AI Rate Professor

Computer Science

Long Nguyen

CS20A · CS30 · 60 lifetime ratings

AI rating
24/100
RMP rating
2.2/5
Take again
31.67%
Difficulty
4.4

The decision

Avoid unless you already know DSA well and .

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerTough graderTest heavyExtremely slow gradingHard quizzesLecture heavy DSA
  • CS20A is widely seen as GPA-risky with brutal quizzes, exams, and .
  • A minority who already code well praise deep learning and internship prep.
  • Many report late grades for , and lectures that .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

MissionImpossible

12/100

Students say As are nearly impossible unless you already mastered the material; quizzes and .

Both online and in-person reviews hammer impossible As; rare high grades come with heavy struggle.

Is the course easy?

BrainBurner

14/100

DSA content, rushed pace, and and logistically brutal.

Difficulty is extreme in both formats; CS30 MATLAB comments are milder but still mixed.

Is attendance flexible?

Mandatory

28/100

Many sections require attendance or scored participation, including online camera and discussion expectations.

Online participation and camera comments are frequent; .

Is this professor recommended?

Avoid

28/100

Low take-again rate and learned a lot.

; and excellent-for-learners camps.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Harsh

18/100

, and little feedback.

Format shift

and weeks-to-months delays appear in both formats.

Workload

Heavy

22/100

Long lectures, hard projects, and level.

Format shift

Online and in-person CS20A both report heavy test and project load.

Teaching experience

Poor

32/100

A few call lectures engaging and industry-strong, but most find communication ineffective and logistics broken.

Format shift

Online frustration is louder; .

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

86/100

Quizzes, midterm, and while projects and .

Format shift

Test-heavy structure is clearest online; and .

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

13 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

In-person students also flag excessive difficulty and for prepared coders.

Main concern

Pace assumes prior mastery and .

What students said

“literally the first lecture he starts talking to us like we're grad students when 99% of the class can barely write code.”
CS20A
“If you manage to pass his class with an A, then what are you doing at SMC, you should be at MIT or something.”
CS20A
“Professor Long is excellent. His lectures are very clear, and can understand.”
CS20A

Remote format

Online

37 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

Online CS20A reviews are heavily negative on logistics, delayed grades, camera or participation pressure, and quiz difficulty.

Main concern

and test-heavy weighting leave students blind on standing.

What students said

“In my opinion, the . The logistics was a complete disaster.”
CS20A
“you have to have your camera on throughout the meeting and talk to him very nicely or face the wrath in your participation grade.”
CS20A
“Takes a Long time to grade (lol). Today is May 5. The most recent thing graded was Quiz #3 from March 24”
CS20A

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Assessments , and often feel misaligned with taught material.

Hard quizzesTest heavyCamera-on online meetingsBeyond-lecture exam scope

Assessment risk

Strict

22/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

and tests that go beyond taught scope.

Hard quizzes and testsTough graderBeyond lecture scope
“The tests and provided or taught so it is impossible to get an A.”
CS20A
“Your grade is too dependent on excessively difficult quizzes and .”
CS20A
“Quiz and .”
CS20A

Online

Online students report , and camera-on participation pressure.

Hard quizzesMidterm and final heavyCamera onSlow grading
“ . Very hard to pass even with a ton of prep.”
CS20A
“Midterm and Final Exam takes up like 80% of grade”
CS20A
“you have to have your camera on throughout the meeting”
CS20A

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“ entire life! ! Please take a data structures class online at another institution for your own sake.”

Voice snapshots generated from 50 CS-focused reviews with High credibility from large recent online volume and consistent risk themes.

⚠️

28/100

“ !”

🧪

18/100

“ and impossible to get good scores.”

⏳

20/100

“A nuclear war will probably .”

💪 Hardcore Payoff

70/100

“I landed an internship because of this class.”

Theme 1

📈 About Difficulty and Grades

  • will be super difficult
  • .
  • It is very hard to pass this class with an A.

Theme 2

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • This professor talks too long about too little.
  • Fun, engaging, and .
  • His teaching style is extremely poor

Theme 3

💻 About Learning Outcomes

  • Take his class IF you actually want to LEARN, not just to get a nice GPA.
  • I left this class feeling a lot more confident in my C++ and DSA knowledge.
  • You will learn nothing and ruin your GPA.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

50

Recent reviews read by the AI

60

Lifetime ratings

86/100

Evidence confidence

Fifty recent-heavy CS20A reviews , and low recommendation themes with detailed logistics complaints.

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 510
4 out of 57
3 out of 53
2 out of 56
1 out of 534

Course coverage

CS20A47 reviews
CS303 reviews

Reported outcomes

No letter grade reported results lead the reported letter grades.

50 reported outcomes

A range

5

A+ 2 · A 3

B range

6

B+ 1 · B 5

C range

7

C 7

D range

0

No reported values

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

32

Drop/Withdrawal 6 · Not sure yet 11 · Rather not say 15