing us at the start of the semester, but began to work on other assignments or projects for other classes and multitask while he was lecturing later in the semester. If I didn't do this, I genuinely dozed off.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2022	He explains things easily, he records his lectures, his exams are easy. Overall great professor and he's way easier than Fawzi.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/21/2022	The course is structured well, and Nelson is an honest and caring professor. There's a discussion board where one can ask whatever questions they have 24/7, lectures are recorded and posted; the exams and quizzes are fair, especially due to Nelson's explicit listing of what will be on the exam; and later in the semester, Nelson establishes two deadlines for projects, making it easier for students to pace themselves so they may complete projects in time. His lectures are great too, and he allows for "turn and talks", which can be beneficial to many. My only gripe is that Nelson would frequently go off course, which may be a huge problem to some who simply wish for instructional content only: in my case, it was a slight issue. Aside from such, his projects aren't as graphically appealing as other professors who teach 131 (like Fawzi), and instructions may be unclear at times. That being said, usage of the discussion board is highly recommended. Additionally, Nelson is fair with extensions on projects classwide, if you ask, so don't be shy — sit in the front! He's lovely.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2022	Nelson is so funny and knows what he is doing.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 CCX001 12/20/2022	He's a decent lecturer but if you rely on slides for notes you are doomed. Fawzi's slides provide no information and he does not do recorded lectures, so you are stuck with trying to listen and copy down notes. It doesn't help that he talks fast and teaches content outside 131 for upper level courses. He does weekly quizzes and has 2 exams. Both are graded strictly and he does not provide practice exams nor tell you what will be on there. The projects look cool but can quite difficult and you will find yourself at the TA's a lot. DO NOT TAKE FAWZI
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 12/20/2022	Hes a decent lecturer, but he doesn't have lecture recordings like other professors. The main problems I have with his class are his quizzes, exams, projects, and content. Fawzi likes to give weekly quizzes which are annoying to do, he also does not provide any sample exams so you are stuck trying to figure out what will be on there. His projects are quite difficult and you will find yourself at the TA's for most of it. Fawzi also likes to teach more than required, he likes to teach upper level stuff which was annoying considering this is a 131 introductory course.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2022	Nelson is really funny. And he records his lectures. And he records his lectures.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/17/2022	I really liked Nelsons personality because he was funny, caring, and understanding. However, I can't say I enjoyed the lectures. At the beginning I was fine because he makes lectures fun, but I got more tired of his endless banter as the semester dragged on. He interacts A LOT with students, which made lectures very distracting and hard to follow along with. Most of the lectures I went to, I found myself not paying attention because he would go off on long tangents about unrelated things. He is a very easy professor though. Keep in mind, I had taken Comp Sci A AP in high school so I understood most of the concepts, but all of the projects were manageable (and in my opinion easy). His exams weren't necessarily easy for everyone, but I never got below a C on any of the 3 midterms even though I never studied (once again, I had already learned most of the topics that were covered in class, so I'm sure people who have never taken a comp sci class had a much different experience than me). Also, he reused a lot of multiple choice questions from his past midterms. I suspect the final exam was also written by him, because the multiple choice questions were very similar if not the same as some of the questions on past midterms. I finished the final exam with about 45 minutes left, so it was extremely doable. I won't be taking him next semester because I've heard Fawzi prepares you better for future comp sci classes and is a better lecturer (and a harder professor), but if you're looking for someone easy, I would take Nelson.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2022	Good lecturer and keeps class engaging. Weekly quizzes were a pain as a mistake will drop the quiz grade to basically a B. Projects were interesting and not too time consuming for me. The finals were kinda hard this year but that might just be me not studying enough. You cannot use electronics during his lectures and he doesn't record his lectures so you have to always be there in person. Overall, good lecturer but you will have to work for a decent grade especially if you have no prior programming experience.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2022	Fawzi is a great professor and I'm continuing to have him in Spring 2023 for CMSC132. While I'd say his tests can challenge you and question some things as he can bring up some slightly interesting topics on there, the content and the way he lectures is amazing and I am glad to have him again because I'm here to learn and not slack off from what it seems like from Nelson's class. Nelson can seem easy and great, but Fawzi does challenge you and academically pushes you to where you want to be. It may seem subtle at first, but it will start to become more rigorous as time goes on. As someone who normally gets As in classes, this A- does not disappoint and nor would having a B or B+ to say the least.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2022	Elias is a great teacher, he is a very down-to-earth guy and definitely puts students first. His class was not too difficult and the pace of the class and lectures were great.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/15/2022	HIghly recommend him. He goes over the concepts of this class very well. If you are a cs major, which I'm assuming you are if you're taking this class, I recommend taking it with him because it will build a good foundation for cs. Exams, quizzes, and projects become so much easier when you actually understand the material conceptually. He does many examples throughout class of every new unit we learn. His style of explaining and teaching makes it so simple to understand what he is saying. If you do not know any cs, you will be fine in his class. He is also very very nice so if you talk to him after class or go to his office hours, he will help you a lot.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/15/2022	I enjoyed Elias's class. His lectures were kind of slow, but if you go to all of them you will definitely pass. He explains concepts really well, and strongly encourages students to ask questions about things they don't understand. The projects were a good level of difficulty; I didn't find myself struggling too much as long as I started early and went to office hours. The only part of his class that I had an issue with was the exams, I felt like they were pretty inconsistent. The first one was of comparable level of difficulty to first exams of other classes, but the second one was way too long, and I the third one was overly difficult (at least for me). However, I'm sure this is a side effect of it being his first time teaching this class, so his exams will only get better from here. Definitely recommend you take Elias if you get the chance.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/14/2022	I thoroughly enjoyed 131 with Elias. The concepts can be challenging if you don't have previous experience, but Elias will make sure you understand the material. Lectures can be a bit boring at times, but nothing that is a big problem. Office hours are super helpful so utilize them if needed. As long as you start projects early, you will do fine. Elias is an excellent choice for 131 and is lenient with grading and assignments. Definitely would recommend.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/11/2022	Pretty cool guy. He is very understanding and granted a lot of extensions. However, if you slack off you probably won't do so well. This class requires a good amount of effort/studying to do well. From what I can tell, he gives easier quizzes and homework than the other 131 professors but his midterms are more difficult. Came in with no cs experience and thought I was going to fail the class after the first midterm. He helped me work through some stuff and now I'm very confident about 132.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2022	Fawzi is a good lecturer, and he genuinely deserves a lot of credit for making the course so easy to understand for new comers. That said, my biggest gripe with Fawzi is the way he approaches quizzes and exams; he gives weekly quizzes which, while not difficult, are annoying. Furthermore, Fawzi gives two exams for 131, but he doesn't provide a practice exam for either, which is really just annoying. Still, he's a good lecturer and is good at making sure the content is understandable.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2022	Fawzi's projects are very interesting, and he is very good at explaining concepts to you. He does a good job of planning question time into his lecture especially on days with harder content, giving you time to really understand it. He has weekly quizzes that account for 15% or so of your grade, these quizzes I find are pretty easy to study for if you go to discussion every time. He gives optional labs during discussion that often reflect the concepts that will be on the quizzes, at least for the programming questions. If he is asking about concepts or has multiple choice questions, you would have to review the study questions ahead of time. The biggest resource for exams and quizzes in this class is your own notes, write down everything he says. A lot of things he says are not on the slides, his slides are for him to remember what to tell you so you can't skip class and easily understand the new material, if you have never seen it before. He doesn't record his lectures either. He also does not allow you to use laptops in class because it is really easy for you to get distracted and do other things so all notes you take are going to be on paper. His exams are easier, and they are fewer exams than Nelson's class, but the tradeoff is you have weekly quizzes.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022	He's the third CS professor I've had and he is by far the best. He's really good at teaching first year CS students especially if you've never touched code before. Not only does he explain the concepts really well, he spends most of lecture showing examples and actually reviewing code which helps a lot on projects. As long as you pay attention in lecture and go to discussion you'll pass no problem.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022	Nelson is one of the most understanding professors I have ever met in my life. Maybe it's because he's a POC, but he just gets us. He understands that we are poor, so he doesn't make us get a textbook (everything is recorded/on slides). There are endless examples of concepts. He is EXTREMELY lenient on project extensions and teaches us how to negotiate deadlines. You will not get the full experience with Nelson unless you sit in the front and ask questions. Otherwise, you'll just sit in the back and roll your eyes over how many times he cracks a joke. Paying attention in lecture was extremely difficult for me because I sat in the back and was not engaged.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2022	Elias is great, he makes lectures interesting and tries to interact with his students. He is always helpful and seems to enjoy answering questions. Elias understands his students and tries to make the class a learning experience rather than a testing environment. I really enjoyed his class, none of the lectures felt useless and the discussions helped me a lot too.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2022	Nothing on his test is stuff he never discussed in lectures. He's strict but not too strict. In my opinion his projects were very interesting which made it a whole lot easier to do. I highly recommend him.
Elias Gonzalez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2022	Elias is a solid teacher, the lectures are not super boring, and he gives in-depth explanations. Plus when the exams were harder he would give a nice curve, he really seems to care. Find out which TA's are good, as that will make the class easier. The exams cover exactly what is discussed in discussions and lectures, always go to the discussion before a quiz/exam as they will drop helpful hints. No complaints
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/07/2022	Overall I thought he was a good professor, he teaches pretty well in my opinion (but that may be due to myself having a little of CS experience beforehand) and he's pretty interesting! Compared to Nelson, Fawzi sticks to the lecture consistently during the entire time and always teaches till the class ends and I usually enjoy his lectures. He doesn't record his lectures unfortunately and doesn't allow laptops which wasn't the worst for me personally but I think it's worth it compared to taking Nelson. Projects are a little abstract to start out with but end up usually being for myself. They're rewarding because most of his projects are GUI based so you can see the progress of making something work which is fun. Compared to Nelson's projects, you learn the content better and just have more fun. Nelson's projects are more open ended ish but just aren't fun when compared to Fawzi. Fawzi has almost weekly quizzes that are 15% of your grade and you usually have no idea of how to figure out what will be on the quiz beforehand so usually screwed on what to study for besides the Study Sets he gives you. This is one of my least favorite parts of the class. He has 2 exams which is less than Nelson's but doesn't give you really any material to study for his exams, unlike how Nelson gives you practice exams for his tests. I feel like tests are not a good descriptor of the content to learn in the class and can sometimes feel like "How was I supposed to know this?" during the exams, but that's probably just me not being an absolute CS god unlike some people in the class. I think you should definitely take Fawzi over Nelson, Nelson goofs off too much and just doesn't have as good of content as Fawzi even if it comes at the cost of being harder. Maybe if you plan on just taking CMSC131 and that's it take Nelson but that's really the only edge case I can think of
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2022	Man, do I love this guy. Absolutely love him. His project descriptions are very slightly confusing at times, but you have Piazza, other students, and the TAs to clarify the descriptions. His lectures are recorded (and Nelson talks about this very often) so if you're feeling sick, you don't have to come to lecture. Honestly, because he records the lectures, you don't REALLY have to come to class... but I went anyway even though it was in the morning because I was absolutely stoked about his lectures. He has a nice sense of humor and he tries to take advantage of that "hip professor" image, which I guess he's doing well. That could be why his jokes might get a bit old by the end of semester and possibly might tick you in the wrong direction, but he's a nice guy. Very lenient for makeups and extensions AS LONG AS you have a valid excuse! Get familiar with him and he might call you out during lectures but it's good to befriend a prof. Oh and Nelson is very good at teaching. When he introduces a new topic, he makes funny descriptions and connects the material to prior knowledge so that beginner students can understand them quicker. Will be taking CMSC132 with him next semester!
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/02/2022	The professor teaches really well.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/02/2022	Excellent Professor. He explains concepts really well and gives fun interesting projects. If you're regular, the course won't be too hard for you. There are quizzes every week, but I think they keep you on track and make Comp sci easier overall. Would definitely recommend him for CMSC131 especially if you don't have much experience with programming before.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/01/2022	Nelson is extremely student-friendly for a class that can be very challenging for beginners. He records all his lectures which is a life saver for so many. He also gives out plenty of extensions for projects and is very supportive throughout them. He is excellent and, in my opinion, a must-take for any beginner coder like myself. A very engaging, energetic, helpful, detailed, and hard-working professor that I will make sure to take whenever possible.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/07/2022	Nelson is an amazing professor. His lectures are very detailed and he keeps his audience engaged which is super important. He is honestly one of the most understanding professors i've ever seen as he is flexible, helpful, and will always be fair when grading. He is also super funny which helps me stay engaged in the class and genuinely want to go to office hours and every lecture. TAKE HIM if you get the chance, you will not regret it!
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/31/2022	Nelson is funny, smart, understanding, and super helpful. He is not the traditional college professor in that he really seems to care about each of our success in a deep and person way. He is super nice and gives great advice to be successful in CMSC and life in general. I would recommend this professor to anyone taking any class which he teaches. He is great so I would take him, if you have the chance.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A harshith 10/19/2022	Fawzi is harder than Nelson. He is a better teacher, but he is slightly harder. I would recommend taking him for 131 over Nelson to build a strong foundation though. If you are doubtful of passing though, take Nelson.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 10/17/2022	he talks too fast he is annoying and he is not beginner friendly
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/07/2022	This is coming from a guy who knows multiple programming languages and had taken prior programming classes before. Yoon is a nice guy but his exams were very difficult(considering this is would be the first cs course some people take). If this is your first programming class and you have Yoon, be prepared to study thoroughly for the exams.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/11/2022	High quality lecturer, posts lecture videos to Panopto. He explains the important concepts in detail. He explains code visually using drawings, which made sense for me since I am a visual learner. Exams are fair and are reflective of the material he emphasizes in both lecture and discussion. A few days before the exam he will give the topics and hints, write them down. If you can do the practice exams and worksheets, you should be fine. There are some tricks, but you can prepare for these by doing the practice material.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Vashin 05/23/2022	Yoon was, quite frankly, not a good professor. For some reason, his 131 curriculum is different than that of the other 131 profs. He begins with Processing, which is basically visual Java and you will never encounter it again afterwards if you complete this class. It was more than halfway into the semester when we finally started doing Object Oriented Programming in Java, whereas with other 131 profs you start Java on day 1. Yoon's quizzes and exams are ridiculously hard for no reason: the multiple choice are usually random programming trivia from class and the coding questions are often curveballs. Pulling up GradeServer, our exam averages were as follows: E1: 68. E2: 59. E3: 61. Final Exam: 56. Such low averages on exams are indicative of one thing: lackluster teaching. There were a few good things worth mentioning throughout the class though. Yoon was quite flexible if you had extenuating circumstances and couldn't get a project in on time, or if some error happened in submissions. Additionally, because the class average was so low at the end of the semester, cutoffs were adjusted and some may argue they were generous (although I would say they were not overly generous, but necessary). I passed with a B+, having a 74 in the class. Try taking any other 131 professor if possible.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/22/2022	Yoon’s a great guy and very down-to-earth, but his lectures aren’t rly the best. If you don’t already have a background in coding, I can understand how this course can be especially difficult (even if it’s supposed to be an intro level course). If that’s the case, actually going to discussion and office hours can help tremendously bc Yoon or the TAs will look at your code.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/20/2022	Pedram's exams and quizzes are extremely fair. In particular, his TA's this semester were exceptional. Some advice: start the projects THE DAY THEY ARE ASSIGNED and JOIN A STUDY GROUP!! Overall I had a much better experience taking CMSC131 with him this spring than I had taking CMSC131 with Fawzi in the fall.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/16/2022	Pedrams lectures are very boring, his project descriptions are extremely vague and hard to follow, and his exams are somewhat difficult. In addition, there was plenty of content on the final exam that he only mentioned briefly in class but never went in depth about. He isn't the worst choice, but definitely not great.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Anonymous 05/13/2022	Is he the best lecturer out there? Probably not. But Pedram is an extremely effective lecturer who teaches very clearly if you put in the work required. Starting projects on time, studying properly will make this class very feasible. His exams are extremely fair and his prep/schedule helps you succeed a lot. He's also a great guy who truly cares about his students... happy to have had him for my intro CS course.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting a B Justacoder 05/09/2022	TLDR: boring lectures, hard projects, but nice guy. It me say that if you know what to expect he's not so bad however my first time with him was a bit of a headace. He said his class is beginner friendly which i don't think is true. (I had a semester of computer science classes at a community college) Using eclipse for the first time was a bit tricky. I wish he had spent more time explaining. His projects were a bit on the hard side. I often found the descriptions long and vague. things have to be done in a certain way to test certain skills. His exams were a fair although is online exams were just mini projects which were a pain. If you understand the topics then the projects aren't so bad, if you don't you could spend several hours struggling.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/08/2022	I don't know how to even feel about this class, Yoon is a really nice professor but his exams and quizzes are extremely hard. The averages for both the quizzes and the exams are extremely low. He loves to put tricky questions in his exams or quizzes which I extremely hate. For around the second half of the semester I had to basically teach myself or look up concepts that he taught because he overcomplicates them as a professor. He does post lectures + slides online though, and the TAs go through practice exams/problems in review sessions. A lot of the lectures are all over the place, but feel free to ask him questions during/after lecture and he'll kindly do so, he's a nice guy.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/05/2022	Great professor likes to tell a lot of jokes. Class is easy if taken in high school if not make sure you prepare before you take it. Nelson is a great lecturer also was very helpful by giving online resources such as videos of him lecturing. Also great for freshman cares about his students and wants them to adjust to college.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/05/2022	Took cmsc131 from him, at the start of the semester he told the class that this course is for people who had no prior experience in coding. I had 2 almost years of coding experience therefore projects were easy for me but I struggled in his exams. His exams make no sense at all. He gives 2 to 3 handwriting code questions with the difficulty level of interview questions for a job and expects us to finish it in 50 min with lots of tricky multiply choices questions additional to that. He teaches nothing and expects us to learn from coding ourselves. He curves the class but having the stress is not worth it. I can't believe how stressful his course was. If you want to feel shitty and question whether to major in computer science take him otherwise AVOID him.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B- akl2025 04/27/2022	I took Fawzi for both CMSC131 and 132 in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, respectively. He is an amazing lecturer and a "fair" professor. 98% of what will be on a test is what he has taught in class, but sometimes throws 1 or 2 multiple choice questions that he briefly mentioned. Moreover, the teacher assistants are super helpful: I can't make it in his class without their support, especially when it's for coding projects and reviewing for midterms (they make review slides and coding examples in my semester, and I hope the next TA will do that too). I never have an office hour with Fawzi, but the TAs are more than enough (he recruits amazing ones). There are 3 advices to give to new students who take his class: 1. DO NOT SKIP CLASS! Fawzi posts lecture slides but most are similar to outlines. To truly understand it, it's better to attend classes and see his thinking processes with examples and drawings. He is strict with time, so he prioritizes delivering all the contents he has for the lecture first then asking questions second. 2. START PROJECTS EARLY! The day Fawzi posts the announcement that the next project is available is the day you should start right away! The TAs are there to help you. Immediately go to them if you don't know how to start. Don't wait until the last 4 days, unless you love being in a long queue of ~20 students (each takes like 5 minutes, give or take another 5). 3. REVIEW LECTURES WEEKLY! Fawzi usually gives weekly quizzes and it's a good way to know what you need to review for midterms. I regret that I didn't do this weekly, which gave me lots of stress the day before the quiz or exam. This not only maintains good scores for all assignments during the semester but also helps you solidify your understanding of all contents for the final. Pros: - Great lectures (easy and clear to understand, good examples) - Fair exams (what you have learned) - Supportive, friendly, and super helpful TAs Cons: - Exams: because he tests all of what you have learned (some topics appears a lot and some only appears once), you have no idea what will worth lots of points. You study EVERYTHING, which is just ... a lot. - He doesn't record lectures (maybe once or twice if it's Friday before a holiday weekend). - Optional: "nerds" who ask a lot of advanced questions at the front and interrupts the lectures. PS: I failed the final (D), but all other assignments were high (B+). They balanced out.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Anonymous 04/25/2022	Horrible. No help for students who are behind though attending all lectures. Terrible at responding to students with legitimate problems understanding and doesn't care for the improvement of students. No help from him. Terrible at conveying topics and concepts to students. TA office hours are your best bet at understanding anything. Teach yourself or suffer the consequences.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Anonymous 04/05/2022	For a starter course for Computer Science major this Yoon makes this course extremely difficult. I took a bunch of other java coding courses before taking cmsc131 and even then I am struggling. His coding project assignments and labs are fairly easy and you have more than enough time to complete them, but when it comes to quizzes and exams be prepared to fail miserably. I don't remember our class getting more than 70 on average in any of his quizzes or exams. His exams and quizzes are heavy with writing a code on paper and you have no time to finish them. Right now the class average is a failing (even with projects and labs boosting the grades), and exams are not getting any easier. He talks that his course is for people that didn't know how to code before while making exams and quizzes more difficult than they should be like he is mocking you. His practices exams he gives you are also much easier than the exam itself giving you false hope.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/18/2022	Fawzi was pretty nice and his TAs were wonderful. I appreciated his teaching style (giving the specifics of each topic we covered) and discussing the concepts before jumping straight into the code. The weekly quizzes were a bit of a drag, but they did make sure that I learned and retained the material. Exams seemed fair and I would've taken him for 132 if I didn't have schedule conflicts. DO NOT SKIP CLASS THOUGH! He does not record and the slides are very barebones.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 02/03/2022	Really nice and made class enjoyable to come to
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/02/2022	Nelson is good professor, with entertaining lectures that are relatively easy to follow. While CMSC131 is not the most beginner-friendly introductory course, that isn't really a knock on Nelson. He wasn't the most accessible for help at times, but that was the only complaint I had. Overall, still a good professor who I'd take again.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 02/02/2022	Nelson is one of the best cs teachers. period. If you have the option to take him, take him. He makes the course super easy to get through and he's super funny.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 01/12/2022	Nelson does his best to keep the lectures entertaining and tries to adjust deadlines whenever possible. It's a bit hard reaching out to him or his TA for help, but the website he uses along with other instructors takes up most of that. In general you'll be all good if you took a Computer Science that covered the basics beforehand, including the ones in high school. If you're coming to this class with no prior knowledge, you might find yourself lost at some times, as he starts his lectures with the assumption that you already know the basics. You will have a project almost every week, with rising difficulty, so it is highly recommended you start your work as soon as possible. Submitting your projects last minute is difficult, since the website can go down from how many people are doing the same. There is almost no flexibility once the deadline passes, and the late penalty hits hard. Study when you should, don't hesitate to go to office hours, and don't be afraid to reach out for help, as it will be difficult to recover once you fall behind. Don't be afraid to ask for anything, since if it's possible he can push deadlines back by a week, but don't rely on it, since procrastination does hit hard in this class. Otherwise, taking the course with him isn't all too bad.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/07/2022	I think Nelson was a rather good professor, and a good lecturer. He often made jokes and gave people breaks. I must say however, some of the jokes were directed at students (Madison, if you're seeing this, I hope the U.S.S. Nelson didn't hit too hard). If you left class early, he would begin to fake cry, which admittedly was funny, but if you need to leave the class early then just expect that. He would also repeatedly tell people to be quiet, which had interrupted class a fair bit. I also felt some of the multiple choice on the tests were a little random, but other than that, he was really good. He did provide a lot of extensions (which helped a ton of people), and ended up curving the class because of one of the exams having a low average. Take him if you need breaks during lecture, want some extensions, or generally just want a funny professor to laugh with.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 01/05/2022	Nelson is a cool professor. I will try to create a pros and cons table for you, the reader, to understand my mind. [PROS] - He's funny. - Does not require attendance, so you can watch his lecture videos on Canvas. - Projects are fun. - He's nice. [CONS] - Sometimes the jokes get annoying, especially when you're trying to learn. As stated in other comments, he will sometimes just say jokes randomly (which can be funny at times), but as the days went by the jokes became old. - You really gotta pay attention if you don't know the material and talk to TAs constantly if you don't know anything. If anything, the TAs are more helpful than Nelson himself. - As anecdotal evidence, he created a 3rd exam (in the past there were only 2) which covered a bunch of topics. I went to the exam review and the TA told us not to review this one topic. Next thing you know that topic is on the exam!!! I heard that half of the class did POORLY on that exam (including me). I went from a B to a C overnight. - Projects are fun but require a ton of logic. I had to use external sources to find out topics that I did not understand. - Exams and quizzes are done on PAPER. You really have to know Java word by word or you are dead. For slow writers, good luck because you only have about 20-40 minutes to do about 3-4 methods. [CONCLUSION] If you do not know Java, LEARN IT prior to taking this class. If you do not have ANY knowledge, you are screwed. Gladly I had some coding knowledge that helped me in the long run. Learn how to code and how to write it. Overall, great class but annoying coursework.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/24/2021	public static void main(String[] args) { /* Nelson is a great professor. He is really laid back, chill, and constantly makes jokes and finds interesting ways to keep students engaged. This was my first time coding in Java and Nelson made it very straight forward and doable. Pros: - Nelson is a very funny and likable guy. On the first day of classes he will tell you that he always wants you to call him by his first name which I found interesting. - He is very good at making analogies between programming and more understandable topics. For example, he would make an analogy between a bakery and objects in java. This makes it really easy to understand his teaching, even for first time programmers like me. - His lecture slides are much more detailed than Fawsi's (from what I have heard) - His exams are very much like the previous exams. As long as you study those, and the additional resources that Nelson provides, you will be more than fine on the exams. - Occasionally during every lecture, Nelson likes to say "1 minute" which indicates that we can talk to our neighbor for a minute and digest the information that he just lectured about. I found this useful and made the class less fast paced— gave me time to breathe while learning new information. After this minute break, he opens the floor for a few questions before returning to his lecture. - Nelson uploads the code for every class example and provides many many resources to ensure you do well on the projects and exams. - Grading for exams is honestly pretty lenient. Because all the midterms include hand-written coding, it is easy to miss the small nuances that come with programming but the TAs that grade your tests know this. Often times when you look at the grading break down, you are given points on a segment of code just for "ATTEMPTING to _______" - Very accommodating in regards to extending deadlines for things. He even encourages that the class speaks up if we need an extension. Cons: - His funny personality sometimes gets in the way of the actual teaching. Yes it does lighten up the mood but often he will stop mid sentence just to pop in a joke. Additionally, some of his comedy is offensive or will get stale. For example, he once made a statement to the guys in the class about how they should not feel bad if a girl rejects them. He then goes on with his joke and says that girls are like "instance variables" and how the guys should just "pick another one" if one doesn't work. If you know anything about Java, you will know that he basically just called women "objects". I didn't think too much about this but I can see why some people would find his humor offensive. He also always makes the joke "turn to your neighbor and tell them they are a (insert random java terminology)" which literally makes no sense and gets old after the first couple times. - The third midterm was a nightmare. In the past, there have only been two midterms and the third was only added a couple years ago. This means that there is little study material and the worst part is that the second and third midterm are only 2 weeks apart since they kind of just shoved it into the curriculum. The class average for midterms is usually pretty high but dropped to a D average for this midterm. Nelson did adjust the letter grade cut offs for final grades because of this though. - Projects become very challenging towards the end of the semester. This is obviously necessary to challenge students but sometimes they are impossible to figure out without a TA. - Frankly, sometimes it is difficult to understand his accent and it leaves you to think more about what words he is saying in the first place rather than the actual content within his sentences. Overall, I think Nelson is the better option for CMSC131. He is very knowledgable and it is clear that he comes prepared for class with examples to explain complex ideas to new programmers. Just beware of his random remarks. It is clear that he is looking for validation and wants to be liked by his students so he makes jokes on topics that students our age would find "funny". If you can get past the cringe factor, this class will great. */ System.out.println("Chose Nelson!"); }
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/22/2021	I’m glad I chose Fawzi for 131, and I would take him again for 132 if my schedule allowed me to do so. As a beginner, I felt like his lectures were effective because his teaching style somehow got the material to stick in my head. He is straight to the point, but also occasionally throws in some humor to keep the class engaged. Lectures never really felt rushed, I think he was good at time management and knew when to cut off a lecture to not rush a topic. I’m not really sure if he has office hours, but TA hours (from 9-6) were a godsend. I don’t think I would’ve passed this class without his TAs. The TAs were helpful for getting me through the projects, but they also seemed to help other students with any questions about course content. There were 2 major exams throughout the semester and 1 final. I thought they were all fair questions - study the study questions and notes from lecture, as well as last quizzes. Quizzes were basically weekly and also fair. The front of the worksheet was usually multiple choice or short answer questions, and the back was a coding question, and you had 20 minutes to do the quiz.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/22/2021	Nelson is great!!! If you're the type of person to get kind of bored during boring old slide lectures then he's good for you! He relies on examples in the lecture and a few small concepts from the slides. He gives us one-minute breaks in between heavy topics/examples so that we can discuss it with our neighbors, which I find really helpful in keeping everyone interactive and actually paying attention esp in a morning class. His exams are doable as long as you do the past exams/practice he gives which is really helpful. His third exam; however, was overly long and challenging compared to his others so it tanked a lot of people's grades, but he just released grades and seemed to have provided a better cutoff to benefit (f.e. some A grades were considered A+ and so on), so as long as you put the work in you should be golden in terms of your grade (it's not meant to be challenging to get an A or B). Also, his projects are definitely on the challenging side sometimes especially later in the year with Recursion and the class implementations, but if you study his class lecture code and ask for help during office hours (always go early otherwise you probably won't get a chance if it's close to the project deadline). Overall, he explains things effectively for the most part and I'd recommend reading some notes on the topics before coming into class on the first day just so you have a good idea of what coding in Java is about and you aren't bombarded too fast! He does not curve, but his grades are pretty fair. I really enjoyed his class and it's insane to me how much I learned in just three months! I totally recommend Nelson
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A- stressed_student 12/21/2021	Context: Programmed in Java through an intro to java course in HS as well as APCS A (Not principles). Honestly, if given the choice between Fawzi and Nelson, I would recommend you take Nelson. BE PREPARED to spend time outside of class learning, digesting, and applying the information taught in class as I felt like Nelson was quick with the material during the lecture. Sources like Alex Lee or w3schools really helped me out when I was lost within the material. Especially with me coming in with prior knowledge of Java and programming, this course definitely challenges you in a good way. Be sure to manage your time well, start your projects early, and always ask questions. If you have no experience programming before, you're going to have to spend a lot of time reviewing and learning the material for the first time as it's a lot, especially with the pace. I believe my grade within the class was fair, as I know I could've applied myself more to fully understand the material. This class should be on your higher level of priority (The same level/effort as MATH140 for me at least). In the end, I learned a lot from Nelson and do not regret taking the class with him. Pros: - Recorded Lectures - Lectures, programs, and in-class notes are always posted online - Provides sample exams/quizzes for students to prepare for prior to midterms/finals. - Allows you to have your laptop out during class (NOTE: I have heard that Fawzi does NOT allow laptops out during class). - Always understanding/flexible with scheduling conflicts --> not afraid to move assignment/test deadlines further when asked Cons: - Can be fast with the material he goes through - (Did not bother/affect me at all) Has a slight accent - (To some people this might be a con) Brief moments during class to reflect what was learned to classmates + ask questions - Sometimes he can joke around too much to the point where it'll take away from the class time (Did not annoy me, a review from someone earlier mentioned this and I also believe it's true). - Does not use Canvas. Nelson uses his own website for posting projects details, slides, sample programs, etc... - (Not a con for me) Uses Piazza for class announcements + addressing student questions/concerns/memes (yes there is a meme folder for the class, pretty dope).
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2021	Nelson is a great professor, he tries to keep lectures interesting with jokes and takes small breaks every 10 minutes for the class to ask each other questions or just talk. He is good at keeping everyone interacting with each other and encourages people to talk and get to know each other. However, the course, in general, is very difficult, if you have not taken any Computer science courses before, this course is very challenging. I know people who have barely passed this class as they have had no experience, and since this class is fast-paced it is really hard to keep learning new material while also doing the projects. I would really recommend coming in with some level of experience and looking over material that is covered in this class before taking this course.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 12/17/2021	Extremely easy to understand, excellent lecturer, very charismatic, and knowledgeable on the subject. Just all-around an excellent professor. He is incredibly invested in making sure his students understand the concepts, which is why he doesn't allow laptops in any of his lectures, but don't let that scare you off at all. Don't skip a class, start all the projects early, and you will easily pass this class. I will definitely take him for 132 next semester. I have heard that he can be very egotistical and arrogant in one-on-one conversations, but that's never happened to me.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 12/16/2021	He is a great professor in the sense that he is funny and tries to keep the class engaged. However, he goes relatively fast throughout the material and it is easy to get lost through the semester. He doesn't give us students enough time to reflect on the material and understand and just keeps going. A lot of the times when I went in for office hours or asked him questions after class, he makes me feel stupid and acts in a way that gives off the vibe that I should already know this. At times he wouldn't even answer the question I had. I have to say though, he is very generous with deadlines and is willing to extend if people request it. He doesn't curve.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2021	Compared to Pedram, who I had for the same course, Fawzi taught this better in almost every way. He's very enthusiastic, makes jokes, and really tries to make sure the class understands difficult concepts before moving on. For really difficult things, he'll always tell you if it is testable material. Besides that, his quizzes are generally easy, projects can be finished in a couple of days, and the exams are fair. Also, this TAs this semester were very helpful whenever I did have problems with a project. I would recommend choosing him regardless of your experience with Java.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/14/2021	Nelson is a goofball for real - My first ever programming class, and I learned a ton, and ended with a good, fair grade. I could find Nelson to be irritating though, if I don't understand a topic, he tends to joke a lot. But he made the class fun, projects were fair (most the time), and the workload was not too bad. Issues: Spelling/grammar mistakes in project descriptions, discussions being useless
