Evan Golub - University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Professor: Evan Golub

Department: Computer Science

College: University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dear God. Do not take Evan Golub. The man meanders his way through 50 minute lectures containing 10 minutes of true class material. Avoid if you can; good luck if you can't. Personally, I had little difficulty with the actual concepts covered in this course. I have a bit of programming experience, but nothing that should give me a huge edge.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Golub's not a bad professor, especially if you have some programming experience coming in. Exams are fair. Definitely understand where the student complaints are coming from though. Work through a java course online before you take this class!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

NEVER TRY TO TAKE HIS CLASS!!!!!!!!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are sometimes boring and the exams can be challenging if you don't have much Comp Sci experience, but he is easily approachable and can answer questions you may have. The TAs are also helpful and friendly. The projects are pretty manageable but can be tricky at times.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Clicker questions are annoying and force you to show up for class. If you've taken any comp sci course before the class is pretty easy and less work than the other 131 profs. His lectures are boring and dry. Make sure to review the study questions he posts. Overall not too bad.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

recently theres been a few instances where i devote my soul and entire life preparing for tests. I dont know what it is, or what organ i need to sacrifice next but it seems like no matter what i do i cant get a good grade on the tests. Im on my last kidney, lung, and leg here. Perhaps its a matter of not being able to remember content. Idk :/

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

So, if you're pretty familiar with Java, you'll likely get an A in this class and projects will be a breeze, but Golub is a really bad lecturer. He doesn't make it easy to learn and you probably won't walk out of this class prepared to take other CS classes if you're new to programming. Avoid him at all costs.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Extremely off-topic terrible TA's lectures do not make sense

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CMSC351
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Overall he is a good professor, and truly cares about the subject and teaching the students, and seems to have refined the class a lot to meet the objective of the class. Some people seem to miss details he says, or zone out during his lectures. I found his stories to be pretty good to make 351 engaging, although he can go astray. Best 351 option.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CMSC351
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

While Golub is great at taking student concerns into account and is very fair when curving the class, his lectures do not make much sense. His tests have long descriptions per question and he doesn't give you enough time to finish them. He goes on tangents about his life during lecture and puts topics on the exams that he didn't cover/teach well.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Aight dawgs, if its your first time programming, and have never coded before, avoid this professor like u one of character from the walking dead running away from the walkers

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Like many people have said, this course is very easy for those who already know Java. Golub uses clicker questions so you have to come to class, but he gives back 2 points at the end of the semester and they are only graded for participation. Exams are fair as they are based on information covered in lecture and projects and they are curved.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Students taught themselves how to do projects, and the same information you "taught" yourself was then tested. This course with Prof Golub is a living nightmare and no amount of free time will allow you to succeed if you don't already know the material. While loving my first semester at college, I hated this class specifically.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Golub does not explain anything. Your best bet would be to take this class with another professor. His projects are meant for people who already know Java. There are no resources to help you study. The exams are hard and not easy to pass. They cover things that are not even taught in class. I wish I had dropped out when I had the chance.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I think many know this by now, but Golub is one of the worst CS teachers in the department. His lecture time is spent talking about himself or going off on tangents about irrelevant things. People usually just spend the whole time on their laptops doing work for other classes. His tests were fair. The projects had the worst wording I've ever seen.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

If you are good at java his class will be brutally boring and you will learn nothing. However, if you don't have a good amount of experience in java it is easy to get lost and fail the class because he barely cover what is needed for the exams and projects he just goof off the entire lecture and once you are lost it almost impossible to catch up

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I just started java and I didn't look at the reviews for this teacher, but then I found out that he gave so many projects (one every other week) and for someone who hasn't done java, this was brutal b/c I had to go to office hours everyday. Exams are hard af with trick questions and poor wording. Office hours are crowded . PLS don't take him. :(

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Golub uses clickers, so you have to come to class. However, he doesn't actually teach anything. Instead of talking about useful things in the lecture, he told stories about his old jobs and that actually weren't relevant to the class at all and then expected us to know random things he spent 3 minutes talking about for the test.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Golub is not somebody that you want to take. His lectures are him rambling about what he has done outside of class. If you want any actual help from him you have to go to office hours. He is helpful one on one, but a useless lecturer. You will NOT learn from him. You must self teach at all times if you want to learn anything. Avoid at all cost.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CMSC131
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is a super swell guy. Golub is a little bit awful at just about everything. Actually, wait, he is more than a little bit awful. Evan Golub is not one of my favorite people, although I am sure that he is for about two people at least, who are probably now not existent anymore, like his ability to teach students computer science at the Maryland