Matthias Felleisen - Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Professor: Matthias Felleisen

Department: Computer Science

College: Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CS4500
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Best CS professor I've ever had. So caring and passionate about ALL his students learning. Designs classes assignments to push you hard, but it's genuinely for your own benefit. Always extremely willing to help/guide you, and is careful to make sure everyone is on an even playing field despite prior experience. A good partner is key for this class.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Changed Northeastern from a Java school to a Scheme school. First to crack the full abstraction problem - a long standing open problem. Robust teacher - has ACM's highest teaching honor. yeah, quite distinguished and know's what he's doing. It would be a pity if you had a chance to take a class with him and decided not to.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are irrelevant to the homework assignments and tests...

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Matthias is very intelligent and very good at communicating ideas. In my class he emphasized the clear communication of ideas and the importance of having others review your work. While he will analyze all the mistakes you made during a code walk, he is criticizing the work, not you, and he wants his students to learn.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Seems intimidating during lecture, but he really is super caring and is willing to work with anyone outside of class. Make sure you always read the textbook ahead of time, so you understand the design principles he's going over during class. (Read the book before you even step into class, it's super helpful). Homework was challenging but not deadly

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He doesn't teach in class, you MUST teach yourself from the textbook by reading and doing exercises. There are some things that he'll only address if you bring it up in class, so do the readings and come to class with questions. If you don't ask these questions, he'll just keep going assuming you understand the readings to the depth of your soul.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Excellent professor and genius in his field. Just don't be intimidated by him and you'll learn a lot.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• 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:

There is a textbook but its very wordy. I looked over the first half of the first chapter and only some really mattered. I've taken other coding classes in college and they give quizzes and graded labs to actually help the students. I wish the course would give those things to help the students who need a little lift. Terrible professor.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Although I did well in the class (B+), I wish I did not have this professor. He is extremely intimidating and so a lot of students drop CS. It's what the school wants - a lot of students are starting to take CS and they want to only keep the best of the best students. Class was extremely stressful and I fought with depression/anxiety

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tough class by nature. Great professor. A little rude sometimes, but that's just his nature. A great guy to talk to 1-to-1. Teaches well and expects students to learn, work, and think. All in all, I'd take this class again a dozen times over.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CS2500
• 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:

Excellent professor, would recommend. Grades harshly, but provides students with all of the necessary resources to succeed. His class was difficult, but not impossible. You'll learn a lot and do a lot, but it'll take a substantial amount of effort.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CSG107
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Extremely rude and partial in giving marks....

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CSU660
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I hated his guts while in his class, but in retrospect he's almost certainly the best teacher I've ever had. As somebody said above, this guy is absolutely brilliant. He will kick your butt, but it's all for your own good in the end. He seems to really care about teaching, and it shows.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CSU670
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Avoid software dev with him unless you want to do 30+ hours of homework a week. I learned a lot from the class, but the workload simply wasn't worth it. He makes assignments intentionally unclear just to piss you off. He claims it simulates the real world. That may be true, but that's also what co-op is for. Avoid him if at all possible.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CSU690
• 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:

Class consumed my life but it was worth it. Don't let my ratings fool you, the teacher was intentionally unclear and unhelpful to simulate real life. However, the course itself is one of the best I've taken at Northeastern and will help you improve a lot.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CSU670
• 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:

Purposefully ambiguous for no reason. Overall, a huge jerk who doesn't even follow his own grading system. Don't take software dev with him.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CSU211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I love how he comes to class empty handed. He definitely knows what he's talking about. The man's brilliant.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CSU211
• 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:

For some reason this guy liked to bash all the business majors (some of which end up managing the CS people), but other than that he taught well.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: COMP111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This teacher is awsome, my class is @ 9:15am, but he makes it so intresting. Its only hard if you hate computers, or already know too much and refuse to let go and start from scrath

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CSU211
• 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:

Hard but good teacher. Keep up with it and you will learn a lot. Fundamentals shows you both the beauty and the difficulty of programming.