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 12/13/2021	Nelson is awesome, I swear he is the ideal professor for students who have no CS experience, especially those who are worried about jumping into CS without an understanding of what the major really is. Nelson creates a great environment with humor and takes time to reassure you that CS is not as intimidating as people make it to be. While you do need to be willing to put in the work, he is the most accommodating and patient instructor I've had because he really does care about his students needs. I will definitely be trying my best to take as many classes with the instructor in the future!
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2021	I've never taken a coding class in my life, but I just tried to understand some basics of Java over the summer. However, I didn't really get that far. I was really stressed about taking CMSC131, in fact, I was constantly asking people at UMD how difficult it was for a newbie programmer to adjust to the class before I came here. CMSC131 will take a lot of work and time management, but it is do-able, especially if you have Nelson. He's a great teacher who cares for his students and is willing to be accommodating towards them (deadline extensions, cancellations of quizzes, etc.). He gives you all of the resources you need to do well in his class. I haven't taken the final yet, but so far, I believe that every test and project we've been given has been fair. He is a example-based lecturer and it works perfectly with my style of learning, but make sure this style fits you if you want to take him. That said, you will only do well in this class without any previous experience if you are willing to put in the effort. Start projects early and go to TA office hours to clear concepts up. Spend a few days studying for each midterm and make sure to do all the practice exams that you are given. Reach out for help using the free I4C tutoring service or talk directly to Nelson.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/13/2021	I LOVED FAWZI! He is the best CS professor you can ask for! His lecture is fun and easy to understand, his quizzes and exams are super easy. And he will give you a head start on the upper-level course, so it will be easier when you get to the higher-level CS course! !! There are also chances for you to be engaged in competition in his course where he will give out prizes to you and make you feel like a STAR! ! ! ALSO, his projects are super easy and some you can even put on your resume!
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2021	IF YOU HAVE NEVER CODED THIS CLASS IS HARDD!!!! Advice for Class: There is no way around it, this class is difficult for those with no prior experience or who it doesn't come naturally. Nelson is a decent teacher, but be prepared that he moves really fast. Your first 2-3 weeks of semester should just be spent constantly coding small tasks to get familiar with java and eclipse. It will help so much. Also watch YouTube vids to try to get ahead. The tests are hard as well so prepare early to write your code instead of type. The previous tests he gives as examples are ALWAYS much easier then actual test, so know / understand them like the back of your hand. The projects help you learn the most because they take HOURS. I would have the expectation that each one will take at least 8 hours. start them as soon as they are released and bounce ideas of friends as much as you can. DO NOT CHEAT OR SHOW CODE to others. the TAs will notice if you copy. Just explain what you did and how in words and you should be okay. Use your peers as support in this class because it is easy to get stuck. Nelson review: He is good teacher will slight accent and decent humor. overall is nice and down to earth(insists you call him nelson). His lectures are not the most organized and he tends to bounce around which can be confusing. Luckily you can watch them back and try to understand. He is relatively accessible in office hours, but tends to come off as an overpowering personality in person. I suspect this is because he lectures groups more then teaches individuals. I also think he knows this and try's to improve(only somewhat successful). I am trying to take him next semester for 132. He is defiantly not perfect, but he is far better then some other shit teachers at UMD. Ps. People tend to vary in their liking of him because of how much they enjoy his humor in lectures.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 12/10/2021	Okay, so Nelson is a very nice guy, and if you ask for an extension on a project he normally gives it to you but tbh he isn't a good professor. I would not recommend this class to anyone who hasn't taken any programming classes before. This class is super fast-paced and if you fall behind you'll be lost. This class is extremely hard, the tests are what most people fail at because of how hard he makes them. He gives you previous exams to practice but the questions he asks on the exam are totally different. I am talking about studying for 4 days straight and still failing kinda hard. On one exam everyone did bad on and he still didn't curve it or find a way to help us out because of how badly it affected our grades. The projects aren't totally awful until you get near the end of the semester, I would say you are working on a project every day of the week through the semester. But most people do better on the projects than on the exams and that's what helps your grade. There are certain TA's that aren't really much help and it's so difficult to make a meeting with a TA for no reason. I have never seen so many people struggle with one class until I took CMSC131. I really don't recommend this class to anyone and if I could go back in time and not take this class I would. This class ruined my first semester of freshman year.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2021	Nelson is clearly a super caring guy. He acknowledges the difficulty of CS and wants everyone to do well. His lectures are also great and he keeps you engaged with jokes and stories. Some people complain that the jokes and stories are a distraction, but they made me more engaged. Just make sure you don't blank out during lectures as you can miss important info. Projects and exams can be tricky, so make sure you are on top of everything. I came in with coding experience so I was fine, but I saw a ton of my friends really struggle.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 12/08/2021	Absolute King of a prof. He's as funny as he is knowledgeable, and is an all-around great choice. His lectures are entertaining and informative, and he will pause periodically and wait for someone to raise their hand. After each lecture, he'll post his slides and any code he used in class as examples. As someone who's had a few years of experience in Java, the projects are challenging but always fair and well-implemented (and there's always a TA who can help you). Each week, he'll post practice questions that he'll occasionally directly copy onto quizzes and exams. The quizzes are easy but frequent enough that you're always forced to keep up with the information. The exams can be challenging but are never impossible. In each discussion section, he'll give a lab that is very reflective of any quiz or exam coding questions. Overall, Fawzi makes you want to learn and understand the info and I can't recommend him enough.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/08/2021	Just finishing up the semester and had to give Nelson a review. Out of my 3 semesters here, he’s easily one of the best professors I’ve ever had. Not only is he hilarious, but he also keeps his lectures engaging, and really tries to get his students to understand what is going on. I have had no actual prior programming experience before coming into this class, and I was able to pick up on concepts really easily, especially with all the examples he hands out. The projects definitely get challenging near the end, but you have plenty of time to finish them and the TA’s can be very helpful. This is not the easiest class, and it definitely has a decent workload, but it was overall enjoyable and a great start towards a computer science degree. Also: HE RECORDS LECTURES! It’s really useful. Fawzi doesn’t to my knowledge. Some of these 1 star reviews are upsetting me so here’s what I have to say: - His accent is so slight that you can understand everything he is saying just fine, and his occasional grammatical errors are not at all confusing, just read over the sentence again. - While this class does get harder as it goes along, as long as you pay attention a good 80% of the time and keep with the work, there is no way you would be able to call this class impossible. - As far as CMSC131 and CMSC132 go, I have heard that Nelson is one of the easier professors. - He definitely does more than read his slides. He shows several examples of code for each topic - He isn’t a big fan of when people talk loudly in his class, but he’s cool about it. I talked with my friend everyday in that class at a low volume and he didn’t mind at all. - He will ask you to clarify your questions if he doesn’t understand, so be sure to be clear about your issues. The TA’s will help you if he can’t. I highly recommend if you want to go into CS, take Nelson.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2021	I took 131 with no coding experience during Spring 21 sem. His class was extremely difficult for me because of the difference in content covered on exams vs in the lectures. Projects and exams took me all day and I struggled really hard with this class. You won't interact with him at all so be prepared to teach yourself and always attend discussion.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/19/2021	Definitely one of the best professors at UMD especially because of how easy and fun he makes the lectures. He is the only professor that I have this semester whose class just seems to effortless and fun. Nelson seems more like a friend than a teacher - a great quality for someone looking to be mentored.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/23/2021	One of the best CS professors out there. Yes the class is difficult but Nelson tried to make the material as understandable as possible. But halfway through the semester the course feels like it suddenly sped up, so you need to stay on your game the whole time or you will get overwhelmed by new material fast.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/20/2021	Good lecturer, although he gave less time than some other professors for quizzes and exams which made them somewhat difficult.
Arjun Kothakota CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/14/2021	brilliant TA, deserves prizes in the form of candy BOMBS. he's so good, he spent a lot of time with me helping me perfect my projects take it with him if you have the chance!!!
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/02/2021	I had Fawzi for 131 last semester and he did an outstanding job. I really felt like I learned the material completely. I can't recommend him enough.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B CrazeddRabbi 01/13/2021	His lectures (which were asynchronous) were always out in a timely manner, and when they weren't he would give you an extra two or three days to watch them. His lectures were not only well-taught and understandable but also entertaining, as he constantly cracks jokes. He is also very responsive to emails.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 01/11/2021	Solid lecturer, though wouldn't recommend taking him if you don't do well under pressure due to the time constraints he had for tests/quizzes.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 01/03/2021	I am a rising senior in CS and Fawzi is one of the best teachers that I have had alongside Teli. He explains the concepts well and is good at gauging what a freshman understands better than Yoon. You can't go wrong with taking him or Nelson.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/27/2020	Nelson does a great job of making a potentially boring class, extremely fun. He explains the concepts well and adds in humor to make it bearable. This class is a lot of work, of course, but here are a lot of ways to get help if you need it. I am going to take his classes as many times as I possibly can.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/26/2020	I took Fawzi for 131 and will be taking him again for 132 in the spring. He is a great lecturer, explaining concepts well and then illustrating them with examples. He also keeps them fairly entertaining (which is hard to do with pre-recorded lectures, I'm sure his in-person classes are even better). All of the projects were fairly straightforward and most of the time you end up with a cool final product. If you watch all his lectures and study your lecture notes, you'll do fine on quizzes/exams. He covers everything that winds up on his tests in his lectures.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/15/2020	He''s a great professor and all his lectures explain the concepts thoroughly. During COVID his lectures are recorded and it mandatory to watch for a grade. He posts them a day early. His exams and quizzes are timed. He makes silly jokes in his lecture and overall, I definitely recommend him as a professor for this class.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2020	Fawzi was a solid professor with quality lectures and enjoyable, reasonable projects. His lectures were asynchronous and you had all day to watch them, which was convenient. If you enjoy challenges, then I guarantee you will like his Soldiers project which was a lot of fun to work with. The biggest downside is that his quizzes are little tough and can be tight on time. He also comes off a bit rude in his class-wide emails, however whenever I personally emailed him, he was receptive and kind.
Phoebe Moh CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2020	Phoebe is the best TA that I've had yet. She is insanely nice, helpful and very good at teaching class. She is very approachable with any issues you might have.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2020	Really enjoyed his class - though lectures were recorded online, I was never bored when watching them, plus he makes the content really easy to understand for a beginner CS course; plus, quizzes + projects were not bad - would definitely reccommend!
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2020	The actual GOAT. I have minimal background programming experience and took this class to see if I enjoyed CS. Fawzi was a great professor with a great sense of humor and very fair exams/quizzes. He taught me so much about CS and I am very glad I took it with him, plan on taking 132 with him next semester to. If you can, take Fawzi.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/01/2020	He's good at explaining concepts. It is a bit distracting when he talks to his students in the recordings (class was asynchronous so we only watched recordings of previous lectures), but it helps with having a mini break in between. His accent is a bit challenging at times, so do not rely on the auto-generated captions. Open to help on Piazza and usually assigns enough time for projects, but you will most likely be directed to a TA for help. He gives lots of time to complete quizzes.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an F Anonymous 11/20/2020	Hardest thing ive ever done in my life. It started soooo slow but then it got extremely hard extremely fast and ruthless after learning about objects. Nelson is cool but not for this class.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/12/2020	This man knows how to keep the class engaged, and he's absolutely hilarious. Projects and exams are kind of difficult though, so make sure to really get the material down.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/02/2020	Such an awesome teacher for 131 and 132. He's fun and fair, and he's a good lecturer that makes sure you understand the material–as long as you pay attention during his lectures and show up, you can do really well in the class. He also let me take my first 131 exam in his office after I accidentally slept through it, so I pretty much owe this man my life.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a P Anonymous 10/28/2020	Nelson is a funny guy who makes a lot of jokes, but I didn't really learn that much from him. I wish I had taken the course with the other instructor.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/25/2020	AMAZING professor. Clearly always prepared for his lectures, makes everything understandable and attention-holding, and easy to talk to. Great class even if you haven't done CS before. Overall, I had a great time in his classes (took CMSC131 and 132 with him). Projects are doable and interesting but will take time. He also has pop quizzes (better in 131 than 132 there). I learned so much from him!!
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a P Anonymous 05/18/2020	I'm an international student. My native language is not English. And I have to say, if you don't have any background on coding or if you are not an English native speaker, DO NOT TAKE Nelson because he has a thick Spanish accent. It sounds like he was shooting a machine gun. DADADADADA.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/28/2020	He's a good person, but an okay teacher. He lectures every class, but rarely stays on topic. If you know basic Java already you are probably better off taking his class because it will be so easy and minimal work. He does clickers, but it is really just for attendance. So you will have to show up to his class, but do nothing in it. His exams are tough-ish. Its more because he likes to test on the stuff he said once.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/29/2020	Take nelson.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/18/2019	I had Golub for 131 and 351. I disliked him for 131, as I was just learning CS and his lectures were very rambling and not very useful. His slides are not that great when he has them, so you really have to pay attention. Despite these complaints I did learn stuff in his lecturers and I think I got the correct grades for the amount of work I put in. For 351 he was great mainly because he was much easier than Kruskal. His tests were very fair in that class and were very similar to the homeworks and lectures. I would recommend Golub for upper level courses, but maybe avoid him for earlier courses, as his non-sequiturs can be really frustrating when you are first learning certain concepts.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2019	I was worried taking this class with basically no cs experience, but fawzi definitely made everything feel doable. His lectures are great and because of the way his slides are made, you HAVE to attend every lecture if you don’t have a strong background. His quizzes are also very easy but he doesn’t drop so you have to make sure you go to every lecture and consistently stay up to date with his study questions. The two midterms are almost entirely straightforward questions and are very simple to study for by looking at past quizzes/study questions. The projects are easy A’s if you start them the day you’re assigned, which I made a habit. Overall, this class was the most time consuming class I’ve had so far, but also one where I learned the most. I definitely recommend taking fawzi, as I believe you’ll learn the most from him.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/04/2019	Perfect, approachable, answers questions, funny, and commands classroom
Matt Patrick CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/30/2019	Great TA and easy to talk to. He would take time after lab to talk to me about jobs and future classes too which I really liked.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/27/2019	Very good lecturing. It helped that he was co-lecturing with nelson so I think the exams were easier.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/16/2019	Fawzi is AMAZING! I don't see how anybody could give him a negative review. He is a true professional who loves teaching and cares deeply about his students. He's the best natural "teacher" I've ever had (including college and high school). The lectures were informative and held my attention the whole time. He was also very helpful and encouraging to me during office hours. I wish I could take another class with Fawzi!
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 08/15/2019	Fawzi is pretty overrated. Maybe it's just me since everyone else seems to love him, but he was under-prepared for class almost every single lecture. Maybe its because I was his first class of the day, not entirely sure, but he'd frequently forget about slides or not have materials ready. His lecturing style was alright, but nowhere near as phenomenal as people make it out to be.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 08/11/2019	Trust these reviews. Fawzi knows how to teach CS to beginners unlike any other professor in the department. I came in with absolutely no knowledge of Java and got an A+. By no means is his 131 class easy, conversely it is actually very difficult. I am a business major adding CS and this was definitely the hardest class I've ever taken. You need to work really hard and study literally every day to do well in this course. Fawzi is an astounding lecturer and if you sit in the front, ask questions, and take notes on everything he says, you can do well. Fawzi is miles better than any other professor (including Nelson/Pedram) for CMSC131. Take him!
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 08/06/2019	Great Lecturer
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/02/2019	Yoon wasn't an amazing attention grabber during lecture but he taught the class really well. The projects really helped with learning the material and starting with Processing before Java was such a great idea. Overall highly recommend his class for beginners and experienced people alike.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/01/2019	I thought he was fine for 131. Lectures aren't great, frequently goes off-topic. Kind during office hours. If you have prior programming expierence you'll be fine. If you don't then develop a hand in Java before starting 131.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/19/2019	Although his teaching style is not that good and lectures are very hard to understand sometimes, Yoon has a great personality. The projects in this class can be hard, but he tries his best to make sure everyone knows what they have to do. Finally, the best thing about Yoon is that he makes big fair, curves in the class as a whole.
Diarre Ibrahim CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/10/2019	Amazing TA!! He actually cares about your success and answers any questions you have. Even though he wasn’t a teaching TA, his office hours really helped me get a better understanding of the content and projects!
Shriraj Gandhi CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/10/2019	Hands down best TA out there. Goes above and beyond to help students, dedicates time outside of class to hold 3 hour review sessions and practice exams, answers ALL questions, and simply cares a lot about student success.
Diarre Ibrahim CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/27/2019	This guy...let me tell you...this guy has dedication to his students! He stays over his hours to help anyone who still needs help! Probably the most clever TA of the staff. Sad he will not be able to TA after he graduates, he knows how to reeeeeeech deeeeeeese keeeeeeeds!
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/15/2019	A very dedicate professor, who always tries his best to help students to understand lessons.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A braniac9 04/11/2019	Lived up to the hype. Great and engaging lecturer who cares about his students (overused some jokes, though). Other reviews mention grammatical errors in project specifications, but this was not my experience. Receptive to student concerns.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/28/2019	Don't know why a lot of people hate on Nelson. He's an awesome professor and I thought he explained things to beginner programming students very well compared to other 131 professors. I had experience in Java before coming in, so I didn't have to study as much I guess. I would recommend Nelson over Herman any day. He does make some weird jokes here and there, but if you have at least a little sense of humor, the 75-minute lectures fly by.
Mohammad Nayeem Teli CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/14/2019	He was the best professor of CMSC131 at the semester I took it. He is a nice guy. He allows using laptops for taking notes. He answers questions from the class. He is good at explaining various concepts clearly, using terminologies. Only he is not very good at making analogies. If you consider analogies essential for explaining concepts in computer science, you may not like his explanations.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B+ fellowterp2022 01/21/2019	Everything I want to say has already been said by all the 5-star ratings of Fawzi Emad! This man is an enthusiastic, organized, well-spoken professor who is passionate about whatever he teaches. Of course, if you don't put effort into reviewing concepts and doing the CS projects early, your grade will reflect that. I liked his teaching style. Very straightforward and to the point, plus his humor to enhance the learning environment. Fawzi is surely the way to go when deciding which professor to learn from! In fact, I'm taking him again for CMSC132 and CMSC250 this semester :)
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/19/2018	My only prior experience to CS was Programming 1 my senior year of HS, and all those topics were covered within the first two weeks of CMSC131 so everything was fairly new. Nelson is an incredible professor! He makes the lecturers funny and engages with his students. He really cares for his students and extends projects when he sees fit. Sometimes there are 1 point assignments to boost your grade a little. His lectures are posted online but I highly recommend going to class and then going home to rewatch the lecture and taking notes. I did this for the final exam and scored really high that I wished I did this throughout the semester so that I wouldn't have been crying about the projects. Projects are hard but people are willing to help!! His exams and quizzes are no surprise if you studied and dedicate time for the materials. I ended up with an A- in the class with the small curve. I highly recommend Nelson!
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/13/2018	Fawzi is a good lecturer, has good explanations. He is sometimes rude to students, specifically women, in lecture and in office hours.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/13/2018	I had to take Evan Golub for CMSC131 because I am international student and the seats for Fawzi Emad (Best CS Prof) were full. Its pretty much the same as his other negative reviews for 131 where his lectures are boring and off-topic, doesn't help you prepare for the exam, weird grading criteria, stupid clickers, laughs at his own jokes!!
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2018	One of the best computer science instructors I have ever had. He is extremely organized, and is great at explaining new topics in lecture. He is enthusiastic when teaching and wants to see you succeed. I would prioritize signing up for his class over anyone else.
William Pugh CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2018	Great professor if you have background with Java. Not so great if you know nothing, but I already knew Java and he only furthered my understanding of programming concepts and how to more effectively use Java.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 11/20/2018	Fantastic professor, he is very engaging and pretty funny. The course (CMSC131) covers a lot of ground, so things move very fast-paced, but Fawzi does a great job covering everything. Study Questions are great for exam preparation (but not sufficient alone). Projects are not too difficult but become increasingly more time-consuming as the semester progresses, thus starting early is a good idea. Exams are very fair, not too difficult, not too easy. Things that are passed by in lecture may show up on the exam, so it is a good idea to make it to every lecture and take detailed notes. Definitely practice writing chunks of code on paper if you are not used to it, those are usually the most difficult portions of the exams and you won't have a lot of time to think of how to go about the problem, so it's important to know your approach immediately. Do the labs, the code that you have to write in those often resemble the code problems on the exams. Fawzi is superb at explaining abstract concepts and their practicality. The class is not an "easy A", but if you put in the work then you should be fine and will certainly learn a lot. The man is good at his job.
Mohammad Nayeem Teli CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/20/2018	Professor Nayeem is pretty good. He's always willing to answer questions and speaks in a clear voice. Occasionally, it seems as if he accidentally leaves out small details that are important to the concept he is explaining. I'd recommend that if you take him, don't be afraid to ask questions and keep doing so until you understand the concept, he is very approachable.
Roger Eastman CMSC131 lactaid 09/20/2018	A really nice guy and great professor. He really cares about students. Definitely recommend going to his office hours to talk to him about anything.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting a B popo 06/05/2018	Professor Yoon is a nice and careful lecturer. He provides enough time and hints for us to work on our projects and labs. However, he is not good at lecturing. So, if you do not have prior coding experience like me, you need to teach yourself to keep the pace with his lectures.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/02/2018	Not a great lecturer, but cares about students
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/23/2018	Professor Yoon is very respectful and does his best to teach the class fairly. Some of the projects/labs can get a bit difficult but there are countless office hours to get help and he often extends the deadline if the students feel that it is too hard. Despite this, his lectures are clear and helpful, and CMSC131 is completely doable with Yoon.
Roger Eastman CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/22/2018	He's a solid professor. He does everything he can to help his students. Great sense of humor. Does tend to lose his place sometimes during lecture but he's great overall. His practice exams look very much like the actual exams given.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/17/2018	Excellent lecturer! This was my favorite class to go to. The projects are interesting the exams were not too bad. Take that with a grain of salt since I have programmed before. He posts weekly study questions and those are the guide to acing the exams.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Anonymous 05/15/2018	Great prof, he's very enthusiastic about CS. He also cares a lot about is students and their success in the course. Definitely wouldn't mind taking CMSC 131 with him again.
Colin Chen CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/14/2018	Super helpful and easy to understand! A p funny guy who knows his stuff
Matt Patrick CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/11/2018	Explained concepts really well and was lots of fun too. Take his section if you can.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/11/2018	Amazing professor! So friendly and approachable. He really cares about his students and listens to our concerns. He's also really excited about the topic which makes the lecture a lot more interesting to attend.
Colin Chen CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/11/2018	Extremely helpful when asked. Very friendly TA!
Jasraj Singh CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/11/2018	Awesome TA! Funny, explains things well and also gives general advice about the major!
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/11/2018	This guy is both hilarious and very passionate about teaching. My favourite teacher so far! Take him whenever you can
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 05/11/2018	Fawzi's way of explaining the material really makes it stick. I'm not sure what it is. He just makes you see why a concept is useful or why it matters and the explains it in a logical manner. Everything just clicks.
Jonathan Saewitz CMSC131 Expecting an A+ tomorrow 05/11/2018	A grade A TA. He also writes this website.
Shriraj Gandhi CMSC131 Anonymous 05/10/2018	Awesome TA. Answers questions very quickly and gives a clear response. Holds review sessions with another TA and helps him create practice exams. Approachable and friendly.
Jonathan Saewitz CMSC131 Anonymous 05/10/2018	Incredible TA. Very clear when he teaches a concept and tries to help anyone that does not understand. Easy to approach and very friendly person. Holds reviews before tests that are extremely helpful and posts practice tests with answers.
Saadiq Shaik CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/10/2018	Saadiq is great! He is very clear with his explanation, and he was able to successfully help me debug 99% of my coding error. Overall, he is a great TA, and I highly suggest you switch into a discussion with him as the TA.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Anonymous 05/10/2018	I work for him and he cares so much about his students and TAs
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 Anonymous 05/10/2018	Really, super nice. He's very excited and enthusiastic about teaching which is great.
Jonathan Saewitz CMSC131 Anonymous 05/10/2018	Hosts CMSC131 review sessions, seemingly of his own volition. Really helpful, great at answering questions.
Anastasiya Stolyarova CMSC131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/09/2018	amazing TA, always eager to help out during class and leads great reviews for the material we do in lecture. Quizzes are sometimes tough but I don't think she makes them.
Anastasiya Stolyarova CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/08/2018	She's a little timid at first, but she truly is a great TA. She is great at explaining things and she makes sure to ask if any students have questions or if anything is confusing. She is also very patient. Any student would be lucky to have her as a TA. (:
Evan Golub CMSC131 Anonymous 05/08/2018	AVOID HIM IF YOU CAN, worst professor ever, you barely learn, exams get a tad harder near the end of course, and the clicker quizzes were so pointless and literally the only reason I bothered to show up to his lectures. Anyone I took to watch his lectures with me all said that it was the worst lecture they'd ever been to, one of them chose Kruskal over him for his 351 class after he watched in on my 131 lectures.
Roger Eastman CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/08/2018	An alright professor, he jumps into 132 concepts a bit sometimes and expects you to know them for the tests. Also, one annoying part was we went over this basic programming language (basically elementary java) called Processing for over HALF of the semester which was really annoying, made me want to transition into Eclipse ASAP, as much as I hate to say it. Otherwise, Eastman's a nice person and good to talk to if you need help.
Joseph Lui CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2018	Outstanding TA
Jasraj Singh CMSC131 Anonymous 05/07/2018	Humorous, gives good advice, understanding of the frustrations of being a compsci student
Colin Chen CMSC131 Anonymous 05/07/2018	Helpful and quiet, informative.
Anastasiya Stolyarova CMSC131 Anonymous 05/07/2018	Ana was a great TA and was always very helpful during office hours and discussion. She always responded to emails quickly and was patient with her students and wanted them to learn the material so they can succeed in the course.
Jasraj Singh CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/07/2018	Best TA
Anastasiya Stolyarova CMSC131 Anonymous 05/07/2018	Great TA, super helpful; went above and beyond to help us understand content
Anastasiya Stolyarova CMSC131 Anonymous 05/07/2018	Humorous and engaging, would for sure take again.
Roger Eastman CMSC131 lactaid 05/06/2018	Really nice guy. Dr. Eastman is always looking for ways to help students learn the material well. Would definitely recommend.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 04/17/2018	I had him for 131 and did not learn a single thing except how is made world a better place, how is a influential person in many things. He should not be teaching 131 at all. This class needs a person who actually teaches.
Anastasiya Stolyarova CMSC131 Anonymous 04/04/2018	Extremely hard working TA, goes to great lengths to ensure you understand concepts. Great at explaining stuff, and genuinely cares about her students.
Pedram Sadeghian CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/20/2018	Class wasn't too boring for an intro course. He tried his best to teach to the lowest common denominator, since it is an intro course. Grading is fair, didn't always know everything in lecture but he tried his best to answer what he could.
Allison Chatham CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 03/15/2018	Very nice & helpful
William Pugh CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/05/2018	Take his class if you have programming background before. You will learn a lot if you know what is going on. Really a knowledgeable and talented professor but not good at lecturing.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 01/30/2018	The worst thing about Nelson is that his jokes get really old.
Ilchul Yoon CMSC131 lactaid 12/28/2017	Really nice guy. Co-taught CMSC131 with Dr. Pugh this past semester and didn't lecture much but still was active in teaching the course. I'm confident he'll do a great job teaching 131 next semester.
William Pugh CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/15/2017	extremely smart professor, but not best at lecturing. would highly recommend if you have a little coding background; you'l learn a lot
William Pugh CMSC131 Expecting a D Anonymous 12/11/2017	Terrible lecturer
William Pugh CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/30/2017	He's a good professor but his projects can be kind of difficult. His exams are somewhat manageable, but the time crunch makes it a race to see who can scribble code the fastest. His lectures are okay but at least he tries his best to make the course interesting. I would recommend Pugh to you if you have had some coding experience before, but if you don't, just a warning that it may be a bit too difficult.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/26/2017	Amazing professor! Keeps the class entertaining while teaching the material in a well paced manner.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 11/19/2017	Good personality with a great sense of humor but that’s about it. Complaints: + His project descriptions do not flow well at all. They often have grammatical errors and information seems to be scattered all over the place, making projects very intimidating for beginners. Explanations do not make much sense at all unless you’re proficient with programming. Instructions for projects are simply horrible to say the least. Either too much info scattered throughout or too little. You’ll spend a lot of time trying to figure out what exactly it is you have to do, unless you’re already good at coding. + His lectures are all over the place. Every minute, he interrupts himself to tell someone to stop talking (even if they weren’t talking). For us beginners, it doesn’t help that he keeps doing that. He should just focus on his presentation and teach us the lectures without interruption. If you’re good at coding, take his class. He’s funny and makes class fun. But if you’re new to coding, be careful. His projects will give you constant headaches, and you’ll waste a ton of time trying to make sense of the project briefings.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/14/2016	Wow.... Where to start with this monster of person. Not only does he have the most dry sense of humor but it's like he's allergic to teaching in general and avoids it at all fucking costs... IT'S YOUR DAMN JOB MAN don't tell us stories about some bullshit NASA stuff you made up and how people were just begging to use your code. We get it... comment our code yeesh just teach the damn class. The only reason I plan to get a relatively high mark is because I taught myself out of class... I have 100% on all of the projects and labs but shit grades on the exams. Wanna know why??? well i'll tell you... THE MAN DOESN'T TEACH YOU WHAT HE ASKS ON THE EXAM.... although there could just be a situation we may never considered about his case. He could be a savant and only understand coding and can't comprehend how to interact with other humans or do his job... If that's the case I'm sorry for my tone
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/12/2016	BEST PROFESSOR FOR CS! He is so funny and passionate about the topic. However the class is really hard, especially for people who have never coded before, like me. I struggled a lot in this class. You need to dedicate a lot of time to understanding the material. Class is hard but Fawzi is awesome!!
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/03/2016	Basically if you're the type of person that's pretty good with computers and knows his stuff, and goes to lecture, this guy is for you. I've had 11 years of computer programming experience since elementary school, so I found this class to be far too easy. But I don't think he's a bad professor. He asks questions to make sure people are involved, and he gives hints on what might be on quizzes, etc. Basically, he says to study daily, and YOU SHOULD. I studied C++ in middle school on my own, so these concepts are familiar to me. Also, review the quizzes for the tests. If you have questions, try to go to his office hours to ask a question. But to be honest, he won't help nor will the TA really help. You really have to figure out what's wrong with your program yourself. Once you get to JUnit Tests, make sure to write little junit tests for each method as you go along. That will help a lot. With your JUnit tests, you can figure out what's wrong easily unlike the submit server's JUnit tests.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/05/2016	Nelson is a great guy! His personality is so nice and he's HILARIOUS in class. He makes it fun to learn and a lot easier to pay attention in class. I am a newbie to computer science so the class itself was a little difficult. Nelson is a good guy for people new to computer science because he will make your introduction to compsci very fun. The first midterm for us was really easy and was just like the practice study guide they gave us. The second midterm was ridiculously difficult. It was impossible for anyone with no experience prior to have done well on that exam. Even people that were experienced were depressed after the exam. As for the final, it was a lot better. It wasn't too difficult like the first one but it was still challenging. Make sure to study a lot and go to all the discussions and lectures and to try to learn on your own time because class time is not enough. This class is tailored more for the experienced kids so being a newbie is quite the disadvantage. The whole "you don't need any experience prior" was one of the biggest lies I was told. Also be aware of cheating and copying other people's projects or even collaborating. There was a whole thing this year where the professors are going to prosecute those who cheated on projects which will result in an XF (failure and cheating mark) that will stay with you forever even if you retake the class. It's also better to do it on your own because you learn a lot more that way. BTW: TA hours are a HUGE mess. It's always packed in the TA office and you have to wait a long time for the TA to even come to you to help you. Kinda why I don't understand why the rules for even talking about the projects together are so strict, but can't really do anything about it. Don't show anyone your code and don't ask anyone for theirs. It's a serious issue. TIP: Do really well on the projects because those were the only things holding my grade up (as well as the quizzes). You can bomb the exams and still get a decent grade if you do extremely well on quizzes and projects.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Anonymous 05/17/2015	He was a horrible professor. He talked about himself the entire class and what you needed to know and why you needed to know it, but would never actually teach you how to do it. His exams were long and difficult and if you need 20 seconds to finish a line of code he will scream his head off and literally rip the exam from your hand. He does not teach the material and leaves it up to the TA. So if your TA sucks good luck in the class. I never learned a thing from his class even though I attended lecture, reviewed daily, and bought the book. Whatever you do, do not take this exam.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Anonymous 05/12/2015	AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Worst professor I have ever encountered. Lectures are the most pointless waste of time(I went to everyone) where he spends time going off on tangents that have nothing to do with computer science. Extremely harsh grader when comes to projects and tests. Due to the snow he attempted to cram every project into the semester, the last being due in a week as we also have finals to study for. If you have zero experience in Computer Science avoid. The tests are tough and so are the projects expect to put a lot of time into this class. He must enjoy wording the most complex questions into exams. Dont be mistaken if you have learned anything by the end of this class its because of your TA or the people you decided to work with, how Golub has a job here is astonishing. He gives you study questions that, guess what, have no real impact on tests and quizzes :). Dont believe any of the reviews that rate him from years ago as they do not reflect Golub's terrible teaching strategy. Not to mention his condescending attitude when faced with question, prepare to be spoken to like a baby. As an intro course designed for people new to Computer Science courses the workload was by far too heavy his expectations are flawed for students. AVOID AT ALL COSTS
