B. Ravikumar - Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA

Professor: B. Ravikumar

Department: Computer Science

College: Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CS315
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His labs are a bit sloppy and the midterm, final, and lab final are all worth like 70% of the course grade.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CS415
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great guy who explains material well. Wants you to succeed and will always help. Daily group quiz, 4 HWs, 3 projects, 2 exams and a final. HW/exams can get difficult projects are not so bad. Biggest complaint is lack of communication and clarity. Takes long time to post grades so you cant verify things are correct. Must always be on his case.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CS415
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures can drag a bit but Ravi overall knows his stuff and presents material well. It's an algorithms class so, it will require thinking hard about tough concepts but once it clicks, you can appreciate how amazing they are. The projects aren't bad but some HW is quite tough, as are the tests. Take notes, ask questions, and study! No slacking!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CS454
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Daily quiz, gives question ahead of time. 2 projects. Final project topics were very difficult to understand/implement. 2 exams and 1 final. Gives solutions to all previous exams and even re-uses questions so study them. Uses Gradiance (multiple choice) for HW, only 6 or 7 HWs. Very nice guy and good instructor but the material is dense/boring/dry

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CS415
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I've taken Ravi for multiple CS courses and try to avoid it. It seems like he learns the topics he is covering as he goes through the lecture. The tests are difficult and worded in a way that makes sense to few students. Teaching yourself the topics through videos/books works better than lecture.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CS415
• Grade Received: INC
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Ravi is an extremely knowledgeable professor, and he tries his best to provide extra study material and help when he can, but his lectures are sometimes difficult to understand. The work is doable, but you will need to spend some time outside of class studying and practicing.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS315
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Ravi is extremely passionate about computer science and mathematics. His lectures are great, but the concepts are hard so it will require a lot of studying outside of class. Tests are hard, but if you go into office hours he will prepare you with practice questions which are similar to what is on the exams. Overall a very intelligent and nice man.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CS242
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He really seems like a genuine, nice guy. But I learned more from my classmates than I ever did with him this semester. It could be because this material is hard to grasp in general, but I did not enjoy the class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CS315
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very hard class, very good teacher. To do well you must spend a lot of time outside of class either studying or coding up the material. Midterms were very hard; usually 2-3 A's, 4-5 B's, 5 or so C's, and 20-25 D's and F's. Definitely would recommend taking this class during a light semester.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CS454
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Glosses over extremely difficult topics. Assigns videos instead of teaching, the videos are almost as awful as he is. Ravi writes tests in the most puzzling way possible, expecting you to apply knowledge may not have learned in previous classes. Assigns excessively difficult homework based more on number puzzles than the material. should be fired.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ES314
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Great professor for this class. He really expects you to have learned linear algebra, discrete math, and probability theory,(all the courses you should have taken by now) and be ready to apply your knowledge. Work through the practice exams and find another programming book that deals with recursion to use as a resource and you'll be set.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CS315
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great instructor but it doesn't matter who teaches it, this will require A LOT of effort and studying. If you want an A, you have to read the book and do as many pronblems as possible because Ravi will expect you to master everything. Midterms are extremely rigorous and have two parts: closed book and open book. Open book 10^6x more difficult.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CS315
• 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:

Very kind but challenging teacher. Much of his lectures are spent by him discussing difficult and hardly related topics. He is very smart, though, and you will learn lots if you go into his office hours.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CS315
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Ravi is one of the most helpful teachers I know. If you express interest and talk with him you will have a much better experience. Go to him for help and he will. Go to every class and lab. Some portions of the class are very dry, but its stuff we need to get through! Tests are HARD, labs are doable, but work. A lot of fun!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Really nice but hard to understand sometimes. He will help you if you ask, but other than that he doesn't engage much with the students.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ES314
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Really nice guy. However, I was extremely unsure of my grade throughout the whole course. Sometimes goes on tangents during lectures. Tests are really tough and we never had enough time to complete them. Gave us 4 hours for the final -not a single person finished. Definitely learned a lot. Extreme favoritism toward grad students.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CES510
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr Ravikumar is a great professor who takes a lot of interest in his students. He does expect a lot of his students, but as in most things in life, the hard work pays off. I definitely recommend taking his courses.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CES514
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great professor, very smart, very helpful. For the Data Mining class, the content is difficult, but Dr Ravikumar goes the extra mile to be accomodating. His tests can be like an IQ test, but you will learn a lot. One of my favorites of all time; take any class he offers. Note that grad students have a far more favorable opinion...

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CS50
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Ravi is an un-teacher by this I mean topics I had a firm understanding of before now make no sense at all. If you are lucky on his tests one question will actually be something he went over in class. Expect him not to show up for scheduled office hours. Any good reviews about this man make me wonder how much he paid them to write those reviews.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CS454
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

It seems like Ravi is really not interested in teaching CS classes. He doesn't care when the vast majority of his students don't know what he is talking about. In his own little world. Seems like he only cares about his CES classes.