Ali Haghani | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Ali Haghani ENCE360 Expecting a B Anonymous 08/12/2024	Enough has been said about Haghani. As others said, he was chair of the department and has been with UMD for decades, so if you have a problem with him, understand very little can be done. People complain semesterly, and still, I haven't seen much done. I learned to suck up my bad feelings towards him and move forward. I came into this class reading these reviews, which didn't help me prepare at all. This review is solely to help you pass the class and that's it, look at the reviews below to get an idea of his character and the class structure. Those taking this class as seniors should pay close attention. I will start by saying the odds are against you in the way Haghani teaches, grades, and communicates. What does this mean? The problems you'll be doing are pretty comprehensive in the material taught, but you won't learn everything you'll need to know to solve them, at least with the problems shown in his slides. On top of that, Haghani’s happy-and-go-lucky sense of grading and attitude will add some unnecessary stress. Here are a few key things I recommend to do: Come to class prepared! Haghani does the bare minimum when it comes to presenting and lecturing. He reads his slides and moves on (ranging from 60 to 80 slides per class). Luckily, ELMs has recordings from COVID which I found the most helpful. He still does a pretty similar job lecturing in the videos, but at least they're there. I recommend watching them before class, so you know what he's talking about (this is a hard habitat to start but it will help tremendously). The lectures go by fast, and he won't show any remorse if you don't understand what's going on. GO TO CLASS, WHETHER HE TAKES ATTENDANCE OR NOT!! Believe it or not, most of the work you'll be doing will be group-based (except for exams), which can either help or stress you out. At the beginning of the semester, Professor Haghani will assign you to a group that you'll work with for the rest of the course. Three things to keep in mind: 1. Regarding homework, Haghani advises doing each problem independently before discussing it with your group. I completely agree. It's crucial to expose yourself to as much content as possible before the exams. Showing up to group discussions with nothing prepared not only hinders your learning but also wastes time. While teaching others is valuable, spending 4+ hours on the basics isn't productive. This is especially true for Xpress, the outdated programming software you'll be using. 2. Be True to Yourself: This is something people often avoid discussing, but it needs to be addressed: there will be students who won't do their share of the work, whether due to laziness or other reasons. If you notice someone consistently not contributing or having a poor attitude towards the work, don't hesitate to inform the TA and Professor Haghani early in the semester. This isn't about being unfair. Many groups during my semester faced issues with uncooperative members, and it's important to address these challenges early on. Remember, this is also a lesson for the real world, where you'll encounter similar situations in the workforce. It's not fair for someone to earn the same or a better grade using your hard work. If they aren't helping with the homework, chances are they won't be of much help with the project either (which I'll discuss in more detail later). 3. Start Early: You have 10 days between each due date, but time flies. The work can be time-consuming. My group made the mistake of starting just two days before the deadline, and we barely managed to finish on time. It doesn't matter what resources you use; just make sure everything is completed and submitted on time. The TA: I only recommend going to Professor Haghani's office hours if you have a strong understanding of the material or if you're trying to get some points back on an exam. His grading can be harsh, as many reviews have pointed out. That said, the TA is your best ally. They’ll provide step-by-step guidance on how to approach questions on homework or the project. The project, in particular, requires at least a month of preparation (I’m not exaggerating). During that time, you should meet with the TA weekly. Don’t assume you can tackle the project on your own—it involves advanced concepts and requires some out-of-the-box thinking. The TA won’t give you the answers outright, but they’ll help you with the work you’ve already done. I can’t stress this enough: the project demands extensive research and programming. If you don’t have the programming finished two weeks before the deadline, you’ll end up juggling the second midterm and a significant portion of the project simultaneously… not a fun situation. Make sure that by those last two weeks, all you have left is the report. It may also be helpful to collaborate with other groups. Studying: Your primary study resource is the homework, and this doesn’t mean cramming a week before the exam. You won’t fully grasp the material if you haven’t worked through the problems multiple times over an extended period. There’s a lot to cover, so I recommend constantly revisiting the problems. This will give you time to clear up any confusion with the TA or others. Let’s be honest, you’ll have a lot on your plate with other classes; however, do not treat 360 like a typical 300-level class. I promise you cannot BS Haghani’s class. How you choose to take the class is completely up to you, just expect long nights of studying and work. I’ll leave you with this: Haghani loves embarrassing his students. He makes you feel stupid at times and gives you a jackass smirk when he individually reads off your midterm grades (he tells you the grade instead of posting it). However, lashing out at him won’t help. The best you can do is let your work do the talking and chat with him respectfully. Have a nice semester!
Ali Haghani ENCE360 Anonymous 05/14/2024	Extremely stressful class. The exams are brutal. The average for the first midterm was 36% and the second midterm was 32%. Each had five questions, the first one being a series of true or false questions where each correct answer was +1 point but each wrong answer was -2 points; many people left a majority of these blank as it was only worthwhile answering if you knew you were 100% right. On both midterms there were 2 questions that were directly from the homework. These had NO partial credit, meaning if you didn't memorize how to complete them you got a zero for those questions. We were told there would be a curve due to these low grades but the details were never explained to us. As I am writing this review I have no idea what my grade will be.
Ali Haghani ENCE360 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/13/2024	He is a bully. He does not hold back his tongue. Do the project and stay involved. After the first exam, he takes attendance so show up to class. (you can be late though) Always go in to see your exam and try to critique his grading. I got 7.5 points back for myself on the first exam and 5 points for a few classmates and I on the second exam. DON'T GIVE HIM BULLSHIT, you will lose your creditability. Exam average was a 32/112 on the final. (shows how well he teaches) Project is your saving grace. Consult the TA on a weekly basis for the project.
Ali Haghani ENCE360 Anonymous 12/05/2023	Terrible. Extremely stressful. Average grade on the midterm was a 40%. Project is doable as long as you start early. Haghani constantly seems frustrated that students aren't doing the homework even though it is optional and very long. Learned better from reading through the powerpoints than going to class.
Ali Haghani ENCE360 jazzy 07/13/2022	Had a horrible experience with his class. Do not need to be present at lectures because he post them a week before the class. In class, he goes over same thing and in the end he post a simple question to work with your group. Xpress sucks and only help available is TA. Exams are impossible to complete but tedious. I studied 3 days for exam only to find out that questions in the exam don't make sense. Final exam questions are poorly worded and you will be unable to figure out what he is asking for. Anyway, grade average will be low for both exams and there will be a curve in the end. But with that said, this class will be extremely stressful.
Ali Haghani ENCE360 Anonymous 05/14/2021	A really rude guy. Most of the classwork is groupwork, but the exams are impossible to complete. In lecture, he just reads word for word from slides and goes pretty fast.
Ali Haghani ENCE360 Expecting a B- Anonymous 06/03/2014	Haghani is a horrible teacher for ENCE360. He posts slideshows and goes over exactly what he wrote on them, which is often not helpful. The book is not correlated with the course, and it is impossible to take good notes during class. Grades are not posted online so you never know what you have in the class until the end.

