2.3
Quality4.4
Difficulty14%
Would Retake112
Reviews14%
Would Retake
112
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
112 total ratings5
16
4
17
3
11
2
19
1
49
What Students Say
“The course is Advanced Programming instead of Intro”
ECSE202 - 1.0 rating“CAN'T BELIEVE THIS WAS AN INTRODUCTORY LEVEL COURSE AND HAS REPLACED COMP202”
ECSE202 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
19%
Textbook Required
13%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.68 avg changeRatings by Course
ICE
5.0
(1)ECSE6XX
5.0
(1)ECSE210
4.5
(2)ELEC
4.0
(1)ECSE221
3.8
(29)Difficulty by Course
ECSE323
5.0
ECSE202
4.7
ECSE210
4.5
ESCE202
4.5
ECSE211
4.3
Reviews (111)
Loves his green vest, and such cute dimples
Will baby sit anytime.
i dont know how a bowl shaped haircut gives him a hotness factor, but this guy knows what he's talking about, but BSs a little too much in my opinion, which isnt always bad because it keeps students from falling asleep...
Great teacher, knows what he's talking about, wears a green vest and can outdrink any one of you!
Orange Vest now ;). Oh, that "outdrinking" bit, how did you find that out?
Really nice, never looks annoyed during office hours. Explains a bit too much for my taste at the start of the class, but overall quite good.
Excellent 5-star professor: a great teacher, very available outside of class to help students. Respectful of the class, down-to-earth, and easy to get along with and relate to. Watch out for the midterm and assignments though, they're infamously long ;-).
His clothes that he never changes are sexy! feel sorry for him and get him something to wear!
excellent teacher, great explainer, knows his s--t really well. ICE is a hard class though, but he is able to keep it interesting for the students.
the acoustics in the room suck...
Great teacher, helpful when you needed it, but that doesn't mean that his class is easy, be prepared for some outside thinking and FIND YOURSELF A C-MIPS CROSS COMPILER FOR GCC, IT EXISTS.
Great prof. Explains the stuff well. Long assignments and hard exams. This is one of the first "real" classes in the program ("i know you've all learned Java, so this is why i'm asking you to do this C assignment. You have 2 weeks. Get crac
Good speaker, yet still manages to put the class to sleep. Goes over material fast
He was born EFFECTIVELY on a desert island...
THIS GUY IS THE BEST ECSE PROF!!!! He's really nice and helpful. He managed to turn what could have been a terrible class into a really good one. Plus he also cares about his students
I thought it was a hard course. I ranked Top 3% in first year class but still felt dificulties in this one. Assignment took lots of time if you all do them yourself, but..they are useful..At least 30% people will failed in this course. Prof. is not bad, but more tutorials and clarification needed.
I failed this course last year. This is the second time I took this course. Yet I may fail it again. I don't know what to do. FYI, last year, 20 students in my class didn't pass the course
Imagine a desert island scenerio where ECSE 221 is the scorching heat, huger and the drought of the desert and Frank ferrie is the only reserve of water and shade. Take this course seriously ppl!
Awesome Mac user guy...owns a kickass laser pen...MAD red...favorite quote: "i.e. two's complement"...what a hottie
you have no choice, you have to take the class, and he's the only teacher, so make sure you start your assignments as soon as possible, this guy reads the slides and puts you to sleep specially if its a morning class, so make sure you read on your own
Professor Ferrie is great. The only downer is that the TA's make the midterm and assignments way too long and difficult. Thank god he is the one correcting the finals. Just practice past finals and you will do fine.
Beware: This course is EXTREMELY fast-paced. The lectures are unintelligible if you don't have prior knowledge of the subject. Bottom line: Learn the subject before the class.
He's a great prof, really cares about the class and is very approachable - even if the subject intimidates you (as it did me in the beginning.) Take it seriously, start the assignments WHEN YOU GET THEM and practice all the old midterms and finals: the same format is used for every year! It's not easy material but it's an easy class to study.
