Yong Gao at University of British Columbia - Okanagan | Rate My Professors (2024)

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Yong Gao

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Get ready to readParticipation mattersTough graderGroup projectsSkip class? You won't pass.

Check out Similar Professors in the Computer Science Department

• 5.00Abdallah Mohamed
• 5.00Ramon Lawrence
• 4.90Jeff Bulmer

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• COSC221

  Jun 10th, 2024

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  COSC221

  Jun 10th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Pretty useless, all of the other reviews have nailed it. The class itself isn't that hard if you know where to look. Type of class that is an easy 80 but impossible 100. Unfortunately you do have to struggle through the lectures if you want the full 20% from clickers.

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• COSC322

  May 14th, 2024

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  COSC322

  May 14th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : B+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  The marking of the assignments and the labs is inconsistent. Therfore, it makes it very difficult to study for the exams as the questions are literally from the assignments. The TAs are also not of any help due to prof's inability to regularly interact with them. I would have aced this course if it was well structured.

  Tough graderGet ready to readParticipation matters

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• COSC211

  Apr 23rd, 2024

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  1.0

  COSC211

  Apr 23rd, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Not Mandatory

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  this guys gotta be the worst prof at ubc

  Get ready to read

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• COSC221

  Apr 12th, 2024

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  COSC221

  Apr 12th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Yong Gao is a nice prof. However the teaching is rough, I have never felt like I did not understand anything as much as I did when I took his class. His lectures were very hard to follow, and what he was saying was hardly ever consistent with what was in his slides. If you want to pass, use the textbook, and hope your TA is good.

  Tough grader

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• COSC221

  See Also

  University of British Columbia - Okanagan | Rate My ProfessorsLynn Norman at University of British Columbia | Rate My ProfessorsJonathan Otto at University of British Columbia | Rate My ProfessorsJuliet O'Brien at University of British Columbia | Rate My Professors

  Apr 12th, 2024

  Quality

  2.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  COSC221

  Apr 12th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Textbook

  : Yes

  The problem with Yong Gao is that I can't understand him. It is very hard to follow along with lectures and get a comprehensive and deep understanding of the material because of that. The assignments and labs feel disconnected from the lectures, but they are doable.

  Participation matters

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• COSC221

  Jan 10th, 2024

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  COSC221

  Jan 10th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : Yes

  ermm... what is he even saying literally

  Lecture heavyTest heavy

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  1

  

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• COSC221

  Jan 10th, 2024

  Quality

  2.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  COSC221

  Jan 10th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Not Mandatory

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Bad lecturer, hard to understand what he says. Slides are confusing and non-linear. Course is easy to pass.

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• COSC221

  Dec 11th, 2023

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  COSC221

  Dec 11th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Textbook

  : Yes

  AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS! He is an awful teacher, he mumbles around and has the worst slides I have ever seen. The first "simple quiz" had a class average of 50% and he refused to go over it because it was simple material. Its easy to pass if you go to class for his 20% iclickers which he gives you the answer and find a good team for group seminars.

  Tough graderParticipation mattersGroup projects

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• COSC322

  Nov 1st, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  COSC322

  Nov 1st, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Not Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Awesome course, take it!

  Amazing lectures Gives good feedbackHilarious

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  2

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• COSC221

  Oct 27th, 2023

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  COSC221

  Oct 27th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  See Also

  Tara Lee at University of British Columbia | Rate My Professors

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : Yes

  When the class average was 52% on the first quiz, of which the questions were straightforward there was just a misunderstanding by us students because it was poorly explained, he said he would not go over the questions, and that the topic was fundamental and we shouldn't have gotten it wrong. He's just here for research money. idk how he was hired

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  1

  

• COSC221

  Sep 13th, 2023

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  COSC221

  Sep 13th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Guys I know this prof isn't the best however there is a fun game you can play. Try to see if he ever takes a sip from this coffee. So far we're 2 lectures in and not one sip has been taken from his coffee, cheers!

  Get ready to readLots of homeworkHilarious

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  3

  

• COSC322

  May 25th, 2023

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  COSC322

  May 25th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Not Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Gao is much better for 322 than 221. It's probably because he is actually interested in the topic. The project was very interesting, but quite time-consuming. Slides are still pretty disorganized. The textbook is not mandatory, but it is a very useful book if you want to understand topics better.

  Group projectsCaring

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• COSC322

  Feb 9th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  COSC322

  Feb 9th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Not Mandatory

  Grade

  : B+

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Extensions are fair enough

  Amazing lectures CaringRespected

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  2

• COSC221

  Feb 8th, 2023

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  COSC221

  Feb 8th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : B

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Stay away, he can't teach

  Group projects

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• COSC211

  Feb 1st, 2023

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  COSC211

  Feb 1st, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : A+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  This professor is notorious in the computer science department. There is a reason EVERYONE will tell you to avoid this professor at all costs, and it is justified. Stay away

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  1

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• COSC221

  Dec 21st, 2022

  Quality

  3.0

  Difficulty

  2.0

  COSC221

  Dec 21st, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Textbook

  : Yes

  His lectures do make the content difficult sometimes, but as long as you pay attention and do the readings or review the slides, you'll do fine. His clickers and example problems in class are much harder than the actual questions given on the midterm and final! As long as you get the basics, you'll be fine.

  Get ready to readParticipation mattersGroup projects

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• COSC221

  Dec 13th, 2022

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  COSC221

  Dec 13th, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : B+

  Textbook

  : Yes

  if you can avoid taking this professor, do it

  Participation matters

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• COSC221

  Dec 9th, 2022

  Quality

  3.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  COSC221

  Dec 9th, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : A

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Whilst I do agree with the majority of these ratings and explanations, Gao does have good aspects to his class. The grade distribution is very diverse and the class does not have any midterms. You can earn a whopping 20% of your grade from just attending the class. Get a good group for the seminars, attend class for clickers, and read.

  Get ready to readRespected

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• COSC221

  Dec 3rd, 2022

  Quality

  1.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  COSC221

  Dec 3rd, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : A

  Textbook

  : Yes

  run. run away right now. you will NOT understand a thing he says, and there is hardly any communication between him and the poor TAs so good luck trying to get in touch with him through email. As an international student paying $4k for this MANDATORY class, I feel like my money has been wasted and has gone down the drain.

  Participation mattersGroup projectsLecture heavy

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• COSC221

  Nov 16th, 2022

  Quality

  3.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  COSC221

  Nov 16th, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : Yes

  I agree with some of the other reviews that he is difficult to understand. However, I've found that the quality of his slides make up for it somewhat. There are some stages where you may have to use outside resources like YouTube to help. If you have taken or are currently in MATH220 and COSC222 is makes this class easier by miles.

  Group projectsLecture heavyGraded by few things

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