3.2

Carol Roberts

Computer Science - University of Maine

3.2
Quality
3.1
Difficulty
55%
Would Retake
129
Reviews
3.2
Quality
3.1
Difficulty
3.1
Helpful
3.3
Clarity

55%

Would Retake

129

Reviews

Rating Distribution
Official

5

48

4

21

3

14

2

22

1

24

What Students Say

Honestly, I have never had a professor that didn't care about her students as much as this one

COS213 - 2.0 rating

Everything you learn is from lab once a week, which are very easy

COS213 - 2.0 rating
Class Info

Online Classes

100%

Attendance Mandatory

59%

Textbook Required

68%

Grade Predictor

Your expected effort level

LowHigh

Predicted Grade

B

95% confidence
Based on 22 grades
Most common grades:
B (6)
A (6)
C (3)
Grade Distribution
A(7)B(8)C(3)D(0)F(1)A-/B+(3)
Based on 23 reported grades
B: 6
A: 6
C: 3
B-: 2
Common Tags
Skip class? You won't pass. (4)
Tough Grader (3)
LOTS OF HOMEWORK (3)
Clear grading criteria (2)
Amazing lectures (2)
LECTURE HEAVY (1)
Would take again (1)
Amazing lectures (1)
Rating Trend

Declining

-0.67 avg change
Jun
Nov
Jun
Jun
Oct
Oct
Last 6 months
Ratings by Course

COS298

5.0

(2)

COS220C

5.0

(1)

COS104

5.0

(1)

COS102103

5.0

(1)

COS211

4.7

(3)
+16 more courses
Difficulty by Course

225

5.0

COM100

5.0

COS201

5.0

COS213

4.0

COS225

3.9

Reviews (129)
1.0
5.0
COS120
May 9, 2001

Not very good. She doesn't teach--reads from transparencies. Very unclear.

5.0
1.0
COS120
May 9, 2001

Excellent teacher.

4.0
2.0
COS120
Grade: B
May 9, 2001

If you can't pass her class you are a moron.

4.0
3.0
COS2202
May 9, 2001

not a bad choice for 220 or 221

2.0
3.0
COS220
May 9, 2001

No Comments

5.0
2.0
COS100
May 9, 2001

No Comments

2.0
4.0
COS100
May 9, 2001

she treats you like crap!

5.0
2.0
COS220
May 9, 2001

The best COS 220/221 teacher.

5.0
3.0
COS220
May 9, 2001

She's a vixen but also a geek!

4.0
1.0
COS100
May 10, 2001

Very clear, you just have to do the work.

1.0
5.0
COS120
May 10, 2001

No Comments

2.0
3.0
COS220
Grade: B
May 11, 2001

No Comments

4.0
3.0
COS10012
May 14, 2001

Was helpful, couldn't always explain things well.

3.0
3.0
COS220
May 14, 2001

She is the hottest thing in the world, I wish I got to know her better in 220

5.0
1.0
COS220
May 14, 2001

One sexy mama!! It's hard to concentrate on anything but her during class

1.0
5.0
COS220
May 16, 2001

No Comments

4.0
4.0
COS220
May 16, 2001

next time I program I will program her making sweet love to me, she's a babe

1.0
5.0
COS220
May 16, 2001

the woman could not communicate with a class to save her life, avoid her!!!!!!

5.0
1.0
COS220
May 16, 2001

very organized

5.0
1.0
COS298
May 17, 2001

Very good teacher, too bad I didn't take more of her classes.

1.0
3.0
COS221
Grade: B
May 18, 2001

No Comments

2.0
4.0
COS221
May 24, 2001

ugh, not a very pleasant woman, 'specially if you're not teacher's pet

4.0
3.0
COS10012
May 25, 2001

No Comments

4.0
4.0
COS220
Jun 5, 2001

Excellent professor if you do your part.

5.0
1.0
COS298
Grade: Rather_Not_Say
Jun 7, 2001

Very great teacher and class!!

5.0
3.0
COS120
Jun 25, 2001

Awesome teacher

1.0
5.0
COS220
Jul 2, 2001

No Comments

1.0
5.0
COS220
Jul 2, 2001

No Comments

3.0
3.0
COS221
Jul 3, 2001

why do you guys think she is hot? you must not see many girls on campus

5.0
2.0
COS220
Jul 11, 2001

hot, hot, hot, oh my god hot!!

