Doina Precup - McGill University, Montreal, QC

Professor: Doina Precup

Department: Computer Science

College: McGill University, Montreal, QC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: COMP767
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is a respectful Professor. However she is not organized. Attending her lectures are not useful. I recommend to just read the book provided in the materials and study alone.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: COMP767
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A RL class. She explained her topic well, but the course was unstructured and poorly organized. Making things worse, she stopped updating her slides and website half way the semester. I never got my midterm grade, and the final grade was posted 1 month after the semester was over. For her credit it was an experimental class. But overall, terrible.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: COMP652
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very theoretical. Would prefer if she went more slowly. Did not explain things clearly. One of her TAs was very rude and hard to approach. Biweekly assignments, 1 final project (you can do it in groups or by yourself), 1 midterm.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: 250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Doina is a messy and disorganized prof, but that doesn't take away from her clear lecturing capabilities and extreme enthusiasm. Never took a single page of notes in this class but came out with more knowledge that I still remember today (1 year later)

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• 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:

Class lectures are interesting, clear and helpful, but I only ever received grades for 3 out of 5 assignments. Midterm grade was released two weeks before the final, and 12 weeks after the test, there is still no final exam grade. I'm not complaining but my letter grade doesn't add up in any way, and professor is incredibly unhelpful.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: COMP652
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Generally speaking, I recommend COMP598 from Joelle Pineau. After taking 598, you will learn enough and can not really get a lot from 652. You can get an A with actually not that much effort. Prof is helpful and friendly, but could delay the grading or assignments because she is busy.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

If you can avoid taking her class, avoid it. She never grades anything, has office hours, or posts assignments, quizzes, etc on time. Also I thought her lectures were really boring. Her tests and assignments were fairly hard, but not too bad. The quizzes were tricky. Also it's scary to not get any grades back until after the final exam.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Very productive lectures, with easily legible and audible recordings posted online. Besides that, Doina seems to be the least organized professor at McGill. Feedback (grades on assignments, etc.) does not come in any form until the weeks directly prior to the final, and the students are not kept updated on this process at all.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Great instructor. Very clear, very smart. Recorded lectures were great. She's pretty disorganized. Grading takes a long time. She probably needs more TAs to help with grading. Other than that, it was a cool class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Can't find a more disorganized professor than Doina! Assignments are posted a week later than the scheduled date and graded months later, even after the final. Final grades are still not out and it's already been a month since the final exam.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• 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: Not Mandatory

Comment:

She is brilliant, but she does not know how to manage a class. Haven't received grades and it's one week before the final. Students don't have the opportunity to work on their weaknesses throughout the course and adequately learn the material.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof Precup is quite obviously an extremely intelligent woman BUT she is way too disorganized. Prepare to not get any of your assignment/midterm grades until the end of the semester. The assignments are extremely long and tough, the midterm was IMPOSSIBLE for a 50 min exam. Lectures are alright though.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Very disorganized. If you're taking a class with her, be prepared to have deadlines moved back and assignments not graded. Explains relatively well but the assignments are difficult. Not a prof I'd consider taking classes from again.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

the professor talk very slow , too theory, and no praticals. if it were the mandatory class i won't take it

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: COMP652
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

My work is mainly machine learning right now. When I took the course with her 3 years ago, I was confused. Covers a very broad array of topics, says everything in an insane speed, and absolutely not in depth. I ended up learning from the internet & lecture notes from other universities. She is disorganized in teaching. Got an A, learned nothing.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: COMP424
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

She is the angel of McGill CS. Besides her being a great teacher, you won't come across a nicer person at McGill computer science department. If she is teaching a course you have to take, take it with her - don't miss this chance.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: COMP652
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

one of the best profs. very indepth knowledge of material. answer questions precisely and concisely

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: COMP652
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Cool prof, really easy to work with. Very knowledgeable and insightful.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: COMP652
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She knew machine learning very well and explained with passion. Love her so much.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: COMP250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Indeed the best CS teacher at McGill that I've seen. Takes it easy on you and really tests you on what she teaches unlike other professors. And boy, does she teach well. Perfect communicator. Take this from a CS junior year student.