Bad. The material isn't really hard but he presents it in such an assuming, vague, disjointed manner that it becomes hard. His evaluations are difficult in ways that don't relate to the material, the hardest thing to do is figure out what the question means and it takes so long that you fail because you run out of time. He just doesn't seem to care
ESCE221 is the first course i found truly difficult in my program,and Ferrie surely didn't make it any easier.He goes in a very fast pace, but thats what the course requires.The whole course is badly coordinated and thematerial is just too much.As for Ferrie i rly disliked him he kept asking questions,from topics that we hadn't covered.him<TalArbel
One of the worst profs at McGill. Extremely unclear, always talks in technical jargon. Assgs are unnecessarily hard, he may want us to learn, but everybody ends up scrambling to copy just to get their grades, so no one actually learns anything from the course. Exams: practice the old ones, and you might just pass. Take ICE with Tal Arbel instead!!!
The epitome of incompetence. Seems to think he's teaching graduate students about things they already know. Should re-evaluate his teaching methods.
OMG I just couldnt look at his face!! he is awful, boring, and doesnt know how to teach.... going to his class is a nightmare! literally i fall asleep and i had a bad dream
Great Prof. Great Class. It is hard, but if you're in Comp. Eng. you should love it, else you shouldn't be in Comp. Eng. Also Ferrie's grading is really flexible... Thought Ferrie is one of the best lecturers I've had in engineering at McGill... he does go fast, but this course is fast. Had other prof sub couple of times, thought she was boring.
This guy is BAD! Might be a brilliant engineer, but does not know how to teach. Flies through the material really fast and has a cocky attitude. Please AVOID!!
Good professor in my opinion. You may get lost in his technical jargon, but pay attention and ask questions and you'll be fine. If you want to pass ICE you definitely have to practice the old finals. Also, don't copy your assignments.
It s perhaps true that Prf Ferrie is a good teacher HOWEVER, he was teaching materials that would never come on your final !! The final was super hard and all of the material were most unknown. We are not at university to learn everything by ourselves so the unique advice I could give you is AVOID HIM !!!!!!
Two of the courses he does, ICE and DPM, are probably the two most time consuming courses in all of Electrical Engineering. Does not seem to understand that 3 credits = 9 hours.
Prof for ICE and DPM. In ICE he is a nice speaker, but hard assignments and hard exams... He does not focuse on the right material. Prepare to work hard and learn by your own. DPM is very time consuming, but is very enjoyable :)
I have never been so disappointed. He clearly does not understand that this is a 3 credit course and he clearly does not understand that this is not our only course. Decent lectures, but labs are crazy for unskilled programmers. I am not even sure if this course would be fair as a 6 credit course by his standards.
In class he is pretty good at explaining. However, as the supervisor for the final project he won't give you any actual feedback until the last private session with him which makes it pretty hard on the team since you have one week to change everything. And lol good luck for the midterm.
At first I was adamant to go to class and was kinda excited for the class. Ferrie gives you a lot of reason to stop going. He's super boring. Midterm was easy , Final was hell. Literally hardest final ive been to at mcgill and Im someone who does reasonably well on most of my finals. Do yourself a favour and avoid him.
Frank seems caring during his office hours. However, he did not explain any concept clearly at all during lectures and throws very difficult assignment to his students. Get ready to learn by yourself, even if you don't skip class, you still need hard work to pass this course.
CHANGE SECTION RIGHT NOW. Really hard teacher, exams are hell, assignments material is not well explained at all. Even if you show up to class and try to understand, get ready to learn everything by yourself and to put A LOT of time and work in his class. I had ECSE202 with him, he estimated 24h to do an assignment, it took at least a solid week.
ECSE 202, only 2 assignments in and I regret taking this course, this whole major. Being taught like I'm a pro at coding and like it's assumed I can learn c within 2 weeks. Lecture pdfs are gone through like they are being revised and assignments are too heavy. Honestly don't know how we'll do anything in the exams. Should be taught from SCRATCH
Teaches an introductory programming course like you've had a lot of experience under your belt and gives tough assignments that hardly have anything to do with what was covered in class.
YOU HAVE TO LEARN THE COURSE BY YOURSELF, ASSIGNMENT MAKES YOU THOUGHT: AM I A DUMB ?
The subject is interesting, but Prof. Ferrie gives you a lot of reasons to consider suicide. For a beginner programmer, lectures are always extremely unclear. Assignments are brutal. Test are...
This man will singlehandedly kill my GPA at this rate. I have some programming background and I'm finding it overwhelming for a BEGINNERS course.