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 03/29/2015	By far the worst teacher I've ever had in my entire life. First off his lectures are terrible. You don't learn a thing from them. He just talks about life experiences and why you need to know something but he never actually teaches it to you. He's so self conceited you'd think the class was named GLUB131. All he talks about is himself. Impossible to pay attention through the stories in his lectures so when he does actually say something related to the class, you're not paying attention to it. He is BATSHIT insane. Would literally rip students tests out of their hands and yell at them at the top of his lungs for finishing a line of code on tests seconds after he said stop writing. Least personable and reasonable person I've met in my life. Comes off as if he hates all of his students. I received a 77.954 average after putting in more work for this class than any other by far and he wouldn't give me the C+ for the class. DO NOT take this class even if it is the absolute last option. You'll regret it. Golub is just the worst candidate for a teacher. I have no clue who hired him with his psychological brain, but he needs to be fired. Doesn't help a soul being there.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting a F+ The_Golub 01/30/2015	Imagine the first day of class. As you embark on your journey through the mystifying complex universe of computer science, you have no idea what to expect. You could be dealing with the unforeseen; singularities caused by Eclipse phenomenons, encounters with fierce, atrocious bugs on the submit server, or even bang you head on your very own $800 laptop as you scream at the ambiguous results of the release tests! A toilet bowl of intellectual thoughts flurries around your noggin; there could be computers, video games, cameras, programming, computers, flying cellphones, virtual pinball and more! Then all of a sudden. BAM! Golub's hairstyle is crazy – he’s like the Yoda of comp sci. Don't underestimate his powers. As soon as you walk through the door, the surrounding air temperature drops 30 degrees as you witness the epitome of the human race. A majestic white haired dude strides across the lecture hall and spreads his arms openly– with a devilish grin on his face – so fast you could have blinked and missed the moment of a lifetime. (I strongly advise bringing a camera to savor the moment) Golub E., or professionally known as “Evan de Golub”, is a retired super villain who now only uses his powers for forces of good….. for students of the CMSC major at the University of Maryland. He wears a silk vest every day - except on every other Friday. However, I personally felt like when he wasn't wearing the vest his lectures were more interesting and remained on topic. (Escalating theories in the scientific community that this very vest may have been part of his original super villain costume - and retains faint traces of pure evil.) His vest is swaggy doe. Props to him. Although his receding hairline may fool you upon first glance, he has a magnificent pony tail and has the full-fledged back-head experience. But keep in mind he is no Lebron James. Golub is an extremely young person – his hair is only grey from an abundance of knowledge and sagacious wisdom he has accumulated throughout his career. (One, of course, which would take the average man many lifetimes to equal.) Golub is a young warrior, holding years of experience computer sciencing, playing wacky poker in the devious back rooms of mobster hideouts, taking photographs of people’s feet and farm animals, and executing simulations of the mass genocide of pond fishies. But don’t let me spoil the extravagant, Oscar-worthy backstory though. Let the Golub himself reveal it to you through his eloquent novel-worthy lectures which leave you hanging on an epic, thrilling cliff hanger after each 51 minute session. But don’t worry my fellow Golub-goers, he always comes back the next week to continue the story almost where he left off, even after he has given tests that were not on the future topics he touched in the lectures – but on the stuff you should’ve KNOWN ALL ALONG FROM THE START. Damn, this guy practically wrote Inception. (Before Christopher Nolan bought the rights to it.) Anyway, at first his lectures might seem pointless, spontaneous, random, unconnected, irrelevant, boring, and really confusing - but don’t let that fool you. In each session there is a small ten second topic that will become a pivotal test question somewhere down the road. Trust me. All of the spontaneous, random, unconnected, irrelevant, boring, and really confusing tangents he goes on are actually tests, testing the mental capacity of all 140 stude– I mean 45 students who bother to show up- in search for a new padawan. So if you want the prestigious position of “Golub padawan” on your resume, it’s best you sign up right now and claim your first row seat. I strongly advise not bringing a computer to his lecture – this only distracts you from the true Golub-glorified experience. His signature hand gestures during his elegant lectures engage full houses of students – from all over the world- elevating them to the balls of their feet as he tells witty jokes that no one listens to. Seriously, one time someone almost let out a giggle and the whole universe practically collapsed inward upon itself and imploded. I suggest bringing the classic pen and notepad – which were the slim-lined computers Golub himself used when growing up in college – not those vintage clay tablets developed by the Mayans. (They’re too intricate for the average man!) No matter which type of device you plan to bring, always stare at it and never make eye contact with the master while he speaks – this is a sign of challenge, an instinct Golub has picked up from his years chillin with lions and tigers and preforming weird combos to their portraits. Golub is a man with an infinite bag of tricks – did you know he was bilingual? Early on he’ll amaze you with a programming project that no only asks you to prompt the user in English, but also in SPANISH?!!?! hhhhoooooowwwWWHHHHAAAAAAA?!!?!?! This man is a genius. You’ll soon learn the concept of accounting for different cultural values and measurement systems because Golub exposes the flaws of NASA and unit conversions. During his reign as supervillain, Golub encountered the forces of NASA and recollects how the US measurement of distance was different that Europe’s system, causing the NASA probe to crash (wasting the hundreds of millions of dollars Golub could have used for world domination). He references this story at least once every week, which now in hindsight, I think was a reoccurring subliminal message for comp sci students: don’t trust NASA. Not only will you embark on pointless, unnecessary projects while other classes are sticking closer to reality, Golub will personally teach you the secrets to his mischievous trade of the wacky poker underground. His wacky poker project seemed too wacky for my taste, but then again, I was never playing a high stakes poker game with 300 zoo animals on the line. Golub is truly a modern superhero. When I took this class I never expected to learn essential life skills including: what Rwanda’s flag looks like in 3 bit-resolution, how to do calculus in Martianese notation, how to program, or even the science behind a fish pond exploiting the true concepts of Darwinism. But now I know, and I shall hold on to these precious gifts dearly as I move on with my life. If you have been missing a real Bill Nye the science guy in your life, then this is the opportunity of a life time. Golub is a golden star, which luckily this review system can represent for future generations yet to come. 1st out of 5 stars Would take again…… And audit too if forced by gunpoint.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A collegeben 12/11/2014	Fawzi was an excellent professor for 131. He was really great at explaining the concepts and his projects were fair and fun to do. I would definitely take Fawzi if you get the chance. His class wasn't particularly easy, but if you want to learn the material and have a bit of a challenge take a class with him.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/11/2014	Terrible professor. Avoid at all costs for your own sanity. The people who give him good reviews are the students that already know everything there is to know about computer science and find his jokes and stories amusing. He spends sometimes up to half of the class telling stories about things he used to do in previous coding jobs that have absolutely nothing to do with the material you are learning, then gives you quizzes on the same material. If you are even somewhat of a visual learner that needs to see how things work, do not take Golub. He explains everything using stupid metaphors that he finds helpful and almost never shows actual code in java. Exams are not very similar to the study question posted. As someone below me said, he definitely leaves core topics to the TA's and barely teaches anything in class. So if you have a bad TA, you are in a terrible position.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/25/2014	I have no idea why people are saying she's a bad teacher. If you aren't a bright person you aren't gonna do well in computer science, the material isn't easy to comprehend. That being said, I had never programmed going into college and got a 100 on every single project. Jan hooks it up in office hours and bumped my grade when I was borderline. Make sure you practice writing code on paper or it will hurt you come exam time, which is the only reason I needed a bump. jan is a great lecturer, teacher and person.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 04/30/2014	She's nice, but her examples in lecture are terrible. If you're obsessed with cats you'll love her because every single example she gives in class deals with cats. The projects are also very different from what she teaches, if you expect her examples to help you on projects you're wrong, and the lectures aren't very helpful towards teaching the concepts of the class. If you go to discussion, though, the TAs are actually really helpful and teach in a much simpler way than Jan.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 tdsouza 01/18/2014	As an freshman who is a CS Major with no prior experience in Computer Science, I can say that Fawzi Emad is an amazing professor. He keeps the class interesting while also teaching the material in an extremely clear fashion. However, if you are new to programming languages like Java, there are obstacles that you have to overcome (Don't worry, they're not to bad!). 1. Fawzi can't review every topic with a fine tooth comb because it's only a semester-long course, therefore the rate at which new material is introduced is fast. You will have to attend pretty much every lecture if you want to be at a good pace, and you must take copious notes - Fawzi doesn't use the textbook (don't buy the textbook, it's completely useless). 2. The projects. The first two projects are very easy and doable...however the difficulty then increases quickly. PROJECTS ARE THE MOST CRUCIAL IN GETTING A GOOD GRADE!!! The biggest problem students have with the projects is not figuring out what to do...it's actually completing the project on time. Fawzi gives you about a week and a half to do the projects, but most people wait till the last minute and their grade suffers mightily. PLEASE START YOUR PROJECTS EARLY. I CAN'T STRESS THAT ENOUGH. Now that I'm done addressing those who might be new to programming entirely, let me broaden my view to everyone taking the class. Fawzi's tests are perfectly fair. Not too easy, but definitely not hard as well. Study well, and you'll do fine. PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE STUDY QUESTIONS. They're the keys to a good test score. Quizes and Labs count for a small portion of your overall grade, but make sure you don't BS them. Fawzi's Final Exam was definitely tougher than both his midterms, so don't blow that off and make sure you study hard for that one. Fawzi is a fantastic professor and I can't imagine any professor better in the CS Department who is better.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting an A chromebeast 04/10/2013	Horrible Professor. I've taken 115 credits of classes, and this professor is honestly the most incredibly lackluster and astoundingly nitpicky professor I have ever seen. The first lab was a total disaster, Golub cannot plan logistically at all. He tried to have over 100 students download eclipse at the same time to complete failure. This was then supplemented by him blaming the students for this failure, and making the due date for the first lab the next morning (this was considered "being nice") I submitted the project the next AFTERNOON, to which Golub was apparently physically incapable of giving me any points for. So there you have it! If you want a teacher who will fail you three days into the class for his own complete incomptence with logistical issues, this is the man for you! I've aced every other assignment he's ever assigned (taken the class in HS), but for your average student, this teacher should be avoided like the plague. Emad is way better, sat in on his lectures, and Emad is much more entertaining/worth going to lecture for.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 01/04/2013	This course was absolutely horrid. This was my first time learning to program and I made a mistake taking it with Plane. She is extremely confusing, boring, and her voice just makes me want to tune her out. Her examples and analogies don't make any sense, either, which causes me to become even more confused. The lectures were such basic material that when it came time for the quizzes/projects, I struggled. Quizzes are given every week and for the little amount of time given, the concepts were so much more difficult compared to the labs and the lecture examples. She cannot expect us to understand something at a higher level if she cannot even teach us the basic examples, especially for a beginner Java class (where most students in my lecture had no prior programming experience). The projects were also substantially more difficult than any of the examples ever given in class. Even those with prior programming experience found them to be a little difficult. My TA was also horrible. She was so snappy and anything she wrote on the board could not even be seen .. GET BETTER MARKERS PLEASE. She never spoke loud enough for me to hear and was snappy whenever a student asked a question. However, those with previous programming experience had no trouble in this course. J. Plane basically catered to those who already knew Java .. I am a CompSci major and this bad experience has caused me to reevaluate my choice of major. Hopefully 132 with Fawzi will change my mind. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH J. PLANE IF YOU HAVE NEVER PROGRAMMED BEFORE.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Anonymous 12/06/2012	Sorry to say this, but I feel like this course would be more appropriately titled "introductory minutia of Java syntax." I greatly enjoyed all of the programming assignments, but to be honest, I found the course material extremely frustrating and unenlightening because there was an overwhelming focus on Java's syntactical conventions, rather than the conceptual basis for the object-oriented programming paradigm. All in all, this wasn't a bad course, but I think the content could be a lot better. Unfortunately, Jan also took a rather parental tone towards her students in this class. I'm sorry, I tried, but was unable to find her explanatory metaphors very compelling :(
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 09/23/2012	Incredible professor. Teaches everything himself; never need to buy or look at the book (nor will it help you to). Take good notes in class; they are your only source of substantial information because truth be told, the online lecture slides (which are written by another professor anyway) are convoluted and give much extraneous information. Do not skip exams (as obvious as it sounds, it happens) or quizzes because he strictly adheres to university policy and will give you a zero. You can get by with showing up late but if you try and leave lecture early he will stop you and make you feel terrible in front of the entire class. Start projects early (especially those toward the end of the course) since nobody can get it perfect the first time. Review the study questions he puts online, they mirror key questions on the exams. I came into this class a Business major with no computer programming experience whatsoever, but he goes out of his way to make sure that everyone understands the material.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/21/2012	At first I wasn't sure what I thought of Jan. I've definitely never had a professor with her style of teaching and communication. That being said, I thought she did a great job teaching 131. Here's why: 1) She is VERY approachable outside of class and is really good at clarifying stuff 1 on 1. If you don't understand a lecture she could probably explain it all to you in a matter of 10 minutes if you're bright. 2) She explains stuff and demonstrates what she's talking about by coding in front of you in lecture. It necessarily make the material easy, per se, but it definitely makes it a lot easier to visualize and understand. 3) She has a PhD in both Comp Sci AND Education so she knows what she's doing. 4) She curved both of her midterms this semester. Honestly, she's probably one of the best professors I've had at Maryland yet. Here's the rub, however, with CMSC131: If you're not logically inclined (and honestly not exceptionally bright...there's no point in lying to yourself) you're going to really struggle with this class. That being said, Jan is definitely your best option because of her approachability outside of class. Regardless of that fact, I thought Jan was a great professor and I would highly recommend her for CMSC131.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/03/2012	I had taken computer science classes in high school, but hadn't learned some of the material taught in the 2nd half of the course. I thought Jan was a great teacher. If you came into this class knowing absolutely nothing about java, then I can see how this class could be very difficult. I know a lot of people got C/Ds on the quizzes. Anyway, the use of projecting Eclipse onto a large screen really helped. Unlike some reviewers mentioned from past years, she only used a few pointpoints near the end of the course. And Piazza was great for communication. I came in dreading this class b/c of these bad reviews, but I thought it was pretty bearable.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/16/2012	I thought Nelson was a really nice guy, but his lectures weren't really all that good. He makes the class easy tho, so if all you're worried about is your grade, you'll be fine. I recommend taking another instructor (Fawzi Emad or Evan Golub) if you really want to learn something.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Anonymous 11/26/2011	I took 131 with very little prior programming experience (I took a god-awful class in Java when I was a senior in high school). Regardless, Golub's exceptional style of teaching not only drilled all the fundamentals securely into my mind, but also sparked a passion for programming in me. He does NOT read off slides; he does NOT drone on the entire lecture. (We all know a professor like that!) He buttresses every concept he covers with fantastic analogies, anecdotes from his own impressive career, and examples of practical implications. He takes clicker polls, which may annoy some, but which I found helpful; they motivate you to attend all lectures (which you should anyway) and they help you commit the more important points in a lecture to memory. His quizzes are perfectly fair as are his projects. His project descriptions are especially great - visually appealing, lucid, and not too wordy. He is not as quick with email responses as some other professors, but he is alright. And he always welcomes questions before/after lecture and at office hours. He is a very approachable individual who gives students' questions a good amount of consideration. I have nothing negative to say about him! Look elsewhere in this page for vicious criticisms (LIES, I TELL YOU! haha). TIPS: Sit closer to the front; it'll help you pay attention, participate, and be entertained. Manage your time well in the exams.
Larry Herman CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/02/2011	Wow - these reviews are funny to read. Larry is extremely precise with the material (reason for long project descriptions, too), which makes learning what the code does really easy, and he's very clear about how he wants to be interacted with as an instructor and what he expects of you. If you keep your cell phone away, come to class and actually pay attention, and go to his office hours when you want to talk to him, he's just fine. He seemed a bit harsh on students with certain types of questions at first, but if you get used to the fact that that's just his manner and don't ask questions that he's already answered when you weren't paying attention, no big deal. He's pretty amusing as well, just has a dry sense of humor and is a little bit awkward. I would definitely take a class with him again.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 06/12/2011	I disagree with the person one below me. Fawzi is a really nice guy, and he does care about students. You'll find that out if you go to his office for help. He is definitely one of the best teachers in the CS department if not the best. Teaching people how to program isn't an easy task, and no one does it better than Fawzi. If you've never programmed before you'll have a hard time while taking cmsc131. It's because learning how to program for the first time is really hard, and you'll have to work extra hard in that class. He'll make sure that you learn all the material needed. He doesn't always write the exams, but he'll look at the exams and make sure there isn't anything that he didn't cover. When I took 131, he was running the class, and he wrote the exams, and the exams were very reasonable. On the other hand 132 was run by Nelson, and the exams weren't that great, but still fair. Yes, CMSC389C (C++) didn't go that well, since it was the first time the class was being offered, and Fawzi tried to cover too much stuff in 3 weeks, which didn't work out so well. Fawzi hates curving, but he ended up doing a 10% curve in that class. Fawzi cares about his students, and he'll definitely straighten out that class the next time he takes it. Fawzi has recently started to teach from slides, since he has some physical issues from writing on the blackboard for a long time, and his doctor told him not to write on blackboard. This is kind of unfortunate. He is not like one of those dorky CS professors, he's a very fun guy. On response to the reviewer one below me. Fawzi is a human being. He'll only get angry when there's a very good reason to be angry. One time a student was asking Fawzi if he could gchat with him over the weekend if he has any questions!!! You expect your professor to sit in front of his computer all weekend so that he can answer students' questions! Now who wouldn't get angry at that? I took 4 classes with Fawzi. And I would never take a class with anyone else if Fawzi's teaching it.
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/08/2011	Dr. Golub has received a few negative reviews, but I disagree with them. Sure, he's a bit on the crazy side(good crazy), but that's par for the course in college-level science courses, especially in the UMD Computer Science dept(according to friends of mine who are Comsci seniors). Dr. Golub's teaching style in CMSC131 regularly includes real-world examples and previews of things to come in future CMSC courses. Dr. Golub and his TAs this semester kept a very wide amount of office hours(26 Office hours/week for our course, in addition to the 5 50-minute inclass hours each week). You likely will not need the textbook if you're paying attention in class. Grading wise, the 2 tests had 105 points but graded out of 100(5 point curve). For our class, the median on the 1st test was 79, and the 2nd test was 80. In addition he dropped the lowest quiz and the lowest lab grade. Grading for this course was pretty lenient, and it is very possible to earn a little over 100% in the course. I can't comment on how effective he is at teaching as I took this course with a decent amount of prior knowledge of the material. On the course webpage, we had access to study questions and answers for each week, the powerpoint slides, project descriptions, and some code examples. The study questions and answers are very helpful in preparing for quizzes and tests, and pretty much all you need to study from. The slides were pretty much a skeleton of what's covered in class, and were not much help if you had to miss a class or 2. Project descriptions were clear about what was and wasn't allowed in a certain project, and how to obtain the maximum points. I can't comment on the code examples as I didn't look at them often.
David Jacobs CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/14/2011	Dr. Jacobs is a good professor, but he is new at teaching the 100 level classes, so he does not know how to really interact with students that have a very basic understanding of Java, or computing, in general. I came into the class with a firm foundation, and received an 95% in the class and got almost perfect scores on all of the projects, but I don't think I learned as much as if i were in another teacher's class. He works with other professors and so his exams and all of the material come from them, so the students are almost getting it second hand. He knows the material and is very friendly and a good person all around, but i am not sure that he is the best teacher to teach the lower-level undergraduates. If you can take another professor's class, like Nelson's, then it might be more worth-while and entertaining, but he is not a bad teacher, you just will have to be willing to jump-in in the middle of lecture and say "what are you talking about" at some point.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/03/2011	Nelson is a very engaging and fun teacher to have. He enjoys to teach and make jokes at the same time which is very entertaining. Even though he said in the beginning that he will teach like you never did programming before, I believe that is not true. Exams are not that difficult and projects are pretty fair, where as if the class is struggling to finish it, he will extend the deadline. Overall, I would recommend him as a teacher 100%. The TA does not explain the concepts pretty well.
David Jacobs CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/28/2011	Professor Jacobs is a nice guy and a good teacher. He covers all of the material that needs to be and try will answer any questions you may have; the emphasis of the previous statement is on "try" - sometimes he clarifies the thing you asked about, other times he leaves you more confused than before you asked the question. Overall, he's still a good pick for 131.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 recjra 02/07/2011	Fawzi is an excellent professor. I went into his class not having any programming experience and I came out with a great foundation in Java. He really enjoys teaching, so his enthusiasm made the class fun and interesting. His grading is very fair and he is very helpful and personable.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/26/2011	She is a really nice professor. She cares about her students but does not mind that most of them are not paying attention to her. She gets really annoying with her cat analogies, but she is a good teacher. She describes concepts well and exams are not that hard. Quizzes are also pretty easy. The bad thing is that the last project she assigned were almost impossible. They were way beyond our level of programming and I just feel she did not prepare us well for CMSC132
Evan Golub CMSC131 Expecting an A- atloud 12/19/2010	Golub was an okay teacher. His lectures were pretty boring and not always helpful, but he was very approachable and always willing to help. The quizzes were very difficult however. Fawzi Emad is the better option for CMSC131 and 132.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/19/2010	Excellent teacher, obviously I'm not the only one with this opinion looking at others people's appraisals. He knows java in and out, explains everything you need to know about the upcoming projects and he's just a likable person. His great personality makes the class bearable. If you have to take CMSC131, try to take it with Fawzi.
Nelson Padua-Perez CMSC131 Anonymous 10/25/2010	Guy says he teaches the class as if none of the students have had programming experience before but that's so false ....... guy sits there and writes code and just gives little explanation. Majority of the class already had programming experience so they understood so the class was clearly catered toward them. Get Fawzi.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/21/2010	Jan is a decent professor. She does a good job teaching the material, but if you have any programing knowledge you'll find the class slow and boring. Since this is an intro to java course and aimed at people who never programmed before. Projects and exams are the same with any teacher and aren't very hard. Contrary to what others say I found the quizzes to be quite easy, some of the quizzes on inheritance were pretty hard and I failed maybe 2 the entire semester but each quiz counts for very little of your grade. Just do well on your projects and exams and you'll do fine. You will breeze though the class if you have prior programming knowledge. If you don't have prior programming knowledge this class isn't impossible you'll just have to work a little harder and go to office hours or ask a friend to explain it to you.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Math_Major 12/22/2009	I completely hated this class. I really didn't learn anything from the power points. The quizzes were confusing and if you don't know how to program, it's pretty tough. If anything take this class with Fawzi.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2009	Easy class, especially if you have programming experience. Contrary to what others have said, I believe she did a decent job teaching programming. Her lectures were to the point and covered most of the important exceptions that help. Quizzes and tests were a breeze, as was the final. Labs are very simple and take only a few minutes. Projects sometimes do not overlap with the material being taught, and often take a bit of extra effort, but they are generally not difficult to finish, as long as you start on time. The last project is a bit tricky, though. Overall, a pretty good teacher. I found her lectures helpful, although she does tend to be rather repetitive since this class is geared more towards people without programming experience. Some of her metaphors are quite helpful, I found quite a few of them enlightening, although I can kind of understand being put off by them. Don't listen too much to the other reviews; as long as you actually attend classes and vaguely pay attention, it's definitely a softball class.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/18/2009	Pros: Jan cares a lot about the progress of her students. I went in to her office hours a few times, and she was a huge help. She's very thorough with her explanations. Cons: I found it extremely difficult to pay attention in lectures, and I stopped going after a few weeks. Don't be deceived by the lecture slides posted online, because they don't always cover everything that Jan covers in class. Also, if you're like me and you prefer to learn everything the night before an exam, don't expect to do well. Weekly quizzes are given to ensure you're keeping up with the material. Bottom line: This class wasn't exactly a nightmare for me, but it wasn't all that fun either.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Anonymous 11/22/2009	Jan Plane is a horrible teacher! She actually does try, but she just makes no sense to me. About half way through the course I started going to lectures by the other instructor -- Fawzi Emad -- and it is 1000% better. Mr. Emad explains things in a way that anybody can understand. If you have a choice, take the class with Emad not Plane.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/22/2009	I got an A in this class but I cannot imagine how hard it is if you have no programming experience. My programming experience is very limited but it definitely helped a lot. She tries to use metaphors but she doesn't understand that metaphors are suppose to be something that students can easily relate to to make things more clear. So when she teaches she just makes things confusing as hell. She responds to her emails at ridiculous speeds and is very friendly and approachable outside of class. The quizzes in the class are INSANE. They are so hard and purposely made to hurt your grade. My TA sucked but some of the others were awesome. Exams are hard to finish on time (except for the final)
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a B fhawkes 05/16/2009	I consider my self to be a pretty computer savvy guy, but this was my first programming experience... Lectures were boring, didn't really cover everything I felt was needed for the projects.. Jan did offer help on projects and pretty much does them for you if you go to here office hours or email her constantly.. Thus I received high As on every project.. QUIZZES were IMPOSSIBLE.. I have a D average for quizzes. EXAMSSS.. are rediculous like everyone below me said they are beyond impossible to finish on time and extremely hard.. look to make most of ur points in projects. if you do Well on projects you might just get a B
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a C RalphSteiner 04/20/2009	This class with this teacher is ridiculous. Not only is she incredibly boring, but she makes things that could be easily understood incredibly hard to understand. She also LOVES cats and makes every analogy incredibly confusing. Projects are extremely unclear and confusing. Exams are idiotic. She gives a study guide and study questions, and guess what, very few of them have anything to do what showed up on the exam. SOME of them are based on what she says during lecture but who can understand her? To top it off, you get very little time needed to complete the exam. Even the people who have prior CMSC knowledge are struggle to finish on time. Do NOT take this professor, you WILL regret it, especially if you have no prior CMSC knowledge.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A vbury 02/25/2009	I took 2 years of Java during high school, but chose not to do the AP Comp Sci test, so I had to sit through this class, which was essentially my 2 years of high school Java condensed into one semester. Didn't fall asleep in class, but didn't pay close attention, either. I did most of my learning through the projects. Quizzes were similar to others' experiences. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't take Fawzi.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a C MichaelS 02/23/2009	This class is beyond horrible, but she was the ONLY teacher available for CMSC131 at this time. Only those who have prior knowledge in programming will do well. The first week or two were okay as it was relatively simple and therefore easy to understand, but after that, it gets boring, at least, with this professor. Teacher: She is a really nice lady, she tries to help you as much as she can and is approachable outside of class. However, she cannot teach at all. She is incredibly confusing, boring, and only she tends to know what she is talking about. She makes things that could be easily understood even harder to understand. She makes a lot analogies, which are freaking horrible as they only confuse you further. (She uses lecture slides and refers to examples she puts up on screen.) TA: My TA was pretty nice, but she follows the instructions of the professor when it comes to how to grade or what to do, so it doesn't really matter how nice she is. Projects/Homework: You get a project/homework once every 1-2 weeks, since it takes a while to do. You get a guideline on what you have to do and you have to use what you have learned from lecture. This isn't so bad because you have a long time to do it, so you can get help from TAs, the teacher, or friends(sometimes). Quizzes/Exams: WOW, these things are beyond RIDICULOUS. For someone who does not have prior programming knowledge, you will NOT finish on time. In my class, only 1-2 people, who DID have prior programming knowledge, were about to finish in time. Everyone else did not. Not only are they badly timed, they are HARD. Like I said earlier, she was the only teacher available for CMSC131, but if you can avoid her, DO SO WITHOUT HESISTATION. If you aren't a major in computer science, AVOID. If you can't avoid, you will need to invest an incredulous amount of time if you want an A. Make sure you get a lot of rest before you enter her class, because she goes through a lot of stuff and she will bore you to sleep. Her poor speaking skills and habits do not help her either. It was hard for me to stay interested and awake.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a C Snipe911 01/26/2009	Other reviews pretty much hit it on the head, so I'm going to let you know that they were right. At first, she's alright, tolerable, the material is interesting. And then, just after 'if then' statements, her lectures are off the mark completely. She zips right through incredibly valuable material with some occasional examples, but nothing near what your then supposed to be able to...code... in your own project. I emailed her several times with the most unhelpful condensed reply I've ever seen, as if I was wasting her time. If you haven't had background experience, she is brutal. She puts questions on the exams that are a harder evolution of an unexplained example in class. Oh, and yes, "Office Hours" IS a 'barrage of chaos', 50 kids to one TA. A real shame to have this class the first experience that CS majors get.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A+ Rahulm5000 01/02/2009	Awesome professor. Makes sense of difficult concepts. Students of other professors always come in and sit in on his lecture because he is always a better teacher. His exams are really easy also. He gives 2 mid terms and one final, about 8 quizzes, and 8 projects.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A samiam762 12/20/2008	This being my first computer science class, at Maryland or anywhere, I didn't come in with any idea of what a computer science class would be like. I thought overall Jan Plane was a successful professor - I learned a lot, and got a lot of good practice for programming. The lectures started off interesting, but as time passed they became less and less, but make sure you keep paying attention, because otherwise you'll suddenly have a ton of information to catch up on without much to draw from, other than going to the TAs for help. She has a lot of metaphors for the programming, and the usefulness of those vs. the amount they might just confuse you is definitely up in the air. The tests weren't too bad at all, but like I said if there's a topic you don't really feel that comfortable with writing code on, make sure you fix that because chances are there'll be a test problem that has you writing code on that. For the projects she was very helpful, always willing to look through your code to see what the problem was, which was immensely helpful, but make sure you start the projects early or you'll find yourself having to put hours and hours in the few days before it's due.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2008	She is simply not a good teacher. The projects are the majority of the grade, but the examples she provides in class are inadequate. Therefore I've had to rely heavily on my programming experience from high school. The last few projects are a little hard even for me, so imagine how hard it must be for someone with no previous experience. If you have never programmed before, don't expect to pass her class unless you're prepared to invest a truly incredible portion of your time into it.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 11/07/2008	He is a great teacher, he is fun to listen to, he has a great way of making difficult concepts easy to understand, and he is quite approachable. Very nice.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 09/05/2008	Not all professors are great communicators; Fawzi exceeded my expectations, providing excellent information in easily understood terms. Fawzi's classes had a good energy, making it easy to ask questions and get clear, concise answers.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 08/31/2008	I dropped this class. he caters to those who already know the programming language. yes, he has a good personality, but if you don't know the material to begin with, expect to fail. not my fave.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 bcwik 08/06/2008	Fawzi really is a excellent teacher, definitely one of the best at UMD. He explains everything extremely well, providing concrete examples along with easy-to-understand explanations of the material. I didn't have to buy anything for the class (books), just go to class and you will get a good grade, which is easy because the class is very enjoyable. If you can, definitely take a class with Fawzi.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/12/2008	Had him for 131 and he is damn good. One of the best profs in the CS department. However, there is a downside, in that if you don't know some level of programming before walking in, you will have trouble. This is partially because Fawzi does not curve extra to cope with kids who know code inside out and still take the class. As his GPA spreads say, he is a tough professor, and curves pretty minimally, but in the end, he is a solid teacher. Regardless of the grade you get, you will know the material to a good extent.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a B Billy4202 04/15/2008	At the start, this class was quite simple to understand, all the concepts were basic and taught at a steady pace that was optimal for understanding the material. A few weeks in, however, I, being the very-limited-knowledge-in-computer-science person that I am, was overwhelmed. Seemingly infinite material is provided in a matter of a few weeks, and if you're not extremely diligent and nearly obsessive about learning the material, you'll most likely have trouble here. Lectures rarely helped where they needed to (projects, quizzes, etc.) Quizzes were harder than you could imagine, rarely would anyone pass them (besides the ones that have been programming for 5+ years...). Projects were just as frustrating - and when you try to go in for help, you're met with this barrage of chaos, stuck in a void where the TAs only meet with you for less than five minutes. Really, you could learn more about computer programming from the textbook, or any other equally equipped textbook. If you're not a Computer Science major or don't have an extremely high interest in Computer Science, save yourself the trouble, money, and credits and don't take this course. If you do...you've been forewarned.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Dez 02/29/2008	the best professor Ive ever had in all of my educational experience. Very approachable, very cool, very nice. Ver good person, i wish he taught all my cmsc courses.
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Anonymous 02/22/2008	not a bad lecturer, but not great either. this was my first programing course ever, so i was in the deep end early. she explains every thing, but if you zone out, even for a minute, you are gonna be lost for the next half hour. if you already know about programing, than you probably dont even need to go, as the slides are online
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/15/2007	Not a very good teacher, bad jokes, only went when there was a review, and even those weren't helpful. Final was pretty rough.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B pluralfacade 12/12/2007	Probably the best teacher I have ever had in college. Don't bother buying the textbook; just go to his lectures and you'll learn everything you need to. He's very friendly and approachable outside of class and will always try his best to help students out. He is pretty fair when it comes to tests, quizzes and projects - you will be challenged, but you will also learn a lot from him as long as you study.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Expecting a B- trimalchio 11/29/2007	Fawzi is a great professor, he's incredibly approachable and he'll help you with any problems you're having. His class wasn't a walk in the park but it also wasn't made any more difficult than it had to be. Fawzi's exams were fair and he taught you what was necessary to understand the material you were expected to know. One problem was that the book required for 131 was not even mentioned once by Fawzi, I assume the only reason it's required was for the other professor's lecture and sections. Make sure that the text is going to be used before you buy it for this class. Also, Fawzi is a computer science advisor for non-freshmen, and he's really nice if you come in wanting to get advice about classes. He's just generally a cool guy.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 pelers 11/08/2007	Excellent professor, one of my favorites. His lectures are interesting and he's a fun guy. He does an excellent job explaining material and caters to the beginners in the class. Will definitely be looking for him teaching other courses I need to take.
Fawzi Emad CMSC131 Anonymous 11/06/2007	I took a class with Fawzi a few semesters ago, and he is still the best professor I've had. This was the first comp sci class I took at UMD, and he went into great detail about all subjects, while still keeping the class interesting. I went to just about every class (something I never do now) because I knew I'd learn a lot and have a fun time. Great guy, great teacher...if you have the option, take a class with him
Jandelyn Plane CMSC131 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/31/2007	sucks at teaching, corny jokes, just sucks

