Worst class I have attended ever. No attendance policy so no one attends the lecture, assignments and projects people just asks Claude to do it. People even use Claude during mid term because no one cares, Professor is not even there during the exam. People are just grading him high because everyone gets an A lolz. It's literally a waste of money.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Fred Sala
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Must take professor. Best prof I've had in the department, and makes the topic incredibly intuitive and engaging.Rate My Professors ↗
Foundation models: The class was very good and professor made it happen. Very interactive class. Enjoyed it.Rate My Professors ↗
Just to repeat the same idea as the other posts, literally good.Rate My Professors ↗
Easily one of the best CS professors at this school, his explanations are very clear and its obvious he is really smart guy. In his lectures he is always checking in with students to make sure they understand the material and was ALWAYS open to students asking questions.Rate My Professors ↗
love this manRate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Fred Sala
Senior Honors Thesis
3 creditsSenior Honors Thesis is an individual study for seniors completing theses for honors in the Computer Sciences major, arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Senior Honors Thesis
3 creditsIndividual study for seniors completing theses for honors in the Computer Sciences major, continuing COMP SCI 681.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Directed Study
1–6 creditsDirected study projects for Computer Science juniors and seniors, arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026 · limited sampleMaster's Thesis
1–9 creditsGrad st; Master's candidates only
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Master's Research
1–9 creditsOffering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Pre-dissertator Research
1–9 creditsPre-dissertator independent research supervised by a faculty member for students who have completed a master's degree but have not reached dissertator status.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Dissertation
1–6 creditsAdvanced level mentored reading and research for students with dissertator status.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Machine Learning
3 creditsExplores computational approaches to learning, covering inductive inference, connectionism, formal models, algorithm comparison, and cognitive modeling.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2021: 3.78 GPA, 91.8% A/AB (n=98 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 790 | Master's Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 799 | Master's Research |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 899 | Pre-dissertator Research |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 990 | Dissertation |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI/ECE 760 | Machine Learning |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 699 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 790 | Master's Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 799 | Master's Research |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 839 | Core Topics in Computing |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 899 | Pre-dissertator Research |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 990 | Dissertation |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_c015792b29d463dd3b20bfda",
"source": "enrollment",
"source_instructor_id": "fsala",
"identity_basis": "netid",
"identity_status": "source_identified",
"name": "Fred Sala",
"email": "FREDSALA@CS.WISC.EDU",
"first_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 32,
"quality": 4.72,
"difficulty": 3.03,
"quality_count": 32,
"difficulty_count": 32,
"profile_id": "rmp:2670667",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2670667",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 19:12:36.786962+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_e0f984e8747ee9ccaba16d75": {
"review_count": 30,
"quality": 4.7,
"difficulty": 3.07,
"quality_count": 30,
"difficulty_count": 30
},
"course_cbc85add50a620f7e0abe663": {
"review_count": 2,
"quality": 5,
"difficulty": 2.5,
"quality_count": 2,
"difficulty_count": 2
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 4.311997530960181,
"prior_mean": 3.65919358049647,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"current": true,
"courses": [
{
"course_uid": "course_059395ab1bb5e9c017244fe2",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 899",
"title": "PRE-DISSERTATOR RESEARCH",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 9,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_41ec49f5d21356e650473254",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 990",
"title": "DISSERTATION",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 6,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_821f9bd2b5a7758dd5db1e18",
"course_id": "COMPSCI/ECE 760",
"title": "MACHINE LEARNING",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": 3.687
},
{
"course_uid": "course_9430df00f7270c292c1efdd3",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 799",
"title": "MASTER'S RESEARCH",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 9,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_9d6a2127ca0ecacfc4832696",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 699",
"title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 6,
"gpa": 3.947
},
{
"course_uid": "course_a495c0d9f6ed226e1fc144ee",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 681",
"title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_cf2713cdfa735f076079251d",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 682",
"title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": 4
},
{
"course_uid": "course_f71b15e0cc44524b7ec290df",
"course_id": "COMPSCI 790",
"title": "MASTER'S THESIS",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 9,
"gpa": null
}
],
"revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/FRED_SALA"
}