Luis Linares - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Luis Linares

Department: Electrical & Comp. Engineering

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: EECE201
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Listen, I am not going to lie to you. Dr. Linares is a tough grader; Fair but tough. If you show real effort, and willingness to learn, he will help you. If you do not even make an effort to do YOUR part studying/homework, etc he'll be less sympathetic when you are struggling. He knows his stuff VERY well; You will not walk out unprepared

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ELEC201
• 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:

This professor made me absolutely despise the very course that was supposed to be the reason I went into ECE. An impromptu orgy is better planned and structured than this course IMO; midterm (5 per term btw) content is never clarified, and he makes you go to his useless life story seminars (read: lectures) for BRP. Avoid at all costs.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ELEC201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Unless your idea of an ideal school experience are to teach the entire course yourself while having to attend hours of mandatory un-informative lectures where Dr. Linares talks about his personal life, do not pay for this course, take it any other way. He will lie about what the tests content is on as well, beware.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ELEC201
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Make sure you can get BRP. I went from getting 14 percent on midterms (due to grading scheme) to 97 in the course overall cause of BRP. He is a very caring prof and wants to see his students succeed. That being said, make sure you do your part of the work ie. complete assignments, come to class (required for BRP!) and ask questions.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ELEC342
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Linares is an awesome person and an awful professor. He loves and cares for his students, but rarely manages to effectively teach the material. In this course, he did not clearly teach the material, and when he did, he used his own little methods, rather than the industry standards he claims to know so well.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ELEC342
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Awful instructor. Avoid this professor and take ELEC342 withJuri instead. You will be assigned homework every week and a kicker of a midterm without any of the material being similar to the homework. Also stress out about not attending lecture because he uses TopHat to grade you for participation.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ELEC201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I love his style of teaching and the course isn't necessarily hard. However, the all or nothing grading schemes for midterms were a bummer. Just be prepared to strive for B.R.P. I found this course a bit annoying as it was hard to go see previous midterms, and the sheer thought of passing the final and still failing was cruel.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ELEC342
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The worst professor I will ever have in my life. Unclear about what's on exams, and consistently late for class. Lectures aren't helpful for assignments or exams. Expects students to come to office hours to learn material that he didn't have time to teach in class. Prides himself in teaching but he's lost all ability to engage his students.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ELEC342
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The most horrible professor I have ever had in my life. Constantly shows up to lecture late, frequently runs over time, making students late to their next classes. Assigns labs and homework before the material is covered in lecture, online homework assignments are a mess of bugs and errors. Labs are completely useless yet mandatory to pass

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ELEC201
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Absolutely the best prof in EE. Explanations are extremely clear, homework is sometimes tough but is quite rewarding. I recommend working on WebWork in a group of friends and give each other feedback. Linares himself is super helpful and approachable, tells interesting real life stories that are quite inspirational.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ELEC201
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Linares is a great prof! His final exam was very fair. He cares a lot about the students , and is willing to help boost grades if students participate and show interest.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ELEC201
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great Professor! Really cares about his students and provides lots of opportunity to improve your grade if you work hard.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ELEC201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He a very nice professor, who shows a lot of respect to students. However, you would never expect what is on the quizzes and the final. hoho... There was once a question "calculate the voltage inside a magical black box... " on the quiz. Sometimes, he is also monotone.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ELEC201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great prof, puts so much into his teaching and classes. Midterms can be a bit tough because he had an all or nothing grading scheme, but final had part marks.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: 253
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

For 253: Worst professor I have ever had at UBC. Hope he reads these reviews and changes his ways. There was absolutely no material to study and prepare for the final. He did not mark assignments or give any feedback, his quizzes (worth nothing) were NOTHING like the final. If you take this course with him, you will go into it unprepared. Good luck

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: EECE253
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great in EECE 251, worst prof ever in 253. Lecture slides are scattered, material is neither concise nor organized, and the schedule he follows is very erratic. Claims that 'video tutorials' make up for class, but are not organized or easy to find. Class material did not match tests.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: EECE253
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Linares is disorganized and you will spend many precious hours wasted trying to keep up with him and his changing directions. He spent half the lectures telling jokes looking for laughs, only to leave you totally unprepared for the midterms. He likes to create drama and chaos around marks and grading in order to put students under pressure.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: 253
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I have to say, Dr Linares is a nice person and very charming and humorous. He's fun to talk to and does a good job of trying to explain the material. However his exams are totally unfair and he does not prepare you for them! The final will not be like the assignments, quizzes or videos on old exam q's. BEWARE, never been so disappointed.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: EECE253
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Linares cares deeply about what he does and seems to care about his students' success. However, the level of disorder in his lectures and emails will take significant time out of your week just to sort through the mess. My advice: he was fantastic in the past, but he has lost his touch and has unreasonable expectations. Stay away if you can.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: EECE253
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Over the years, Dr. Linares made an extensive collection of excellent videos covering course and test material. This year, he relied on those videos to do the teaching for him. There is virtually no feedback on assignments (participation mark) or tests - you get a mark, but who knows if you did it right? I feel ill-prepared for future classes.