Mohe Edeen Abu Maizer
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/15/2024

Helped me out in a pinch. nice dude.

Aaron Kyei-asare
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/04/2024

I really liked prof Aaron! He's really chill, and if you ask questions in class he really tries to explain it in depth. But, because he has been so deep into the CS world, if you're coming into 131 with NO prior coding/java experience, you will need to play catch up for the first half of the semester. But as long as you study, look at the slides, and come to class, you'll be okay! He's a very fair professor.

Mohe Edeen Abu Maizer
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
10/15/2024

He is an amazing TA, extremely helpful and he works through any issues with students, he is very passionate 10/10!

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
09/26/2024

READ THIS IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO TAKE ELIAS! Elias is a good professor, especially for beginners. His teaching style is effective, but projects get progressively harder, making it tough to rely solely on lecture material after the second project. Start your projects early and use all available resources, but avoid using AI or copying answers, as it will waste your time. Elias provides study guides and practice tests that closely resemble the exams. While attending lectures isn't essential—especially at the start, as they can feel slow—you should still review the recordings since they cover expectations or rare cases in Java that you will need to know for exams. TL;DR: Projects are time-consuming; start early and use all resources (don’t cheat or use AI). Elias is a beginner-friendly professor—attend lectures if you're new to coding, but if you’ve taken a AP CS class or have experience programming, just watch the recordings.

Mohe Edeen Abu Maizer
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
09/06/2024

He's a great TA 10/10

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/19/2024

Great lecturer, highly recommend. Lectures are very helpful and informative. Very beginner friendly as the exams are fair and he provides lots of practice for them. If you start projects early and put effort into the class, you'll do well.

Karan Agrawal
CMSC131

Anonymous
08/10/2024

Karan is super nice and knowledgeable. He is very understanding and helps a lot throughout the class. By far, this is my favorite TA. Make sure to take full advantage of OH, especially with Karan.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/10/2024

Pedram is a pretty good professor. He is really monotone, but you can watch his videos on 1.5x - 2.0x finish the lectures relatively fast. The projects range from difficulty. I would say the harder projects take around 4-6 hours to complete and the easier ones anywhere from 2-3 hours. His exams are very fair and he gives many practice exams that are pretty much exactly like the actual exams. Pedram also posts like summary of the exam prior to taking it highlighting the types of problems we should practice and the methods we should know which makes it even better to study. One thing I didn't really like is how strict the grading is though. IF you want an easy A then I would just take Elias, however, if your in it to just learn and don't really care about getting an A ,Pedram is a pretty good professor. He is straightforward with the topics in the class and how they work. I also like how he records every lecture and posts them. If you have had no experience with java in the past the class will be pretty difficult, I had some experience and still struggled throughout the class. Pedram also curves a bit depending on the average grade of the class I would say around 2% curve compared to the standard curve. Overall pedram is a good lecturer and you can learn a lot in the class but it is definitely not an easy A. I would recommend starting projects early and also studying for the exams days in advance. Also try to do outside practice problems through leetcode or coding bat to just practice different approaches to problems especially for the exams. If you put in the effort you can definitely get an A in the class.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
08/02/2024

Strict grading, do not recommend, straight to the point so you will learn, but very monotone which makes it hard to focus. Exams are also kind of difficult and instructions suck.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/11/2024

Amazing. He is so nice and understanding and I built a really strong foundation in Java in his class. This is a great intro class where you'll learn a lot but won't feel overwhelmed.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
06/01/2024

Love Nelson, makes you feel welcomed even in a room of 300 students. His explanations and examples are adaptive and dynamic. He's great!

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an F
Anonymous
05/21/2024

Weed out classes ridiculously hard for no reason. Strict grading, vague quizzes and assignment directions. The only good part about this course were the TAs, which advocated to Pedram to change the tests or grading. So many people struggled this class.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/21/2024

He was terrible for 131,just skims through all his code examples without much explanation

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/16/2024

His monotone voice can make it easy to fall asleep, but when I actually paid attention to his explanations and examples during lectures, I learned a lot about Java and its concepts. In case you miss a lecture, he records the lectures and posts the slides which are super helpful. Exams were challenging but relatively fair. He is very strict on due dates so be sure to not fall behind on the projects.

John Kanu
CMSC131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/10/2024

Terrible TA it when you ask questions he makes it seem like you're dumb for asking the question.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/08/2024

I was retaking CMSC131 for GPA reasons after taking CMSC132 and all that, so I already knew all the content. Never went for lecture so I cannot really comment that much on his teaching ability. However, when I listened to him for 30 minutes before quizzes he was perfectly clear and understandable, more so than Nelson or Elias Gonzales ever were. I'm certain that if I was there for Pedram instead of Nelson my first time, I would have actually learned something in class. Nelson is very kind, understanding and so on but he always explicitly said he hated teaching CMSC131 so his teaching was also terrible because he was bored anyway. This course was a breeze with Pedram, but as someone who has taken this course twice and gone through the CS course here at UMD I'll give you points so that you can make your own decision: - The projects between Nelson and Pedram are all exactly the same and the descriptions are written by Nelson. Someone here commented that Pedram's project depictions suck; both of their descriptions suck equally. - Nelson will be funny but Pedram is solid and direct. If you're coming to lecture to actually learn the subject (because you didn't study Java before for example), then Pedram is better. If you want to have a good time and you have some mastery over the subject, then Nelson is better. - Nelson weighs projects more and has only one or two joke quizzes, which are worth only a few percentage points. Pedram has five proper quizzes which at least to me felt like easy points to me.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/08/2024

Really monotone but does a good job explaining concepts. Class isn't easy by any stretch but having prior knowledge helps a lot. Lectures can be found online and labs aren't the most necessary thing to go to. Good teacher.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/07/2024

He is great but not the best at teaching and his class can be hard to take notes. though he does recorded his lectures.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/03/2024

I had Pedram this semester and many people complained about his teaching style, exams, etc. I’ll admit that his lectures can be boring, but I just skip them and watch his recording at 1.75-2x speed and he is still fully understandable because of how slow he talks. His teaching and the information that he says is very useful and his example usually help a lot with grasping topics. His exams aren’t easy, but you know what to expect on the exams. Also, projects are not bad as long as you watch the lecture and use the Piazza for any questions.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/02/2024

Had no experience with Java before this course but the class is well organized and easy to follow. Pedram himself is extremely boring and hard to follow in lecture, just go to discussion it is the only thing that really helps.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
04/24/2024

Honestly this course isn’t beginner friendly. If you’re new to coding then I’ll say make sure you are ready to put all your time into this course. You’ll definitely fail if you aren’t putting any effort. Pedram is a nice and honest person. He’ll teach you what you need to know and records his lectures. However, his exams and quizzes aren’t easy plus his project’s instructions have way too many filler and are vague. All his exams average 60’s which tells you something. TAs are alright but I suggest just to go office hours. Pedram lectures can be boring and sometimes you learn nothing out of it. Feel like this course is structured poorly overall so make sure you ready to give all your time.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Ayush55
02/24/2024

Project instructions suck.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/31/2024

Ignore the people saying he's not "fun". He is there to teach and that's what he does. Never went to his lectures, watched the recordings at 2x speed, and his content was super helpful. The exams are very fair, and there are no surprises on them. Definitely recommend.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/25/2024

3.64/5 makes sense, largely influenced by being a drier lecturer than the other 131 options. Pros: - uses spaced repetition style of teaching which is great if you pay attention - despite having 100s of students, remembered my name after having a fairly long conversation with me (personable) Con: - again, not an anecdotal teacher or a comedian. Effective, not entertaining.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/24/2024

Chill and funny professor that is very on top of things and regularly posts announcements / updates on piazza. He tends to make a lot of jokes and keep the lectures light-hearted so if you are struggling his lectures may distract you. Other than that I found that the TAs were very active on piazza so you could always posts questions there or go to their office hours.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/19/2024

Bland and definitely not as "fun" as Nelson but gets all the information out in a simple, non complicated way. Lectures are recorded and posted regularly so you don't really have to go to class. Projects are pretty straightforward and instructions/guidelines are thorough. Exams are pretty easy to study for, you're told everything that will be covered and practice exams are provided.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/18/2024

The class itself was really easy in my opinion. Elias is very helpful and actually teaches in his lectures. He even lets you know what topics will be converted in the midterms. This semester, he didn't make any mistakes (other than an occasional spelling error or something on an exam or quiz), but made the class very manageable and easy to pass. His TAs and office hours are really helpful and he is a great guy. TLDR - amazing teacher and easy class, take Elias if you wanna pass :)

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/06/2024

The people complaining about Pedram need to understand the frustration of taking other CS professors, i.e. Fawzi Emad, Paul Kline, Larry Herman. As a lecturer yes he isn't exactly the most interesting, but he gives us SOOO much material to succeed. Pedram records lectures, posts slides, gives us practice exams from previous semesters and his exams are much easier. Him, nelson, and elias basically follow the exact same curriculum when teaching their classes. I really don't know why his rating is not over 4 stars when you have teachers like Fawzi, who do not care much about his students well being and doesn't give us any practice material or any material outside of lecture, who has over 4 stars. This review is coming from someone who has taken CMSC131 with both Pedram and Fawzi so I have been able too experience their different styles of teaching, and Pedram's is by far more forgiving and has more intention to get you to succeed, while also understanding the content.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/05/2024

Nelson is a very nice guy, and just as everyone else said at times he is genuinely entertaining. Unfortunately this is basically where the pros end. I have to say Nelson as a teacher/lecturer is very poor. He constantly goes on tangents where he will start shit with someone in the class (usually jokingly), or explain how he has "Nothing but respect for nurses" for over 5 minutes (this is a real anecdote). Nelson will also explain things using superficial analogies, like stating that the "new" keyword is like a nurse, which is fine as a sort of mnemonic, but the issue is he never actually explains how many Java things actually function beyond that. After about the third week I didn't attend any more lectures and strictly watched lecture videos recorded by Pedram, another professor who co-taught this course with him. I have to say, Pedram did a much better job explaining things in detail and I found his lectures much more informative. Besides that basically all projects, quizzes, and exams were extremely fair in the class, and the only possible issue if you understand the subject is the time constraint on the exams. I think overall you should only take Nelson over Pedram if you really understand the material well and want to be entertained in his class. If you don't know anything about programming, and want to seriously understand the material, I really think you should start with Pedram, as he will give you a much better foundation in the information.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/05/2024

Elias is a great lecturer and professor overall. As someone for whom this was their first ever cs class, it was a bit overwhelming, but going to his and the TA's office hours is a huge help and will come easier over time.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/04/2024

Elias was about as good as a teacher as you could hope for. CMSC131 will be a bit challenging if you have no programming experience but he did a good job explaining the concepts and was happy to re-review things if you asked. 1/2 weekly discussions are required because he will give you a 'lab' to write in class, which is graded. Otherwise, discussion is completely pointless, Elias is very lenient with TAs, and honestly, TAs weren't very helpful with questions either. Use piazza to ask for clarification on projects because it will be much quicker and more accurate. Elias is also super responsive and is happy to talk to students so feel free to drop in to office hours.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/26/2023

Great professor. Tests weren't too bad and definitely easy to prepare for if you are willing to put in a bit of effort. He gives past exams and a list of test material to study off of. I would take him again in a heart beat.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/24/2023

Love this guy! Nelson = GOAT

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/23/2023

I love my man Pedram he is super-goated, very informative and helpful 10/10

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/21/2023

He's ok at teaching but his lecture style almost puts me to sleep all the time. Not a hard class so it doesn't matter that much though.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a D
Anonymous
12/21/2023

He’s a horrendous teacher. Avoid him and Herman.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/20/2023

Definitely my favorite professor from my first semester! Personality-wise, he's great -- Nelson is kind, has a sense of humor, does his best to answer questions, and clearly cares about his students. Lectures and discussions are recorded, and attendance is optional. He's always happy to talk in office hours and before/after lectures. The projects are generally not that challenging, and the instructions are always clear. The exams are fair; they all come with a ton of practice material; do a few past exams and you'll be just fine. All in all, not a tough professor and he's very responsive to student concerns. My TA was ass, but he generally hires good ones. As for actually learning: the slides and coding examples he gives are great and basically all you need to understand the content and succeed. And if that isn't enough, he links you to a lot of other resources in the class website. However, keep in mind that in his lectures, he spends a lot of time just goofing around and cracking jokes. An example of this is when he scrolled through memes in Piazza for like 20 minutes one time. To be honest, those were the only times I actually paid attention, so I can't really speak on his lecturing ability lmao Bottom line - when people register, his sections fill up first for a reason.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/20/2023

incredibly understanding lecturer who cares about his students, but the problem is that his lectures just feel like a complete waste of time. it's pretty much 40% lecture, 50% him cracking jokes, 10% other downtime, and while he is incredibly funny, it does get old by the end of the semester. other helpful notes: -final was incredibly easy -projects are very easy to follow, accompanied with PDFs that basically hold your hand the whole way -a lot of his TAs tend to be bad for whatever reason; you do not need to attend discussions anyway -lectures are very digestible in the recorded format because you can skip through all the wasted time. albeit, you may find it easier learning some (not all) concepts yourself I'm giving 4 stars but think of this as a 3.5/5

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2023

GOAT!!! Very helpful with everything and all TA's are great. Open note quizzes and group labs make maintaining a good grade easy. Midterms weren't to challenging and the final was extremely easy.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/17/2023

I had already had two years of experience in coding in Java before taking this class, so this class was easy for me. However, if you have no coding experience then CMSC131 in generally is going to be hard, but I think that Pedram is a great professor to take. He explains the topic so that even people who have never coded before can understand. He records every lecture so if you don't want to go to class you don't have too. Discussions are not required as they just go over the things you learned in lecture. I don't understand why Pedram has a mid rating, I think that he is better then Nelson and you should take him.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/16/2023

Overall, Nelson is a great professor that is willing to help his students. It is also fairly easy to get extensions on projects if you have a valid excuse or reschedule an exam or quiz if you were absent. Nelson also gives out plenty of practice exams and quizzes to help you prepare for the real exams/quizzes. However, for those with NO CODING EXPERIENCE who signed up for this course who want to recieve an A, I would suggest learning the basics of Java before the class starts in order to feel less stressed in the class. Also, even if you believe that the project will be light, start doing the project ASAP to alleviate stress.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
ysnim
12/15/2023

Nelson is a great professor. Cracks lots of jokes during lectures and keeps it casual but still teaches and explains the concepts well. Gives you a little breaks during the lecture to ask questions or talk to your seatmates. All the lectures and discussions are recorded (and there's no graded work during discussions) so you don't even have to go to class if you feel like you have a solid enough grasp on the concepts through watching the recordings, and TAs are almost always holding office hours either virtually or in person if you do need extra help. Projects near the end of the semester came with a LOT of direction -- like, 400 slide powerpoints with exactly what the projects expected to see, which can be overwhelming at first but they help a lot. Projects are fair and exams are too. The only downside is Nelson likes to tease his students and call them out randomly during lecture, noticing if they've changed seats since last lecture or maybe they're talking or doing something else instead of paying attention, which is funny if you never get called on because he plays it off lightheartedly as a joke each time, but stressful if you have anxiety about things like that. Easily avoided if you just watch the recordings or don't make yourself stand out during lecture though.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/15/2023

Nelson is a great professor. I like how he keeps the class engaged by telling jokes throughout his lecture. I also like how he gives out practice exams that prepare us well for all of the exams in the class. He's also pretty receptive when it comes to extenuating circumstances, and you will not have a hard time getting extensions. However, if you are a rising freshman and have NEVER CODED BEFORE, my suggestion would be to at least learn a bit of Java before going into this class during the summer or winter break depending on when your next semester starts. Even learning the very basics of Java before starting the class can make your life much easier down the line. If your goal in the class is to get an A or A+, I would strongly suggest doing this.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2023

Coming into 131 with somewhat prior knowledge of coding, I'd say Elias did very well with this class for Fall '23. Even though many other reviews seem to be shaky on Elias with his lecture style, frequent mistakes, glaring problems, etc, they seem to have been very much improved over this semester. While there were indeed still some typos on exams and quizzes, they were almost immediately addressed. Though while it would be better to see none, I assume it's going to be improved as time goes on as this is his second time teaching 131 (based on when reviews started for him). He is very humble, kind, funny, and like others have said, down-to-earth, especially being the product of UMD CS this past decade. Elias seems very passionate about teaching this course at his alma mater so I don't doubt his classes will only get better. His practice exams are extremely similar to the real exams, which have been very helpful studying tools! His office hours are also very chill and has no trouble explaining concepts or even just having a chat with him. I'll post another review of him in the spring as I will also have him for 132!

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/15/2023

Simply the goat, would stay far after office hours and discussion periods to explain topics or help us with practice questions, recorded the discussions sessions/notes and organized them in piazza, and even hosted review sessions for all of our midterms. He even took time out of studying for finals to host a review session for our final exam, which went till 12AM, compiling notes and making sure that we were comfortable with the material. One of the many reasons I did well in this course, thank you Gavin!

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/14/2023

Genuinely, the BEST TA you could ask for. Though not my TA, I went out of my way to only watch his lab sessions (all recorded); and I believe I learned more from 5 minutes of his videos than my TA the whole semester. In addition, he hosted 4+ hours review sessions before every single exam, open to all students to join and ask questions, and he is able to effectively communicate what he knows to students perfectly. Though I found this course easy, I didn't attend lab/lecture as I had prior experience, I still made it a habit to watch all of Gavin's material. Gavin is leagues above any other Professor or TA I have had at UMD.

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2023

always held long review sessions, so helpful

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/14/2023

Gavin is an incredible TA! He obviously really cares about his students and wants to help them succeed. CMSC131 has some confusing concepts, but Gavin seems to always understand what students need clarification on and explains it incredibly! He has gone out of his way to host hours long review sessions for the exams, which have been so, so helpful! Unfortunately, I haven't been to as many discussions as I would have liked (they're at 8 am lol), but when I was there, he was very eager to teach and make his students understand the concepts. Thank you so much Gavin, keep it up!

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2023

Gavin is an amazing TA. He truly cares about the success of the students in the class. He hosts extra review sessions outside of lectures and discussions for further understanding before tests. His discussion sections are engaging and he always answers any questions without judgment (even at 8 am!!). If I ever become a TA, I will strive to be a TA just as good as Gavin. I'm not sure if that's possible though because Gavin is just the best!!

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2023

Gavin was a delight of a TA. He consistently went above and beyond for us taking CMSC131. He is really approachable and accessible outside of class. He does a very good job explaining content and asking questions. He held exam reviews for students which comprehensively went through exam content and allowed us to ask questions. He is very knowledgeable, and explains concepts very eloquently and patiently. He really tries his best to be helpful (preparing content for review sessions, asking for feedback) and does so very cheerfully. Truly a delight. If you ever have the chance to have Gavin as a TA, do it, no regrets :)

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/14/2023

by far the best TA. He is the only person I learned anything from

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/14/2023

Gavin is an amazing TA and anyone who has him is very lucky. Not only is he kind, caring, funny, and VERY SMART, but he dedicates an INSANE amount of time just to help students. He hosts review sessions on zoom for every exam and posts them on piazza for anyone who couldn't make it, and also posts the pdf from the reviews. He is amazing, and his kind messages at the end of his emails genuinely helped me with my self-esteem and imposter syndrome. He's just the best.

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/14/2023

Gavin is an amazing TA that actually cares about your success and really shows it. Has review sessions for each big exam that go for hours and the videos + notes are posted for those who can't make them (they are usually pretty late, 8/9pm) & they are incredibly comprehensive. He understands the core reasons for why things happen and explains them well to someone who doesn't, very willing to ask questions and actually KNOWS the answers (unlike some other TAs who often were just as confused as the students). He was not actually my assigned TA but I always ended up watching his posted discussion videos rather than going to my assigned section lol. If you get Gavin you are incredibly lucky!

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2023

Went above and beyond by holding multi-hour long review sessions before each exam (even the final!). Overall a great teacher although he made a few mistakes (accidentally stating incorrect information).

Hana Chitsaz
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/13/2023

Hana is the goat of TAs. Incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. Always open to answer questions and makes sure that no one is confused.

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/13/2023

He was great, and gave it his all in office hours, review sessions, and discussions. Some of the reviews went a bit too into detail because so many people had stupid questions for him to answer, but that isn't his fault. He tried to convey even more complex concepts in simpler ways; you can tell that he has absolute mastery over this content. He will also let you know if the stuff you are questioning is extraneous content, and always points you back in the right direction.

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2023

Gavin is an awesome TA who always goes above and beyond. He is very knowledgeable about our course content and explains things in an easy to understand way. He also hosted many multi-hour review sessions (with one being 6 hours long!!) before exams so students could ask questions and feel prepared. Overall, Gavin is a very dedicated and helpful TA and I would definitely like to take a course TA'd by him again.

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

shreyasanikommu
12/13/2023

Gavin is so sweet and helpful with his review sessions. He is very knowledgeable, and organized, and teaches the different subjects well. He tells us everything we need to know and makes sure to go in-depth for the harder topics.

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2023

Enthusiastic reviewer and explains everything clearly.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/11/2023

Nelson made this class easy and enjoyable for me. I had an AMAZING semester this Fall and I truly appreciate all the things Nelson has done for us. He has made a work environment where everyone belongs and there are a lot of great TAs and review sessions and practice material for everything so you will eventually learn everything super easily! His classes and sessions are very well structured and also the fact that he takes into consideration everything. So when it's a peak of a semester he wouldn't bother you with gaining out a hard exam or stressing you with taking quizzes. And also the projects he gives are not always hard with no purpose. He makes some projects easy to help you learn the course material and I would say don't worry about them if you have learned the course material well. If you are unable to do the projects don't panic and go look for answers online or from your friend because that won't help you in the exam. Try understanding where you are going wrong and then try to learn it and do it yourself. When you feel like you have learned then that's it! You know that subject very well since it's very similar to what you'll see in exams and honestly exams are way easier than projects so if you write them yourself and know projects well you know everything! Also based on the difficulty of the projects some of them were only based on the public test or release test results and there were no secret tests or style or student test regulations on them. I think it helped a lot and was absolutely very considerable of Nelson! He also has an amazing personality and I really enjoy learning from his experiences and trying them! He is one of the BEST PROFESSORS I HAVE EVER HAD !!!!!

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
kam
12/11/2023

Great reviewer and great at explaining things - always makes sure you leave understanding the concept or your problem is fixed.

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/11/2023

coolest TA! very approachable and knowledgeable

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/11/2023

Reviews things in detail and always makes sure that you understand or fix your problem.

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/11/2023

Gavin is probably the best TA I have, or may ever have. In discussion he is incredibly thorough and covers all of the content possible while ensuring that each of us students understand the topics. He also hosted review sessions before each exam which ran until nobody had any more questions which was exceptionally helpful for studying the content. His thoroughness and ability to explain complicated topics in a way that beginners can understand make him the ultimate TA and made the introduction to CS a lot more manageable.

