Jason Smith at The University of Texas at Dallas | Rate My Professors (2024)

Advertisem*nt

Jason Smith

Compare

Lots of homeworkTough graderAccessible outside classGet ready to readGives good feedback

Check out Similar Professors in the Computer Science Department

• 5.00Brian Ricks
• 5.00Emily Fox
• 5.00Erik Peterson

Advertisem*nt

• 1337

  May 11th, 2024

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  1337

  May 11th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : A-

  Textbook

  : Yes

  challenging, caring. projects are long and complicated, especially w/o a working C++ background. READ THE TEXTBOOK FOR EXAMS (I realized this during the last exam). start early. very accessible outside of class and very caring. wants students to do well and succeed. basically learning vs GPA. great person. I don't regret taking him.

  Lots of homeworkCaringAccessible outside class

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• CS1337

  May 4th, 2024

  Quality

  3.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  CS1337

  May 4th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : Incomplete

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Read the textbook and START ASSIGNMENTS AHEAD OF TIME!! Unless you know C++ very well, projects are ridiculously time-consuming, and exams are challenging. However, he does offer points back on exams, given you do corrections.Prof is a pretty nice guy, but I wouldn't take him again to spare me from the loss of sanity.

  Accessible outside classOnline Savvy

  Helpful

  

  

• CS1337

  May 4th, 2024

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  CS1337

  May 4th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Amazing person and lectures, his weight of the grades is very lenient too. The only thing is that the exams are more specific than generalized and the amount of homework is ATROCIOUS combined with other classes. Time management is your best friend to stay afloat. He is also very understanding when it comes to personal situations. 8/10 prof

  Lots of homeworkCaringLecture heavy

  Helpful

  

  

• 1337

  Apr 25th, 2024

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  1337

  Apr 25th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : Rather not say

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Nice person, lectures are decent, but the projects and homework are horrendous for a CS 1 class. Projects are really long and tedious and almost unfair to an extent. He will definitely challenge you for the better, but for a 1000-level class it feels way too difficult.

  Tough graderLots of homeworkLecture heavy

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• 1337

  Apr 25th, 2024

  Quality

  3.0

  See Also

  Michelle Wilson at The University of Texas at Dallas | Rate My ProfessorsJohn Cole at The University of Texas at Dallas | Rate My ProfessorsJulie Lynch at The University of Texas at Dallas | Rate My ProfessorsUniversity of Texas - Dallas

  Difficulty

  5.0

  1337

  Apr 25th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Imma be real I'm cooked. Projects take too long to do and the tests are too difficult. My GPA is cooked. He's a good guy but there's only so much he can cover in the hour 15 mins compared to the test material/project material he gives. This class almost seems impossible for a beginner programmer.

  Tough graderLots of homeworkTest heavy

  Helpful

  

  1

  

• CS1337

  Apr 18th, 2024

  Quality

  3.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  CS1337

  Apr 18th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : Rather not say

  Textbook

  : Yes

  He's a nice guy, but the he made CS1 so much more difficult than it should've been. Projects were long and difficult. Exams were very specific, but he did allow corrections. There's a reason the grade distributions had 80% failing or withdrawing. Avoid if you want a decent GPA.

  Tough graderClear grading criteria

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• CS1337

  Feb 5th, 2024

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  CS1337

  Feb 5th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : Yes

  He's great if you're truly invested in the subject. Homework and projects can be difficult but manageable. There's no coding in class, as his lectures will cover more concepts than code. Overall he's great, but difficult.

  Amazing lectures Lots of homeworkLecture heavy

  Helpful

  

  

• 1337

  Jan 21st, 2024

  Quality

  2.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  1337

  Jan 21st, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Textbook

  : Yes

  If you were planning to take any other classes along with this one, then gl as HW and projects will bring any of your classes down because I truly believe that Smith thinks he's the only class we take with the deadline he's been giving. I have to admit that I did learn a lot from this class, but selling my soul for it was not worth it. Goodluck.

  Lots of homeworkLecture heavyTest heavy

  Helpful

  

  1

  

• CS2337

  Jan 16th, 2024

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS2337

  Jan 16th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Many assignments including readings, 5 homeworks, 6 in-class assignments, 2 tests, and 4 projects (but can learn a lot). Lectures mostly repeat information in the textbook. Strict policies which include tracking attendance and no computers in class. Required textbook is expensive. Very responsive and accessible out of class. Also, a slow grader.

