Very charismatic and funny lecturer who's clearly passionate about the material. The exams are good in difficulty: hard enough to require some on-site creative thinking and not just memorization, but nothing impossible to do. He also takes informal arguments and gives full points for answers even if they're lacking in rigor.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Jin-Yi Cai
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
He's so difficult, and the average on the final exam was in the 40s, tells you all you need to know about this class and his way of teaching.Rate My Professors ↗
Very unfair professor. Makes material impossible to understand. Gives an insane amount of homework, but the homework is not useful in preparing for the finals. And despite the final seeming to be not that difficult, he grades insanely strictly and will absolutely crash your grade for seemingly no reason. Avoid at all costs.Rate My Professors ↗
Avoid at all costs—take 577 without him. He attempts to teach theoretical CS, but he's difficult to understand because his speech is muffled by a mask and he speaks too quickly. He explains concepts poorly and never goes over the examples you'll see on exams or in homework. Lectures are useless and you'll have to teach yourself the content.Rate My Professors ↗
Absolutely nightmarish terrible. I would've put 'Participation matters' as a tag if it weren't for the fact that his lectures are nightmarishly hard to understand. Terrible handwriting, style, squeaky chalkboard, seating, oratory skills, grading difficulty, attendance is a mystery, etc. It's bad when you're FORCED to 3rd party sites just to learn.Rate My Professors ↗
Has ability to make some of the most intuitive topics 10x harder during lecture with vague jargon, often not understanding a single word in lecture and going home to watch hours worth of videos to stay afloat. HWs are graded easily but tests are graded hard to the point HW feedback barely matters. Also, extends class 5 minutes after bell every day.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Jin-Yi Cai
Directed Study
1–6 creditsDirected study projects for Computer Science juniors and seniors, arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
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
Topics in theoretical computer science covering advanced topics in algorithms, complexity, and cryptography; the exact topic varies.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2012: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Fall 2021: 3.94 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=8 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.78 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=9 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Pre-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
Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 790 | Master's Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 799 | Master's Research |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 880 | Topics in Theoretical Computer Science |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 899 | Pre-dissertator Research |
| Spring 2027 | COMPSCI 990 | Dissertation |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 520 | Introduction to Theory of Computing |
| Fall 2026 | COMPSCI 681 | 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 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
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