Gavin Crisologo
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/11/2023

This man is dedicated to teaching you concept and will go the extra step to make you understand. His review sessions before exams are quite long but resourceful if you ask questions. He is the most real TA you meet.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/09/2023

Really nice guy, but can't comment on lectures because I didn't go at all. Office hours are helpful, he's understanding and will take the time to help you. He tends to make mistakes on assignments and exams, which is annoying but not a big deal. Start projects early and you shouldn't really have a problem finishing them on time, and he gives 3 48 hour extensions. Exams are pretty fair but the study guides can be a bit confusing. Class really shouldn't be that hard if you have prior experience or just make sure to not fall behind.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/09/2023

Class is fairly straightforward, but Pedram will put you to sleep. Would recommend watching recorded lectures at 1.5 times speed, but he regularly forgets to post these. Quizzes and exams are very fair because previous tests are posted, and follow the same structure.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2023

To all the people that have given him anything below 4 stars, y’all don’t know what you’re saying. The biggest “problem” I’ve seen about Pedram in the lower reviews is that he is monotone, dry, not exciting, etc. Sure, I watched a Nelson lecture, and he had jokes and said funny things in general, but Pedram is the better lecturer. As someone who has never done CS before this class, I feel like I genuinely understand everything he taught us. He explains things SO WELL, and in addition, he draws out what’s happening using memory maps (if you don’t know, they’re basically a tool that helps you visualize what’s happening behind the scenes in code) which helps you understand just so much better (from what I’ve seen, Nelson does not do that). I would come into that 50 minute lecture and feel like I was only in class for 15 min. It’s genuinely incredible how interesting the class was and how fast it moved. And back to the point about him being monotone, if you can’t find the lecture interesting because of that, maybe re evaluate if you should even be in CS. Any subject can be made exciting with a funny professor like Nelson, but if you don’t find the lectures interesting with a “boring” professor, the professor is not the problem. During lecture, he would give us a min or two to discuss with our neighbors and see if we understood, which was also an opportunity to go up to him and ask a question. I only ever came up to him once, and when I did, he was so excited to answer. He knows his stuff and is excited to answer your questions (but his TA’s exist for answering most questions, and the TA’s are good too). However if you do need to email him about excused absences, he’s very prompt. As for exams, I saw another review about how they’re 8-10 pages long, which is true. But the vast majority of the exam is space for you to write your code, and most of the time you don’t even need 1/2 that space, they just give it in case. If you paid attention in lecture and did well on the projects, you’ll do well on the exams. There’s also a resource we have in class called Piazza (essentially a CMSC131 online board) where you can post questions regarding topics and project clarifications. TA’s and other students can respond. You have everything you need to succeed in this class, now you just need to put in time.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2023

I honestly think that these reviews hype him up a little too much. He is actually a pretty annoying lecturer as he never stays on topic and he might talk about random stuff for 60% of the class and would only teach the other 40%. He is too unfocused and it makes lectures so hard to go to. But his exams and quizzes are pretty fair.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/08/2023

Pedram is your average CS professor. His lectures are very informative, but incredibly slow. He wants everyone to learn and understand the topics, but often seems somewhat disorganized or presents uninteresting examples. He would not be my first choice, but is not terrible by any means.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/08/2023

probably one of the most genuine professors at the school, and the most genuine teacher ive had in my entire academic career. he's simply a great character who just wants to see his students succeed, both in the class and outside of it. the class itself was really well organized, the projects were well explained, the TA's were helpful, and the tests were fair. the only slight downside i felt was that i think nelson isn't the best lecturer in terms of explaining his ideas, but the code examples he reviewed were always helpful and he records lectures anyway if you need to revisit a topic. nelson is also very understanding if you need extensions. great guy, well structured and fair class, theres not much more you could ask for. definitely recommend.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/06/2023

Amazing professor. Really cares about his students and wants them to do well. He makes lectures really funny while simultaneously teaching the material. His teaching style definitely doesn't work for everyone but I learned a lot from him.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/06/2023

If you like a professor who makes a lot of jokes and talks with the students in lecture a lot, you'll probably like Nelson. He's funny and nice, but I found it pretty annoying how he'd stop lecture every five minutes to talk about something unrelated or tell us to talk to our neighbors. I stopped going to lecture and just used the slides he posts because the material isn't difficult. I had no Java experience but this class was pretty easy. The projects aren't too bad, just start them kinda early and make sure you know when they're due (they sometimes have smaller parts due earlier than the rest of the project) so that doesn't catch you by surprise. The exams are harder imo, but they're usually pretty similar to the practice exams he gives you. Also super lax about extensions for projects and exams, I got extensions for two projects and two exams.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/06/2023

An amazing instructor who truly makes an effort to take an interest in his students' learning and lives. The content is reviewed multiple times in class and then applied to enjoyable projects so you learn the content well. Exams are extremely manageable with multiple practice tests to work from. I plan to take any class that I can with him in the future.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/05/2023

Elias is a great lecturer who explains all of the topics very thoroughly. He's kind, has a great sense of humor, and is always willing to help if you don't understand certain topics or need help on a project/assignment. He's also a relatively younger lecturer here and is a UMD alumnus himself, which is a huge plus for freshmen adjusting to campus. It does take a while for him and his TAs to grade certain assignments, but that's perhaps the only drawback I can think of. I 100% recommend him for CMSC131 and plan on having him for CMSC132 next semester!

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/05/2023

Underrated professor. This semester, he cotaught 131 with Nelson, so they had the same material, projects, and exams. His lectures are monotone to the point where some students fell asleep. Initially, I found him boring, but as the semester went on, he grew on me. But if you can put his dryness past him and stay focused and alert in class, he is very good at explaining the material. He doesn't waste time and focuses on teaching the content. He also records his lectures. Pedram is generally friendly and very willing to help you during office hours. Pedram & Nelson provide plenty of practice exams from previous years and don't weigh too much. Projects were a good mix of easy and challenging. You're assigned a project during Thanksgiving or spring break, which sucks, and it's probably the most difficult one. TIP: PLEASE start your projects early and go to TA office hours when you're stuck or want to review material. Although Pedram said this class is geared toward students without coding experience, the class moves fast, and you will struggle if you procrastinate. It's more challenging for students without experience, but it's still very much doable if you do the work.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2023

While I was scared to go into this class, even with 2 years of programming knowledge from high school, Nelson helped me feel so much better about CS as a whole and I've learned far more about programming in this semester then I did in those 2 years. He's a great lecturer and super approachable, although he does stop frequently during class to make jokes which can throw your focus off sometimes. I would still highly recommend taking him though.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/03/2023

my favorite teacher! he keeps the class light and cracks lots of jokes but is great at teaching the material. really easy quizzes, tests, and projects but you still learn a lot. definitely recommend him!

Henry Tran
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/30/2023

He helped me so much on a particularly hard project, and fully dedicated himself to helping me work out all of the different issues with my code, not just one or two. He also helped me understand what was going wrong so I could avoid it in the future. Eternally grateful.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
11/20/2023

DO NOT TAKE NELSON IF YOU HAVE NEVER CODED BEFORE. I feel like he is a very FUNNY professor, but as someone who has never taken a CS course before, he is IMPOSSIBLE to follow. He jumps from different concepts very quickly, and this, paired with him making a joke every 2 minutes, makes it really tough to fully understand the concepts if you're actually trying to learn. I think something people don't tell you is MOST of the people in 131 have taken AP Comp Sci in high school but just didn't do well enough on the exam to test out of 131, so they at least have some basic understanding of coding. Therefore they enjoy the jokes he makes class since they have seen most of the material before and don't need to really sit down and think about new concepts. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a fun break from classes if you have a background in coding! However, if you've never done coding before, you will surely struggle. I would've MUCH rather taken Pedram as his lecture style is very straight forward.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/16/2023

Nelson is an absolute gem of a professor. He explains everything very clearly/eloquently, goes over lots of examples in lecture, and makes content digestable and engaging. He has a passion for CS and teaching that comes across in his teaching method, which includes good humor and 1 minute respites to talk to the person next to you about content (if you don't understand smth or if you got lost during lecture). He also posts the lecture recordings (godsent)! He manages to make the course very engaging. Additionally, he's genuinely a really nice person. I had an accident that really uprooted my semester, but Nelson was very understanding and accommodating. He understands that students are people too and life happens. If you have the opportunity to take a class with Nelson, do it. You won't regret it one bit I promise. Singlehandedly one of the best professors at UMD. Additionally, the TAs for CMSC131 are all very kind and helpful (thank you Fatima, Gavin, and Henna)

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/02/2023

Truly among the greatest professor I've ever had. Inspired and proved to me that truly can code as well as anyone else. The summer course that I took with Fawzi was probably my most impactful experience in higher education.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/02/2023

Not sure why people seem to give ol' Pedram so much shit. Very informative lectures that go into a lot of detail. If you actually like CS, you will likely find them interesting unless you find his droning voice problematic. IMO, this is a superficial problem, especially given lectures are recorded and can be viewed at 1.5 speed, and the actual content of what he says is valuable. Personally, I found projects, exams, and quizzes extremely easy, with the only issue being getting used to completing exams in a timely fashion. Nelson is definitely more "entertaining", and if you find that necessary to pay attention you should chose him, but remember that comes at the cost of constantly going on pointless tangents, and Nelson keeping the explanations more shallow with the use of amusing analogies in place of complete representations.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
10/22/2023

Easy but is the driest

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/29/2023

Ngl if you don't already know java it is hard to learn from him. He's a really nice guy, but class time is mainly spent just joking around. I personally already knew Java, but I can see how if I didn't have any experience coding beforehand I would struggle in the class. Still a really nice and funny guy tho, class assignments overall pretty easy.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/29/2023

Nelson is the goat. Best computer science teacher especially when breaking into computer science and wanting to become interested int he field. He makes it interesting and informative. I love you

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/19/2023

Prof. Sadeghian (he will tell you that you can just call him Pedram) did a good job, given the mass class size for 131 and the amount of material and projects to get through in a couple months. Lecture material is relevant to the projects you’ll be doing and the exams are fair and not stressful to study for if you were paying attention and practicing what you learned by doing the projects. I won’t claim that he was the most engaging or interesting lecturer, and as you might expect for a gigantic class he’s not the easiest to reach either - his army of TAs fill that role. While there is a of work involved for this class (it is a CS gateway requirement, after all), and it may feel overwhelming if you have no prior Java experience, I do recommend this course and this professor. You will succeed with little to no issue if you: -start the projects THE DAY THEY’RE OUT so you have time to debug or get help if something -always attend discussion if possible; the info there is often relevant to your projects -take advantage of the TA office hours, and -don’t cheat. If you have a legitimate interest in computer science and programming, you’ll enjoy Pedram’s class.

Benjamin Weatherhead
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
09/14/2023

Previously the goat of La Plata, supreme hooper in those dope ass crew necks. He is always available to help after his office hours. He always gives high quality assistance and instructions, regardless of content.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/04/2023

I would say that Pedram is very helpful when you ask him questions and he tries to make sure that you understand the lecture. I believe he does a good job reviewing the information, but his exams can be a bit difficult if you do not have any prior experience with CS. He does record his lectures so you can always go over the information again.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Anonymous
07/21/2023

Please Pleaseee don't take this class!!!! If you have no prior coding experience this class is going to be extremely difficult for you. The exams are like 10 pages and are very hard. Even the quizzes are hard and I remember one of the quizzes average was 5 out of 30! He is also not caring and understanding at all so if you are a late arrival and you ask for an extension on your project he would just say NO and it takes almost two weeks to give you back the project grades so granting an extension isn't a big deal. Speaking about projects, I remember everyone crying almost everyday the project was due because of how hard it was. If all other professors and classes are full and you HAVE to take this class then be prepared to have a hard time. But if you can choose someone else please stay away from this one. People are waitlisting on other professors' classes and almost most of the seats for this class is open (You take the conclusion) I had a very very hard time last semester so I'm just telling you my experience and to mention all my other grades were A so I'm not a lazy student. I wish you the best of luck guys!

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/25/2023

Pedram did his job well. His lectures may be a little boring, but he gives you everything you need in the course to succeed as long as you put a little bit of effort in on your side. He also records his lectures so if you don't go for some reason, you are able to to watch online.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/19/2023

This is a review from someone who has had to retake 131. I had Fawzi Emad for 131 the first time I took it and I got very sick so had a tough time catching up since fawzi does not record his lectures at all and doesn't have proper posted slideshows so had to retake 131. I realized that I had a much better time taking 131 with Pedram as he believes in the importance of recording lectures and posting the detailed slideshows. As a lecturer, I can say Fawzi does a better job in making lectures engaging, but it all doesn't really matter when you cannot really review notes afterwards. Pedram also has practice exams and practice quizzes from previous years which makes it much better to prepare for midterms. He also has three midterms, compared to Fawzi only having 2 midterms, so I would say it is preferable to have three less weighted midterms. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I felt Pedram's midterms were quite easy and fair, especially compared to Fawzi's. Pedram also only had quizzes every couple of weeks, compared to Fawzi having a quiz every week, on very random topics. Where Pedram falls against Fawzi is his projects and their god-awful descriptions. I was able to complete Fawzi's projects much easier and in faster time compared to Pedram's which were unclear many times. TAs can always help out on projects though. Personally, I would say if you had to choose between Fawzi and Pedram, choose Pedram.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/16/2023

Okay, so Pedrem is a great guy. Here's a breakdown Lecture: He records lectures (yay!) and he is very organized with his schedule, his tas are great! The discussions are good for a review to keep the memory fresh 5 quizzes every two weeks or so: He posts practice worksheets so make sure you do them. it won't be exactly the same but will have the same logic. He tells you what the quizzes are on so you know what to study so make sure you study! 9 Projects: Start early, no like seriously and these go for every cs class. Tip: Go early to office hours so you can have the ta's full attention and not have to fight for it with about 13 other people 3 Exams: So his exams are okay. The averages for the three this semester were 65, 60, and 79 just to give you an idea. The tip I have for this is to work on your static methods and know how to manipulate a variable or array. One thing I LOVE about Peddie is that he gives us the format for what the exam will be and also practice problems which again is not the exact same as the exam but the same logic. Final (25% of your grade :( okay so I literally just took the final yesterday and do the freakin practice problems, crap them if you have to, it is the same logic. Overall if I had to compare him to the other cs teachers: Pedram > Fawzi (fawzi does not record, and does not post relevant practice problems) Nelson > Pedram (Nelson is known as the best and he usually has high exam averages) Pedram == Elias

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/16/2023

Okay, so Pedrem is a great guy. Here's a breakdown Lecture: He records lectures (yay!) and he is very organized with his schedule, his tas are great! The discussions are good for a review to keep the memory fresh 5 quizzes every two weeks or so: He posts practice worksheets so make sure you do them. it won't be exactly the same but will have the same logic. He tells you what the quizzes are on so you know what to study so make sure you study! 9 Projects: Start early, no like seriously and these go for every cs class. Tip: Go early to office hours so you can have the ta's full attention and not have to fight for it with about 13 other people 3 Exams: So his exams are okay. The averages for the three this semester were 65, 60, and 79 just to give you an idea. The tip I have for this is to work on your static methods and know how to manipulate a variable or array. One thing I LOVE about Peddie is that he gives us the format for what the exam will be and also practice problems which again is not the exact same as the exam but the same logic. Final (25% of your grade :( okay so I literally just took the final yesterday and do the freakin practice problems, crap them if you have to, it is the same logic. Overall if I had to compare him to the other cs teachers: Pedram > Fawzi (fawzi does not record, and does not post relevant practice problems) Nelson > Pedram (Nelson is known as the best and he usually has high exam averages) Pedram == Elias

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/04/2023

Best CS professor ever!!! Very chill, records all his lectures, can use three 48-hrs extensions among all the projects per semester (but if u email him, he will grant u more). Very reasonable and flexible.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/03/2023

Took him last semester. Personally vibe with his faster teaching pace. Just make sure you're on top of things because it is abit difficult to catch up. Also go to lectures and take notes.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
FozzyBear1
05/03/2023

Pedram was pretty good for 131. Lectures are the cure to insomnia. Pedram has a very monotone voice and speaks very, very slow. However, when I managed to stay awake I found his lectures to be really helpful and informative. As someone who has never programmed before his class, I can say that I was able to learn a lot from his lectures. I also liked that he recorded his lectures. I'm taking off a star because his exams were very hard for a 100 level class (averages in the low 60s), and he says that he doesn't curve. But if you want to challenge yourself with a professor who is a dry but effective lecturer, I would recommend Pedram.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/25/2023

Projects require some thinking. Exam 2 covers lot of material and final exam had tricky questions. The final topics that are taught are not covered by quizzes and exams so things like recursion only showed up on the final exam, not even in the projects. Good lectures but doesn't record, teaches some interesting topics slightly outside Java. Good prof, would recommend.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/25/2023

Projects require some thinking. Exam 2 covers lot of material and final exam had tricky questions. The final topics that are taught are not covered by quizzes and exams so things like recursion only showed up on the final exam, not even in the projects. Good lectures but doesn't record, teaches some interesting topics slightly outside Java. Good prof, would recommend.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/04/2023

Horrible lectures. Does not care about his students and absolutely rude.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
03/10/2023

Professor Elias was a fantastic teacher. He genuinely sounds passionate about the things he's teaching and most often is able to explain in a way that anyone, even students who have never taken a programming class before, could understand. We had 3 midterms which were curved according to class averages and, with a certain exam, Professor Elias recognized that it was too long to be finished within the given time constraint so the class was given extremely lenient grading. We also had about 8 programming projects which were actually pretty difficult despite being an intro-level CS course. You are however given a generous timeframe to complete them (about a week or-so). I definitely recommend taking Elias.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/09/2023

Amazing professor. Teaches the subject very clearly and obviously loves the subject he teaches as well as teaching itself. Readily engages with students during his lectures. You do need to attend his lectures if you cannot get notes from a classmate though, as he does not record his classes and his lecture slides are really just so he remembers what to say during class.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
02/09/2023

His lectures are kinda useless (records them too) but Elias is a fabulous instructor and really cares about the success of his students. Class isn't too hard. Make sure utilize office hours if you need help.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/06/2023

He is a funny teacher, but he gets off topic way too much. If you are looking for an easy grade, this is a good professor, but he is not that good of a teacher.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
02/01/2023

Had Nelson for CMSC 131 in fall 2022 and he's the best CS professor I've ever had. Like it's not even close. He genuinely cares about his students and will do just about anything to help you succeed. I ended up doing horribly on the second midterm and when I emailed him asking for help, he told me to meet him in his office hours. I went there and the man spent over 30 minutes with me going over my entire test in detail like what I got wrong and how to avoid falling into the traps I fell into going forward (which helped big time). His lecture slides and in-class code were very helpful and enabled me to finish the projects in a timely manner. He would dig deep into different complex methods and better explain them using analogies which I also found very helpful. The projects can be challenging but are doable if you don't procrastinate and start on time. He's also very understanding and will grant extensions if necessary. Exams are a mixed bag but for the most part, if you complete the practice exams he provides, you should be fine. If there is one complaint I have about his class, it has to be the amount of unnecessary stoppages that eventually start to get pretty annoying (like a student may not be paying attention and if Nelson notices, he'll stop lecturing for a few moments and press him/her on the spot) and the sometimes corny jokes he'd blurt out during lecture. Despite this, I overlooked all of this and quite frankly didn't really care at all because I was gaining a lot out of his class despite the fact that I had prior coding experience. All this being said, if you have the opportunity to take 131 (or any other class) with Nelson, DO IT! You won't regret it. He is very friendly and shows that he cares about his students. He will give you the necessary resources to do well in his class and he's perfect if people who have little or no coding experience.

Anton Goretsky
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/26/2023

They’re the goat soa

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/13/2023

Nelson was a great professor imo. He brought humor to lecture, although I barely went and just watched recordings. Discussions arent mandatory so I only went to one discussion session which had a quiz. The midterms were easy and were basically clones of the past midterms which he gives you to study off of. Projects werent that bad I just recommend starting them when they are released. Most of the projects were very to the example code shown in the lecture or on the class site with a bit more complexity to it. I fortunately had some prior java experience so I was fine with following the topics, but I do think without experience it could seem pretty fast for some people.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
01/11/2023

Elias is down-to-earth, lenient, and very smart. His lectures are well planned out and very informative. He's very easy to approach about issues your having with your code (or anything really). He gave someone in our class an extension on half of the projects because their computer got bricked earlier in the semester. One complaint I have however is that he sometime does not respond to emails but that's what piazza is for so it is not too big of a problem. I made sure to take CMSC132 with him next semester.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/10/2023

Nelson is a really great professor. He keeps lectures fun and engaging and explains challenging concepts really well. His quizzes and exams are not super difficult (they’re pretty much identical to the sample exams so as long as you study those you should be fine). TA office hours ran pretty much 9-5 weekdays so it’s easy to get help. Some of the projects were challenging and they definitely require the full amount of time to work on them so don’t procrastinate! I think this class would be more difficult for someone without CS experience but still definitely doable as long as you start work early and get help when you need it.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/08/2023

Elias is a great professor, very lenient, open, helpful, and genuinely wants you to succeed; if you have him, do not be scared to talk to him if you are having trouble in his class. He made lectures relatable and engaging, you could even submit a picture of your pet, and he would put it on the slides the next time we would have a lecture. The reason why I am giving 4 stars though, is because of certain TAs. Later in the semester, I began to realize that TAs that do not teach discussion was not helpful at all. I would often find myself and other students at office hours staring blankly at our code because we would be more confused after asking for help. A certain TA though, Takeshi, who would be at office hours in the morning had a terrible attitude towards students, there would be times when he would make comments and snarky remarks that discouraged me from even attending office hours in the morning. I hope no other student had a similar experience to what I did but I prefer TAs who teach discussion for help with coding projects.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
01/05/2023

I think it's a myth that he is one of the best professors. I am switching to Fawzi next semester. For simplicity I will make a pro and con list Pros - Website is easy to navigate. - Projects, once you get the hang of them after the first few, are easy and the single most helpful thing for my learning - At surface level seems a nice, personable man - Gives extensions for projects easily - Him and TAs responsive on Piazza Cons - Overall, not a good lecturer: Disorganized, hard to follow examples. Even the pauses during lectures, half the time when we were supposed to discuss what he just told us, the people around would just look at each other and talk about something else because no one could pay attention long enough to understand what he said. - To follow up on that, he claimed that "I get about 20 minutes of your undivided attention per lecture, the rest is filler and jokes". I have other professors who were able to capture everyone's attention the entire time. He's just unable to keep attention because he is all over the place. He tries to make up for this and get our attention with jokes, which I will address. - The jokes were funny at first but got boring and just seems to be pandering and trying to get our attention, which he couldn't. - The exams are graded pretty harshly, and some of the material on the multiple choice questions was never specifically addressed in class. - My TA was awful and unhelpful in answering questions, which didn't help. I hope you're luckier in this regard.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/31/2022

Absolute sweetheart, funny, and caring. Despite having hundreds of students, he makes sure to memorize people’s names during lecture and interacts with students in a way that keeps lecture lighthearted and easy to feel comfortable in. He has an interesting way of pacing his lectures- it may seem that his pauses to allow for individual discussion and jokes cut the total amount of material learned, but it doesn’t. He is still a lecturer that can teach you a lot about java while also making it digestible and not overwhelming, especially for someone like me with zero prior coding experience. His humor is wonderful and him allowing us to talk to other students at certain points of his lecture makes the material that may seem daunting at first much more manageable. His exams are fair and he gives out many practice exams that you can do to succeed. I only got a B because I slacked off in the middle of the semester- with Nelson, as long as you attend lecture and engage in the content, you will absolutely succeed.

Sinaan Younus
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/28/2022

Sinaan is an absolute legend and an amazing TA. The guy definitely needs to become a college professor one day with how well he explains concepts so that everyone can easily follow. He always came to our discussion sections every day excited to teach and everyone could see his passion for computer science. Sinaan would always go above and beyond and provide help for his students outside of class to make sure that we fully understood the material. He is a phenomenal person overall who wants the best for his students no matter what and having him as my TA definitely improved my experience in the class.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/26/2022

Awesome dude, taking him again for 132

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a D+
Anonymous
12/25/2022

So I can see the appeal of Fawzi's teaching, however it did not work for me. He made his projects interesting and was overall an interesting person who would take time to delve into concepts using examples in lectures which sounds very helpful. However, I found it quite frustrating when I had been sick for a little over 2 weeks when the only way for me to catch up on what we are learning was through someone else's notes. There not being recordings and how little information there is on his slideshows made catching up nearly impossible for me. Also weekly quizzes were a nussiance since he would not really tell us what topics would exactly be on the quiz. I remember one week, we were learning 2D arrays and the next quiz was coming up, so I thought the quiz would be on 2D arrays. I studies 2D arrays quite a bit, however the quiz was on something completely different. On a random topic taught weeks ago. I guess it can give incentive to be ontop of previous topics but that was quite the nuissance. TAs can be helpful, but they are often crowded and you have to wait your turn for every question you want to ask. Overall, he is a decent lecturer and I see the appeal, but did not work for me, or anyone who needs to review topics through recordings.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/24/2022

Nelson is fair with his grading and is funny. Although he does not curve and his class is fast-paced, he is understanding, provides review for midterms through previous exams, and he records his lectures. Good professor

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B-
kathleenMiles
12/23/2022

"Nelson = best teacher" has become something of its own myth at UMD. From all of these reviews you can see that he has many rabid fans. Effectively, this is a man who is SICK AND TIRED of teaching CMSC131. He gives off comments such as "I will be teaching this class till retirement" and "well, the paycheck keeps coming and that's what matters". Nelson also has an awful way of communicating. He sends massive email blasts, often multiple times every single day. These are weirdly formatted and read like strange tweets, and often completely irrelevant. I wish he would actually put some thought into the emails he bombards his 800 students with. Sure, he replies to emails and you can go to his office hours. But you will never meet with him for more than a few minutes. One day he suddenly decided that all TA office hours would be cut short and go online. His reasoning was this: "I was walking along that building at night, when I suddenly felt this urge: I want to MUG somebody! That was when I decided that this place was too dangerous for my TAs." During lecture, he CONSTANTLY gets distracted, cracks lame jokes, and picks on you. It is actually better to just watch his lecture recordings. because he edits out all the wasted time. Despite his nonsense, Nelson is very lenient with project extensions and make-up exams. Apparently his exams are easier than Fauzi's as well. Maybe I will choose him solely based off of this fact next semester, because now I know that I should never attend lecture anyways.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/23/2022

Nelson is decent, but I do feel like he could be better. There's a website called Piazza where students can ask and answer questions, and TAs and Nelson himself are active on there too, posting announcements and answering questions. This is definitely helpful when you're working on a project and confused on wording, for instance. All lectures and discussions are recorded and available on Canvas, so if you ever miss a day or want to go back on a concept discussed in a lecture or discussion, you can always do so. The projects really weren't hard, but that might not be true for others because I have previous programming experience and many others in the class do not. Just make sure to start them early and get them done with; I usually finished projects a day or two after they were released so I could focus on other classes. That being said, I do feel like his exams were frustrating. If you misinterpret what a question is asking (you can't ask a TA or Nelson on wording either; they won't and can't really help you on that without giving you hints on it) you will lose points, even if you knew the answer to another interpretation of a question. However, I do feel like the content itself on the exams were very fair, and he did give information on possible content the exams would have. His final is pretty easy as long as you go over previous midterms and finals. The thing that annoyed me the most were lectures, because while Nelson joked around and gave us time to talk to our classmates, he spent a lot of time off-track and I felt like this could have been better used to teach us concepts from 132 and above. He does give you knowledge that you will see or need to understand later (such as memory maps, and you will need to understand how memory in a program works in 216), but I feel like he could have done more in this regard. Lectures were genuinely boring for me; I tried following what he was showing us at the start of the semester, but began to work on other assignments or projects for other classes and multitask while he was lecturing later in the semester. If I didn't do this, I genuinely dozed off.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2022

He explains things easily, he records his lectures, his exams are easy. Overall great professor and he's way easier than Fawzi.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/21/2022

The course is structured well, and Nelson is an honest and caring professor. There's a discussion board where one can ask whatever questions they have 24/7, lectures are recorded and posted; the exams and quizzes are fair, especially due to Nelson's explicit listing of what will be on the exam; and later in the semester, Nelson establishes two deadlines for projects, making it easier for students to pace themselves so they may complete projects in time. His lectures are great too, and he allows for "turn and talks", which can be beneficial to many. My only gripe is that Nelson would frequently go off course, which may be a huge problem to some who simply wish for instructional content only: in my case, it was a slight issue. Aside from such, his projects aren't as graphically appealing as other professors who teach 131 (like Fawzi), and instructions may be unclear at times. That being said, usage of the discussion board is highly recommended. Additionally, Nelson is fair with extensions on projects classwide, if you ask, so don't be shy — sit in the front! He's lovely.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2022

Nelson is so funny and knows what he is doing.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

CCX001
12/20/2022

He's a decent lecturer but if you rely on slides for notes you are doomed. Fawzi's slides provide no information and he does not do recorded lectures, so you are stuck with trying to listen and copy down notes. It doesn't help that he talks fast and teaches content outside 131 for upper level courses. He does weekly quizzes and has 2 exams. Both are graded strictly and he does not provide practice exams nor tell you what will be on there. The projects look cool but can quite difficult and you will find yourself at the TA's a lot. DO NOT TAKE FAWZI

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/20/2022

Hes a decent lecturer, but he doesn't have lecture recordings like other professors. The main problems I have with his class are his quizzes, exams, projects, and content. Fawzi likes to give weekly quizzes which are annoying to do, he also does not provide any sample exams so you are stuck trying to figure out what will be on there. His projects are quite difficult and you will find yourself at the TA's for most of it. Fawzi also likes to teach more than required, he likes to teach upper level stuff which was annoying considering this is a 131 introductory course.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2022

Nelson is really funny. And he records his lectures. And he records his lectures.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/17/2022

I really liked Nelsons personality because he was funny, caring, and understanding. However, I can't say I enjoyed the lectures. At the beginning I was fine because he makes lectures fun, but I got more tired of his endless banter as the semester dragged on. He interacts A LOT with students, which made lectures very distracting and hard to follow along with. Most of the lectures I went to, I found myself not paying attention because he would go off on long tangents about unrelated things. He is a very easy professor though. Keep in mind, I had taken Comp Sci A AP in high school so I understood most of the concepts, but all of the projects were manageable (and in my opinion easy). His exams weren't necessarily easy for everyone, but I never got below a C on any of the 3 midterms even though I never studied (once again, I had already learned most of the topics that were covered in class, so I'm sure people who have never taken a comp sci class had a much different experience than me). Also, he reused a lot of multiple choice questions from his past midterms. I suspect the final exam was also written by him, because the multiple choice questions were very similar if not the same as some of the questions on past midterms. I finished the final exam with about 45 minutes left, so it was extremely doable. I won't be taking him next semester because I've heard Fawzi prepares you better for future comp sci classes and is a better lecturer (and a harder professor), but if you're looking for someone easy, I would take Nelson.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/16/2022

Good lecturer and keeps class engaging. Weekly quizzes were a pain as a mistake will drop the quiz grade to basically a B. Projects were interesting and not too time consuming for me. The finals were kinda hard this year but that might just be me not studying enough. You cannot use electronics during his lectures and he doesn't record his lectures so you have to always be there in person. Overall, good lecturer but you will have to work for a decent grade especially if you have no prior programming experience.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/16/2022

Fawzi is a great professor and I'm continuing to have him in Spring 2023 for CMSC132. While I'd say his tests can challenge you and question some things as he can bring up some slightly interesting topics on there, the content and the way he lectures is amazing and I am glad to have him again because I'm here to learn and not slack off from what it seems like from Nelson's class. Nelson can seem easy and great, but Fawzi does challenge you and academically pushes you to where you want to be. It may seem subtle at first, but it will start to become more rigorous as time goes on. As someone who normally gets As in classes, this A- does not disappoint and nor would having a B or B+ to say the least.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2022

Elias is a great teacher, he is a very down-to-earth guy and definitely puts students first. His class was not too difficult and the pace of the class and lectures were great.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/15/2022

HIghly recommend him. He goes over the concepts of this class very well. If you are a cs major, which I'm assuming you are if you're taking this class, I recommend taking it with him because it will build a good foundation for cs. Exams, quizzes, and projects become so much easier when you actually understand the material conceptually. He does many examples throughout class of every new unit we learn. His style of explaining and teaching makes it so simple to understand what he is saying. If you do not know any cs, you will be fine in his class. He is also very very nice so if you talk to him after class or go to his office hours, he will help you a lot.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/15/2022

I enjoyed Elias's class. His lectures were kind of slow, but if you go to all of them you will definitely pass. He explains concepts really well, and strongly encourages students to ask questions about things they don't understand. The projects were a good level of difficulty; I didn't find myself struggling too much as long as I started early and went to office hours. The only part of his class that I had an issue with was the exams, I felt like they were pretty inconsistent. The first one was of comparable level of difficulty to first exams of other classes, but the second one was way too long, and I the third one was overly difficult (at least for me). However, I'm sure this is a side effect of it being his first time teaching this class, so his exams will only get better from here. Definitely recommend you take Elias if you get the chance.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/14/2022

I thoroughly enjoyed 131 with Elias. The concepts can be challenging if you don't have previous experience, but Elias will make sure you understand the material. Lectures can be a bit boring at times, but nothing that is a big problem. Office hours are super helpful so utilize them if needed. As long as you start projects early, you will do fine. Elias is an excellent choice for 131 and is lenient with grading and assignments. Definitely would recommend.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/11/2022

Pretty cool guy. He is very understanding and granted a lot of extensions. However, if you slack off you probably won't do so well. This class requires a good amount of effort/studying to do well. From what I can tell, he gives easier quizzes and homework than the other 131 professors but his midterms are more difficult. Came in with no cs experience and thought I was going to fail the class after the first midterm. He helped me work through some stuff and now I'm very confident about 132.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/11/2022

Fawzi is a good lecturer, and he genuinely deserves a lot of credit for making the course so easy to understand for new comers. That said, my biggest gripe with Fawzi is the way he approaches quizzes and exams; he gives weekly quizzes which, while not difficult, are annoying. Furthermore, Fawzi gives two exams for 131, but he doesn't provide a practice exam for either, which is really just annoying. Still, he's a good lecturer and is good at making sure the content is understandable.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/10/2022

Fawzi's projects are very interesting, and he is very good at explaining concepts to you. He does a good job of planning question time into his lecture especially on days with harder content, giving you time to really understand it. He has weekly quizzes that account for 15% or so of your grade, these quizzes I find are pretty easy to study for if you go to discussion every time. He gives optional labs during discussion that often reflect the concepts that will be on the quizzes, at least for the programming questions. If he is asking about concepts or has multiple choice questions, you would have to review the study questions ahead of time. The biggest resource for exams and quizzes in this class is your own notes, write down everything he says. A lot of things he says are not on the slides, his slides are for him to remember what to tell you so you can't skip class and easily understand the new material, if you have never seen it before. He doesn't record his lectures either. He also does not allow you to use laptops in class because it is really easy for you to get distracted and do other things so all notes you take are going to be on paper. His exams are easier, and they are fewer exams than Nelson's class, but the tradeoff is you have weekly quizzes.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2022

He's the third CS professor I've had and he is by far the best. He's really good at teaching first year CS students especially if you've never touched code before. Not only does he explain the concepts really well, he spends most of lecture showing examples and actually reviewing code which helps a lot on projects. As long as you pay attention in lecture and go to discussion you'll pass no problem.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2022

Nelson is one of the most understanding professors I have ever met in my life. Maybe it's because he's a POC, but he just gets us. He understands that we are poor, so he doesn't make us get a textbook (everything is recorded/on slides). There are endless examples of concepts. He is EXTREMELY lenient on project extensions and teaches us how to negotiate deadlines. You will not get the full experience with Nelson unless you sit in the front and ask questions. Otherwise, you'll just sit in the back and roll your eyes over how many times he cracks a joke. Paying attention in lecture was extremely difficult for me because I sat in the back and was not engaged.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/09/2022

Elias is great, he makes lectures interesting and tries to interact with his students. He is always helpful and seems to enjoy answering questions. Elias understands his students and tries to make the class a learning experience rather than a testing environment. I really enjoyed his class, none of the lectures felt useless and the discussions helped me a lot too.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/07/2022

Nothing on his test is stuff he never discussed in lectures. He's strict but not too strict. In my opinion his projects were very interesting which made it a whole lot easier to do. I highly recommend him.