4.0
1.0
COS22022
Sep 6, 2001

only CS people would think she's hot... I mean walk around campus and look...

1.0
5.0
COM100
Sep 28, 2001

Christ, can she have any more homework due per week?

5.0
1.0
COS120
Nov 28, 2001

An excellent teacher and a hot one too.

5.0
1.0
COS220C
Dec 6, 2001

Easy, easy classes, and she explains them well.

3.0
5.0
COS220
Dec 7, 2001

very easy to find yourself lost in her class, too much workload

5.0
2.0
COS22022
Dec 10, 2001

Very easy teacher, if you do all the work

4.0
3.0
COS221
Dec 13, 2001

very good teacher

5.0
3.0
COS220
Jan 29, 2002

Very organized and logical presentation of material. Takes it step by step.

5.0
2.0
COS220
Feb 14, 2002

Excellent lecturer. Easy tests, but long homework assignments.

4.0
3.0
COS220
Apr 15, 2002

Teaches it well, tests are decent -- large hw load

5.0
2.0
COS120
May 2, 2002

very helpful, all you have to do is ask. she loves to help.

1.0
5.0
COS220
Grade: A-
May 23, 2002

HORRIBLE

5.0
1.0
COS220
Aug 9, 2002

The notes help a lot, and she's great at explaining.

5.0
3.0
COS220
Nov 6, 2002

I daydream of dequeueing her stack...

2.0
1.0
COS220
Nov 6, 2002

a robot. anyone ever heard any of her jokes ?? holy ****...

5.0
2.0
COS211
Nov 14, 2002

EXCELLENT! Very helpful, approachable, and clear.

2.0
5.0
COS120
Nov 21, 2002

she sucks

4.0
4.0
COS220
Dec 8, 2002

No Comments

4.0
3.0
COS120
Dec 11, 2002

homework is horrible, but she's great

5.0
4.0
COS220
Jan 22, 2003

Gives excellent study guides/practice tests

5.0
4.0
COS
Jan 27, 2003

long HW, but if you do it, you will ace test. Very clear straightforward lecture

3.0
3.0
COS
Feb 27, 2003

Couldn't have taught that well. You dequeue a queue, not a stack.

5.0
2.0
COS120
Apr 5, 2003

She is so clear sometimes that people feel it's an insult to their intelligence. I found her extremely helpful and effective.

4.0
3.0
COS211
Apr 8, 2003

Good days and bad, sometimes she is very approachable, other times she is rude and hard to talk to. I wasn't a fan of her tests either.

1.0
5.0
COS120
Apr 11, 2003

my god is that class horrible, shes a useless teacher, i suck at the class, yet my friend and i found 4, yes count em 4 major errors on a practice test she gave us. shes not helpful at all actually useless. Only people who know the stuff already do well.

5.0
2.0
COS120
May 11, 2003

Great lectures! Organized notes. I liked her class.

1.0
5.0
COS120
May 13, 2003

she doesnt really care, if you arent doing well its obviously your own fault (and yes the only people who do well are those who know programming coming into the class, dont expect to learn anything)

5.0
1.0
COS120
Jul 24, 2003

I didn't attend lectures after Spring break, and still got an A. Could have moved a bit faster through the materials. But as a prof., I thought she was incredibly helpful and her notes were very precise and organized. Good show.

5.0
3.0
COS220
Sep 12, 2003

Her class is one of those that you have to go and do the work, but then you should do well. I learned a lot about microsoft access in the class.

3.0
2.0
COS120
Oct 12, 2003

She looks like Ursula! Especially when she wears her bright pink lip stick!! I fall asleep every class because it's so boring

5.0
1.0
COS120
Nov 5, 2003

Very clear and organized... Easy A if you go and do the work!!! Didn't have to study for the tests and still did well!!

1.0
5.0
COS120
Nov 9, 2003

shes a great teacher IF YOU ALREADY KNOW THE MATERIAL!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

3.0
4.0
COS120
Dec 10, 2003

Way too much damn homework. She is not helpful. And she makes jokes that are not funny. Really not funny. Ugh... I wish I dropped the class.

