AI Rate Professor

Computer Science

Paul Conrad

CSC11 · CSC5 · CIS17A · CIS18C · CIS18A · CIS7 · CIS5 · 60 lifetime ratings

AI rating
34/100
RMP rating
2.5/5
Take again
38.33%
Difficulty
3.3

The decision

if you can self-teach programming and want a relatively easy grade; avoid if .

Best fit · Self Taught ProSelf-taught requiredWork dumped at endExtra credit friendlyBoring lecturesLate grading
  • Students commonly say lectures are slow, boring, or unhelpful and that real learning comes from Google, textbooks, or peers.
  • , and .
  • Many still earn As through , early-bird points, and .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

EasyA

78/100

Many students report As even when projects fail, aided by , early-bird points, and .

Both formats report easy grades; online more often pairs an A with almost no learning from lectures.

Is the course easy?

Standard

48/100

Intro content can be simple, but poor pacing, assembly or Pi material, and end-loaded projects raise difficulty for learners who need structure.

Online self-teaching is harsher; some in-person CIS5 students find basics easier with attendance and early bonuses.

Is attendance flexible?

Optional

82/100

, and several students skip lectures with little direct penalty.

Both formats are mostly non-mandatory; a .

Is this professor recommended?

Avoid

38/100

and the if you actually want to learn.

; in-person has a larger minority of positive beginner experiences.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Lenient

72/100

Frequent , early-submission bonuses, and credit for incomplete projects make grades more forgiving than the teaching quality.

Format shift

Leniency appears in both formats; a few students still report unrounded finals or GPA damage in harder sections.

Workload

Moderate

42/100

Early weeks , and finals stack heavily near the end.

Format shift

End-loading is common online and in person; some online CIS5 terms also felt homework-heavy throughout.

Teaching experience

Poor

32/100

Core complaint is that and boring, and students must self-teach the real material.

Format shift

Online instruction is widely called missing or useless; in-person quality is mixed but still often criticized.

Assessment method

Balanced

55/100

, and a final, often with few early checkpoints.

Format shift

Online CSC11 leans quiz-plus-project; and exams.

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

21 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

In-person reviews still cite boring marathon lectures and late work piles, but a minority praise him as chill, caring, or strong for CIS5 beginners with .

Main concern

Slow and exams, plus lectures that put students to sleep.

What students said

“He'll pile up a bunch of work near the end of the semester, around the second to last week.”
CSC11
“Easy class, but you will most likely be self-teaching. Lectures are not engaging and his teaching style is weird.”
CIS5
“Professor Conrad was is an excellent computer science teacher. I started his class with next to no programming knowledge and was able to walk out of his class feeling confident.”
CIS5

Remote format

Online

29 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

Online sections often lack usable lectures, dump work late, and force heavy self-study, though and .

Main concern

Little teaching, end-of-semester assignment dumps, and slow or As.

What students said

“Actually the and instruction are horrible, all material must be self taught by other sources.”
CIS18C
“Instead of posting things consistently throughout the year, he dumps everything the last week to learn everything.”
CSC11
“If you can handle this do-it-yourself style, where you're going to be learning more through Google than anything else, great, you'll have an easy course.”
CSC11

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

and final exam, not clearly open-book or heavily proctored in comments.

QuizzesFinal examFinal project weighted heavilyPedantic quiz questions

Assessment risk

Standard

52/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

projects and exams more than special exam software or open-book rules.

Final projectFinal examTest heavy in some sections
“He gives you 2-3 assignments for the first 3/4 of the semester, then gives you a , and other assignments in the last 2 months.”
CSC11
“towards the end of the year you get assigned multiple assignments and a over.”
CIS5

Online

Online reviews mention quizzes that can be pedantic or one-way, plus finals and projects clustered late; no consistent Lockdown Browser claims.

QuizzesFinal projectFinal examCannot go back on some quiz questions
“Once you submit one answer to a question in a the previous question.”
CIS18C
“Most of the course consists of , and a final review & exam.”
CSC11

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“Everything that I learned from this course was through self teaching rather than lectures. While I did receive a good grade I wouldn't recommend his class to anyone who actually wants to learn the material.”

Voice snapshots generated from 50 reviews (29 online, 21 in person), highlighting self-teaching, end-loaded workload, and easy grades. Credibility rating: High.

📚 Self-Teaching Reality

32/100

“THIS TEACHER DOESN'T TEACH AT ALL!! He expects you to know C++ FOR A BEGINNER CLASS!!”

⏰ End-of-Term Dump

40/100

“We had barely any assignments the first 80% of the semester, and then everything was assigned at the last minute.”

🅰️ Easy Grade Path

78/100

“ if it doesn't work at all, you'll still get decent grades on it.”

👎 Recommendation

38/100

“Save yourself the stress and .”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • lectures are incredibly boring and monotonous
  • You'll learn more from them than the professor
  • he talks slowly and says uh after every second word

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty and Grades

  • Provides on 90% of assignments
  • If you want to have a perfect GPA, this class will tank it

Theme 3

🧰 About Workload Pacing

  • dumps everything the last week
  • Barely any work for the first half of the term, then piled it on at the end
  • and then loads everything at the end

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

50

Recent reviews read by the AI

60

Lifetime ratings

88/100

Evidence confidence

Fifty detailed reviews across many CS courses from 2018-2025 show highly consistent themes of self-teaching, end-loaded work, and grade inflation via .

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 513
4 out of 55
3 out of 57
2 out of 58
1 out of 527

Course coverage

CSC1126 reviews
CIS510 reviews
CIS18C5 reviews
CIS18A4 reviews
CIS17A2 reviews
Show 2 more courses
CSC52 reviews
CIS71 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

44 reported outcomes

A range

27

A+ 2 · A 25

B range

3

B+ 1 · B 2

C range

3

C- 3

D range

1

D+ 1

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

10

Drop/Withdrawal 3 · Incomplete 2 · Not sure yet 3 · Rather not say 2