2.6
Quality4.1
Difficulty32%
Would Retake96
Reviews32%
Would Retake
96
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
25
4
12
3
9
2
3
1
47
What Students Say
“Avoid if you want to make something of your own life and want a better future”
EECS401 - 1.0 rating“Don't write useless papers for him that have no meaning”
EECS650 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
20%
Textbook Required
20%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.94 avg changeRatings by Course
EECS216
3.7
(33)EECS353
3.2
(9)EECS650
3.0
(4)EECS401
2.4
(8)EECS554
2.2
(13)Difficulty by Course
EECS351
5.0
EECS401
4.8
EECS301
4.7
EECS501
4.3
EECS650
4.3
Reviews (96)
No Comments
very cool and friendly and always there to help.
No Comments
his lectures are interesting and he gives clear explanations during office hours too.
Great teacher. The material was difficult, but he really tries hard to help out when necessary. Also...he's awesome.
he is a great teacher. he was really very helpful and friendly. The class wasn't that easy but he always tries to clarify his ideas.
Bad Bad Badddddddddd
great professror! extremely helpful! knows his stuff inside out.
He is goof, but some times he is so mean to students. he thinks himself very smart and every body else is not smart like him.some times, I don't understand what he is saying with his greek accent.
he is good enough to the extent that you can't understand any thing.
Really good professor....very clear in his ideas and extremely helpful. Has a practical outlook towards all problems. Also I love his Greek accent :)
Never think to take a class with him.
He is the most dynamic professor I've ever seen. Always explains things well, never hesitates to repeat, or start from scratch...very helpful, motivating and energetic.
A great prof, very very understanding and always willing to help and start from scratch when explaining. Is equally patient in office hours as well. as for his greek accent, its not hard to understand at all, and is actually really cool! Cool prof, I would recommend 401 with him. The class can be hard though, so be prepared..
I liked Prof. Anastasopoulos. EECS 401 is definitely a hard class and one of the many roadblocks in the BSEE degree. However, he explained complex topics in fluid ways, understanding that the concepts are hard to understand for students. He also held almost daily office hours, and even more near exams.
Prof. Anastasopoulos is one of the best professors I have had at Michigan. The material can be difficult, but he explains everything in the clearest, most intuitive way possible. Just go to class, do all of the HWs, and DO EXTRA PRACTICE PROBLEMS FROM THE BOOK. The class really is not that hard if you practice a lot.
He's truly kind and willing to help. But the homework assigned doesn't have much to do with what he taught in class, which needs us learn much more in spare time. And the tests are also of a totally different style with homework.
Really a great guy and a great teacher, I would take any other class offered by him.
Anastasopoulos was a great professor for 216. Workload was very fair for the class (historically it can be extremely heavy). If you devote roughly 10 hours a week to this class outside of lecture, you should be fine. Labs are fun, although some prelabs may be tough. Exams may be a bit tricky at times but are very fair.
He verbally clear. But his writing on the board is horrid. Sometimes it's difficult his writing is so poor; it's time consuming to understand. His midterms are frustrating. You can study all the material as much as you want, but he'll found some other material that he "mentions" in class. He doesn't accept any formulas derived outside of class
Liked to move at a fast pace during lectures. Board handwriting is terrible. Did not separate important material from long proofs that had little importance in the long run. Good intentions, but had mentality that it was always the student at fault for not understanding rather than him not explaining it well. Makes sporadically hilarious comments.
Achilleas (or AA if you prefer) was an amazing professor for 216. Puts a ton of energy into his lectures, enthusiastic about the class, very knowledgeable. Homework is tough, but fair. You really learn the material. 10/10 would take another class with him.
He is a good lecturer and posts the notes online after class. He writes really quickly which can be difficult but is necessary since there is so much to cover. He is extremely helpful in office hours because he helps you think your way to the correct answer.
Professor Anastasopoulos knows his stuff, and you can tell by the way he teaches. He teaches VERY theoretically, which it good for understanding the foundations of the material, but not so great for actually working through examples. Going to discussion sections was imperative for my success as we went through examples there. Heavy workload.
He writes and talks so fast and it's already difficult to merely copy what's on the board, no time to actually digest the material during the lecture. Be careful of what you ask if you have a weak heart because he always try to make you feel stupid.
