5-star reviews are coming from top students who stand from their perspectives. If you only took probability, calc3, and linear algebra, and are still a freshman like me, wait for Prof. Sala's section (GOAT). The ability to break down complex theories extremely clearly to the dumb(me) is the true ability. Teaching is an art, and Sala masters it.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Jerry Zhu
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Prof. Zhu will have a 100+ slide presentation for each lecture. However, he reads off the slides and its tough to follow. He also doesn't really respond well on the course Piazza. He is also not professional in terms of meeting his own deadlines. The projects will change them often after they are due. His exams also don't really test material well.Rate My Professors ↗
The material for the class was interesting, but taught in a very lazy way. Dr. Zhu didn't prepare for lectures at all and gave the impression that he didn't care about his students. The regrades on the homework penalized you even if you just made a small, insignificant mistake. The class was poorly taught.Rate My Professors ↗
I respect Dr. Zhu and his career, but his undergrad class is horrible. Lectures are disorganized. Poor designing. The class average was less than 60% for the first midterm. There are basically no resources. There are thousands of pages worth of badly written slideshows that are given, but no one is told which parts of the slides to actually study.Rate My Professors ↗
Prof Zhu is a solid professor, not the best, not the worst. His lectures, while not the most captivating, are worth attending since his examples generally do a better job helping you understand new concepts than his slides alone. He is a very nice guy, but homework instructions were often disorganized, and midterm exam feedback took WEEKS.Rate My Professors ↗
He has a knack for explaining difficult concepts in an accessible way. Even still, you need a solid math foundation to fully understand the algorithms he covers, but having a basic grasp of the algorithms is often all you need for a good grade.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Jerry Zhu
Senior Honors Thesis
3 creditsCOMPSCI 681 is an individual study course for senior Computer Science majors to complete honors theses under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Senior Honors Thesis
3 creditsCOMPSCI 682 is an individual study course for seniors completing honors theses in Computer Sciences, arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sampleSenior Thesis
2–3 creditsCOMPSCI 691 is a senior thesis course involving individual study arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Senior Thesis
2–3 creditsCOMPSCI 692 is a senior thesis course involving individual study and research arranged with a faculty member, serving as a continuation of COMPSCI 691.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Directed Study
1–6 creditsCOMPSCI 699 offers directed study projects for junior and senior students arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026Master's Thesis
1–9 creditsCOMPSCI 790 is a Master's Thesis course for graduate students, focusing on independent research and thesis completion.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Master's Research
1–9 creditsOffering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Pre-dissertator Research
1–9 creditsCOMPSCI 899 is a pre-dissertator research course for master's graduates preparing for doctoral dissertation work under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Dissertation
1–6 creditsCOMPSCI 990 is an advanced mentored reading and research course for students with dissertator status.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Machine Learning
3 creditsCOMPSCI/ECE 760 covers computational approaches to learning, including inductive inference, explanation-based learning, and cognitive modeling.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Jerry Zhu receives polarized feedback regarding his teaching style. One reviewer criticizes his theoretical approach and unorganized notes, while another praises his ability to build intuition and explain complex mathematical theory clearly.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026Recorded teaching history
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 691 | Senior Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 692 | Senior Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 699 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 790 | Master's Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 799 | Master's Research |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 899 | Pre-dissertator Research |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 990 | Dissertation |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI/ECE 760 | Machine Learning |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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