Elias Gonzalez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/07/2022

Elias is a solid teacher, the lectures are not super boring, and he gives in-depth explanations. Plus when the exams were harder he would give a nice curve, he really seems to care. Find out which TA's are good, as that will make the class easier. The exams cover exactly what is discussed in discussions and lectures, always go to the discussion before a quiz/exam as they will drop helpful hints. No complaints

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/07/2022

Overall I thought he was a good professor, he teaches pretty well in my opinion (but that may be due to myself having a little of CS experience beforehand) and he's pretty interesting! Compared to Nelson, Fawzi sticks to the lecture consistently during the entire time and always teaches till the class ends and I usually enjoy his lectures. He doesn't record his lectures unfortunately and doesn't allow laptops which wasn't the worst for me personally but I think it's worth it compared to taking Nelson. Projects are a little abstract to start out with but end up usually being for myself. They're rewarding because most of his projects are GUI based so you can see the progress of making something work which is fun. Compared to Nelson's projects, you learn the content better and just have more fun. Nelson's projects are more open ended ish but just aren't fun when compared to Fawzi. Fawzi has almost weekly quizzes that are 15% of your grade and you usually have no idea of how to figure out what will be on the quiz beforehand so usually screwed on what to study for besides the Study Sets he gives you. This is one of my least favorite parts of the class. He has 2 exams which is less than Nelson's but doesn't give you really any material to study for his exams, unlike how Nelson gives you practice exams for his tests. I feel like tests are not a good descriptor of the content to learn in the class and can sometimes feel like "How was I supposed to know this?" during the exams, but that's probably just me not being an absolute CS god unlike some people in the class. I think you should definitely take Fawzi over Nelson, Nelson goofs off too much and just doesn't have as good of content as Fawzi even if it comes at the cost of being harder. Maybe if you plan on just taking CMSC131 and that's it take Nelson but that's really the only edge case I can think of

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/04/2022

Man, do I love this guy. Absolutely love him. His project descriptions are very slightly confusing at times, but you have Piazza, other students, and the TAs to clarify the descriptions. His lectures are recorded (and Nelson talks about this very often) so if you're feeling sick, you don't have to come to lecture. Honestly, because he records the lectures, you don't REALLY have to come to class... but I went anyway even though it was in the morning because I was absolutely stoked about his lectures. He has a nice sense of humor and he tries to take advantage of that "hip professor" image, which I guess he's doing well. That could be why his jokes might get a bit old by the end of semester and possibly might tick you in the wrong direction, but he's a nice guy. Very lenient for makeups and extensions AS LONG AS you have a valid excuse! Get familiar with him and he might call you out during lectures but it's good to befriend a prof. Oh and Nelson is very good at teaching. When he introduces a new topic, he makes funny descriptions and connects the material to prior knowledge so that beginner students can understand them quicker. Will be taking CMSC132 with him next semester!

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/02/2022

The professor teaches really well.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/02/2022

Excellent Professor. He explains concepts really well and gives fun interesting projects. If you're regular, the course won't be too hard for you. There are quizzes every week, but I think they keep you on track and make Comp sci easier overall. Would definitely recommend him for CMSC131 especially if you don't have much experience with programming before.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/01/2022

Nelson is extremely student-friendly for a class that can be very challenging for beginners. He records all his lectures which is a life saver for so many. He also gives out plenty of extensions for projects and is very supportive throughout them. He is excellent and, in my opinion, a must-take for any beginner coder like myself. A very engaging, energetic, helpful, detailed, and hard-working professor that I will make sure to take whenever possible.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/07/2022

Nelson is an amazing professor. His lectures are very detailed and he keeps his audience engaged which is super important. He is honestly one of the most understanding professors i've ever seen as he is flexible, helpful, and will always be fair when grading. He is also super funny which helps me stay engaged in the class and genuinely want to go to office hours and every lecture. TAKE HIM if you get the chance, you will not regret it!

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/31/2022

Nelson is funny, smart, understanding, and super helpful. He is not the traditional college professor in that he really seems to care about each of our success in a deep and person way. He is super nice and gives great advice to be successful in CMSC and life in general. I would recommend this professor to anyone taking any class which he teaches. He is great so I would take him, if you have the chance.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
harshith
10/19/2022

Fawzi is harder than Nelson. He is a better teacher, but he is slightly harder. I would recommend taking him for 131 over Nelson to build a strong foundation though. If you are doubtful of passing though, take Nelson.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
10/17/2022

he talks too fast he is annoying and he is not beginner friendly

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/07/2022

This is coming from a guy who knows multiple programming languages and had taken prior programming classes before. Yoon is a nice guy but his exams were very difficult(considering this is would be the first cs course some people take). If this is your first programming class and you have Yoon, be prepared to study thoroughly for the exams.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/11/2022

High quality lecturer, posts lecture videos to Panopto. He explains the important concepts in detail. He explains code visually using drawings, which made sense for me since I am a visual learner. Exams are fair and are reflective of the material he emphasizes in both lecture and discussion. A few days before the exam he will give the topics and hints, write them down. If you can do the practice exams and worksheets, you should be fine. There are some tricks, but you can prepare for these by doing the practice material.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Vashin
05/23/2022

Yoon was, quite frankly, not a good professor. For some reason, his 131 curriculum is different than that of the other 131 profs. He begins with Processing, which is basically visual Java and you will never encounter it again afterwards if you complete this class. It was more than halfway into the semester when we finally started doing Object Oriented Programming in Java, whereas with other 131 profs you start Java on day 1. Yoon's quizzes and exams are ridiculously hard for no reason: the multiple choice are usually random programming trivia from class and the coding questions are often curveballs. Pulling up GradeServer, our exam averages were as follows: E1: 68. E2: 59. E3: 61. Final Exam: 56. Such low averages on exams are indicative of one thing: lackluster teaching. There were a few good things worth mentioning throughout the class though. Yoon was quite flexible if you had extenuating circumstances and couldn't get a project in on time, or if some error happened in submissions. Additionally, because the class average was so low at the end of the semester, cutoffs were adjusted and some may argue they were generous (although I would say they were not overly generous, but necessary). I passed with a B+, having a 74 in the class. Try taking any other 131 professor if possible.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/22/2022

Yoon’s a great guy and very down-to-earth, but his lectures aren’t rly the best. If you don’t already have a background in coding, I can understand how this course can be especially difficult (even if it’s supposed to be an intro level course). If that’s the case, actually going to discussion and office hours can help tremendously bc Yoon or the TAs will look at your code.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/20/2022

Pedram's exams and quizzes are extremely fair. In particular, his TA's this semester were exceptional. Some advice: start the projects THE DAY THEY ARE ASSIGNED and JOIN A STUDY GROUP!! Overall I had a much better experience taking CMSC131 with him this spring than I had taking CMSC131 with Fawzi in the fall.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/16/2022

Pedrams lectures are very boring, his project descriptions are extremely vague and hard to follow, and his exams are somewhat difficult. In addition, there was plenty of content on the final exam that he only mentioned briefly in class but never went in depth about. He isn't the worst choice, but definitely not great.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/13/2022

Is he the best lecturer out there? Probably not. But Pedram is an extremely effective lecturer who teaches very clearly if you put in the work required. Starting projects on time, studying properly will make this class very feasible. His exams are extremely fair and his prep/schedule helps you succeed a lot. He's also a great guy who truly cares about his students... happy to have had him for my intro CS course.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Justacoder
05/09/2022

TLDR: boring lectures, hard projects, but nice guy. It me say that if you know what to expect he's not so bad however my first time with him was a bit of a headace. He said his class is beginner friendly which i don't think is true. (I had a semester of computer science classes at a community college) Using eclipse for the first time was a bit tricky. I wish he had spent more time explaining. His projects were a bit on the hard side. I often found the descriptions long and vague. things have to be done in a certain way to test certain skills. His exams were a fair although is online exams were just mini projects which were a pain. If you understand the topics then the projects aren't so bad, if you don't you could spend several hours struggling.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/08/2022

I don't know how to even feel about this class, Yoon is a really nice professor but his exams and quizzes are extremely hard. The averages for both the quizzes and the exams are extremely low. He loves to put tricky questions in his exams or quizzes which I extremely hate. For around the second half of the semester I had to basically teach myself or look up concepts that he taught because he overcomplicates them as a professor. He does post lectures + slides online though, and the TAs go through practice exams/problems in review sessions. A lot of the lectures are all over the place, but feel free to ask him questions during/after lecture and he'll kindly do so, he's a nice guy.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/05/2022

Great professor likes to tell a lot of jokes. Class is easy if taken in high school if not make sure you prepare before you take it. Nelson is a great lecturer also was very helpful by giving online resources such as videos of him lecturing. Also great for freshman cares about his students and wants them to adjust to college.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/05/2022

Took cmsc131 from him, at the start of the semester he told the class that this course is for people who had no prior experience in coding. I had 2 almost years of coding experience therefore projects were easy for me but I struggled in his exams. His exams make no sense at all. He gives 2 to 3 handwriting code questions with the difficulty level of interview questions for a job and expects us to finish it in 50 min with lots of tricky multiply choices questions additional to that. He teaches nothing and expects us to learn from coding ourselves. He curves the class but having the stress is not worth it. I can't believe how stressful his course was. If you want to feel shitty and question whether to major in computer science take him otherwise AVOID him.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B-
akl2025
04/27/2022

I took Fawzi for both CMSC131 and 132 in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, respectively. He is an amazing lecturer and a "fair" professor. 98% of what will be on a test is what he has taught in class, but sometimes throws 1 or 2 multiple choice questions that he briefly mentioned. Moreover, the teacher assistants are super helpful: I can't make it in his class without their support, especially when it's for coding projects and reviewing for midterms (they make review slides and coding examples in my semester, and I hope the next TA will do that too). I never have an office hour with Fawzi, but the TAs are more than enough (he recruits amazing ones). There are 3 advices to give to new students who take his class: 1. DO NOT SKIP CLASS! Fawzi posts lecture slides but most are similar to outlines. To truly understand it, it's better to attend classes and see his thinking processes with examples and drawings. He is strict with time, so he prioritizes delivering all the contents he has for the lecture first then asking questions second. 2. START PROJECTS EARLY! The day Fawzi posts the announcement that the next project is available is the day you should start right away! The TAs are there to help you. Immediately go to them if you don't know how to start. Don't wait until the last 4 days, unless you love being in a long queue of ~20 students (each takes like 5 minutes, give or take another 5). 3. REVIEW LECTURES WEEKLY! Fawzi usually gives weekly quizzes and it's a good way to know what you need to review for midterms. I regret that I didn't do this weekly, which gave me lots of stress the day before the quiz or exam. This not only maintains good scores for all assignments during the semester but also helps you solidify your understanding of all contents for the final. Pros: - Great lectures (easy and clear to understand, good examples) - Fair exams (what you have learned) - Supportive, friendly, and super helpful TAs Cons: - Exams: because he tests all of what you have learned (some topics appears a lot and some only appears once), you have no idea what will worth lots of points. You study EVERYTHING, which is just ... a lot. - He doesn't record lectures (maybe once or twice if it's Friday before a holiday weekend). - Optional: "nerds" who ask a lot of advanced questions at the front and interrupts the lectures. PS: I failed the final (D), but all other assignments were high (B+). They balanced out.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Anonymous
04/25/2022

Horrible. No help for students who are behind though attending all lectures. Terrible at responding to students with legitimate problems understanding and doesn't care for the improvement of students. No help from him. Terrible at conveying topics and concepts to students. TA office hours are your best bet at understanding anything. Teach yourself or suffer the consequences.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Anonymous
04/05/2022

For a starter course for Computer Science major this Yoon makes this course extremely difficult. I took a bunch of other java coding courses before taking cmsc131 and even then I am struggling. His coding project assignments and labs are fairly easy and you have more than enough time to complete them, but when it comes to quizzes and exams be prepared to fail miserably. I don't remember our class getting more than 70 on average in any of his quizzes or exams. His exams and quizzes are heavy with writing a code on paper and you have no time to finish them. Right now the class average is a failing (even with projects and labs boosting the grades), and exams are not getting any easier. He talks that his course is for people that didn't know how to code before while making exams and quizzes more difficult than they should be like he is mocking you. His practices exams he gives you are also much easier than the exam itself giving you false hope.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/18/2022

Fawzi was pretty nice and his TAs were wonderful. I appreciated his teaching style (giving the specifics of each topic we covered) and discussing the concepts before jumping straight into the code. The weekly quizzes were a bit of a drag, but they did make sure that I learned and retained the material. Exams seemed fair and I would've taken him for 132 if I didn't have schedule conflicts. DO NOT SKIP CLASS THOUGH! He does not record and the slides are very barebones.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
02/03/2022

Really nice and made class enjoyable to come to

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/02/2022

Nelson is good professor, with entertaining lectures that are relatively easy to follow. While CMSC131 is not the most beginner-friendly introductory course, that isn't really a knock on Nelson. He wasn't the most accessible for help at times, but that was the only complaint I had. Overall, still a good professor who I'd take again.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
02/02/2022

Nelson is one of the best cs teachers. period. If you have the option to take him, take him. He makes the course super easy to get through and he's super funny.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
01/12/2022

Nelson does his best to keep the lectures entertaining and tries to adjust deadlines whenever possible. It's a bit hard reaching out to him or his TA for help, but the website he uses along with other instructors takes up most of that. In general you'll be all good if you took a Computer Science that covered the basics beforehand, including the ones in high school. If you're coming to this class with no prior knowledge, you might find yourself lost at some times, as he starts his lectures with the assumption that you already know the basics. You will have a project almost every week, with rising difficulty, so it is highly recommended you start your work as soon as possible. Submitting your projects last minute is difficult, since the website can go down from how many people are doing the same. There is almost no flexibility once the deadline passes, and the late penalty hits hard. Study when you should, don't hesitate to go to office hours, and don't be afraid to reach out for help, as it will be difficult to recover once you fall behind. Don't be afraid to ask for anything, since if it's possible he can push deadlines back by a week, but don't rely on it, since procrastination does hit hard in this class. Otherwise, taking the course with him isn't all too bad.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/07/2022

I think Nelson was a rather good professor, and a good lecturer. He often made jokes and gave people breaks. I must say however, some of the jokes were directed at students (Madison, if you're seeing this, I hope the U.S.S. Nelson didn't hit too hard). If you left class early, he would begin to fake cry, which admittedly was funny, but if you need to leave the class early then just expect that. He would also repeatedly tell people to be quiet, which had interrupted class a fair bit. I also felt some of the multiple choice on the tests were a little random, but other than that, he was really good. He did provide a lot of extensions (which helped a ton of people), and ended up curving the class because of one of the exams having a low average. Take him if you need breaks during lecture, want some extensions, or generally just want a funny professor to laugh with.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
01/05/2022

Nelson is a cool professor. I will try to create a pros and cons table for you, the reader, to understand my mind. [PROS] - He's funny. - Does not require attendance, so you can watch his lecture videos on Canvas. - Projects are fun. - He's nice. [CONS] - Sometimes the jokes get annoying, especially when you're trying to learn. As stated in other comments, he will sometimes just say jokes randomly (which can be funny at times), but as the days went by the jokes became old. - You really gotta pay attention if you don't know the material and talk to TAs constantly if you don't know anything. If anything, the TAs are more helpful than Nelson himself. - As anecdotal evidence, he created a 3rd exam (in the past there were only 2) which covered a bunch of topics. I went to the exam review and the TA told us not to review this one topic. Next thing you know that topic is on the exam!!! I heard that half of the class did POORLY on that exam (including me). I went from a B to a C overnight. - Projects are fun but require a ton of logic. I had to use external sources to find out topics that I did not understand. - Exams and quizzes are done on PAPER. You really have to know Java word by word or you are dead. For slow writers, good luck because you only have about 20-40 minutes to do about 3-4 methods. [CONCLUSION] If you do not know Java, LEARN IT prior to taking this class. If you do not have ANY knowledge, you are screwed. Gladly I had some coding knowledge that helped me in the long run. Learn how to code and how to write it. Overall, great class but annoying coursework.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/24/2021

public static void main(String[] args) { /* Nelson is a great professor. He is really laid back, chill, and constantly makes jokes and finds interesting ways to keep students engaged. This was my first time coding in Java and Nelson made it very straight forward and doable. Pros: - Nelson is a very funny and likable guy. On the first day of classes he will tell you that he always wants you to call him by his first name which I found interesting. - He is very good at making analogies between programming and more understandable topics. For example, he would make an analogy between a bakery and objects in java. This makes it really easy to understand his teaching, even for first time programmers like me. - His lecture slides are much more detailed than Fawsi's (from what I have heard) - His exams are very much like the previous exams. As long as you study those, and the additional resources that Nelson provides, you will be more than fine on the exams. - Occasionally during every lecture, Nelson likes to say "1 minute" which indicates that we can talk to our neighbor for a minute and digest the information that he just lectured about. I found this useful and made the class less fast paced— gave me time to breathe while learning new information. After this minute break, he opens the floor for a few questions before returning to his lecture. - Nelson uploads the code for every class example and provides many many resources to ensure you do well on the projects and exams. - Grading for exams is honestly pretty lenient. Because all the midterms include hand-written coding, it is easy to miss the small nuances that come with programming but the TAs that grade your tests know this. Often times when you look at the grading break down, you are given points on a segment of code just for "ATTEMPTING to _______" - Very accommodating in regards to extending deadlines for things. He even encourages that the class speaks up if we need an extension. Cons: - His funny personality sometimes gets in the way of the actual teaching. Yes it does lighten up the mood but often he will stop mid sentence just to pop in a joke. Additionally, some of his comedy is offensive or will get stale. For example, he once made a statement to the guys in the class about how they should not feel bad if a girl rejects them. He then goes on with his joke and says that girls are like "instance variables" and how the guys should just "pick another one" if one doesn't work. If you know anything about Java, you will know that he basically just called women "objects". I didn't think too much about this but I can see why some people would find his humor offensive. He also always makes the joke "turn to your neighbor and tell them they are a (insert random java terminology)" which literally makes no sense and gets old after the first couple times. - The third midterm was a nightmare. In the past, there have only been two midterms and the third was only added a couple years ago. This means that there is little study material and the worst part is that the second and third midterm are only 2 weeks apart since they kind of just shoved it into the curriculum. The class average for midterms is usually pretty high but dropped to a D average for this midterm. Nelson did adjust the letter grade cut offs for final grades because of this though. - Projects become very challenging towards the end of the semester. This is obviously necessary to challenge students but sometimes they are impossible to figure out without a TA. - Frankly, sometimes it is difficult to understand his accent and it leaves you to think more about what words he is saying in the first place rather than the actual content within his sentences. Overall, I think Nelson is the better option for CMSC131. He is very knowledgable and it is clear that he comes prepared for class with examples to explain complex ideas to new programmers. Just beware of his random remarks. It is clear that he is looking for validation and wants to be liked by his students so he makes jokes on topics that students our age would find "funny". If you can get past the cringe factor, this class will great. */ System.out.println("Chose Nelson!"); }

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/22/2021

I’m glad I chose Fawzi for 131, and I would take him again for 132 if my schedule allowed me to do so. As a beginner, I felt like his lectures were effective because his teaching style somehow got the material to stick in my head. He is straight to the point, but also occasionally throws in some humor to keep the class engaged. Lectures never really felt rushed, I think he was good at time management and knew when to cut off a lecture to not rush a topic. I’m not really sure if he has office hours, but TA hours (from 9-6) were a godsend. I don’t think I would’ve passed this class without his TAs. The TAs were helpful for getting me through the projects, but they also seemed to help other students with any questions about course content. There were 2 major exams throughout the semester and 1 final. I thought they were all fair questions - study the study questions and notes from lecture, as well as last quizzes. Quizzes were basically weekly and also fair. The front of the worksheet was usually multiple choice or short answer questions, and the back was a coding question, and you had 20 minutes to do the quiz.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/22/2021

Nelson is great!!! If you're the type of person to get kind of bored during boring old slide lectures then he's good for you! He relies on examples in the lecture and a few small concepts from the slides. He gives us one-minute breaks in between heavy topics/examples so that we can discuss it with our neighbors, which I find really helpful in keeping everyone interactive and actually paying attention esp in a morning class. His exams are doable as long as you do the past exams/practice he gives which is really helpful. His third exam; however, was overly long and challenging compared to his others so it tanked a lot of people's grades, but he just released grades and seemed to have provided a better cutoff to benefit (f.e. some A grades were considered A+ and so on), so as long as you put the work in you should be golden in terms of your grade (it's not meant to be challenging to get an A or B). Also, his projects are definitely on the challenging side sometimes especially later in the year with Recursion and the class implementations, but if you study his class lecture code and ask for help during office hours (always go early otherwise you probably won't get a chance if it's close to the project deadline). Overall, he explains things effectively for the most part and I'd recommend reading some notes on the topics before coming into class on the first day just so you have a good idea of what coding in Java is about and you aren't bombarded too fast! He does not curve, but his grades are pretty fair. I really enjoyed his class and it's insane to me how much I learned in just three months! I totally recommend Nelson

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
stressed_student
12/21/2021

Context: Programmed in Java through an intro to java course in HS as well as APCS A (Not principles). Honestly, if given the choice between Fawzi and Nelson, I would recommend you take Nelson. BE PREPARED to spend time outside of class learning, digesting, and applying the information taught in class as I felt like Nelson was quick with the material during the lecture. Sources like Alex Lee or w3schools really helped me out when I was lost within the material. Especially with me coming in with prior knowledge of Java and programming, this course definitely challenges you in a good way. Be sure to manage your time well, start your projects early, and always ask questions. If you have no experience programming before, you're going to have to spend a lot of time reviewing and learning the material for the first time as it's a lot, especially with the pace. I believe my grade within the class was fair, as I know I could've applied myself more to fully understand the material. This class should be on your higher level of priority (The same level/effort as MATH140 for me at least). In the end, I learned a lot from Nelson and do not regret taking the class with him. Pros: - Recorded Lectures - Lectures, programs, and in-class notes are always posted online - Provides sample exams/quizzes for students to prepare for prior to midterms/finals. - Allows you to have your laptop out during class (NOTE: I have heard that Fawzi does NOT allow laptops out during class). - Always understanding/flexible with scheduling conflicts --> not afraid to move assignment/test deadlines further when asked Cons: - Can be fast with the material he goes through - (Did not bother/affect me at all) Has a slight accent - (To some people this might be a con) Brief moments during class to reflect what was learned to classmates + ask questions - Sometimes he can joke around too much to the point where it'll take away from the class time (Did not annoy me, a review from someone earlier mentioned this and I also believe it's true). - Does not use Canvas. Nelson uses his own website for posting projects details, slides, sample programs, etc... - (Not a con for me) Uses Piazza for class announcements + addressing student questions/concerns/memes (yes there is a meme folder for the class, pretty dope).

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2021

Nelson is a great professor, he tries to keep lectures interesting with jokes and takes small breaks every 10 minutes for the class to ask each other questions or just talk. He is good at keeping everyone interacting with each other and encourages people to talk and get to know each other. However, the course, in general, is very difficult, if you have not taken any Computer science courses before, this course is very challenging. I know people who have barely passed this class as they have had no experience, and since this class is fast-paced it is really hard to keep learning new material while also doing the projects. I would really recommend coming in with some level of experience and looking over material that is covered in this class before taking this course.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/17/2021

Extremely easy to understand, excellent lecturer, very charismatic, and knowledgeable on the subject. Just all-around an excellent professor. He is incredibly invested in making sure his students understand the concepts, which is why he doesn't allow laptops in any of his lectures, but don't let that scare you off at all. Don't skip a class, start all the projects early, and you will easily pass this class. I will definitely take him for 132 next semester. I have heard that he can be very egotistical and arrogant in one-on-one conversations, but that's never happened to me.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/16/2021

He is a great professor in the sense that he is funny and tries to keep the class engaged. However, he goes relatively fast throughout the material and it is easy to get lost through the semester. He doesn't give us students enough time to reflect on the material and understand and just keeps going. A lot of the times when I went in for office hours or asked him questions after class, he makes me feel stupid and acts in a way that gives off the vibe that I should already know this. At times he wouldn't even answer the question I had. I have to say though, he is very generous with deadlines and is willing to extend if people request it. He doesn't curve.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2021

Compared to Pedram, who I had for the same course, Fawzi taught this better in almost every way. He's very enthusiastic, makes jokes, and really tries to make sure the class understands difficult concepts before moving on. For really difficult things, he'll always tell you if it is testable material. Besides that, his quizzes are generally easy, projects can be finished in a couple of days, and the exams are fair. Also, this TAs this semester were very helpful whenever I did have problems with a project. I would recommend choosing him regardless of your experience with Java.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/14/2021

Nelson is a goofball for real - My first ever programming class, and I learned a ton, and ended with a good, fair grade. I could find Nelson to be irritating though, if I don't understand a topic, he tends to joke a lot. But he made the class fun, projects were fair (most the time), and the workload was not too bad. Issues: Spelling/grammar mistakes in project descriptions, discussions being useless

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/13/2021

Nelson is awesome, I swear he is the ideal professor for students who have no CS experience, especially those who are worried about jumping into CS without an understanding of what the major really is. Nelson creates a great environment with humor and takes time to reassure you that CS is not as intimidating as people make it to be. While you do need to be willing to put in the work, he is the most accommodating and patient instructor I've had because he really does care about his students needs. I will definitely be trying my best to take as many classes with the instructor in the future!

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2021

I've never taken a coding class in my life, but I just tried to understand some basics of Java over the summer. However, I didn't really get that far. I was really stressed about taking CMSC131, in fact, I was constantly asking people at UMD how difficult it was for a newbie programmer to adjust to the class before I came here. CMSC131 will take a lot of work and time management, but it is do-able, especially if you have Nelson. He's a great teacher who cares for his students and is willing to be accommodating towards them (deadline extensions, cancellations of quizzes, etc.). He gives you all of the resources you need to do well in his class. I haven't taken the final yet, but so far, I believe that every test and project we've been given has been fair. He is a example-based lecturer and it works perfectly with my style of learning, but make sure this style fits you if you want to take him. That said, you will only do well in this class without any previous experience if you are willing to put in the effort. Start projects early and go to TA office hours to clear concepts up. Spend a few days studying for each midterm and make sure to do all the practice exams that you are given. Reach out for help using the free I4C tutoring service or talk directly to Nelson.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/13/2021

I LOVED FAWZI! He is the best CS professor you can ask for! His lecture is fun and easy to understand, his quizzes and exams are super easy. And he will give you a head start on the upper-level course, so it will be easier when you get to the higher-level CS course! !! There are also chances for you to be engaged in competition in his course where he will give out prizes to you and make you feel like a STAR! ! ! ALSO, his projects are super easy and some you can even put on your resume!