What a great professor! His lectures are intense but they keep you interested like no other teacher I've had at this university. You can tell he cares about the subject and understands it completely. He is also the best at responding to questions, you can tell he makes sure he understands them fully before responding. Would take any of his classes.
He is good at explaining the material, especially out of class. Will take the time to make sure you understand the concepts. Be ready to write quickly in class and then process the info later. His exams are pretty fair.
Very good at explain complicated concept, and has creative ideas. He wants students not only know what he taught in class, but the intuition behind, which mean you are highly likely to see something haven't been taught in exams. It's good, but a little bit difficult for us.
This guy is about as approachable as a starving crocodile. Comes across as incredibly cold and condescending. Probably the most stressful class i've taken at umich. Whatever you do, do NOT take a class with this professor
This professor is good for people who like theory heavy lectures but who can actually learn the application of the concepts/solving problems on their own. Homework overly difficult to downright confusing and doesn't help you understand the material, extensive office hours required. If you do not learn this way, too bad, so sad.
He uses Winicks HW and labs for this class. So expect to spend a lifetime doing HW (labs are pretty easy...). Tests are his own (not bad). He's a great professor though. You get copies of his lecture notes and he is always willing to help. I feel like he is, at times, unapproachable, but that's only when I feel like asking a dumb question.
His lectures help you gain an intuitive understanding of the material - just be prepared to read the notes before you attend lecture as he can go fast sometimes. He really emphasizes important concepts and drills them into your head with mantras ('complex exponential in, complex exponential out...'). Exciting lectures and great office hours.
He just copy notes in the class. The class contents have not been reasonable assigned.
He comes off as this cool dude, but he is bad researcher. He hardly spends much time thinking about research, what are good problems, and most of his work is kinda shallow. He treats students as his minions, as if they are there do the dirty work, not as somebody whom he would like to teach. He doesn't have many new ideas and is just gaming system.
Very difficult to ask basic questions and very difficult to get help with things. He asks for questions and then slam dunks on people if the questions aren't profound.
Very selfish Guy. He uses students for his own gain. I would recommend to stay away at all costs.
Stay away!!!!!!!
Achilleas teaches in a way where you'll have your mind blown in class with theory and walk out not understanding the hieroglyphics in your notes. HW and exams are insane with labs being the only relatively easy thing (tho even prelabs are ass). TBF, EECS 216 is very difficult and he teaches as best he can. He can be condescending with questions tho
I took a research course with him and he turned out to be a bad research guide. He doesn't know much stuff and uses and exploits students to do the work for him, while he teaches you nothing. In research world, he is not considered of much significance and is mostly writing trivial papers for the sake of it. I think it is waste of time.
He was very unhelpful in answering questions. Often roasts students with extremely blunt / rude comments about their general course knowledge if they cant answer the questions that he asks you when you are trying to get help. He is passionate about his material and does a decent job lecturing.
He clearly understands the material and makes it somewhat clear in class, but the homeworks are so much more difficult than what is presented, going to office hours is a must. He will also slam dunk you if you ask a question he deems easily answered. Achilleas does eventually answer it, but not before he makes you look dumb.
Very passionate and knowledgeable about his field, but can be condescending or occasionally forget that his students aren't up to his level of knowledge. Very hard homeworks, the exams are a breeze compared to them. You will definitely learn a lot from his class.
His research is dry af. Sooooo many equations without any meaning or intuition. He spends insane amount of time coding or thinking about trivial details. Outside world is so competitive and people are going at speed of light and he is moving at turtles pace on stupid problems. No wonder his students don't get anywhere. Dont waste you life with him.
I think he has tenure so he doesn't care what problems he works on or pretty much anything else. But as a student you won't learn anything or do any meaningful research. It makes zero sense to work with him.
If you want to spend 5 years thinking about something that doesn't matter but only because he can enjoy his tenured life and put out those publications to get more grants to repeat the process with other people, you should join him.
Choose a research guide someone whom you can trust someone who has your back someone who is actually going to guide you and has your best interest in mind. He is not that person. He is just a selfish guy who only cares about himself. He won't help you at all. As many people have said below try to stay away from him
He is a chill guy. Doesn't bother you too much but also doesn't teach you much. He is enjoying his life. If you want to get green card in US using PhD or get a sub mediocre PhD and go to industry he is an apt guy.
