Andrew Tolmach - Portland State University, Portland, OR

Professor: Andrew Tolmach

Department: Computer Science

College: Portland State University, Portland, OR

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CS558
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I would recommend Professor Tolmach as a professor and take one of his courses again. I took CS558 - Programming Languages; it's a tough course but I liked taking it from Tolmach.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CS558
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I took Programming Languages course under him. His lectures barely touch the concepts and does not provide proper examples. He expects every student in class to be intellectual because his exam questions are aimed at challenging the smartest student in the class. He does not provide much help for struggling students.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CS584
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is knowledgeable in the area but requires long homework and is tough grader. Algorithms are not easy so the class has part of this. Be prepared to spend most of your week on the reading and the homework. The final grade was kind of generous though.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CS558
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Very passionate and knowledgeable. Homework grades were done in groups overly inflating scores that weren't a fair representation of a student's individual effort. Quizzes asked random questions often taken out of a few specific pages of the text. Exams were brutal; truly testing your knowledge of the subject. Midterm average was around 25%...

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CS558
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Very tough homeworks and exams. Homeworks forces you to think very deep and understand the concepts. Exams are very tough to be done in given time limit, although professor is very very helpful and is always open to answer the queries outside or in class. Learnt a lot in this course taken under him. Average class grade is B. Generous curve.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CS558
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Very tough coursework. Difficult to manage. Homeworks are not evaluated and given enough marks based on the effort and time consumed. Very unfair and complicated exam pattern. Too less time to figure out such tough questions.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS322
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Explains material well and homework is an effective learning experience; however, it is very difficult/time consuming (programming code can be difficult to follow) and grading is harsh (small errors greatly affect your grade). Tests are also difficult since they are often disjoint from homework. However, curving is generous; the average is a B.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CS322
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Lectures are ok, assignments are hard, exams are extremly hard. He gives very misleading directions on what's on exam. Be prepared to see on exam barely covered material. But i'd have to admit he knows his staff

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CS321
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Explains material well but assigns very hard assignments. Exams are VERY hard + he is very hard on grading them. Exams are closed book, closed notes (he usually asks questions on the exam which he cannot himself explain without looking into slides). If you're planning to take this class make sure you have a LOT of time for studying.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CS321
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I loved my time in compilers. His lectures are usually interesting, he answers questions well, and is well prepared. He's been teaching the class for a long time (his slides are labeled 1992-2012), so clearly he has plenty of experience. His assignments are difficult and time consuming, but the material is extremely difficult. Start them early!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CS311
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The class was difficult, and while the professor seemed quite interesting in teaching, he was not a terribly inspiring lecturer. Homework was often extremely difficult to impossible. You are expected to do difficult proofs, while not getting much direction. The proofs shown in class are often rather loose, but you are expected to more rigorous.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CS321
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Compilers with Tolmach is great. He explains everything very clearly. His assignments are challenging and take a lot of time, but you really feel like you learn a lot from these assignments. I did good on his midterm/final, but some people complained it was too hard. Highly recommend this teacher.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CS558
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Assignments and exams were extremely difficult.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CS300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Assignment is very difficult. Some content is very complicated. Anyway, still a good professor.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: COMPILERS
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

One of the CS department's best lecturers. I could actually maintain attention through the majority of the lectures I went to. My girlfriend at the time had a crush on him, so maybe he's sexy, too. I couldn't tell ya.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CS457
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Wasn’t fun! Interesting topic made difficult.