Paul Hilfinger - University of California Berkeley

Professor: Paul Hilfinger

Department: TBD

College: University of California Berkeley

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: INC
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Taking this class has been incredibly memorable; I have spent so much time doing work for this class that I can't remember when my life didn't revolve around it. I've been so inspired by this professor to avoid CS at all costs now. I'd have never figured it out without him, so hats off to you, Paul!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Projects are hard only because it's a far cry from CS61A's hand-holding ways. These ones kind of just throw you in with lackluster skeleton code, harsh autograders, and heavy queues at OH. Highly recommend starting them early and care less about tests. I didn't do 50% of the final and still ended up fine bc I did well on the projecst.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Hilfinger is a harsh guy. It often feels like he's talking down to his students, and some of his rules (e.g. saying that the scope of his exams is "the total sum of human knowledge") seem cruel. That being said, the projects are super valuable and his grading bins are surprisingly generous. Get ready for all nighters.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The projects will determine your grade. He offers a lot of extra credit and is really nice, despite what many other people say. The only programming experience I had coming into this class was 61A but I was able to do well on the projects, even on the notorious Gitlet. I failed both midterms and got an A. If you put in the work, you'll do well.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Does not care about students at all

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Projects are worth 50% and they are difficult and time consuming. I had to work with my friends to finish them since queues for offices hours and labs are long. You need to do well on the projects in order to do well in the class. His tests are not too difficult, and he lets you bring unlimited notes to them, so do take good lecture notes.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Information is gone over super fast in lectures. The projects are overwhelming and so stressful to the point where I late-dropped the class. People don't want to collaborate because they're afraid of getting caught cheating by the autograder. The Office Hour queue was often hours long; I'd skip other classes to wait and still wouldn't be helped.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: 61B
• 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:

The tests are literally worth 8 percent and if you have a strong foundation it is ez, and it's open book. Projects took 80+ hours, not because they are difficult but because the autograder is harsh and the description is lousy, even skeleton code having bugs half the time. If you don't like exams, take Hilfinger, but be prepared for project stress.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Hilfinger's projects are insane. You can expect to easily spend 10-15 hours on each of them, if not more. They're also worth roughly 50% of the grade. Essentially everything else in the course is relatively easy workload and content wise. Homeworks and labs are not very difficult, tests are fair.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took 61B with Hilfinger in Fall 2018. If you get most of the points for each project and just average grades on all of the tests, then you'll get an A- for sure, if not an A. I did this plus most of the EC and got an A+. The projects are tough, but only because most people don't start early. Just start the projects early and you'll get the A.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: 61B
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

OK lecturer. Grading is great in this class. We got like 10% of our grade in extra credit TA's in this class are terrible. Condescending or absent on Piazza, one or the other. To give an example, the day proj2 was due, there was 253 unresolved posts and TWO instructor answers. I'm glad I was already a strong programmer b4 taking this class.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: 61B
• 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:

Really, really poor lecturer. Lectures are completely useless; he literally just reads off the slides. There are many great CS professors here at Berkeley but he is definitely not one of them. Destroyed my experience this class

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CS61B
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Projects are hard and time consuming, which worth half of your grade. So if you start early and get full credits on them, you just need around 60% on the tests to get an A.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: 61A61B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Hilfinger gives very boring lectures and leaves you wondering why you wasted an hour at his lecture and didn't watch Denero's/Hug's videos instead. After having the misfortune of being taught by Hilfinger one time, I made the big mistake of taking a class with him again. It would be a joke to say that he cares about his students or their experience

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: 61B
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Not very clear in the lecture, and the projects are difficult.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: 61B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Absolutely brutal projects, but open book/open note tests make up for it.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CS61A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Hilfinger is very funny. He doesn't like 61A much because he only co-taught because Denero had other classes to teach. You can tell he knows stuff though. He is prone to making mistakes including writing code in the wrong language and making an error that causes the demonstration to error. The class is a lot of work but fun.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CS61A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very inspirational. Tough Exams.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CS61A
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Hilfinger's alright, just make sure you study before the final. RIP me

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CS61A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

CS 61A changed my life. Before I had no programming experience and now I'm going to be a CS major. Watched Denero's videos instead of going to lecture. Hilfinger's reputation is irrelevant for 61A. Take the class