Mohammed Zaki - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Professor: Mohammed Zaki

Department: Computer Science

College: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CSCI2300
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Pretty standard CS course. Open book tests. Good lecturer

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CSCI4390
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I had Zaki for both Data Mining and Intro to Algorithms. I only took DM because he was such a good professor. His lectures are well organized and easy to follow. He's very understandable and the examples he goes through are helpful. The exams are somewhat difficult but on par with most classes at RPI. One of the best professors I've had here.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CSCI4390
• 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:

Lectures are often aimed at people interested in the topic, so they go beyond required material. The required textbook is posted online (with lec. notes). Tests are directly from the text examples. Difficult material but a very fair grader. I got nearly full credit for answers I mess up a little. Very responsive to online questions too.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CSCI6390
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Good professor. His exams and homeworks are lengthy. The bad part is exams are more number crunching type than real problem solving (well but the limited time of exams also makes it difficult to give good problems to be solved in limited time). I enjoyed the course overall though.

Rating # 5

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

A perfect example of the horrible teaching at RPI. Clearly unprepared for his own lectures, unable to assign clear homework or projects, could not answer student question, and even broke the school rules by giving a pop quiz when the possibility was not listed on the course syllabus. Truly horrible

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CSCI4380
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

very clear in class, explains concepts very very

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CSCI4380
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Zaki was a horrible DB Sys professor. Did not explain concepts clearly at all, and grading took forever.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CSCI4380
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The lectures were pretty boring and Zaki was not good at clarifying some of the difficult concepts. The book used for this course was also poor since it had overeasy examples which did not help with the difficult homework exercises. Grading took forever

Rating # 9

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Great teacher. Prepares for his class. Very reasonable in terms of projects and makes sure everyone learns the material. Always open to ideas and encourages research. Not for the weak student who whines.. For serious students he is the man.

Rating # 10

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Worst. Professor. Ever. Was unable to explain the requirements of the term project, changed the requirements 4 or 5 times, was incredibly slow to respond to requests for clarification and assistance, dismissed all criticisms by saying "the student

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CSCI4380
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Zaki was terrible for Database Systems, his lectures were dry, didn't consider how long or difficult projects would be, and didn't listen to the class even when they created a petition against him. I would advise against taking a class with him

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CSCI4390
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Wacky Zaki is awesome! The best teacher I have had at RPI. I took Data Mining with him and he actually prepared lessons and taught them - a rare thing at RPI. Take a class with him, you won't regret it.