Ali Haghani
ENCE360

Expecting a B
Anonymous
08/12/2024

Enough has been said about Haghani. As others said, he was chair of the department and has been with UMD for decades, so if you have a problem with him, understand very little can be done. People complain semesterly, and still, I haven't seen much done. I learned to suck up my bad feelings towards him and move forward. I came into this class reading these reviews, which didn't help me prepare at all. This review is solely to help you pass the class and that's it, look at the reviews below to get an idea of his character and the class structure. Those taking this class as seniors should pay close attention. I will start by saying the odds are against you in the way Haghani teaches, grades, and communicates. What does this mean? The problems you'll be doing are pretty comprehensive in the material taught, but you won't learn everything you'll need to know to solve them, at least with the problems shown in his slides. On top of that, Haghani’s happy-and-go-lucky sense of grading and attitude will add some unnecessary stress. Here are a few key things I recommend to do: Come to class prepared! Haghani does the bare minimum when it comes to presenting and lecturing. He reads his slides and moves on (ranging from 60 to 80 slides per class). Luckily, ELMs has recordings from COVID which I found the most helpful. He still does a pretty similar job lecturing in the videos, but at least they're there. I recommend watching them before class, so you know what he's talking about (this is a hard habitat to start but it will help tremendously). The lectures go by fast, and he won't show any remorse if you don't understand what's going on. GO TO CLASS, WHETHER HE TAKES ATTENDANCE OR NOT!! Believe it or not, most of the work you'll be doing will be group-based (except for exams), which can either help or stress you out. At the beginning of the semester, Professor Haghani will assign you to a group that you'll work with for the rest of the course. Three things to keep in mind: 1. Regarding homework, Haghani advises doing each problem independently before discussing it with your group. I completely agree. It's crucial to expose yourself to as much content as possible before the exams. Showing up to group discussions with nothing prepared not only hinders your learning but also wastes time. While teaching others is valuable, spending 4+ hours on the basics isn't productive. This is especially true for Xpress, the outdated programming software you'll be using. 2. Be True to Yourself: This is something people often avoid discussing, but it needs to be addressed: there will be students who won't do their share of the work, whether due to laziness or other reasons. If you notice someone consistently not contributing or having a poor attitude towards the work, don't hesitate to inform the TA and Professor Haghani early in the semester. This isn't about being unfair. Many groups during my semester faced issues with uncooperative members, and it's important to address these challenges early on. Remember, this is also a lesson for the real world, where you'll encounter similar situations in the workforce. It's not fair for someone to earn the same or a better grade using your hard work. If they aren't helping with the homework, chances are they won't be of much help with the project either (which I'll discuss in more detail later). 3. Start Early: You have 10 days between each due date, but time flies. The work can be time-consuming. My group made the mistake of starting just two days before the deadline, and we barely managed to finish on time. It doesn't matter what resources you use; just make sure everything is completed and submitted on time. The TA: I only recommend going to Professor Haghani's office hours if you have a strong understanding of the material or if you're trying to get some points back on an exam. His grading can be harsh, as many reviews have pointed out. That said, the TA is your best ally. They’ll provide step-by-step guidance on how to approach questions on homework or the project. The project, in particular, requires at least a month of preparation (I’m not exaggerating). During that time, you should meet with the TA weekly. Don’t assume you can tackle the project on your own—it involves advanced concepts and requires some out-of-the-box thinking. The TA won’t give you the answers outright, but they’ll help you with the work you’ve already done. I can’t stress this enough: the project demands extensive research and programming. If you don’t have the programming finished two weeks before the deadline, you’ll end up juggling the second midterm and a significant portion of the project simultaneously… not a fun situation. Make sure that by those last two weeks, all you have left is the report. It may also be helpful to collaborate with other groups. Studying: Your primary study resource is the homework, and this doesn’t mean cramming a week before the exam. You won’t fully grasp the material if you haven’t worked through the problems multiple times over an extended period. There’s a lot to cover, so I recommend constantly revisiting the problems. This will give you time to clear up any confusion with the TA or others. Let’s be honest, you’ll have a lot on your plate with other classes; however, do not treat 360 like a typical 300-level class. I promise you cannot BS Haghani’s class. How you choose to take the class is completely up to you, just expect long nights of studying and work. I’ll leave you with this: Haghani loves embarrassing his students. He makes you feel stupid at times and gives you a jackass smirk when he individually reads off your midterm grades (he tells you the grade instead of posting it). However, lashing out at him won’t help. The best you can do is let your work do the talking and chat with him respectfully. Have a nice semester!