1.0
5.0
COS201
Dec 16, 2003

This lady doesn't care if anyone does well. I don;t understand how a person that wants to teach young minds, if they don't care if they are learning. BRUTAL TEACHER.

2.0
5.0
COS120
Mar 17, 2004

Very difficult class. Terminology is hard and the class can be very unclear. Prior knowledge is helpful. This class will take a lot of discipline especially since the lectures are awful.

4.0
3.0
COS120
Apr 1, 2004

Good teacher, very clear in lectures. willing to help students out when they need it. very helpful during lab time. class is a little slow.

2.0
3.0
COS120
May 5, 2004

SHE IS NEVER QUIET, EVER.....the whole class basically failed of just passed the last exam and she blamed the class, even though an intelligent person would look at their own teacheing methods if EVERYONE did so poorly...

1.0
5.0
COS120
May 13, 2004

I don't speak binary. Unhelpful teacher, very robotic, failed two of her exams, did loads of studying and she refused to help me. Took the path of least resistance and dropped that class. If you want to take this class, take it with someone else.

3.0
3.0
COS120
Oct 4, 2004

she got her watch stuck in the projector for 20 minutes last semester. nuff said.

5.0
3.0
COS120
Oct 13, 2004

She is one of few teachers here that are truely excited about the field they are in. You can tell she really does want you to understand, not just pass the test and make her look like she is doing a good job. All-in-all, she is pretty good.

5.0
1.0
COS104
Oct 14, 2004

EASY A! Took this class online and finished it in 6 weeks. Very helpful if you have questions, quick to respond. If you're looking for an easy credit...here it is.

5.0
2.0
COS120
Nov 17, 2004

I think some students are hard on female professors. In my opinion she is really awesome. If you dont go to class or do the homework you can't blame her for not being able to help you. I struggled until I just did the homework, didnt even have to study and got A's on the tests.

5.0
1.0
COS120
Nov 17, 2004

She hands out notes in lecture so you dont even have to take any!! Follows them, doesn't go off topic, doesnt cover too much at once or go too fast. Homework straight from the notes, lots of time to complete it, Labs very easy and good for studying.. what more could you want!!

5.0
1.0
COS115
Jan 11, 2005

Assignments can take kind of a long time, but are pretty easy. Any time I had a question I just e-mailed her and she got right back to me. Very helpful. Material isn't that interesting but the class isn't so bad.

5.0
1.0
COS211
Jan 24, 2005

The class was really easy. Just do you work and you'll get an A with no problem

3.0
1.0
COS10123
Apr 6, 2005

If I have to spend anymore time in these classes, I am going to go insane. If you have ever used, or even seen, a computer before, you will have no problems whatsoever. I actually let my pet rock do my homework for me and I still got an A.

3.0
1.0
COS115
May 3, 2005

This class is dated and boring. The textbook was created for high schoolers and teaches people how to make bad web pages. If you actually want to learn how to make a decent web page, don't waste your time here.

5.0
1.0
COS102103
May 6, 2005

Assignments can take a little long, but the work is child's play. My grandmother could probably do all this and she can't even turn on a computer. Definitely an easy A if you're looking for a couple.

2.0
3.0
COS115
Aug 13, 2005

This professor was moody. You could email her for help but she only helps if she feels you start early enough. (God forbid you have a job!) She also deducts for spelling errors when there are spelling errors on her own page. Yay for asking more of your students than you are willing to do yourself.

2.0
5.0
COS120
Aug 24, 2005

No Comments

5.0
2.0
COS120
Sep 19, 2005

No Comments

2.0
4.0
COS120
Dec 7, 2005

Was I taking the same class as you people that got A's? I did all my work went to every lab and did great on that but my tests were something else, in fact I'm probably going to have to take it again. Which is terrible considering I worked my butt off studying.

2.0
4.0
COS120
Dec 15, 2005

Terrible professor, very inconsiderate and the exams are extremely hard.

