Historical instructor

MICHAEL FERRIS

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 1.78/5 from 23 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
You really need to do well on the homework, since on the project he'll take off 30-40% just because he feels like it, even if you follow the directions carefully. A bunch of people were asking him to please give any amount of justification for the final project grades, and he tells us to ask him in office hours NEXT SEMESTER, what a joke.
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COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Very bad academic experience in uw-madison. No clear rubric(almost 0) , harshly grading with very poor feedback. You don't even know if you have a final exam.
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COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Incapable of giving proper instructions, rubrics, or fair grading. Many HW problems need to be clarified on Piazza. The project spec had a few vague bullet points, a few scribbled notes in the margins as "feedback", and yet he cut tons of points harshly. The full project reqs are also just some bullet points with no clear rubric. Abysmal professor.
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COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
This guy's course policies are nonsense...automatic -8% on the project for working in pairs and the final exam gets held because he got mad at some people apparently copying homework code. Overall he is also bad at giving clear assignment directions.
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COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Prof. Ferris is such a great person and is beyond helpful during office hours. If you use his office hours, you will succeed in this class. It is a ton of work and the homeworks are super time-consuming, but they do force you to learn. We did not have a final this semester because he cancelled it when he didn't find anyone cheating.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with MICHAEL FERRIS

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2025COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2025COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524Introduction to Optimization
Spring 2025COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2025COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2025COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2025COMPSCI/ISYE 727Convex Analysis
Fall 2024COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2024COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524Introduction to Optimization
Spring 2024COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2024COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2024COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2023COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2023COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524Introduction to Optimization
Spring 2023COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2023COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2023ISYE 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2022COMPSCI 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2022COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2022COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524Introduction to Optimization
Fall 2022ISYE 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2022COMPSCI 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2022COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2022COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2022COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2022COMPSCI/ISYE/MATH/STAT 726Nonlinear Optimization I
Spring 2022ISYE 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2021COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2021COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2021COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524Introduction to Optimization
Fall 2021ISYE 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2020COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2020COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2020COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524Introduction to Optimization
Fall 2020ISYE 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2020COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2020COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2020COMPSCI/ISYE 526Advanced Linear Programming
Spring 2020ISYE 890Pre-dissertator's Research
Fall 2019COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2019COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2019COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524Introduction to Optimization
Fall 2019ISYE 890Pre-dissertator's Research
Spring 2019COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2019COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2019ISYE 890Pre-dissertator's Research
Fall 2018COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2018COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2018COMPSCI/ISYE/MATH/STAT 726Nonlinear Optimization I
Fall 2018ISYE 890Pre-dissertator's Research
Spring 2018COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2018ISYE 890Pre-dissertator's Research
Fall 2017COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2017ISYE 699Advanced Independent Study
Spring 2017COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2017COMPSCI/ISYE/MATH 730Nonlinear Optimization II
Spring 2017ISYE 699Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2016COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2016COMPSCI/ECE/ISYE 524Introduction to Optimization
Spring 2016COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2016COMPSCI/ISYE/MATH/STAT 525Linear Optimization
Fall 2015COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2015COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2015COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2015COMPSCI/ISYE/MATH/STAT 726Nonlinear Optimization I
Spring 2015COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2015COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2015ISYE 699Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2014COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2014COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2014COMPSCI/ISYE/MATH/STAT 726Nonlinear Optimization I
Fall 2014ISYE 699Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2014MATH 990Reading and Research
Spring 2014COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2014COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2014COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2013COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2013COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2013COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2013COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2013COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2013COMPSCI/ISYE/MATH/STAT 525Linear Optimization
Spring 2013MATH 990Reading and Research
Fall 2012COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2012COMPSCI 790Master's Thesis
Fall 2012COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2012COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2012COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2012COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2012COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2012COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2012COMPSCI/ISYE/MATH/STAT 525Linear Optimization
Fall 2011COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2011COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2011COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research
Fall 2011COMPSCI/ISYE/MATH/STAT 726Nonlinear Optimization I
Spring 2011COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2011COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2011COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2011COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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