  Lots of homeworkAccessible outside classOnline Savvy

  Helpful

  

  

  1

• Advertisem*nt

• CS2336

  Jan 5th, 2024

  Quality

  3.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS2336

  Jan 5th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Not Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A

  Textbook

  : N/A

  See Also

  University of Dallas | Rate My Professors

  Grader made both prof/students lives harder by either grading late or not following rubric. Test cases were often wrong and would need to contact professor to correct him. Projects were lengthy and tedious, specifically in validation, not so much in the data structure or logic itself. Exam 1 was diff format than exam 2, inconsistent grades, curved

  Tough graderGives good feedbackAccessible outside class

  Helpful

  

  

• CS2337

  Dec 29th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS2337

  Dec 29th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Not Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Smith is by far the best professor to take for 2337. That being said, projects will take a lot of time so if you procrastinate you might struggle. Exams were easy, typically 2 coding and 15-20 mc questions. Majority of grade comes from projects.

  Clear grading criteriaLots of homeworkCaring

  Helpful

  

  

  1

• CS2336

  Dec 22nd, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS2336

  Dec 22nd, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A

  Textbook

  : N/A

  I took Smith for 1337 and now 2336, he's an amazing professor that cares heavily about your grades/understanding of material. Projects need time management but if done correctly can heavily impact your grade (45% of total grade). Only discrepancy I had was the grader was horrible which isn't his fault. Overall, best prof in the department.

  Tough graderCaringAccessible outside class

  Helpful

  

  

  1

• Advertisem*nt

• CS2337

  Dec 21st, 2023

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS2337

  Dec 21st, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Honestly, if you got a 5 in AP CSA, then you're gonna be fine in this class. Projects are a time commitment but doable if you focus up. My only gripe is that for the majority of projects, you only get 12 submissions, and if there's a compiler error or warning by the compiler, it will waste one of the submissions, which I think is unfair.

  Respected

  Helpful

  

  3

  

• CS2337

  Dec 17th, 2023

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  CS2337

  Dec 17th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Do not procrastinate on the projects (zybooks) they aren't hard just time consuming. Lectures are not organized and he makes up things on the spot. We fell behind from the syllabus because he lets people ask time consuming theoretical questions which they could look up on their own. He is always accessible though and overall class was not bad

  Get ready to read

  Helpful

  

  

  1

• CS2337

  Dec 15th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS2337

  Dec 15th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Good professor, hard class. Lectures can be a bit monotonous, but you definitely learn a ton. He is understanding and open to questions. Relies on ZyBooks for online textbook, homeworks, and project submissions. Manage your time and get started early on the projects. Take him if you want to learn, but it won't be easy.

  Participation mattersEXTRA CREDITLots of homework

  Helpful

  

  2

  

  2

• Advertisem*nt

• CS1337

  Dec 12th, 2023

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS1337

  Dec 12th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : Yes

  This class is a ton of work, but introduces object oriented programming well. Smith explains concepts way better than other CS professors I have had. The projects will prepare you well for tests. Professor is very available and helpful to students. That being said, coding problems with no IDE's and no access to documentation? Not ideal.

  Participation mattersLots of homework

  Helpful

  

  

  1

• CS2336

  Dec 7th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  2.0

  CS2336

  Dec 7th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Textbook

  : Yes

  You won't regret taking this professor. His class is pretty demanding, but he gives great lectures and will teach you everything you need to know for CS3345. I took his class in Fall 2022, and looking back he made the subsequent CS classes feel easy. As long as you attend class and start the projects at least a week before they are due, it's great

  Amazing lectures Lots of homeworkAccessible outside class

  Helpful

  

  

  1

• CS2336

  Dec 7th, 2023

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS2336

  Dec 7th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : Drop/Withdrawal

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Projects are long and stressful. Unfair exam grading on all or nothing basis. Get ready to spend all of your time for this class alone.

  Tough graderLots of homework

  Helpful

  

  2

  

• Advertisem*nt

• CS2337

  Dec 5th, 2023

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS2337

  Dec 5th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Professor Smith is a great professor. He is very good at explaining concepts and making sure we understand. The projects are very doable once you get into the groove of coding in C++. One drawback is that most of the coding is done outside of class, which I'm not keen on. Overall, great class.

  Accessible outside classOnline Savvy

  Helpful

  

  

  1

• CS2337

  Nov 9th, 2023

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  CS2337

  Nov 9th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : B+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  The class is difficult and covers a lot of concepts, but it is worth the work. Don't underestimate the projects, especially project 1. Professor is fair, and these projects along with his lectures and homework will make you a into a powerful computer science student.

  Tough graderClear grading criteriaRespected

  Helpful

  

  

  1