Christopher Merrill

CSCU114 · CSIS114 · CSCI114 · CSCI210 · CSIC114 · 37 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 96/100
RMP rating: 4.8/5
Take again: 97.37%
Difficulty: 3.4

The decision

Must-take for CSCI114 if you will put in weekly coding hours; the support makes an A very achievable.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerLots of homeworkAllows correctionsExtra creditGives good feedbackCaring and accessible

One of the strongest CS professors at Palomar with nearly universal praise.
Heavy weekly coding work is offset by regrades, late leniency, and .
; lectures are long but detailed and career-relevant.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

EasyA

84/100

Weekly work is real, but , and heavy make an A very attainable with consistent effort.

Online and in-person both stress regrades and EC; online more often highlights unlimited late full credit.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

32/100

Object-oriented programming and later topics are tough with lots of coding, even though support is excellent.

Both formats call the second half harder; online fast-track and CSCI210 comments still report solid challenge.

Is attendance flexible?

Optional

88/100

Most students and recorded lectures cover the material well.

A few older or online reviews mark attendance yes, but the .

Is this professor recommended?

MustTake

97/100

Nearly every student recommends him as a top CS professor and .

Recommendation is overwhelmingly positive in both online and in-person reviews.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Lenient

78/100

Can be nitpicky, but allows unlimited corrections, late work for full credit, and abundant .

Format shift

Online students especially highlight regrades and late full credit; in-person echoes the same policy.

Workload

Heavy

24/100

and , and central to learning.

Format shift

Both formats repeatedly tag lots of homework; online summer pace can feel especially dense.

Teaching experience

Excellent

95/100

, and extensive Zoom or after-class help define the experience.

Format shift

Praise is consistently high across online and in-person sections.

Assessment method

FocusOnAssignments

32/100

Homework and ; quizzes and exams matter less when EC and regrades are available.

Format shift

Online comments especially and labs over tough quizzes.

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

25 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

In-person reviews call him one of the projects, and strong 1-on-1 support.

Main concern

; do not fall behind.

What students said

“One of 2 best profs at Palomar.”
CSCI114

“An absolutely amazing professor. Truly takes the time to help you and makes it almost impossible not to get an A”
CSCI114

“ and .”
CSCI114

Remote format

Online

13 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

Online students love recorded lectures, Zoom help, regrades, and late .

Main concern

Weekly programming load can pile up if you fall behind.

What students said

“Literally a gem of a professor. and tells you how to fix it.”
CSCI114

“he offers full credit for any late work up until the end of the semester.”
CSCI114

“Quizzes are difficult, but it doesn't matter because so much of and ”
CSCI114

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams and quizzes can be tough, but regrades and EC .

Quizzes and midterm/finalHomework corrections allowedPressure-free testsMultiple choice quizzesNo assignment rework on exams

Assessment risk

Standard

62/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

In-person reviews mention tough or pressure-free tests, multiple choice quizzes, and .

Pressure-free testsTough testsMultiple choice quizzesExtra credit on tests

“ .”
CSCI114

“ , but goes over each problem in detail afterward.”
CSCI114

“Quizzes and , and he marks the correct answer if you got a question wrong.”
CSCI114

Online

Online students report quizzes and rework on exams but heavy EC and assignment regrades.

Quizzes and midterm/finalNo rework on examsExtra creditStudy from slides

“ and .”
CSCI114

“The quizzes and as long as you study the slides and do the readings.”
CSCI114

“ , but it doesn't matter because so much of and labs”
CSCI114

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“Literally a gem of a professor. and tells you how to fix it.”
Voice snapshots generated from 38 reviews, highlighting teaching excellence, heavy coding workload, and . Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

95/100

“One of 2 best profs at Palomar.”

👍 Recommendation Rate

97/100

“100% recommend.”

🛠️

84/100

“makes it almost impossible not to get an A with how much support he gives you.”

📚 Heavy But

24/100

“Be prepared however for . The work load was intense, but helped me greatly”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

Lectures are complete, sometimes a bit long, but always worthwhile.
Great sense of humor, but you need to concentrate.
The goat!

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

if you put in the work, you'll get an 'A' in the class.
Hard grader but and .
First half of course was easy. Second half is much harder

Theme 3

❤️ About Character & Access

and understanding.
Prof Merrill is a life saver
Worked with me after class. Overall an excellent teacher.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

92/100

Evidence confidence

Thirty-eight detailed reviews from 2017-2026 show high consistency, rich specifics, and strong agreement across formats.

Inside 38 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 533

4 out of 54

3 out of 51

2 out of 50

1 out of 50

Course coverage

CSCI11434 reviews

CSCI2101 review

CSCU1141 review

CSIC1141 review

CSIS1141 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

36 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 8 · A 24

B range

B 4

C range

No reported values

D range

No reported values

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

No reported values

Christopher Merrill

Must-take for CSCI114 if you will put in weekly coding hours; the support makes an A very achievable.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

EasyA

Challenging

Optional

MustTake

See how this professor fits your week.

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

In person

Online

See what students actually said.

🎯 Teaching Quality

👍 Recommendation Rate

🛠️ x x x

📚 Heavy But x x

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

❤️ About Character & Access

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

🛠️

📚 Heavy But