Very hard class! The assignments are super hard if you don't have any coding background. Very though class and I would recommend learning to code before taking this class.
the assignments are so bad, you learn the material from the assignments after you submit it. too difficult for an intro course
Using MIT sophomore material, which is crazy for a freshman with no coding experience. Assignment often takes you 10-15 hours as you have to DISCOVER knowledge yourself via Google. The course is interesting but challenging. However, try your very best to avoid FRANK.
Taking his course would sacrifice all your spare time including sleep.
He is most definitely not by worst prof as far as lecturing goes, however, the class is ridiculously difficult for an intro course. He is not very clear on his expectations for us. Assignments take me 30 hours to do and are bi-weekly. Notes are awful recycled MIT slides (for C) and even have some outdated concepts. This course makes me regret SE.
Unless you have extensive former programming experience, you are predestined to fail Frank's class. Roughly half the class failed the first midterm. Good luck.
introduction class and we're doing relatively advanced algorithms. I'd like to meet the great minds who thought this course was a good idea!
He talks pretty loudly and clearly. His explanations are good, however the material covered is too advanced for an introductory course. I had some prior programming knowledge and still found some of the first assignments a little tricky especially since we started with C.
Ferrie is a good person that has a lot of background. As a teacher for a first course at university, it can be difficult to follow if it's your first programming experience. Slides are not the best, get online and learn by yourself. I suggest to not be afraid to ask for help for assignments. Ferrie teaches multiple classes, you will have him again
Came into this class excited to begin learning about software. I showed up to every class up until the last 2 weeks because I had given up any hope of passing. Assignments are HELL! I put in atleast 30 hours per assignment. Course is way too hard. I'm switching programs because I know I won't even pass this course the next time i have to take it.
awful notes difficult class. if you dont have previous programming knowledge, you will struggle heavily. even though it is INTRODUCTION to software development
WORST COURSE EVER. CAN'T BELIEVE THIS WAS AN INTRODUCTORY LEVEL COURSE AND HAS REPLACED COMP202. WE WERE TAUGHT 2 LANGUAGES AND IT IS REALLY DIFFICULT FOR SOMEONE WITH NO PRIOR PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE.
A great lecturer for sure, but the course material went well beyond what I would call "intro". Assignments are demanding and time-consuming. Bonus awarded throughout the latter half of the semester. I did miserably on the midterm but the final was fair. Tutorials are super helpful.
He is a great prof. I've learn a lot from this course. One of the best Prof I've ever met in McGill. His courses are tough, but guys it's McGill. Nothing in McGIll is easy
He's not a bad person, but he's a terrible lecturer. I understand that teaching an "intro" class as someone with so much programming experience might be hard, but what bothers me is that he doesn't seem to put an effort into this course. 95% of the slides aren't his, it's discouraging. Word of advice: read the texts.
When I am in class I sometimes think I mistakenly entered a Phd students lecture room. The course is Advanced Programming instead of Intro. New programmers are honestly gonna suffer. God be with You.
Not an introductory course at all. he doesn't make it easy in any way. this course really made me lose interest in my major. sad about this really
Introductory course ??? more like a ECSE402 ..... Do yourself a favor and do NOT take this course with this professor. Think about studying for this course BEFORE taking the course.
Worst intro course on earth... Pretty sure nobody actually learned in this course unless you are taking 3 credits per semester and you have all your time following a better course online on Coursera for instance. Showing up at his office hours for help in your code results in a "No.. not today, I'm tired". Seems like there is never a good day...
Hardest course. Definitely not an introduction. Make sure to attend all tutorials, they are very helpfull.
Went into the class not knowing a thing about programming and he acted as if all of us had a backgroud in coding. Assignments are long and hard, find someone who knows how to code to help you and go to tutorials. Had a good grade going in the final but needed to pass the final to pass the class...
With all due respect, Ferrie shouldnt be teaching this class and the syllabus for ECSE202 needs to be completely redone. One of the questions on his midterm was identical to one from the TAs Microsoft interview. Let me remind you that this is an introductory course. If youre taking this class with no prior programming knowledge, good luck.
the Goat
the hardest course ever, so hard for students without programming experience
Extremely Difficult.0
Worst prof ever. tested us on things we've definitely never seen in class. His slides are also lazily recycled from Stanford and Mit's open courseware. If you have no programming experience, either get a friend who does or DROP the course.
If you are not an experienced coder already, you will suffer. he expects you to know stuff and the documentation for the assignments he gives is too limited. Waaaay too hard for an introductory course.