5.0
1.0
COS120
Dec 30, 2005

The class was easy, she taught off of handouts mostly. The homework was where I lost some points, but she's always willing to help you on your weekly assignment through email. She does get mad if you email her too cloase to the due date. The student graders aren't always accurate, so when you have a grading question, ask her and she might change it

2.0
4.0
COS220
Feb 17, 2006

I HATE this class. Yeah, the notes are easy, but she never uses examples and the homework can always be done in much easier ways than the way in which it's assigned. Everything that she says in class is exactly what's on the notes, so why the hell does she bother? She should either teach something or hand us the notes, shut up and let us go.

5.0
3.0
COS221
May 8, 2006

Very difficult teacher at first. If she would encourage to come to her office more, her classes would be a breeze. Talk to her outside class often, if you put in the effort you'll do well.

1.0
5.0
COS115
Feb 4, 2007

takes off homework points for anything she can, even if she's wrong. in my experience, she's not willing to talk about the point distribution or even consider your opinion. the class is a joke. there are eight assignments and they make up your entire grade for the class. follow instructions exactly and check spelling... she takes off points for tha

5.0
2.0
COS120
Dec 22, 2007

very nice teacher. All notes are printed and handed out so while in class you can pay attention to what she is teaching instead of taking notes.

5.0
3.0
COS221
Feb 2, 2008

Roberts is a well-organized, knowledgeable teacher.

2.0
5.0
COS221
Oct 20, 2009

This professor acts calm and cool in lectures and has office hours listed. In the event you actually need help, either with problem clarification or stepping through a new concept, I recommend finding anyone else to help you. The subject is very interesting, but the professor is so unhelpful. The workload is immense. I'm dropping this class :(

2.0
4.0
COS120
Jan 20, 2010

Nice lady, but she just rambles on in class about terms nobody knows...unless if youre a computer science major, this course sucks..hardest 100 level course ive taken. also whoever grades the assignments messed up on at least 3 of mine and gave me zeroes for hw that was in the 90s. The TA in this course is next to useless as well...

2.0
5.0
COS120
Jan 28, 2010

Terrible class, extremely hard topic, book and teacher are no help, I'm dropping the class.

2.0
5.0
COS220
Mar 25, 2010

Very hard. Teachers off the handouts which have very poor examples. While its my own damn fault for failing this class, the amount of real teaching she does is next to nothing. Doesn't use examples to show us how it works, but instead teaches us the "theory" of how it all works.

5.0
1.0
COS120
Mar 31, 2010

AMAZING!!!!! she is such a good professor, makes me want to take more classes with her.

5.0
4.0
COS120
Mar 31, 2010

HER LECTURES WERE STRAIGHT FORWARD AND THE LABS WERE HELPFUL BECAUSE SHE HELPED US WHEN WE NEEDED IT.

4.0
2.0
COS220
Apr 22, 2010

Great teacher, very straight forward; teaches you how things work behind the scenes. Prints out notes so you can just pay attention if that's better for you. She sparked my interest in programming and now I'm addicted :)

3.0
5.0
COS120
Mar 26, 2011

DO NOT TAKE COS120 FOR A MATH CREDIT, unless you are interested in computers. This subject is so hard, and you have to work really hard to do well in the class. The labs are easy but the homework and tests are very hard. However, if you do like this kind of stuff, she's really easy going and understanding, and the lab consultants are very helpful.

5.0
1.0
COS103
Jul 10, 2011

I took this class online and Prof. Roberts was extremely helpful and fair. She was quick to respond to questions and very professional. I would recommend this class to anyone looking to better their skills in Excel.

5.0
2.0
COS120
Feb 2, 2012

You don't need the book. She hands out the highlights of each section and what she will be using. If you look at the labs and notes, homework is pretty easy. Her practice tests are a lot easier than the actual test. If you have trouble with programming, go to the TA hours. There were like 15 hours a week that we could get help.

4.0
3.0
COS115
Dec 23, 2012

I liked that the professor was prompt in her email responses and that the class was relatively straight forward (though not super easy for me). I found it frustrating when she'd stray from the syllabus and it affected my grade.

3.0
5.0
COS120
Dec 29, 2012

Professor Roberts is great if you are a.) naturally talented in the field or b.) interested in a career in computer science. For those people, she is helpful, attentive, and on the ball. For those taking her class as a GenEd, she is highly unhelpful, and answers every question with "you should know this".

