Reviews for CMSC133

Information Review
Nora Burkhauser
CMSC133

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/19/2024
She's a nice person, but not a great lecturer, so her lectures are super skippable. Only take her if you're already comfortable with the material beforehand/from high school. Otherwise, take another prof for ur sake
Nora Burkhauser
CMSC133

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/12/2024
I think the students know what they're doing more than she does. She makes a ton of mistakes in lectures and cannot answer questions half of the time (probably more) so going to lectures was a waste of time. Also, her exam review content can be wildly different from the actual exam. Sometimes I feel like I overprepared since the exam only involved a few topics that we learned. While projects are easy, they are not assigned consistently; this semester, we only did 4 out of 7 planned projects. If you only care about grades and have some solid Java knowledge going in, taking Nora for 133 isn't the worst, but please try to take literally anyone else if you can. Nora, if you're reading this, please take all the criticism to mind and improve your ways of teaching, for my sanity and the sanity of future students.
Nora Burkhauser
CMSC133

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2024
Class is very straightforward. There are 4 quizzes, 3 midterms, 4 projects, and a final. The class is fair if you take advantage of the office hours.
Nora Burkhauser
CMSC133

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2024
Class is super straightforward and easy. Her lectures are boring but slides are posted online after lectures without fail. The slides that are posted are very clear and explain the topics thoroughly. Only 4 quizzes, lowest 2 are dropped, 2 were online. 4 exams, first one is a little tough but the rest of them are super straightforward and easy, only 1 or 2 questions might trip you up (multiple choice). Overall great experience, definitely recommend taking this class with her.
Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC133

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/02/2024
Had 133 with Nelson. 133 is basically the same as 131 but with a smaller class (around 20 people) which was helpful for questions. At the beginning of the semester you start somewhat ahead (skip intro stuff like what classes, fields, methods are), and you may be one project ahead than 131, but in the end you take the same exams. We took the same exact exams, in the same exam rooms as 131 with all the other 131 students but they just direct you to hand your exam to a specific TA at the end. Worth it to take 133 just for the smaller class size, definitely take it if you got a 4 on AP CS A
Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC133

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/15/2023
This class is basically cmsc131 but you just meet less. I don't think it was a particularly easy course but I would say it was fair. As an average student, I did have to spend some time in office hours. Do not start the projects late. Nelson was a really kind and helpful professor for this and even extended some deadlines for us when we requested him to do so. Overall, you should be ok if you put in effort in this class
Nelson Padua-Perez
CMSC133

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/20/2022
Fair course, faster paced 131