This is my third year in McGill, but ECSE 202 is still by far the hardest course I have ever taken. I was really depressed when I took this course. This course really left a shadow in my entire college life.
the only problem with him is that he kept going over things that is obvious, and what is in the test is completely different... almost nothing I felt was included inside the lecture, what is even worse is that this year's TA is not good either... you need a friend who either took this course last year, or someone who really knows JAVA and C
Not an intro course.
i JUST REALIZED HE PUBLISHED HIS EARLIEST ACADEMIC PAPER IN MCGILL 1986...... he probably was thinking that he must apply all the injustice he received from his lecturer to us...... almost felt paranoid in his class......
Frankly, this course could be hard for beginners. Before college, I was among the top 200 participants in CCC Senior. Yet, this course still appears to be a challenge and requires efforts. Dr Ferrie is a kind and duly professor for he articulates well, but he lacks the ability to attract your interest into this realm of study.
Went into the second Great Depression Honestly I regretted coming to McGill because I got him in my first semester If the course wasn't tough enough,I got a horrible professor to top it off His slides are useless,it's better to learn coding beforehand taking the course
WORST prof I had in my undergrad. I had him my first semester & applied for a transfer out of eng because he made me hate it that much. This is by no means an intro course (C & JAVA wtf?) & the only way I passed was with a tutor & luck. Unfortunately, he seems to be the only one teaching this course & it's mandatory... good luck friends :(
His lecturing is not great. The midterm and final was very difficult, with the final being more difficult than the past finals. The assignments are very time consuming . Make sure to understand the theory very well to get a good grade.
He's ok. I think the main reason he gets so much hate is because he's the only one who teaches 202, and the course is just awfully structured. Way too much material for an intro to programming, and he spends too much time on the more advanced concepts. Assignments are not what I'd consider doable for a first-time programmer.
this course needs a rework. However, regardless of the class. Frank ferrie is a kind, caring professor.
Assignments are ridiculous. Lectures are boring and uninteractive. Prof sets unrealistic expectations for first-time coders. Barely any real-life practice.
Worst teacher I've ever had in my life. You can't even avoid taking him because he is the only one to give this class. Intro class but expects us to understand everything from the start. He does not give good instructions for the assignment. One student tried to tell him how unfair his grading is, but he got mad and just told him that its on him.
Prof Ferrie is cursed with teaching an introduction class that is not introductory at all. The TAs are clowns when it comes to grading. Message them regarding a mistake in the Assignment Document, "Ill forward to prof, its your fault". 3 revisions on a assignment document to correct the mistakes of whoever makes them. Clown society.
By far the worst professor I've ever had and ever will. This person single handedly ruined my life. He'll say an assignment/test is easy or doable, but it means the complete opposite.
Anything but an introductory course. Final was absolutely ridiculous. Prof unable to answer simple coding questions in class. Learned absolutely nothing from this course.
I had 2 software graduates and a 3rd year comp-sci bustin' brains on the final... If that doesn't tell you what you need to know I can't help you. The way you are graded in this course is on obscure theory which can never come close to the actual coding skills of a student. Ferrie needs to rethink his career, unfortunately.
Prof Ferrie really overestimates the coding skills of a first year undergraduate. Final was unfair imo, barely any useful knowledge gained.
NOT an intro course. The prof is ok, but he uses terminology that will put u off, he reads off of slides that arent 90% his. The mterms/finals are BRUTAL & count way too much for an online class. U learn everything off of long assignments. The tutorial TA is good, the grading ones are harsh. After taking this class move on and actually learn coding
The hardest course I've ever had the displeasure to take. Get good at Java and C or you'll be in for a very tough ride. This course needs reformatting, ASAP.
it is ok to make a class hard. but that requires a patient and good professor. Obviously, Frank freaking ferry isn't one of the good professor. his lecture is lazily copy from stanford university acm from 30 years ago. and all he did in that class is just read powerPoint(no power and no point. everytime i ask him question, it's like i own him money
This is easily the hardest class so far. He expects us to know coding beforehand. Please make sure you learn java and C before taking this class or else you'll be seriously lost. Good luck with that class
Not an introductory course at all. Take COMP 250 instead for Java. He uses complicated terms while explaining. Assignments are not at all targetted towards first-time coders. Outdated course material. I took this course before covid and he didn't show any coding examples outside his slides. Coding questions in exams are impossible to finish in time
Terrible lectures, they are unorganised and very unfriendly for java beginners, though its an intro course. Also tough exams. ECSE202 taught by Ferrie is too challenging.
