Bill McGinnis

CSIS117 · BEGINNING · CSI120 · CSIT120 · CSIS107 · CSIS120 · VB · VB60 · CSIS115 · VISUALBASIC · 12 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 26/100
RMP rating: 2.0/5
Take again: —
Difficulty: 2.4

The decision

Avoid unless you can teach yourself entirely from the book with almost no instructor support.

Best fit · Self Taught ProUnresponsive onlineLate gradingBoring lecturesSelf-teach requiredAvoid at all costs

Most students report , and little instructional help.
As and .
A few book-focused positives exist, but the .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

EasyA

72/100

Several students report As from showing up or self-study while grading and , though .

All analyzed reviews are tagged In person; several comment bodies mention online delivery.

Is the course easy?

Beginner

62/100

Content is intro-level CS/VB, but , so ease depends on self-teaching from the book.

Evidence is entirely from In person-tagged reviews.

Is attendance flexible?

Varies

55/100

; one student got an A largely by showing up while peers skipped boring lectures.

the flags.

Is this professor recommended?

Avoid

22/100

Most reviews urge avoiding him due to disengagement, boring lectures, and poor support.

Recommendation tone is consistently negative across the In person-tagged set.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Lenient

68/100

and some As felt unearned due to low instructor care.

Format shift

Based only on In person-tagged reviews.

Workload

Light

70/100

Workload centers on book reading and simple programming work rather than heavy weekly load.

Format shift

Based only on In person-tagged reviews.

Teaching experience

Poor

28/100

Dominant complaints are dry lectures, weak subject mastery, and .

Format shift

A minority of older positives exist, but most reviews are strongly negative.

Assessment method

Balanced

55/100

Mix of programming assignments and tests; .

Format shift

Based only on In person-tagged reviews.

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

12 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

In-person-tagged reviews still describe a hands-off, often online-feeling experience with , and .

Main concern

Unresponsive communication and .

What students said

“ . i can't believe he's allowed to teach at Palomar!!!”
CSI120

“If you are good at teaching yourself out of a book, you should do just fine. If as McGinnis offers no help whatsoever.”
CSIS117

“ the semester so you've no idea how you're doing.”
CSIS120

Remote format

Online

0 reviews

Low confidence

No stored summary is available for this format.

Main concern

No main concern is stored for this format.

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Tests often track book specifics and can feel tricky or too hard for a 100-level course.

Book-based testsClosed book intendedTricky details

Assessment risk

Standard

48/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

Students describe book-focused tests meant to be closed book, sometimes with unreasonable difficulty for intro classes.

Book-based testsClosed book intendedTricky or hard tests

“ and meant to be closed book although taking course online allows for some cross referencing.”
CSIT120

“Tests are unreasonably difficult for a 100 level 3 unit class.”
CSIS120

Online

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“ . i can't believe he's allowed to teach at Palomar!!!”
Voice snapshots generated from 12 reviews, highlighting disengagement, self-study, and . Credibility rating: Medium.

📉 Teaching Quality

28/100

“Bad, very bad. and his lectures are worse.”

🚫 Recommendation

22/100

“Horrible, Stay away from at all costs. he will lose you in a heart beat.”

📚

72/100

“If you are good at teaching yourself out of a book, you should do just fine.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

omg this dude was so boring im serious a real sleep
he couldnt find that damn control button and unfamilar with the software
This guy knows NOTHING about VB

Theme 2

📬

i only heard from him once during the semester
the semester
You'll be lucky to even hear from him once during the semester.

Theme 3

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

i got an a but its just because i showed up evey day
Tests are unreasonably difficult for a 100 level 3 unit class.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

58/100

Evidence confidence

Twelve reviews span many years with consistent negativity, but they are older and sparse on grades or .

Inside 12 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 53

4 out of 50

3 out of 50

2 out of 51

1 out of 58

Course coverage

CSIS1172 reviews

CSIT1202 reviews

BEGINNING1 review

CSI1201 review

CSIS1071 review

Show 5 more courses

CSIS1151 review

CSIS1201 review

VB1 review

VB601 review

VISUALBASIC1 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

0 reported outcomes

A range

No reported values

B range

No reported values

C range

No reported values

D range

No reported values

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

No reported values

Bill McGinnis

Avoid unless you can teach yourself entirely from the book with almost no instructor support.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

EasyA

Beginner

Varies

Avoid

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

📚 x x

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

📬 x x x x

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

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

📚

📬