He is working on bad problems and he doesn't care. He is gaming the system and wants to enjoy life. I think it's just plain stupid and waste of time to work with him. You won't get anything and just waste 5 years.
I think he just comes off as this super over bearing person. Would be hard to have him as your boss
I wonder why a reputed University like UM has profs like this? Why play with students' lives and careers? I am considering doing PhD but this whole business sounds super scary to me. It's super tricky to figure out which Prof is good and treats their students fairly and their students have a future.
It seems to me they are playing games with us. They know we don't know what are good problems, how research is done and how academia works so they wont put much effort & will basically make us write useless papers and get us a phony degree while pretending to the world we are doing research. Sounds like a fraud system to me. why r people doing phd?
It makes no sense to work with him. In general, if you are a smart person, only work with people whose students have gone to good places in academia. Nobody's students in this department has. No point in wasting time.
He is pretty fake. He knows he is exploiting students. But that is the only way he can survive in the system. Don't join him. You will only be a victim.
My problem with him is that he knows the model perfectly. He knows there are many very talented people from Iran, India, China etc who want to come to US, who don't know much how academia works. If you naively join him, he will make you work on stupid problems and you will graduate with useless thesis. He is very conscious of this fact (1/2)
He knows he is working on bad problems, he knows his students never go to any good places, he knows it is useless to work with him. But this is his way to survive in the world by faking and exploiting people as by the time you will know, it will be too late and he has endless supply of people to exploit.
He has a permanent position so he hardly cares about the problems he is working on. But his students spend 5 crucial years of their lives thinking about useless stuff and in the process hurting their careers and chances of going anywhere else. This level of exploitation of naivety of students is very sad.
Avoid. Doesn't really answer questions. Try his best to make you feel stupid.
Achilleas really knows the course content well, but in order to do well, office hours are mandatory. 50+% of learning comes from office hours as class time is mainly to give info for office hours to cover. Questions are encouraged, but he can come across as derogatory while answering if it is about something he thinks he covered clearly.
I think it is very imp for potential PhD students to do their HW properly before deciding on an advisor. There are so many bad fish in academia including him that specifically thrive on the inexperience and stupidity of students.
While I think he is a good instructor (even though he does come off as condescending) my sincere advice is to avoid him, he is absolutely not worth your time, forget 5 crucial years of your life. There are many good profs in other universities who are doing good work and with whom you can learn a lot, and who provide healthy environment to learn
Any PhD student who realizes that he/she is writing bad papers should stop right then and there, get a job, sort things out and work with a better person who is indeed doing good work. its quite well known that profs write bad papers as it doesn't affect them but the only loser in this process is the student. Why unnecessarily suffer in your life?
I feel it is such a nice thing to review profs here for their research/phd guidance (in the same way they ask for our reccos). If everyone starts doing this, it will be so much good for the students and science in general, and will also provide incentive for these profs to not cheat.
Hey guys, for the love of your own life, pleaaaase do not trust this guy. Just go and work with any other prof, there are sooo many good ones around. He has some serious issues and he is just faking things to exist in academia at students' cost and you will just end up psychologically hurting urself and ur career/life.
tbh i think the whole academia is pretty fake: everybody is hiring students to write papers that nobody reads, on topics that aren't necessarily aligned with the student's interests, just to get grants and put it on the website. seems like a pretty fake business to me
I agree that he really seems to have some issues and if you work with him you might inherit those issues. Better to stay away
Don't waste a single day of your life around him. Value your life and stay away
work for him only if you want to be exploited and scarred for the rest of your life
So many comments have already said it multiple times that he is a non serious guy in research who isn't doing anything fabulous by any means and is mainly enjoying his life. idk what's the point of anybody sticking with him and doing research. He is a good instructor (imo) and people should enjoy his courses
He is the kind of guy who will milk you for his gain as much as he can while fully knowing that it is not in your self interest to work for him, and then let you go while he finds the next victims
Life is rare in this universe. Value your life and your time and only work with people who are worth investing your time and your life in, who add meaning and value to you and take your life forward. Stay away from people who want to fool you and use you to advance their agendas.