Ali Haghani
ENCE360

Anonymous
05/14/2024

Extremely stressful class. The exams are brutal. The average for the first midterm was 36% and the second midterm was 32%. Each had five questions, the first one being a series of true or false questions where each correct answer was +1 point but each wrong answer was -2 points; many people left a majority of these blank as it was only worthwhile answering if you knew you were 100% right. On both midterms there were 2 questions that were directly from the homework. These had NO partial credit, meaning if you didn't memorize how to complete them you got a zero for those questions. We were told there would be a curve due to these low grades but the details were never explained to us. As I am writing this review I have no idea what my grade will be.

Ali Haghani
ENCE360

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/13/2024

He is a bully. He does not hold back his tongue. Do the project and stay involved. After the first exam, he takes attendance so show up to class. (you can be late though) Always go in to see your exam and try to critique his grading. I got 7.5 points back for myself on the first exam and 5 points for a few classmates and I on the second exam. DON'T GIVE HIM BULLSHIT, you will lose your creditability. Exam average was a 32/112 on the final. (shows how well he teaches) Project is your saving grace. Consult the TA on a weekly basis for the project.

Ali Haghani
ENCE360

Anonymous
12/05/2023

Terrible. Extremely stressful. Average grade on the midterm was a 40%. Project is doable as long as you start early. Haghani constantly seems frustrated that students aren't doing the homework even though it is optional and very long. Learned better from reading through the powerpoints than going to class.

Ali Haghani
ENCE360

jazzy
07/13/2022

Had a horrible experience with his class. Do not need to be present at lectures because he post them a week before the class. In class, he goes over same thing and in the end he post a simple question to work with your group. Xpress sucks and only help available is TA. Exams are impossible to complete but tedious. I studied 3 days for exam only to find out that questions in the exam don't make sense. Final exam questions are poorly worded and you will be unable to figure out what he is asking for. Anyway, grade average will be low for both exams and there will be a curve in the end. But with that said, this class will be extremely stressful.

Ali Haghani
ENCE360

Anonymous
05/14/2021

A really rude guy. Most of the classwork is groupwork, but the exams are impossible to complete. In lecture, he just reads word for word from slides and goes pretty fast.

Ali Haghani
ENCE360

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
06/03/2014

Haghani is a horrible teacher for ENCE360. He posts slideshows and goes over exactly what he wrote on them, which is often not helpful. The book is not correlated with the course, and it is impossible to take good notes during class. Grades are not posted online so you never know what you have in the class until the end.