1.0
5.0
COS213
Apr 1, 2013

Could be a very good class but honestly she is not a great teacher. Excel doesn't come naturally to me and she almost expects it to. When I didn't understand things and went to every help session she wouldn't answer my questions or explain WHY. Interesting class, but hard and not explained as well as it could be.

5.0
3.0
COS220
May 4, 2013

Amazing professor, extremely helpful, offers plenty of office hours, she hands out notes for the chapters she's teaching that are extremely thorough and give great examples. I would highly recommend this professor.

4.0
2.0
COS213
Jun 20, 2013

She is a very nice lady. Very helpful when you ask questions during lab. Overall not an easy class if you aren't technology inhibited.

2.0
5.0
COS213
Dec 23, 2013

Honestly, I have never had a professor that didn't care about her students as much as this one. Every time I had a question she was very abrasive and rude towards me. Her classes were worthless to attend because the only thing she did was read the notes. Very hard material. Tests were awful. Im disgusted

2.0
5.0
COS220
Apr 10, 2014

cout<<"this class is horrible" <<so<<hard<<endl; return 0000;

2.0
4.0
COS213
Grade: B
Dec 15, 2014

She is extremely mono-toned, her lectures suck and you learn nothing from them yet you have to go to get the class participation grade. Everything you learn is from lab once a week, which are very easy. She hardly responds to e-mails and sucks when trying to meet, and gets angry if you don't understand the content or are having trouble completing.

1.0
5.0
COS213
Dec 17, 2014

Extremely rude and abrasive. Acts like subject comes naturally to everyone and doesn't like answering questions in lab, which is supposed to be the time to get help. The subject is boring to begin with and her lectures make it even worse. One of the worst classes I have taken.

4.0
1.0
COS115
Grade: A
Dec 21, 2014

Easy if study and do the Assignments and quizzes regularly. Tough otherwise.

3.0
5.0
COS225
Grade: B
Apr 15, 2015

An extremely rude lady, not very nice to students who have questions, and rarely any help. Treats students like a pain and a burden. Her grading is very harsh, expect to lose more points from formatting than actual problems in your code. She want's lots of printed code, expect to fork over $$ for printing. Would not recommend her to anyone.

1.0
5.0
225
Grade: C
May 15, 2015

HORRIBLE TEACHER, HORRIBLE GRADER, AND HORRIBLE PERSON.

2.0
5.0
COS225
Grade: C
May 15, 2015

Homework requires precise offline submission. If output on homework doesn't exactly match confusing specifications there will be a 70 point penalty, and upon resubmitting within a week you can expect a 20 point penalty. Averages on exams: 667165(10 free points). No form of scaling. If you haven't take AP Java don't expect higher than a C.

1.0
5.0
COS120
Grade: F
Jun 29, 2015

I don't like her.

4.0
3.0
COS120
Grade: A
Aug 4, 2015

COS is much like math... if you miss a class don't understand something, it is going to trip you up for the next concept. Carol expects that after going over a concept in lecture, lab & HW that that concept is now background knowledge for what is to come next. So prep, start HW early and ask for help days before due, she is more likely to help

1.0
5.0
COS225
Dec 14, 2015

Pretty rude to students who have any questions

4.0
3.0
COS225
Grade: B-
Mar 3, 2016

Good Stuff

5.0
3.0
COS225
Apr 21, 2016

Very tough professor but teaches very well. Grades strictly but very fairly. Essentially, if you really put the effort in, you will do well, and if you don't, you won't.

5.0
2.0
COS225
Grade: B
Apr 28, 2016

Carol Robert's class is my favorite this semester. Every Friday a java program is due, and every lecture she hands out a new note packet of information. Most of the information you need is in the notes so I haven't opened the book once yet.

2.0
4.0
COS221
Sep 28, 2016
Wouldn't take again

Carol Roberts is many things, a good C++ professor is not one of them. After finishing COS220 and AP Java with an A, I felt unprepared for this class. Assignments are extremely vague and the TA is available for tutoring only 2 hrs a week and his room is always packed. She 'encourages' questions but ridicules you if she's already covered the topic.