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/12/2021

IF YOU HAVE NEVER CODED THIS CLASS IS HARDD!!!! Advice for Class: There is no way around it, this class is difficult for those with no prior experience or who it doesn't come naturally. Nelson is a decent teacher, but be prepared that he moves really fast. Your first 2-3 weeks of semester should just be spent constantly coding small tasks to get familiar with java and eclipse. It will help so much. Also watch YouTube vids to try to get ahead. The tests are hard as well so prepare early to write your code instead of type. The previous tests he gives as examples are ALWAYS much easier then actual test, so know / understand them like the back of your hand. The projects help you learn the most because they take HOURS. I would have the expectation that each one will take at least 8 hours. start them as soon as they are released and bounce ideas of friends as much as you can. DO NOT CHEAT OR SHOW CODE to others. the TAs will notice if you copy. Just explain what you did and how in words and you should be okay. Use your peers as support in this class because it is easy to get stuck. Nelson review: He is good teacher will slight accent and decent humor. overall is nice and down to earth(insists you call him nelson). His lectures are not the most organized and he tends to bounce around which can be confusing. Luckily you can watch them back and try to understand. He is relatively accessible in office hours, but tends to come off as an overpowering personality in person. I suspect this is because he lectures groups more then teaches individuals. I also think he knows this and try's to improve(only somewhat successful). I am trying to take him next semester for 132. He is defiantly not perfect, but he is far better then some other shit teachers at UMD. Ps. People tend to vary in their liking of him because of how much they enjoy his humor in lectures.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/10/2021

Okay, so Nelson is a very nice guy, and if you ask for an extension on a project he normally gives it to you but tbh he isn't a good professor. I would not recommend this class to anyone who hasn't taken any programming classes before. This class is super fast-paced and if you fall behind you'll be lost. This class is extremely hard, the tests are what most people fail at because of how hard he makes them. He gives you previous exams to practice but the questions he asks on the exam are totally different. I am talking about studying for 4 days straight and still failing kinda hard. On one exam everyone did bad on and he still didn't curve it or find a way to help us out because of how badly it affected our grades. The projects aren't totally awful until you get near the end of the semester, I would say you are working on a project every day of the week through the semester. But most people do better on the projects than on the exams and that's what helps your grade. There are certain TA's that aren't really much help and it's so difficult to make a meeting with a TA for no reason. I have never seen so many people struggle with one class until I took CMSC131. I really don't recommend this class to anyone and if I could go back in time and not take this class I would. This class ruined my first semester of freshman year.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2021

Nelson is clearly a super caring guy. He acknowledges the difficulty of CS and wants everyone to do well. His lectures are also great and he keeps you engaged with jokes and stories. Some people complain that the jokes and stories are a distraction, but they made me more engaged. Just make sure you don't blank out during lectures as you can miss important info. Projects and exams can be tricky, so make sure you are on top of everything. I came in with coding experience so I was fine, but I saw a ton of my friends really struggle.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/08/2021

Absolute King of a prof. He's as funny as he is knowledgeable, and is an all-around great choice. His lectures are entertaining and informative, and he will pause periodically and wait for someone to raise their hand. After each lecture, he'll post his slides and any code he used in class as examples. As someone who's had a few years of experience in Java, the projects are challenging but always fair and well-implemented (and there's always a TA who can help you). Each week, he'll post practice questions that he'll occasionally directly copy onto quizzes and exams. The quizzes are easy but frequent enough that you're always forced to keep up with the information. The exams can be challenging but are never impossible. In each discussion section, he'll give a lab that is very reflective of any quiz or exam coding questions. Overall, Fawzi makes you want to learn and understand the info and I can't recommend him enough.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/08/2021

Just finishing up the semester and had to give Nelson a review. Out of my 3 semesters here, he’s easily one of the best professors I’ve ever had. Not only is he hilarious, but he also keeps his lectures engaging, and really tries to get his students to understand what is going on. I have had no actual prior programming experience before coming into this class, and I was able to pick up on concepts really easily, especially with all the examples he hands out. The projects definitely get challenging near the end, but you have plenty of time to finish them and the TA’s can be very helpful. This is not the easiest class, and it definitely has a decent workload, but it was overall enjoyable and a great start towards a computer science degree. Also: HE RECORDS LECTURES! It’s really useful. Fawzi doesn’t to my knowledge. Some of these 1 star reviews are upsetting me so here’s what I have to say: - His accent is so slight that you can understand everything he is saying just fine, and his occasional grammatical errors are not at all confusing, just read over the sentence again. - While this class does get harder as it goes along, as long as you pay attention a good 80% of the time and keep with the work, there is no way you would be able to call this class impossible. - As far as CMSC131 and CMSC132 go, I have heard that Nelson is one of the easier professors. - He definitely does more than read his slides. He shows several examples of code for each topic - He isn’t a big fan of when people talk loudly in his class, but he’s cool about it. I talked with my friend everyday in that class at a low volume and he didn’t mind at all. - He will ask you to clarify your questions if he doesn’t understand, so be sure to be clear about your issues. The TA’s will help you if he can’t. I highly recommend if you want to go into CS, take Nelson.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/06/2021

I took 131 with no coding experience during Spring 21 sem. His class was extremely difficult for me because of the difference in content covered on exams vs in the lectures. Projects and exams took me all day and I struggled really hard with this class. You won't interact with him at all so be prepared to teach yourself and always attend discussion.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/19/2021

Definitely one of the best professors at UMD especially because of how easy and fun he makes the lectures. He is the only professor that I have this semester whose class just seems to effortless and fun. Nelson seems more like a friend than a teacher - a great quality for someone looking to be mentored.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/23/2021

One of the best CS professors out there. Yes the class is difficult but Nelson tried to make the material as understandable as possible. But halfway through the semester the course feels like it suddenly sped up, so you need to stay on your game the whole time or you will get overwhelmed by new material fast.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/20/2021

Good lecturer, although he gave less time than some other professors for quizzes and exams which made them somewhat difficult.

Arjun Kothakota
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/14/2021

brilliant TA, deserves prizes in the form of candy BOMBS. he's so good, he spent a lot of time with me helping me perfect my projects take it with him if you have the chance!!!

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/02/2021

I had Fawzi for 131 last semester and he did an outstanding job. I really felt like I learned the material completely. I can't recommend him enough.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B
CrazeddRabbi
01/13/2021

His lectures (which were asynchronous) were always out in a timely manner, and when they weren't he would give you an extra two or three days to watch them. His lectures were not only well-taught and understandable but also entertaining, as he constantly cracks jokes. He is also very responsive to emails.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
01/11/2021

Solid lecturer, though wouldn't recommend taking him if you don't do well under pressure due to the time constraints he had for tests/quizzes.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
01/03/2021

I am a rising senior in CS and Fawzi is one of the best teachers that I have had alongside Teli. He explains the concepts well and is good at gauging what a freshman understands better than Yoon. You can't go wrong with taking him or Nelson.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/27/2020

Nelson does a great job of making a potentially boring class, extremely fun. He explains the concepts well and adds in humor to make it bearable. This class is a lot of work, of course, but here are a lot of ways to get help if you need it. I am going to take his classes as many times as I possibly can.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/26/2020

I took Fawzi for 131 and will be taking him again for 132 in the spring. He is a great lecturer, explaining concepts well and then illustrating them with examples. He also keeps them fairly entertaining (which is hard to do with pre-recorded lectures, I'm sure his in-person classes are even better). All of the projects were fairly straightforward and most of the time you end up with a cool final product. If you watch all his lectures and study your lecture notes, you'll do fine on quizzes/exams. He covers everything that winds up on his tests in his lectures.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/15/2020

He''s a great professor and all his lectures explain the concepts thoroughly. During COVID his lectures are recorded and it mandatory to watch for a grade. He posts them a day early. His exams and quizzes are timed. He makes silly jokes in his lecture and overall, I definitely recommend him as a professor for this class.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2020

Fawzi was a solid professor with quality lectures and enjoyable, reasonable projects. His lectures were asynchronous and you had all day to watch them, which was convenient. If you enjoy challenges, then I guarantee you will like his Soldiers project which was a lot of fun to work with. The biggest downside is that his quizzes are little tough and can be tight on time. He also comes off a bit rude in his class-wide emails, however whenever I personally emailed him, he was receptive and kind.

Phoebe Moh
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/12/2020

Phoebe is the best TA that I've had yet. She is insanely nice, helpful and very good at teaching class. She is very approachable with any issues you might have.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2020

Really enjoyed his class - though lectures were recorded online, I was never bored when watching them, plus he makes the content really easy to understand for a beginner CS course; plus, quizzes + projects were not bad - would definitely reccommend!

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/03/2020

The actual GOAT. I have minimal background programming experience and took this class to see if I enjoyed CS. Fawzi was a great professor with a great sense of humor and very fair exams/quizzes. He taught me so much about CS and I am very glad I took it with him, plan on taking 132 with him next semester to. If you can, take Fawzi.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/01/2020

He's good at explaining concepts. It is a bit distracting when he talks to his students in the recordings (class was asynchronous so we only watched recordings of previous lectures), but it helps with having a mini break in between. His accent is a bit challenging at times, so do not rely on the auto-generated captions. Open to help on Piazza and usually assigns enough time for projects, but you will most likely be directed to a TA for help. He gives lots of time to complete quizzes.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an F
Anonymous
11/20/2020

Hardest thing ive ever done in my life. It started soooo slow but then it got extremely hard extremely fast and ruthless after learning about objects. Nelson is cool but not for this class.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/12/2020

This man knows how to keep the class engaged, and he's absolutely hilarious. Projects and exams are kind of difficult though, so make sure to really get the material down.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/02/2020

Such an awesome teacher for 131 and 132. He's fun and fair, and he's a good lecturer that makes sure you understand the material–as long as you pay attention during his lectures and show up, you can do really well in the class. He also let me take my first 131 exam in his office after I accidentally slept through it, so I pretty much owe this man my life.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a P
Anonymous
10/28/2020

Nelson is a funny guy who makes a lot of jokes, but I didn't really learn that much from him. I wish I had taken the course with the other instructor.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/25/2020

AMAZING professor. Clearly always prepared for his lectures, makes everything understandable and attention-holding, and easy to talk to. Great class even if you haven't done CS before. Overall, I had a great time in his classes (took CMSC131 and 132 with him). Projects are doable and interesting but will take time. He also has pop quizzes (better in 131 than 132 there). I learned so much from him!!

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a P
Anonymous
05/18/2020

I'm an international student. My native language is not English. And I have to say, if you don't have any background on coding or if you are not an English native speaker, DO NOT TAKE Nelson because he has a thick Spanish accent. It sounds like he was shooting a machine gun. DADADADADA.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/28/2020

He's a good person, but an okay teacher. He lectures every class, but rarely stays on topic. If you know basic Java already you are probably better off taking his class because it will be so easy and minimal work. He does clickers, but it is really just for attendance. So you will have to show up to his class, but do nothing in it. His exams are tough-ish. Its more because he likes to test on the stuff he said once.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/29/2020

Take nelson.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/18/2019

I had Golub for 131 and 351. I disliked him for 131, as I was just learning CS and his lectures were very rambling and not very useful. His slides are not that great when he has them, so you really have to pay attention. Despite these complaints I did learn stuff in his lecturers and I think I got the correct grades for the amount of work I put in. For 351 he was great mainly because he was much easier than Kruskal. His tests were very fair in that class and were very similar to the homeworks and lectures. I would recommend Golub for upper level courses, but maybe avoid him for earlier courses, as his non-sequiturs can be really frustrating when you are first learning certain concepts.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2019

I was worried taking this class with basically no cs experience, but fawzi definitely made everything feel doable. His lectures are great and because of the way his slides are made, you HAVE to attend every lecture if you don’t have a strong background. His quizzes are also very easy but he doesn’t drop so you have to make sure you go to every lecture and consistently stay up to date with his study questions. The two midterms are almost entirely straightforward questions and are very simple to study for by looking at past quizzes/study questions. The projects are easy A’s if you start them the day you’re assigned, which I made a habit. Overall, this class was the most time consuming class I’ve had so far, but also one where I learned the most. I definitely recommend taking fawzi, as I believe you’ll learn the most from him.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/04/2019

Perfect, approachable, answers questions, funny, and commands classroom

Matt Patrick
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/30/2019

Great TA and easy to talk to. He would take time after lab to talk to me about jobs and future classes too which I really liked.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/27/2019

Very good lecturing. It helped that he was co-lecturing with nelson so I think the exams were easier.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/16/2019

Fawzi is AMAZING! I don't see how anybody could give him a negative review. He is a true professional who loves teaching and cares deeply about his students. He's the best natural "teacher" I've ever had (including college and high school). The lectures were informative and held my attention the whole time. He was also very helpful and encouraging to me during office hours. I wish I could take another class with Fawzi!

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
08/15/2019

Fawzi is pretty overrated. Maybe it's just me since everyone else seems to love him, but he was under-prepared for class almost every single lecture. Maybe its because I was his first class of the day, not entirely sure, but he'd frequently forget about slides or not have materials ready. His lecturing style was alright, but nowhere near as phenomenal as people make it out to be.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
08/11/2019

Trust these reviews. Fawzi knows how to teach CS to beginners unlike any other professor in the department. I came in with absolutely no knowledge of Java and got an A+. By no means is his 131 class easy, conversely it is actually very difficult. I am a business major adding CS and this was definitely the hardest class I've ever taken. You need to work really hard and study literally every day to do well in this course. Fawzi is an astounding lecturer and if you sit in the front, ask questions, and take notes on everything he says, you can do well. Fawzi is miles better than any other professor (including Nelson/Pedram) for CMSC131. Take him!

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
08/06/2019

Great Lecturer

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
06/02/2019

Yoon wasn't an amazing attention grabber during lecture but he taught the class really well. The projects really helped with learning the material and starting with Processing before Java was such a great idea. Overall highly recommend his class for beginners and experienced people alike.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/01/2019

I thought he was fine for 131. Lectures aren't great, frequently goes off-topic. Kind during office hours. If you have prior programming expierence you'll be fine. If you don't then develop a hand in Java before starting 131.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/19/2019

Although his teaching style is not that good and lectures are very hard to understand sometimes, Yoon has a great personality. The projects in this class can be hard, but he tries his best to make sure everyone knows what they have to do. Finally, the best thing about Yoon is that he makes big fair, curves in the class as a whole.

Diarre Ibrahim
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/10/2019

Amazing TA!! He actually cares about your success and answers any questions you have. Even though he wasn’t a teaching TA, his office hours really helped me get a better understanding of the content and projects!

Shriraj Gandhi
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/10/2019

Hands down best TA out there. Goes above and beyond to help students, dedicates time outside of class to hold 3 hour review sessions and practice exams, answers ALL questions, and simply cares a lot about student success.

Diarre Ibrahim
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/27/2019

This guy...let me tell you...this guy has dedication to his students! He stays over his hours to help anyone who still needs help! Probably the most clever TA of the staff. Sad he will not be able to TA after he graduates, he knows how to reeeeeeech deeeeeeese keeeeeeeds!

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/15/2019

A very dedicate professor, who always tries his best to help students to understand lessons.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
braniac9
04/11/2019

Lived up to the hype. Great and engaging lecturer who cares about his students (overused some jokes, though). Other reviews mention grammatical errors in project specifications, but this was not my experience. Receptive to student concerns.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/28/2019

Don't know why a lot of people hate on Nelson. He's an awesome professor and I thought he explained things to beginner programming students very well compared to other 131 professors. I had experience in Java before coming in, so I didn't have to study as much I guess. I would recommend Nelson over Herman any day. He does make some weird jokes here and there, but if you have at least a little sense of humor, the 75-minute lectures fly by.

Mohammad Nayeem Teli
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/14/2019

He was the best professor of CMSC131 at the semester I took it. He is a nice guy. He allows using laptops for taking notes. He answers questions from the class. He is good at explaining various concepts clearly, using terminologies. Only he is not very good at making analogies. If you consider analogies essential for explaining concepts in computer science, you may not like his explanations.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
fellowterp2022
01/21/2019

Everything I want to say has already been said by all the 5-star ratings of Fawzi Emad! This man is an enthusiastic, organized, well-spoken professor who is passionate about whatever he teaches. Of course, if you don't put effort into reviewing concepts and doing the CS projects early, your grade will reflect that. I liked his teaching style. Very straightforward and to the point, plus his humor to enhance the learning environment. Fawzi is surely the way to go when deciding which professor to learn from! In fact, I'm taking him again for CMSC132 and CMSC250 this semester :)

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/19/2018

My only prior experience to CS was Programming 1 my senior year of HS, and all those topics were covered within the first two weeks of CMSC131 so everything was fairly new. Nelson is an incredible professor! He makes the lecturers funny and engages with his students. He really cares for his students and extends projects when he sees fit. Sometimes there are 1 point assignments to boost your grade a little. His lectures are posted online but I highly recommend going to class and then going home to rewatch the lecture and taking notes. I did this for the final exam and scored really high that I wished I did this throughout the semester so that I wouldn't have been crying about the projects. Projects are hard but people are willing to help!! His exams and quizzes are no surprise if you studied and dedicate time for the materials. I ended up with an A- in the class with the small curve. I highly recommend Nelson!

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/13/2018

Fawzi is a good lecturer, has good explanations. He is sometimes rude to students, specifically women, in lecture and in office hours.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/13/2018

I had to take Evan Golub for CMSC131 because I am international student and the seats for Fawzi Emad (Best CS Prof) were full. Its pretty much the same as his other negative reviews for 131 where his lectures are boring and off-topic, doesn't help you prepare for the exam, weird grading criteria, stupid clickers, laughs at his own jokes!!

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2018

One of the best computer science instructors I have ever had. He is extremely organized, and is great at explaining new topics in lecture. He is enthusiastic when teaching and wants to see you succeed. I would prioritize signing up for his class over anyone else.

William Pugh
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/11/2018

Great professor if you have background with Java. Not so great if you know nothing, but I already knew Java and he only furthered my understanding of programming concepts and how to more effectively use Java.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
11/20/2018

Fantastic professor, he is very engaging and pretty funny. The course (CMSC131) covers a lot of ground, so things move very fast-paced, but Fawzi does a great job covering everything. Study Questions are great for exam preparation (but not sufficient alone). Projects are not too difficult but become increasingly more time-consuming as the semester progresses, thus starting early is a good idea. Exams are very fair, not too difficult, not too easy. Things that are passed by in lecture may show up on the exam, so it is a good idea to make it to every lecture and take detailed notes. Definitely practice writing chunks of code on paper if you are not used to it, those are usually the most difficult portions of the exams and you won't have a lot of time to think of how to go about the problem, so it's important to know your approach immediately. Do the labs, the code that you have to write in those often resemble the code problems on the exams. Fawzi is superb at explaining abstract concepts and their practicality. The class is not an "easy A", but if you put in the work then you should be fine and will certainly learn a lot. The man is good at his job.

Mohammad Nayeem Teli
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/20/2018

Professor Nayeem is pretty good. He's always willing to answer questions and speaks in a clear voice. Occasionally, it seems as if he accidentally leaves out small details that are important to the concept he is explaining. I'd recommend that if you take him, don't be afraid to ask questions and keep doing so until you understand the concept, he is very approachable.

Roger Eastman
CMSC131

lactaid
09/20/2018

A really nice guy and great professor. He really cares about students. Definitely recommend going to his office hours to talk to him about anything.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting a B
popo
06/05/2018

Professor Yoon is a nice and careful lecturer. He provides enough time and hints for us to work on our projects and labs. However, he is not good at lecturing. So, if you do not have prior coding experience like me, you need to teach yourself to keep the pace with his lectures.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/02/2018

Not a great lecturer, but cares about students

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/23/2018

Professor Yoon is very respectful and does his best to teach the class fairly. Some of the projects/labs can get a bit difficult but there are countless office hours to get help and he often extends the deadline if the students feel that it is too hard. Despite this, his lectures are clear and helpful, and CMSC131 is completely doable with Yoon.

Roger Eastman
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/22/2018

He's a solid professor. He does everything he can to help his students. Great sense of humor. Does tend to lose his place sometimes during lecture but he's great overall. His practice exams look very much like the actual exams given.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/17/2018

Excellent lecturer! This was my favorite class to go to. The projects are interesting the exams were not too bad. Take that with a grain of salt since I have programmed before. He posts weekly study questions and those are the guide to acing the exams.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/15/2018

Great prof, he's very enthusiastic about CS. He also cares a lot about is students and their success in the course. Definitely wouldn't mind taking CMSC 131 with him again.

Colin Chen
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/14/2018

Super helpful and easy to understand! A p funny guy who knows his stuff

Matt Patrick
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/11/2018

Explained concepts really well and was lots of fun too. Take his section if you can.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/11/2018

Amazing professor! So friendly and approachable. He really cares about his students and listens to our concerns. He's also really excited about the topic which makes the lecture a lot more interesting to attend.

Colin Chen
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/11/2018

Extremely helpful when asked. Very friendly TA!

Jasraj Singh
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/11/2018

Awesome TA! Funny, explains things well and also gives general advice about the major!

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/11/2018

This guy is both hilarious and very passionate about teaching. My favourite teacher so far! Take him whenever you can

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/11/2018

Fawzi's way of explaining the material really makes it stick. I'm not sure what it is. He just makes you see why a concept is useful or why it matters and the explains it in a logical manner. Everything just clicks.

Jonathan Saewitz
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
tomorrow
05/11/2018

A grade A TA. He also writes this website.

Shriraj Gandhi
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/10/2018

Awesome TA. Answers questions very quickly and gives a clear response. Holds review sessions with another TA and helps him create practice exams. Approachable and friendly.

Jonathan Saewitz
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/10/2018

Incredible TA. Very clear when he teaches a concept and tries to help anyone that does not understand. Easy to approach and very friendly person. Holds reviews before tests that are extremely helpful and posts practice tests with answers.

Saadiq Shaik
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/10/2018

Saadiq is great! He is very clear with his explanation, and he was able to successfully help me debug 99% of my coding error. Overall, he is a great TA, and I highly suggest you switch into a discussion with him as the TA.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/10/2018

I work for him and he cares so much about his students and TAs

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/10/2018

Really, super nice. He's very excited and enthusiastic about teaching which is great.

Jonathan Saewitz
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/10/2018

Hosts CMSC131 review sessions, seemingly of his own volition. Really helpful, great at answering questions.

Anastasiya Stolyarova
CMSC131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/09/2018

amazing TA, always eager to help out during class and leads great reviews for the material we do in lecture. Quizzes are sometimes tough but I don't think she makes them.

Anastasiya Stolyarova
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/08/2018

She's a little timid at first, but she truly is a great TA. She is great at explaining things and she makes sure to ask if any students have questions or if anything is confusing. She is also very patient. Any student would be lucky to have her as a TA. (:

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/08/2018

AVOID HIM IF YOU CAN, worst professor ever, you barely learn, exams get a tad harder near the end of course, and the clicker quizzes were so pointless and literally the only reason I bothered to show up to his lectures. Anyone I took to watch his lectures with me all said that it was the worst lecture they'd ever been to, one of them chose Kruskal over him for his 351 class after he watched in on my 131 lectures.

Roger Eastman
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/08/2018

An alright professor, he jumps into 132 concepts a bit sometimes and expects you to know them for the tests. Also, one annoying part was we went over this basic programming language (basically elementary java) called Processing for over HALF of the semester which was really annoying, made me want to transition into Eclipse ASAP, as much as I hate to say it. Otherwise, Eastman's a nice person and good to talk to if you need help.

Joseph Lui
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/08/2018

Outstanding TA

Jasraj Singh
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/07/2018

Humorous, gives good advice, understanding of the frustrations of being a compsci student

Colin Chen
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/07/2018

Helpful and quiet, informative.

Anastasiya Stolyarova
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/07/2018

Ana was a great TA and was always very helpful during office hours and discussion. She always responded to emails quickly and was patient with her students and wanted them to learn the material so they can succeed in the course.

Jasraj Singh
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/07/2018

Best TA

Anastasiya Stolyarova
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/07/2018

Great TA, super helpful; went above and beyond to help us understand content

Anastasiya Stolyarova
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/07/2018

Humorous and engaging, would for sure take again.

Roger Eastman
CMSC131

lactaid
05/06/2018

Really nice guy. Dr. Eastman is always looking for ways to help students learn the material well. Would definitely recommend.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
04/17/2018

I had him for 131 and did not learn a single thing except how is made world a better place, how is a influential person in many things. He should not be teaching 131 at all. This class needs a person who actually teaches.

Anastasiya Stolyarova
CMSC131

Anonymous
04/04/2018

Extremely hard working TA, goes to great lengths to ensure you understand concepts. Great at explaining stuff, and genuinely cares about her students.

Pedram Sadeghian
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
03/20/2018

Class wasn't too boring for an intro course. He tried his best to teach to the lowest common denominator, since it is an intro course. Grading is fair, didn't always know everything in lecture but he tried his best to answer what he could.

Allison Chatham
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
03/15/2018

Very nice & helpful

William Pugh
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/05/2018

Take his class if you have programming background before. You will learn a lot if you know what is going on. Really a knowledgeable and talented professor but not good at lecturing.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
01/30/2018

The worst thing about Nelson is that his jokes get really old.

Ilchul Yoon
CMSC131

lactaid
12/28/2017

Really nice guy. Co-taught CMSC131 with Dr. Pugh this past semester and didn't lecture much but still was active in teaching the course. I'm confident he'll do a great job teaching 131 next semester.

William Pugh
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/15/2017

extremely smart professor, but not best at lecturing. would highly recommend if you have a little coding background; you'l learn a lot

William Pugh
CMSC131

Expecting a D
Anonymous
12/11/2017

Terrible lecturer

William Pugh
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/30/2017

He's a good professor but his projects can be kind of difficult. His exams are somewhat manageable, but the time crunch makes it a race to see who can scribble code the fastest. His lectures are okay but at least he tries his best to make the course interesting. I would recommend Pugh to you if you have had some coding experience before, but if you don't, just a warning that it may be a bit too difficult.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/26/2017

Amazing professor! Keeps the class entertaining while teaching the material in a well paced manner.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
11/19/2017

Good personality with a great sense of humor but that’s about it. Complaints: + His project descriptions do not flow well at all. They often have grammatical errors and information seems to be scattered all over the place, making projects very intimidating for beginners. Explanations do not make much sense at all unless you’re proficient with programming. Instructions for projects are simply horrible to say the least. Either too much info scattered throughout or too little. You’ll spend a lot of time trying to figure out what exactly it is you have to do, unless you’re already good at coding. + His lectures are all over the place. Every minute, he interrupts himself to tell someone to stop talking (even if they weren’t talking). For us beginners, it doesn’t help that he keeps doing that. He should just focus on his presentation and teach us the lectures without interruption. If you’re good at coding, take his class. He’s funny and makes class fun. But if you’re new to coding, be careful. His projects will give you constant headaches, and you’ll waste a ton of time trying to make sense of the project briefings.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/14/2016

Wow.... Where to start with this monster of person. Not only does he have the most dry sense of humor but it's like he's allergic to teaching in general and avoids it at all fucking costs... IT'S YOUR DAMN JOB MAN don't tell us stories about some bullshit NASA stuff you made up and how people were just begging to use your code. We get it... comment our code yeesh just teach the damn class. The only reason I plan to get a relatively high mark is because I taught myself out of class... I have 100% on all of the projects and labs but shit grades on the exams. Wanna know why??? well i'll tell you... THE MAN DOESN'T TEACH YOU WHAT HE ASKS ON THE EXAM.... although there could just be a situation we may never considered about his case. He could be a savant and only understand coding and can't comprehend how to interact with other humans or do his job... If that's the case I'm sorry for my tone

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/12/2016

BEST PROFESSOR FOR CS! He is so funny and passionate about the topic. However the class is really hard, especially for people who have never coded before, like me. I struggled a lot in this class. You need to dedicate a lot of time to understanding the material. Class is hard but Fawzi is awesome!!

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/03/2016

Basically if you're the type of person that's pretty good with computers and knows his stuff, and goes to lecture, this guy is for you. I've had 11 years of computer programming experience since elementary school, so I found this class to be far too easy. But I don't think he's a bad professor. He asks questions to make sure people are involved, and he gives hints on what might be on quizzes, etc. Basically, he says to study daily, and YOU SHOULD. I studied C++ in middle school on my own, so these concepts are familiar to me. Also, review the quizzes for the tests. If you have questions, try to go to his office hours to ask a question. But to be honest, he won't help nor will the TA really help. You really have to figure out what's wrong with your program yourself. Once you get to JUnit Tests, make sure to write little junit tests for each method as you go along. That will help a lot. With your JUnit tests, you can figure out what's wrong easily unlike the submit server's JUnit tests.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/05/2016

Nelson is a great guy! His personality is so nice and he's HILARIOUS in class. He makes it fun to learn and a lot easier to pay attention in class. I am a newbie to computer science so the class itself was a little difficult. Nelson is a good guy for people new to computer science because he will make your introduction to compsci very fun. The first midterm for us was really easy and was just like the practice study guide they gave us. The second midterm was ridiculously difficult. It was impossible for anyone with no experience prior to have done well on that exam. Even people that were experienced were depressed after the exam. As for the final, it was a lot better. It wasn't too difficult like the first one but it was still challenging. Make sure to study a lot and go to all the discussions and lectures and to try to learn on your own time because class time is not enough. This class is tailored more for the experienced kids so being a newbie is quite the disadvantage. The whole "you don't need any experience prior" was one of the biggest lies I was told. Also be aware of cheating and copying other people's projects or even collaborating. There was a whole thing this year where the professors are going to prosecute those who cheated on projects which will result in an XF (failure and cheating mark) that will stay with you forever even if you retake the class. It's also better to do it on your own because you learn a lot more that way. BTW: TA hours are a HUGE mess. It's always packed in the TA office and you have to wait a long time for the TA to even come to you to help you. Kinda why I don't understand why the rules for even talking about the projects together are so strict, but can't really do anything about it. Don't show anyone your code and don't ask anyone for theirs. It's a serious issue. TIP: Do really well on the projects because those were the only things holding my grade up (as well as the quizzes). You can bomb the exams and still get a decent grade if you do extremely well on quizzes and projects.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/17/2015

He was a horrible professor. He talked about himself the entire class and what you needed to know and why you needed to know it, but would never actually teach you how to do it. His exams were long and difficult and if you need 20 seconds to finish a line of code he will scream his head off and literally rip the exam from your hand. He does not teach the material and leaves it up to the TA. So if your TA sucks good luck in the class. I never learned a thing from his class even though I attended lecture, reviewed daily, and bought the book. Whatever you do, do not take this exam.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Anonymous
05/12/2015

AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Worst professor I have ever encountered. Lectures are the most pointless waste of time(I went to everyone) where he spends time going off on tangents that have nothing to do with computer science. Extremely harsh grader when comes to projects and tests. Due to the snow he attempted to cram every project into the semester, the last being due in a week as we also have finals to study for. If you have zero experience in Computer Science avoid. The tests are tough and so are the projects expect to put a lot of time into this class. He must enjoy wording the most complex questions into exams. Dont be mistaken if you have learned anything by the end of this class its because of your TA or the people you decided to work with, how Golub has a job here is astonishing. He gives you study questions that, guess what, have no real impact on tests and quizzes :). Dont believe any of the reviews that rate him from years ago as they do not reflect Golub's terrible teaching strategy. Not to mention his condescending attitude when faced with question, prepare to be spoken to like a baby. As an intro course designed for people new to Computer Science courses the workload was by far too heavy his expectations are flawed for students. AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
03/29/2015

By far the worst teacher I've ever had in my entire life. First off his lectures are terrible. You don't learn a thing from them. He just talks about life experiences and why you need to know something but he never actually teaches it to you. He's so self conceited you'd think the class was named GLUB131. All he talks about is himself. Impossible to pay attention through the stories in his lectures so when he does actually say something related to the class, you're not paying attention to it. He is BATSHIT insane. Would literally rip students tests out of their hands and yell at them at the top of his lungs for finishing a line of code on tests seconds after he said stop writing. Least personable and reasonable person I've met in my life. Comes off as if he hates all of his students. I received a 77.954 average after putting in more work for this class than any other by far and he wouldn't give me the C+ for the class. DO NOT take this class even if it is the absolute last option. You'll regret it. Golub is just the worst candidate for a teacher. I have no clue who hired him with his psychological brain, but he needs to be fired. Doesn't help a soul being there.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting a F+
The_Golub
01/30/2015

