Jon Squire - University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD

Professor: Jon Squire

Department: Computer Science

College: University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Avoid unless you know VHDL. Won't assist you past the first part of the project. Everything else is easy but you will only get a C if you can't do the projects. You will not learn anything.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

If you looking for easy way to pass cmsc411,take his course. exams are 99% same if you go to the exam review. HWs are really simple if you spend some time searching through his note/google. Projects is the hardest which is not very challenging. I doubt any can fail in his course. Easy A with effort.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

I don't understand VHDL but managed to finish all homework and project except the last part(project was divided into smaller projects). You can email or ask after class when you are stuck. I think he curved our final exam too.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Great professor! Even though the project s are a lot harder than the midterm and final.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CMSC313
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He is pretty easy grader and most projects aren't technically due until the end of the semester (I do not recommend starting them so late since you have 5 projects to do). His lecturers are a little boring and he uses a lot of old code that he sometimes needs to look at again to figure out what they do. His exams are pretty easy.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lots of homework. Curves heavily. Didn't finish parts 2a, 2b, 3a, and 3b of the project and bombed the midterm and final leaving me with a 62% but I still snuck in with a C. Would def take again

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Wasn't as easy as I expected. The most challenging thing about his course is that he has been recycling material for over a decade now. The lectures, homework's, and projects are vague. At times he can be very rude, and at times he can be helpful. Be sure not to put off the projects until finals week. No late penalty for submitting late homework.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CMSC313
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Classes are boring, tough and late grading... Get ready to warm coding skills before semester starts. Otherwise hard to catch up !

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CMSC455
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Professor Squire is an awesome guy and very knowledgeable. His classes are never the most rigorous but he's often teaching electives so they don't have to be. Exams are multiple choice and coding projects are very manageable. If you're swamped with classes and need to fit in a CS elective any Squire class will be a joy to take.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CMSC313
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Nice old guy, really smart. Unfortunately, he can't teach. At all. He is very helpful on his projects. If you go to him for help don't be surprised if he basically finished it for you. He also might not help you at all (rarity, but happens). If you want a grade, take this guy. If you want to learn, avoid at all costs.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CMSC455
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

I took Numerical Computations with him. The class is super easy- 3 quizzes that are open notes (and he gives a study guide with all the answers), 6 homeworks that he practically does for you, and one project that isn't much harder. His lectures are well organized and he has code samples in a ton of programming languages. Very nice guy.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CMSC345
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Assignments were easy overall. However, at the end of the semester, he changed his grade breakdown from what the syllabus originally said. His grading was really inconsistent and many students received grades lower than they actually earned. I would avoid this professor for this class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• 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:

Assignments are extremely easy because he practically gives you the answers. The later assignments get a little harder, but they are all doable. His lectures are extremely boring though and all of the notes are on the website. I didn't do as well on the tests because of not getting the material in class. I hear he curves generously though.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Squire's Hardware Course is pretty simple and straight forward. He does everything he can to help you pass the course.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Notes/lectures on the website. HW and projects get progressively harder. HW eventually strays away from the notes, so it gets frustrating to find answers. Can be rude on random days. Exams are multiple choice. Just study off the past exams he gives. Curve is dependent on how smart the top 1/3 are as 1/3 gets A. No guidance on Proj after part 1.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

He is easy. You will pass, but he is EXTREMELY rude. If you are in the class to actually learn, forget it. He will tell you the answer and if you ask why, he will say don't worry about it. If you just want to pass with an A or B, take his class. If you actually want to learn, don't.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CMSC455
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

This class was a breath of fresh air for a summer course. Nice way to wind down the year.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Tries to make things easy, material is difficult at times. Uses poor wording on assignments. Class has a 5-part project: the first 3 are fill-in-the-blank, the last 2 require some knowledge/thought. He refuses to help on the last 2 portions but will give the answer to the first 3. Math-based, multiple choice exams with approximated answers.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

TAKE IT WITH HIM. WORK A LIL BIT AND YOU WILL GET AN A

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CMSC411
• 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: N/A

Comment:

I highly recommend Professor Squire for anything you can take with him. He goes over exactly what he expects you to know for every assignment and is extremely helpful in office hours. He even tells you straight up that the tests are made to be easy.