Tough Grader
Skip class? You won't pass.
LOTS OF HOMEWORK
3.0
3.0
COS120
Grade: B+
Jan 16, 2017
Would take again

Standard Professor. All material for the class is in the lecture, the textbook is not needed at all, at least for the one I took (COS120). Will let you miss one lab for free.

Skip class? You won't pass.
LECTURE HEAVY
1.0
4.0
COS225
Feb 20, 2017
Wouldn't take again

Weekly homework is very difficult, has very vague instructions, and is worth a quarter of the semester grade. Lectures would not be worth attending if not for a weekly quiz as all she does is read off of notes that are put online. Lectures are brutally boring and haven't helped my understanding at all.

LOTS OF HOMEWORK
1.0
4.0
COS213
Grade: C
Jun 20, 2017
Wouldn't take again

Carol Roberts is very educated in Excel. So much to the point that she thinks her students are at an advanced level as well. Worst course I have ever taken in college. Doesn't help you if you ask for help outside of class instead tells you to "refer to your notes" Rude and could care less about the well being of students. Find another professor!

Tough Grader
5.0
3.0
COS213
Grade: A
Dec 6, 2017
Would take again

Carol gets a bad wrap for being a poor professor when this is not the case. Carol teaches tough classes and does her best to make up for that. She is one of the most clear lecturers I have ever had. She prints of notes and practice sheets for EVERY class. All you need to do pay attention and apply yourself. Amazing professor.

Skip class? You won't pass.
Clear grading criteria
Would take again
3.0
4.0
COS225
Grade: A
Jun 28, 2018
Would take again

You don't need the book, Roberts has amazing notes she gives out each class. There is an attendance check and weekly homework assignments that can be tough, but if you study with them the tests aren't too hard.

Tough Grader
LOTS OF HOMEWORK
Amazing lectures
4.0
4.0
COS120
Grade: A
Nov 21, 2020
Would take again

I am not good at math, so I thought COS would be an easier option for fulfilling my Quant. gen ed. It was definitely harder than I thought it would be, but Carol is super sweet. When the material got harder, I went to Office Hours and Carol was so helpful. She talks you through assignments pretty much line by line.

1.0
5.0
COS120
Grade: B+
Jun 18, 2021
Wouldn't take again

This professor was one of the worst professors I've had. When you express concern for your grade, she simply ignores you and does not care. When asking for help, the feedback is confusing and hard to understand. I would never recommend it. If you do take this class, good luck.

Lots of homework
Skip class? You won't pass.
Tough grader
5.0
1.0
COS120
Grade: B-
Jun 6, 2023
Would take again

Good professor who was straightforward.

Participation matters
Amazing lectures
5.0
1.0
COS103
Grade: A+
Oct 17, 2024
Would take again

10/10 Was a super easy class, she gave great instructions and walked through parts of certain assignments with us, was very responsive and helpful when I emailed her a question. Her Brightspace page is also very organized.

Amazing lectures
Clear grading criteria
Gives good feedback
1.0
3.0
COS103
Grade: A
Oct 24, 2025

Genuinely one of the worst professors I have ever had condescending and passive aggressive Gave no effort when attempting to revise homework and gave negative grades when going above and beyond the original assignment instructions

Class Info

Online Classes

100%

Attendance Mandatory

59%

Textbook Required

68%

Grade Predictor

Your expected effort level

LowHigh

Predicted Grade

B

95% confidence
Based on 22 grades
Most common grades:
B (6)
A (6)
C (3)
Grade Distribution
A(7)B(8)C(3)D(0)F(1)A-/B+(3)
Based on 23 reported grades
B: 6
A: 6
C: 3
B-: 2
Common Tags
Skip class? You won't pass. (4)
Tough Grader (3)
LOTS OF HOMEWORK (3)
Clear grading criteria (2)
Amazing lectures (2)
LECTURE HEAVY (1)
Would take again (1)
Amazing lectures (1)
Rating Trend

Declining

-0.67 avg change
Jun
Nov
Jun
Jun
Oct
Oct
Last 6 months
Ratings by Course

COS298

5.0

(2)

COS220C

5.0

(1)

COS104

5.0

(1)

COS102103

5.0

(1)

COS211

4.7

(3)
+16 more courses
Difficulty by Course

225

5.0

COM100

5.0

COS201

5.0

COS213

4.0

COS225

3.9

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