Imagine the first day of class. As you embark on your journey through the mystifying complex universe of computer science, you have no idea what to expect. You could be dealing with the unforeseen; singularities caused by Eclipse phenomenons, encounters with fierce, atrocious bugs on the submit server, or even bang you head on your very own $800 laptop as you scream at the ambiguous results of the release tests! A toilet bowl of intellectual thoughts flurries around your noggin; there could be computers, video games, cameras, programming, computers, flying cellphones, virtual pinball and more! Then all of a sudden. BAM! Golub's hairstyle is crazy – he’s like the Yoda of comp sci. Don't underestimate his powers. As soon as you walk through the door, the surrounding air temperature drops 30 degrees as you witness the epitome of the human race. A majestic white haired dude strides across the lecture hall and spreads his arms openly– with a devilish grin on his face – so fast you could have blinked and missed the moment of a lifetime. (I strongly advise bringing a camera to savor the moment) Golub E., or professionally known as “Evan de Golub”, is a retired super villain who now only uses his powers for forces of good….. for students of the CMSC major at the University of Maryland. He wears a silk vest every day - except on every other Friday. However, I personally felt like when he wasn't wearing the vest his lectures were more interesting and remained on topic. (Escalating theories in the scientific community that this very vest may have been part of his original super villain costume - and retains faint traces of pure evil.) His vest is swaggy doe. Props to him. Although his receding hairline may fool you upon first glance, he has a magnificent pony tail and has the full-fledged back-head experience. But keep in mind he is no Lebron James. Golub is an extremely young person – his hair is only grey from an abundance of knowledge and sagacious wisdom he has accumulated throughout his career. (One, of course, which would take the average man many lifetimes to equal.) Golub is a young warrior, holding years of experience computer sciencing, playing wacky poker in the devious back rooms of mobster hideouts, taking photographs of people’s feet and farm animals, and executing simulations of the mass genocide of pond fishies. But don’t let me spoil the extravagant, Oscar-worthy backstory though. Let the Golub himself reveal it to you through his eloquent novel-worthy lectures which leave you hanging on an epic, thrilling cliff hanger after each 51 minute session. But don’t worry my fellow Golub-goers, he always comes back the next week to continue the story almost where he left off, even after he has given tests that were not on the future topics he touched in the lectures – but on the stuff you should’ve KNOWN ALL ALONG FROM THE START. Damn, this guy practically wrote Inception. (Before Christopher Nolan bought the rights to it.) Anyway, at first his lectures might seem pointless, spontaneous, random, unconnected, irrelevant, boring, and really confusing - but don’t let that fool you. In each session there is a small ten second topic that will become a pivotal test question somewhere down the road. Trust me. All of the spontaneous, random, unconnected, irrelevant, boring, and really confusing tangents he goes on are actually tests, testing the mental capacity of all 140 stude– I mean 45 students who bother to show up- in search for a new padawan. So if you want the prestigious position of “Golub padawan” on your resume, it’s best you sign up right now and claim your first row seat. I strongly advise not bringing a computer to his lecture – this only distracts you from the true Golub-glorified experience. His signature hand gestures during his elegant lectures engage full houses of students – from all over the world- elevating them to the balls of their feet as he tells witty jokes that no one listens to. Seriously, one time someone almost let out a giggle and the whole universe practically collapsed inward upon itself and imploded. I suggest bringing the classic pen and notepad – which were the slim-lined computers Golub himself used when growing up in college – not those vintage clay tablets developed by the Mayans. (They’re too intricate for the average man!) No matter which type of device you plan to bring, always stare at it and never make eye contact with the master while he speaks – this is a sign of challenge, an instinct Golub has picked up from his years chillin with lions and tigers and preforming weird combos to their portraits. Golub is a man with an infinite bag of tricks – did you know he was bilingual? Early on he’ll amaze you with a programming project that no only asks you to prompt the user in English, but also in SPANISH?!!?! hhhhoooooowwwWWHHHHAAAAAAA?!!?!?! This man is a genius. You’ll soon learn the concept of accounting for different cultural values and measurement systems because Golub exposes the flaws of NASA and unit conversions. During his reign as supervillain, Golub encountered the forces of NASA and recollects how the US measurement of distance was different that Europe’s system, causing the NASA probe to crash (wasting the hundreds of millions of dollars Golub could have used for world domination). He references this story at least once every week, which now in hindsight, I think was a reoccurring subliminal message for comp sci students: don’t trust NASA. Not only will you embark on pointless, unnecessary projects while other classes are sticking closer to reality, Golub will personally teach you the secrets to his mischievous trade of the wacky poker underground. His wacky poker project seemed too wacky for my taste, but then again, I was never playing a high stakes poker game with 300 zoo animals on the line. Golub is truly a modern superhero. When I took this class I never expected to learn essential life skills including: what Rwanda’s flag looks like in 3 bit-resolution, how to do calculus in Martianese notation, how to program, or even the science behind a fish pond exploiting the true concepts of Darwinism. But now I know, and I shall hold on to these precious gifts dearly as I move on with my life. If you have been missing a real Bill Nye the science guy in your life, then this is the opportunity of a life time. Golub is a golden star, which luckily this review system can represent for future generations yet to come. 1st out of 5 stars Would take again…… And audit too if forced by gunpoint.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
collegeben
12/11/2014

Fawzi was an excellent professor for 131. He was really great at explaining the concepts and his projects were fair and fun to do. I would definitely take Fawzi if you get the chance. His class wasn't particularly easy, but if you want to learn the material and have a bit of a challenge take a class with him.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/11/2014

Terrible professor. Avoid at all costs for your own sanity. The people who give him good reviews are the students that already know everything there is to know about computer science and find his jokes and stories amusing. He spends sometimes up to half of the class telling stories about things he used to do in previous coding jobs that have absolutely nothing to do with the material you are learning, then gives you quizzes on the same material. If you are even somewhat of a visual learner that needs to see how things work, do not take Golub. He explains everything using stupid metaphors that he finds helpful and almost never shows actual code in java. Exams are not very similar to the study question posted. As someone below me said, he definitely leaves core topics to the TA's and barely teaches anything in class. So if you have a bad TA, you are in a terrible position.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/25/2014

I have no idea why people are saying she's a bad teacher. If you aren't a bright person you aren't gonna do well in computer science, the material isn't easy to comprehend. That being said, I had never programmed going into college and got a 100 on every single project. Jan hooks it up in office hours and bumped my grade when I was borderline. Make sure you practice writing code on paper or it will hurt you come exam time, which is the only reason I needed a bump. jan is a great lecturer, teacher and person.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
04/30/2014

She's nice, but her examples in lecture are terrible. If you're obsessed with cats you'll love her because every single example she gives in class deals with cats. The projects are also very different from what she teaches, if you expect her examples to help you on projects you're wrong, and the lectures aren't very helpful towards teaching the concepts of the class. If you go to discussion, though, the TAs are actually really helpful and teach in a much simpler way than Jan.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

tdsouza
01/18/2014

As an freshman who is a CS Major with no prior experience in Computer Science, I can say that Fawzi Emad is an amazing professor. He keeps the class interesting while also teaching the material in an extremely clear fashion. However, if you are new to programming languages like Java, there are obstacles that you have to overcome (Don't worry, they're not to bad!). 1. Fawzi can't review every topic with a fine tooth comb because it's only a semester-long course, therefore the rate at which new material is introduced is fast. You will have to attend pretty much every lecture if you want to be at a good pace, and you must take copious notes - Fawzi doesn't use the textbook (don't buy the textbook, it's completely useless). 2. The projects. The first two projects are very easy and doable...however the difficulty then increases quickly. PROJECTS ARE THE MOST CRUCIAL IN GETTING A GOOD GRADE!!! The biggest problem students have with the projects is not figuring out what to do...it's actually completing the project on time. Fawzi gives you about a week and a half to do the projects, but most people wait till the last minute and their grade suffers mightily. PLEASE START YOUR PROJECTS EARLY. I CAN'T STRESS THAT ENOUGH. Now that I'm done addressing those who might be new to programming entirely, let me broaden my view to everyone taking the class. Fawzi's tests are perfectly fair. Not too easy, but definitely not hard as well. Study well, and you'll do fine. PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE STUDY QUESTIONS. They're the keys to a good test score. Quizes and Labs count for a small portion of your overall grade, but make sure you don't BS them. Fawzi's Final Exam was definitely tougher than both his midterms, so don't blow that off and make sure you study hard for that one. Fawzi is a fantastic professor and I can't imagine any professor better in the CS Department who is better.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting an A
chromebeast
04/10/2013

Horrible Professor. I've taken 115 credits of classes, and this professor is honestly the most incredibly lackluster and astoundingly nitpicky professor I have ever seen. The first lab was a total disaster, Golub cannot plan logistically at all. He tried to have over 100 students download eclipse at the same time to complete failure. This was then supplemented by him blaming the students for this failure, and making the due date for the first lab the next morning (this was considered "being nice") I submitted the project the next AFTERNOON, to which Golub was apparently physically incapable of giving me any points for. So there you have it! If you want a teacher who will fail you three days into the class for his own complete incomptence with logistical issues, this is the man for you! I've aced every other assignment he's ever assigned (taken the class in HS), but for your average student, this teacher should be avoided like the plague. Emad is way better, sat in on his lectures, and Emad is much more entertaining/worth going to lecture for.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
01/04/2013

This course was absolutely horrid. This was my first time learning to program and I made a mistake taking it with Plane. She is extremely confusing, boring, and her voice just makes me want to tune her out. Her examples and analogies don't make any sense, either, which causes me to become even more confused. The lectures were such basic material that when it came time for the quizzes/projects, I struggled. Quizzes are given every week and for the little amount of time given, the concepts were so much more difficult compared to the labs and the lecture examples. She cannot expect us to understand something at a higher level if she cannot even teach us the basic examples, especially for a beginner Java class (where most students in my lecture had no prior programming experience). The projects were also substantially more difficult than any of the examples ever given in class. Even those with prior programming experience found them to be a little difficult. My TA was also horrible. She was so snappy and anything she wrote on the board could not even be seen .. GET BETTER MARKERS PLEASE. She never spoke loud enough for me to hear and was snappy whenever a student asked a question. However, those with previous programming experience had no trouble in this course. J. Plane basically catered to those who already knew Java .. I am a CompSci major and this bad experience has caused me to reevaluate my choice of major. Hopefully 132 with Fawzi will change my mind. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH J. PLANE IF YOU HAVE NEVER PROGRAMMED BEFORE.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Anonymous
12/06/2012

Sorry to say this, but I feel like this course would be more appropriately titled "introductory minutia of Java syntax." I greatly enjoyed all of the programming assignments, but to be honest, I found the course material extremely frustrating and unenlightening because there was an overwhelming focus on Java's syntactical conventions, rather than the conceptual basis for the object-oriented programming paradigm. All in all, this wasn't a bad course, but I think the content could be a lot better. Unfortunately, Jan also took a rather parental tone towards her students in this class. I'm sorry, I tried, but was unable to find her explanatory metaphors very compelling :(

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
09/23/2012

Incredible professor. Teaches everything himself; never need to buy or look at the book (nor will it help you to). Take good notes in class; they are your only source of substantial information because truth be told, the online lecture slides (which are written by another professor anyway) are convoluted and give much extraneous information. Do not skip exams (as obvious as it sounds, it happens) or quizzes because he strictly adheres to university policy and will give you a zero. You can get by with showing up late but if you try and leave lecture early he will stop you and make you feel terrible in front of the entire class. Start projects early (especially those toward the end of the course) since nobody can get it perfect the first time. Review the study questions he puts online, they mirror key questions on the exams. I came into this class a Business major with no computer programming experience whatsoever, but he goes out of his way to make sure that everyone understands the material.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/21/2012

At first I wasn't sure what I thought of Jan. I've definitely never had a professor with her style of teaching and communication. That being said, I thought she did a great job teaching 131. Here's why: 1) She is VERY approachable outside of class and is really good at clarifying stuff 1 on 1. If you don't understand a lecture she could probably explain it all to you in a matter of 10 minutes if you're bright. 2) She explains stuff and demonstrates what she's talking about by coding in front of you in lecture. It necessarily make the material easy, per se, but it definitely makes it a lot easier to visualize and understand. 3) She has a PhD in both Comp Sci AND Education so she knows what she's doing. 4) She curved both of her midterms this semester. Honestly, she's probably one of the best professors I've had at Maryland yet. Here's the rub, however, with CMSC131: If you're not logically inclined (and honestly not exceptionally bright...there's no point in lying to yourself) you're going to really struggle with this class. That being said, Jan is definitely your best option because of her approachability outside of class. Regardless of that fact, I thought Jan was a great professor and I would highly recommend her for CMSC131.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/03/2012

I had taken computer science classes in high school, but hadn't learned some of the material taught in the 2nd half of the course. I thought Jan was a great teacher. If you came into this class knowing absolutely nothing about java, then I can see how this class could be very difficult. I know a lot of people got C/Ds on the quizzes. Anyway, the use of projecting Eclipse onto a large screen really helped. Unlike some reviewers mentioned from past years, she only used a few pointpoints near the end of the course. And Piazza was great for communication. I came in dreading this class b/c of these bad reviews, but I thought it was pretty bearable.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/16/2012

I thought Nelson was a really nice guy, but his lectures weren't really all that good. He makes the class easy tho, so if all you're worried about is your grade, you'll be fine. I recommend taking another instructor (Fawzi Emad or Evan Golub) if you really want to learn something.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Anonymous
11/26/2011

I took 131 with very little prior programming experience (I took a god-awful class in Java when I was a senior in high school). Regardless, Golub's exceptional style of teaching not only drilled all the fundamentals securely into my mind, but also sparked a passion for programming in me. He does NOT read off slides; he does NOT drone on the entire lecture. (We all know a professor like that!) He buttresses every concept he covers with fantastic analogies, anecdotes from his own impressive career, and examples of practical implications. He takes clicker polls, which may annoy some, but which I found helpful; they motivate you to attend all lectures (which you should anyway) and they help you commit the more important points in a lecture to memory. His quizzes are perfectly fair as are his projects. His project descriptions are especially great - visually appealing, lucid, and not too wordy. He is not as quick with email responses as some other professors, but he is alright. And he always welcomes questions before/after lecture and at office hours. He is a very approachable individual who gives students' questions a good amount of consideration. I have nothing negative to say about him! Look elsewhere in this page for vicious criticisms (LIES, I TELL YOU! haha). TIPS: Sit closer to the front; it'll help you pay attention, participate, and be entertained. Manage your time well in the exams.

Larry Herman
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/02/2011

Wow - these reviews are funny to read. Larry is extremely precise with the material (reason for long project descriptions, too), which makes learning what the code does really easy, and he's very clear about how he wants to be interacted with as an instructor and what he expects of you. If you keep your cell phone away, come to class and actually pay attention, and go to his office hours when you want to talk to him, he's just fine. He seemed a bit harsh on students with certain types of questions at first, but if you get used to the fact that that's just his manner and don't ask questions that he's already answered when you weren't paying attention, no big deal. He's pretty amusing as well, just has a dry sense of humor and is a little bit awkward. I would definitely take a class with him again.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
06/12/2011

I disagree with the person one below me. Fawzi is a really nice guy, and he does care about students. You'll find that out if you go to his office for help. He is definitely one of the best teachers in the CS department if not the best. Teaching people how to program isn't an easy task, and no one does it better than Fawzi. If you've never programmed before you'll have a hard time while taking cmsc131. It's because learning how to program for the first time is really hard, and you'll have to work extra hard in that class. He'll make sure that you learn all the material needed. He doesn't always write the exams, but he'll look at the exams and make sure there isn't anything that he didn't cover. When I took 131, he was running the class, and he wrote the exams, and the exams were very reasonable. On the other hand 132 was run by Nelson, and the exams weren't that great, but still fair. Yes, CMSC389C (C++) didn't go that well, since it was the first time the class was being offered, and Fawzi tried to cover too much stuff in 3 weeks, which didn't work out so well. Fawzi hates curving, but he ended up doing a 10% curve in that class. Fawzi cares about his students, and he'll definitely straighten out that class the next time he takes it. Fawzi has recently started to teach from slides, since he has some physical issues from writing on the blackboard for a long time, and his doctor told him not to write on blackboard. This is kind of unfortunate. He is not like one of those dorky CS professors, he's a very fun guy. On response to the reviewer one below me. Fawzi is a human being. He'll only get angry when there's a very good reason to be angry. One time a student was asking Fawzi if he could gchat with him over the weekend if he has any questions!!! You expect your professor to sit in front of his computer all weekend so that he can answer students' questions! Now who wouldn't get angry at that? I took 4 classes with Fawzi. And I would never take a class with anyone else if Fawzi's teaching it.

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/08/2011

Dr. Golub has received a few negative reviews, but I disagree with them. Sure, he's a bit on the crazy side(good crazy), but that's par for the course in college-level science courses, especially in the UMD Computer Science dept(according to friends of mine who are Comsci seniors). Dr. Golub's teaching style in CMSC131 regularly includes real-world examples and previews of things to come in future CMSC courses. Dr. Golub and his TAs this semester kept a very wide amount of office hours(26 Office hours/week for our course, in addition to the 5 50-minute inclass hours each week). You likely will not need the textbook if you're paying attention in class. Grading wise, the 2 tests had 105 points but graded out of 100(5 point curve). For our class, the median on the 1st test was 79, and the 2nd test was 80. In addition he dropped the lowest quiz and the lowest lab grade. Grading for this course was pretty lenient, and it is very possible to earn a little over 100% in the course. I can't comment on how effective he is at teaching as I took this course with a decent amount of prior knowledge of the material. On the course webpage, we had access to study questions and answers for each week, the powerpoint slides, project descriptions, and some code examples. The study questions and answers are very helpful in preparing for quizzes and tests, and pretty much all you need to study from. The slides were pretty much a skeleton of what's covered in class, and were not much help if you had to miss a class or 2. Project descriptions were clear about what was and wasn't allowed in a certain project, and how to obtain the maximum points. I can't comment on the code examples as I didn't look at them often.

David Jacobs
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/14/2011

Dr. Jacobs is a good professor, but he is new at teaching the 100 level classes, so he does not know how to really interact with students that have a very basic understanding of Java, or computing, in general. I came into the class with a firm foundation, and received an 95% in the class and got almost perfect scores on all of the projects, but I don't think I learned as much as if i were in another teacher's class. He works with other professors and so his exams and all of the material come from them, so the students are almost getting it second hand. He knows the material and is very friendly and a good person all around, but i am not sure that he is the best teacher to teach the lower-level undergraduates. If you can take another professor's class, like Nelson's, then it might be more worth-while and entertaining, but he is not a bad teacher, you just will have to be willing to jump-in in the middle of lecture and say "what are you talking about" at some point.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/03/2011

Nelson is a very engaging and fun teacher to have. He enjoys to teach and make jokes at the same time which is very entertaining. Even though he said in the beginning that he will teach like you never did programming before, I believe that is not true. Exams are not that difficult and projects are pretty fair, where as if the class is struggling to finish it, he will extend the deadline. Overall, I would recommend him as a teacher 100%. The TA does not explain the concepts pretty well.

David Jacobs
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
04/28/2011

Professor Jacobs is a nice guy and a good teacher. He covers all of the material that needs to be and try will answer any questions you may have; the emphasis of the previous statement is on "try" - sometimes he clarifies the thing you asked about, other times he leaves you more confused than before you asked the question. Overall, he's still a good pick for 131.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

recjra
02/07/2011

Fawzi is an excellent professor. I went into his class not having any programming experience and I came out with a great foundation in Java. He really enjoys teaching, so his enthusiasm made the class fun and interesting. His grading is very fair and he is very helpful and personable.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
01/26/2011

She is a really nice professor. She cares about her students but does not mind that most of them are not paying attention to her. She gets really annoying with her cat analogies, but she is a good teacher. She describes concepts well and exams are not that hard. Quizzes are also pretty easy. The bad thing is that the last project she assigned were almost impossible. They were way beyond our level of programming and I just feel she did not prepare us well for CMSC132

Evan Golub
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
atloud
12/19/2010

Golub was an okay teacher. His lectures were pretty boring and not always helpful, but he was very approachable and always willing to help. The quizzes were very difficult however. Fawzi Emad is the better option for CMSC131 and 132.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/19/2010

Excellent teacher, obviously I'm not the only one with this opinion looking at others people's appraisals. He knows java in and out, explains everything you need to know about the upcoming projects and he's just a likable person. His great personality makes the class bearable. If you have to take CMSC131, try to take it with Fawzi.

Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC131

Anonymous
10/25/2010

Guy says he teaches the class as if none of the students have had programming experience before but that's so false ....... guy sits there and writes code and just gives little explanation. Majority of the class already had programming experience so they understood so the class was clearly catered toward them. Get Fawzi.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/21/2010

Jan is a decent professor. She does a good job teaching the material, but if you have any programing knowledge you'll find the class slow and boring. Since this is an intro to java course and aimed at people who never programmed before. Projects and exams are the same with any teacher and aren't very hard. Contrary to what others say I found the quizzes to be quite easy, some of the quizzes on inheritance were pretty hard and I failed maybe 2 the entire semester but each quiz counts for very little of your grade. Just do well on your projects and exams and you'll do fine. You will breeze though the class if you have prior programming knowledge. If you don't have prior programming knowledge this class isn't impossible you'll just have to work a little harder and go to office hours or ask a friend to explain it to you.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Math_Major
12/22/2009

I completely hated this class. I really didn't learn anything from the power points. The quizzes were confusing and if you don't know how to program, it's pretty tough. If anything take this class with Fawzi.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2009

Easy class, especially if you have programming experience. Contrary to what others have said, I believe she did a decent job teaching programming. Her lectures were to the point and covered most of the important exceptions that help. Quizzes and tests were a breeze, as was the final. Labs are very simple and take only a few minutes. Projects sometimes do not overlap with the material being taught, and often take a bit of extra effort, but they are generally not difficult to finish, as long as you start on time. The last project is a bit tricky, though. Overall, a pretty good teacher. I found her lectures helpful, although she does tend to be rather repetitive since this class is geared more towards people without programming experience. Some of her metaphors are quite helpful, I found quite a few of them enlightening, although I can kind of understand being put off by them. Don't listen too much to the other reviews; as long as you actually attend classes and vaguely pay attention, it's definitely a softball class.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/18/2009

Pros: Jan cares a lot about the progress of her students. I went in to her office hours a few times, and she was a huge help. She's very thorough with her explanations. Cons: I found it extremely difficult to pay attention in lectures, and I stopped going after a few weeks. Don't be deceived by the lecture slides posted online, because they don't always cover everything that Jan covers in class. Also, if you're like me and you prefer to learn everything the night before an exam, don't expect to do well. Weekly quizzes are given to ensure you're keeping up with the material. Bottom line: This class wasn't exactly a nightmare for me, but it wasn't all that fun either.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Anonymous
11/22/2009

Jan Plane is a horrible teacher! She actually does try, but she just makes no sense to me. About half way through the course I started going to lectures by the other instructor -- Fawzi Emad -- and it is 1000% better. Mr. Emad explains things in a way that anybody can understand. If you have a choice, take the class with Emad not Plane.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/22/2009

I got an A in this class but I cannot imagine how hard it is if you have no programming experience. My programming experience is very limited but it definitely helped a lot. She tries to use metaphors but she doesn't understand that metaphors are suppose to be something that students can easily relate to to make things more clear. So when she teaches she just makes things confusing as hell. She responds to her emails at ridiculous speeds and is very friendly and approachable outside of class. The quizzes in the class are INSANE. They are so hard and purposely made to hurt your grade. My TA sucked but some of the others were awesome. Exams are hard to finish on time (except for the final)

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a B
fhawkes
05/16/2009

I consider my self to be a pretty computer savvy guy, but this was my first programming experience... Lectures were boring, didn't really cover everything I felt was needed for the projects.. Jan did offer help on projects and pretty much does them for you if you go to here office hours or email her constantly.. Thus I received high As on every project.. QUIZZES were IMPOSSIBLE.. I have a D average for quizzes. EXAMSSS.. are rediculous like everyone below me said they are beyond impossible to finish on time and extremely hard.. look to make most of ur points in projects. if you do Well on projects you might just get a B

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a C
RalphSteiner
04/20/2009

This class with this teacher is ridiculous. Not only is she incredibly boring, but she makes things that could be easily understood incredibly hard to understand. She also LOVES cats and makes every analogy incredibly confusing. Projects are extremely unclear and confusing. Exams are idiotic. She gives a study guide and study questions, and guess what, very few of them have anything to do what showed up on the exam. SOME of them are based on what she says during lecture but who can understand her? To top it off, you get very little time needed to complete the exam. Even the people who have prior CMSC knowledge are struggle to finish on time. Do NOT take this professor, you WILL regret it, especially if you have no prior CMSC knowledge.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A
vbury
02/25/2009

I took 2 years of Java during high school, but chose not to do the AP Comp Sci test, so I had to sit through this class, which was essentially my 2 years of high school Java condensed into one semester. Didn't fall asleep in class, but didn't pay close attention, either. I did most of my learning through the projects. Quizzes were similar to others' experiences. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't take Fawzi.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a C
MichaelS
02/23/2009

This class is beyond horrible, but she was the ONLY teacher available for CMSC131 at this time. Only those who have prior knowledge in programming will do well. The first week or two were okay as it was relatively simple and therefore easy to understand, but after that, it gets boring, at least, with this professor. Teacher: She is a really nice lady, she tries to help you as much as she can and is approachable outside of class. However, she cannot teach at all. She is incredibly confusing, boring, and only she tends to know what she is talking about. She makes things that could be easily understood even harder to understand. She makes a lot analogies, which are freaking horrible as they only confuse you further. (She uses lecture slides and refers to examples she puts up on screen.) TA: My TA was pretty nice, but she follows the instructions of the professor when it comes to how to grade or what to do, so it doesn't really matter how nice she is. Projects/Homework: You get a project/homework once every 1-2 weeks, since it takes a while to do. You get a guideline on what you have to do and you have to use what you have learned from lecture. This isn't so bad because you have a long time to do it, so you can get help from TAs, the teacher, or friends(sometimes). Quizzes/Exams: WOW, these things are beyond RIDICULOUS. For someone who does not have prior programming knowledge, you will NOT finish on time. In my class, only 1-2 people, who DID have prior programming knowledge, were about to finish in time. Everyone else did not. Not only are they badly timed, they are HARD. Like I said earlier, she was the only teacher available for CMSC131, but if you can avoid her, DO SO WITHOUT HESISTATION. If you aren't a major in computer science, AVOID. If you can't avoid, you will need to invest an incredulous amount of time if you want an A. Make sure you get a lot of rest before you enter her class, because she goes through a lot of stuff and she will bore you to sleep. Her poor speaking skills and habits do not help her either. It was hard for me to stay interested and awake.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Snipe911
01/26/2009

Other reviews pretty much hit it on the head, so I'm going to let you know that they were right. At first, she's alright, tolerable, the material is interesting. And then, just after 'if then' statements, her lectures are off the mark completely. She zips right through incredibly valuable material with some occasional examples, but nothing near what your then supposed to be able to...code... in your own project. I emailed her several times with the most unhelpful condensed reply I've ever seen, as if I was wasting her time. If you haven't had background experience, she is brutal. She puts questions on the exams that are a harder evolution of an unexplained example in class. Oh, and yes, "Office Hours" IS a 'barrage of chaos', 50 kids to one TA. A real shame to have this class the first experience that CS majors get.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A+
Rahulm5000
01/02/2009

Awesome professor. Makes sense of difficult concepts. Students of other professors always come in and sit in on his lecture because he is always a better teacher. His exams are really easy also. He gives 2 mid terms and one final, about 8 quizzes, and 8 projects.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A
samiam762
12/20/2008

This being my first computer science class, at Maryland or anywhere, I didn't come in with any idea of what a computer science class would be like. I thought overall Jan Plane was a successful professor - I learned a lot, and got a lot of good practice for programming. The lectures started off interesting, but as time passed they became less and less, but make sure you keep paying attention, because otherwise you'll suddenly have a ton of information to catch up on without much to draw from, other than going to the TAs for help. She has a lot of metaphors for the programming, and the usefulness of those vs. the amount they might just confuse you is definitely up in the air. The tests weren't too bad at all, but like I said if there's a topic you don't really feel that comfortable with writing code on, make sure you fix that because chances are there'll be a test problem that has you writing code on that. For the projects she was very helpful, always willing to look through your code to see what the problem was, which was immensely helpful, but make sure you start the projects early or you'll find yourself having to put hours and hours in the few days before it's due.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/07/2008

She is simply not a good teacher. The projects are the majority of the grade, but the examples she provides in class are inadequate. Therefore I've had to rely heavily on my programming experience from high school. The last few projects are a little hard even for me, so imagine how hard it must be for someone with no previous experience. If you have never programmed before, don't expect to pass her class unless you're prepared to invest a truly incredible portion of your time into it.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
11/07/2008

He is a great teacher, he is fun to listen to, he has a great way of making difficult concepts easy to understand, and he is quite approachable. Very nice.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
09/05/2008

Not all professors are great communicators; Fawzi exceeded my expectations, providing excellent information in easily understood terms. Fawzi's classes had a good energy, making it easy to ask questions and get clear, concise answers.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
08/31/2008

I dropped this class. he caters to those who already know the programming language. yes, he has a good personality, but if you don't know the material to begin with, expect to fail. not my fave.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

bcwik
08/06/2008

Fawzi really is a excellent teacher, definitely one of the best at UMD. He explains everything extremely well, providing concrete examples along with easy-to-understand explanations of the material. I didn't have to buy anything for the class (books), just go to class and you will get a good grade, which is easy because the class is very enjoyable. If you can, definitely take a class with Fawzi.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/12/2008

Had him for 131 and he is damn good. One of the best profs in the CS department. However, there is a downside, in that if you don't know some level of programming before walking in, you will have trouble. This is partially because Fawzi does not curve extra to cope with kids who know code inside out and still take the class. As his GPA spreads say, he is a tough professor, and curves pretty minimally, but in the end, he is a solid teacher. Regardless of the grade you get, you will know the material to a good extent.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Billy4202
04/15/2008

At the start, this class was quite simple to understand, all the concepts were basic and taught at a steady pace that was optimal for understanding the material. A few weeks in, however, I, being the very-limited-knowledge-in-computer-science person that I am, was overwhelmed. Seemingly infinite material is provided in a matter of a few weeks, and if you're not extremely diligent and nearly obsessive about learning the material, you'll most likely have trouble here. Lectures rarely helped where they needed to (projects, quizzes, etc.) Quizzes were harder than you could imagine, rarely would anyone pass them (besides the ones that have been programming for 5+ years...). Projects were just as frustrating - and when you try to go in for help, you're met with this barrage of chaos, stuck in a void where the TAs only meet with you for less than five minutes. Really, you could learn more about computer programming from the textbook, or any other equally equipped textbook. If you're not a Computer Science major or don't have an extremely high interest in Computer Science, save yourself the trouble, money, and credits and don't take this course. If you do...you've been forewarned.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Dez
02/29/2008

the best professor Ive ever had in all of my educational experience. Very approachable, very cool, very nice. Ver good person, i wish he taught all my cmsc courses.

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Anonymous
02/22/2008

not a bad lecturer, but not great either. this was my first programing course ever, so i was in the deep end early. she explains every thing, but if you zone out, even for a minute, you are gonna be lost for the next half hour. if you already know about programing, than you probably dont even need to go, as the slides are online

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/15/2007

Not a very good teacher, bad jokes, only went when there was a review, and even those weren't helpful. Final was pretty rough.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B
pluralfacade
12/12/2007

Probably the best teacher I have ever had in college. Don't bother buying the textbook; just go to his lectures and you'll learn everything you need to. He's very friendly and approachable outside of class and will always try his best to help students out. He is pretty fair when it comes to tests, quizzes and projects - you will be challenged, but you will also learn a lot from him as long as you study.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Expecting a B-
trimalchio
11/29/2007

Fawzi is a great professor, he's incredibly approachable and he'll help you with any problems you're having. His class wasn't a walk in the park but it also wasn't made any more difficult than it had to be. Fawzi's exams were fair and he taught you what was necessary to understand the material you were expected to know. One problem was that the book required for 131 was not even mentioned once by Fawzi, I assume the only reason it's required was for the other professor's lecture and sections. Make sure that the text is going to be used before you buy it for this class. Also, Fawzi is a computer science advisor for non-freshmen, and he's really nice if you come in wanting to get advice about classes. He's just generally a cool guy.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

pelers
11/08/2007

Excellent professor, one of my favorites. His lectures are interesting and he's a fun guy. He does an excellent job explaining material and caters to the beginners in the class. Will definitely be looking for him teaching other courses I need to take.

Fawzi Emad
CMSC131

Anonymous
11/06/2007

I took a class with Fawzi a few semesters ago, and he is still the best professor I've had. This was the first comp sci class I took at UMD, and he went into great detail about all subjects, while still keeping the class interesting. I went to just about every class (something I never do now) because I knew I'd learn a lot and have a fun time. Great guy, great teacher...if you have the option, take a class with him

Jandelyn Plane
CMSC131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
10/31/2007

sucks at teaching, corny jokes, just sucks

Reviews for CMSC131