Super Exploitative!
I think you chose the wrong advisor and had a bad experience (and I don't blame you, most people's experience is like that) but trust me my friend there are some good professors out there. The whole world is not that bad. The key is to find an advisor whom you can trust, who has integrity and who is genuinely doing good work because they love it.
But definitely stay away from him. I never had any personal experience with him but I have heard he is too over bearing and like the reviews below say he is just gaming the system.
I think people are getting in not knowing what's out there how to maneuver their lives to the right place or what is even the right place for them and literally everyone is wasting their 20s thinking about and doing stupid stuff realizing later that it wasn't worth it.
In today's competitive world there is absolutely no future with him. Don't waste your time with him.
Its not that he is not competitive and doesnt know it or is trying his best to be there. He very well knows it, knows the system and doesnt care as he has an endless supply of top students coming over all the time. It doesnt matter to him to be competitive. He doesnt have to put in effort. Its given free to him. It is made possible by the students
It's not an easy class, but listening to his lectures you get the feeling he deeply understands and cares about everything he's teaching. Though they're fast-paced, they're also highly engaging. I disagree with the people saying he makes you feel dumb for asking questions. I asked plenty of questions and he always gave good answers.
Due to his poor guidance, his students don't go anywhere. Avoid if you want to make something of your own life and want a better future
Prof Achilleas is an amazing instructor. It is very clear he understands the material and ask questions during the lectures to make sure students are following. HWs are long and heavy but closely follow the lectures. One of the best courses I have taken so far.
Excellent lecturer. Opa!!
Don't know about his research stuff, but he is really good as an instructor. HWs and exams are hard though.
Don't write useless papers for him that have no meaning
Fraud guy
Professor Anastasopoulos is my favorite college professor I've ever had. He is the type of professor who wants to help you truly understand the material. If you ask him a question he will always try his best to understand it and answer it thoroughly instead of just saying "you don't have to worry about that; it won't be on the test".
A passionate professor that cares about about your learning
So far he is the best lecturer in the EECS departement. I don't know about his bad reputations in the previous reviews, but for me I felt he really wants students learn. Rather than just giving out the answers in the office hours, he directs students to the right answer. His manner might first seem humiliative, but you just need to get used to it.
I agree. He is a great instructor who really makes sure his students learn and his lectures are so amazing. I think previous bad reviews could be about him as a research guide and are definitely not true for him as an instructor.
Seems to have a very bad rep from PhDs he advises, but as an undergrad professor, he was awesome. The lectures are comprehensive and funny, but the notes are a bit lacking. Watch/go to lecture and you will be fine. Exams are fair, all the problems are similar to homework/class, no tricks. Class has a textbook but you can easily ignore it.
LOVED his lectures !!!!
Ummmm ummmm. Lectures weren't too bad for me but he gives me super nars vibes
I would totally and absolutely avoid him for research. He is gaming the system and I don't want to be a victim and enabler of such a system...
Achilleas is amazing! His lectures are very clear and as long as you pay attention you won't be surprised by anything on the exams. His personality makes it easy to stay engaged.
He can be a bit curt at times, but he is really good at explaining the WHY behind everything. He is very good at explaining things in a way that students can actually understand. I actually had a different professor, but I would just watch Achilles's lecture recordings because he was that much better.
Very smart and intelligent professor, I found his lectures very interesting and compelling
Not really a big fan of his lectures, hard to read his Microsoft OneNote writing. His IA notes did clutch up for studying though. I'd give a higher rating if the exams aren't half MCQs with no partial credit, but at least he curves the grading scale generously.
He had very clear lectures and explained the background behind everything very well. I felt able to follow along, and the homework assignments were a bit tedious but really prepared us for the exams. As for the exams themselves, I didn't love the all or nothing multiple choice(the questions were very tricky). Honestly learned a lot though.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
20%
Textbook Required
20%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.94 avg changeRatings by Course
EECS216
3.7
(33)EECS353
3.2
(9)EECS650
3.0
(4)EECS401
2.4
(8)EECS554
2.2
(13)Difficulty by Course
EECS351
5.0
EECS401
4.8
EECS301
4.7
EECS501
4.3
EECS650
4.3