Overall, Frank is a really nice professor, but the course material covered is a bit outdated, and the exams are really heavy. Moreover, I found the lectures extremely boring, and that's why I only used the textbook to study. Getting an A is far from impossible, you just have to understand the book and play a bit with java :)
Marks his course as entry-level but even students who are experienced with coding find his assignments tough. Lecture slides aren't useful, course material is very outdated and exams are very tough. Worst part? This course is pre-req for many ECSE courses so you cant even proceed with your degree without going through this hell in your 1st year.
I just don't know what to say... I've taken this course last semester and It was hell. Too many assignments, very hard exams and the worst part, everything is taken from Stanford because he's just too lazy to make it anything for his courses. The worst part is that he's the only prof that teaches this course, which is horrible.
The assignments are easy at first but then get brutal. The midterm was really difficult and the final was even worse.
I honestly don't know what to say. This is supposed to be an "intro" course but it is brutal. I think the way that this course is taught and delivered has to be reconsidered ASAP.
ECSE202 could be the hardest first-year course to take, even though the material is pretty much "beginner-oriented". Despite the heavy lectures and outrageously difficult exams, he would give you some good insight into future programming, considering you have some programming background.
As a person that has never coded before, the assignments do help you learn a lot of stuff but they are worth so little for the time you are spending on them. Prof. Ferrie lectures are in fact boring and confusing so you are better off reading the textbook/ watch YouTube videos. Assignments should be worth more in my opinion. Exams are worth 80%...
Used to be his MENG student in APL Lab. He's pretty considerate, kind, and HUMOROUS. Everyone laughs loudly in our weekly meeting. I LMAO even if I only understand probably 30% of his humor. Asked questions we've already discussed in my project defense, very simple. Besides, I've not taken his courses, and can not rate his lecture. I miss him.
Had him for 202 and 211, and he's definitely much better for 211. Fairly laid back and down to earth, pretty funny during meetings and doesn't ask too many tough questions. The course is a lot of work but if you show up and put in the effort you'll be fine.
this is not an introductory course, it gives u enough anxiety to kill an adult elephant. avoid this course at all cost.
Very outdated course material and homework that poorly teaches how to code is the rough summary of the class. Would not take again.
Very time consuming, Prof. goes really fast during the class, make sure to put a lot of effort on it, and never fall behind. Thanks to the TA, the Assignments become a lot of easier, but the final is extremely difficult. Overall, it's a hard course for a first year student. Be prepared, and you'll be fine.
Prof Ferrie is truly a good professor! He gets a lot of hate, which I don't understand. His exams are very hard, with very many technicalities in the MCQs, and the assignments are moderately difficult, but, in the end, if you put in the work, you will pass the class feeling that you have learned a lot.
I cant believe that he curved down 15 % of the final grade. We got a 1.0 lower grade than we deserved. It is the second time I am taking a class from him and he is the worst teacher I ever had in all the teachers I got since I was born. Very pathetic
ECSE 202 is by far one of the hardest class at McGill. If you do not have any background in coding you are done for. Make sure to code before. The TA I had was amazing she saved me. Tutorials are a MUST. Ferrie lowers the threshold for an A but his lectures are really boring. And he thinks you know everything about Java and starts off right away.
nightmare of a teacher, but if your in computer, electrical or software eng, you have no choice to take him for first semester, so get ready to cry. Classes are terribly explained and assignment instructions are utter trash. And the final looked like a NASA entrance exam. If you have the choice to not take this teacher, DONT TAKE THIS TEACHER
He is an eloquent lecturer, making the lectures very interesting. However his expectations on assignments/projects and grading are unreasonable for introductory courses in programming and robotics. Cryptic grading scheme in DPM, with an admitted down curve. Not nice. But, hey, he finally retired!
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
19%
Textbook Required
13%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.68 avg changeRatings by Course
ICE
5.0
(1)ECSE6XX
5.0
(1)ECSE210
4.5
(2)ELEC
4.0
(1)ECSE221
3.8
(29)Difficulty by Course
ECSE323
5.0
ECSE202
4.7
ECSE210
4.5
ESCE202
4.5
ECSE211
4.3