Professor
Ricardo Salazar
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - I went into this class with a year of prior coding experience so I thought I would be okay but man, I had to work really hard for that A-. In the beginning, the class and homework assignments were not that bad, but I believe it was homework 4 took me SUCH a long time to figure out. We also do graphics which even CS 31 does not learn because graphics in C++ is just inefficient and rather ugly and no one uses C++ for that reason. Salazar was a genuinely nice person when you went into office hours but his lectures were long and boring, causing me to fall asleep on multiple occasions. He mumbles a lot which made it very difficult to follow on. Overall, do not recommend the teacher, but would recommend the class if you just want some programming experience.
Fall 2018 - I went into this class with a year of prior coding experience so I thought I would be okay but man, I had to work really hard for that A-. In the beginning, the class and homework assignments were not that bad, but I believe it was homework 4 took me SUCH a long time to figure out. We also do graphics which even CS 31 does not learn because graphics in C++ is just inefficient and rather ugly and no one uses C++ for that reason. Salazar was a genuinely nice person when you went into office hours but his lectures were long and boring, causing me to fall asleep on multiple occasions. He mumbles a lot which made it very difficult to follow on. Overall, do not recommend the teacher, but would recommend the class if you just want some programming experience.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2017 - Wasn't as bad of a class as I was expecting. Salazar is definitely not the most efficient lecturer, as unlike the other PIC professors, he doesn't use slides that are easy to follow. Most of the class is just him punching in console commands to bring up various commits and then trying to show examples among a sea of rather confusing code. He is also difficult to understand at times. However, he is definitely helpful, posts all of his materials online, and is not a very harsh grader. The assignments are rather easy and he isn't too strict on due dates. The midterm and final were also completely reasonable, though the midterm was somewhat tricky. Thus, while my learning style didn't click with his lecturing style, the course is still very manageable.
Fall 2017 - Wasn't as bad of a class as I was expecting. Salazar is definitely not the most efficient lecturer, as unlike the other PIC professors, he doesn't use slides that are easy to follow. Most of the class is just him punching in console commands to bring up various commits and then trying to show examples among a sea of rather confusing code. He is also difficult to understand at times. However, he is definitely helpful, posts all of his materials online, and is not a very harsh grader. The assignments are rather easy and he isn't too strict on due dates. The midterm and final were also completely reasonable, though the midterm was somewhat tricky. Thus, while my learning style didn't click with his lecturing style, the course is still very manageable.
Most Helpful Review
I had professor Ricardo Salazar for two straight quarters (Math 1 & 31,) and I can say he is a fair professor. First, his grading schemes were similar for both classes. His grading consisted of the following: two midterms, one final, homework, and quizzes. He will take out your lowest midterm grade, but will, instead, count the final at a higher percentage. Second, as a lecturer, he can be very difficult to listen to, as he mumbles, speaks softly, and has an accent. I would highly recommend you sit in the front. He mainly focuses on concepts and proofs, and seldom solved problems. He is pretty helpful in office hours, and is very approachable. The main reason people dislike him is the same reason people dislike math. As aforementioned, Salazar is a decent math professor. Would I recommend him? Sure; but ultimately, the decision is up to you.
I had professor Ricardo Salazar for two straight quarters (Math 1 & 31,) and I can say he is a fair professor. First, his grading schemes were similar for both classes. His grading consisted of the following: two midterms, one final, homework, and quizzes. He will take out your lowest midterm grade, but will, instead, count the final at a higher percentage. Second, as a lecturer, he can be very difficult to listen to, as he mumbles, speaks softly, and has an accent. I would highly recommend you sit in the front. He mainly focuses on concepts and proofs, and seldom solved problems. He is pretty helpful in office hours, and is very approachable. The main reason people dislike him is the same reason people dislike math. As aforementioned, Salazar is a decent math professor. Would I recommend him? Sure; but ultimately, the decision is up to you.
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Most Helpful Review
I had him for PIC 10B. It's about two weeks in and I'm strongly considering dropping. I haven't taken his midterm, and I've only done 1 homework, so I can't give an overall review, but he isn't great. He talks very quickly, is scattered and disorganized, and does not understand how to give presentations. He seems nice. I feel bad writing this review, but he is really terrible.
I had him for PIC 10B. It's about two weeks in and I'm strongly considering dropping. I haven't taken his midterm, and I've only done 1 homework, so I can't give an overall review, but he isn't great. He talks very quickly, is scattered and disorganized, and does not understand how to give presentations. He seems nice. I feel bad writing this review, but he is really terrible.
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