This was his first year teaching CSE 250 so I didn't have many expectations going into this course except that it was going to be tough. The homeworks were challenging but unlike previous CSE courses, they actually were on things we learned in lecture and helped us learn actual usefull skills I feel. I really liked his lectures and was very nice

I don't want to admit because of the homeworks are disgusting, but he is a good professor

This was Jesse's first time teaching 442 Software Engineering, and he nailed it. Lectures featured guest speakers, discussions about how SE actually gets done in the industry, and fun stuff. No HW/exams: the core of the class is a group project, with complete freedom of choice in what you do, who you work with, how you go about it. Amazing class.

He is a good man and very helpful. Each exam just takes 10% of the final grade. The only thing you need to do is to finish the homework.

He made the class based on preparation. You are graded on the process of a final project and your materials to get a job out of college and fills the lectures with guest lecturers from various companies and lectures to prep you for the job world . If you fail this class you should drop out of UB .

A very challenging course your homework counts more than your exams and the homework starts easy but gets harder as you go on if you aren't prepared it could ruin your grade but if you managed to understand you will definitely be more experienced in data structures and coding.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK!! Can't stress it enough, most of your grades are depending on your HW grades!!

Disregard the few bad rates below me. The Spring 16 250 class was full of underachievers that would just complain about the work instead of doing it. Jesse was VERY fair and flexible (only projects, optional exams) and he refused to dumb the class down, which I appreciate. If you can't handle 250 without being spoon fed, it's time to switch majors!

Attendance is not mandatory. I spent more time at office hours than lecture. Graded on coding assignments only unless you opt for the final. Unless you're already a seasoned coder or are willing to work really hard you will not get an A. To be fair it is very difficult to fail the class. So you can get a C or a D with little effort. Otherwise work

I was so excited to get into his 442 class this year after taking him in 250. I respect him because he prepares students for industry without sugar coating it. "Homework's too hard," well no crap, ask for help or switch your major. I once saw him help a student until 1 AM. He only expects you to work as hard as he does and people resent that.

An extremely difficult class but the one that prepared me most to be a software engineer

This is a capstone for Computer Science and he allows you almost free reign for what project you can pick. You can pick your own groups. The requirements were based on the agile programming development (look it up). He brought in many great speakers and did bridge the gap between academia and industry like he says. Would highly recommend.

Jesse is a great professor. He put a lot of work into developing this class into an actual learning experience, and it shows. The requirements/expectations for this class are clear and very reasonable - follow them, and you can essentially choose your grade. The basis of the class is a group project - pick your groupmates/project well.

Posts the in lecture problem sets the night before along with the notes so if you can do the PS with the notes the night before, going to lecture isn't necessary. Easy to gain weekly points. TA office hours are REALLY helpful. Homeworks (4 given in total) are long and tedious. If you put in the time and go to office hours, you will do fine.

The course isn't too hard. He doesn't have office hours himself but there are a lot of TA's who are helpful. He is a bit weird to approach sometimes but he is good at teaching the course and there are so many ways to get help. If you put in the work, you will get a good grade.

Jesse really has a great grading criteria for his 115 class. Nothing can hurt your grade since you start with 0 points and work your way up. The TAs for the class were always at Davis hall to help us, and he had a question site set up for us to ask questions and they were answered pretty quickly. Take him for CSE 115, you wont regret it.

Jesse is a great professor and the stuff is not too hard to understand. You will have a lot of opportunities to earn points, as long as you understand the concepts he taught in class you should have no problem with the works.

Jesse is a solid professor, his lectures are alright and he really wants people to succeed. The big class size makes it hard to get individual feedback though, and he is awkward to approach. Luckily, there are like twice as many points as you need available so most should be able to get an A. Lecture probably has 50% attendance. Don't copy code.

Jesse is a solid choice, his grading system and the help he and his army of TA's provide is invaluable BUT this class requires you to put just as much his classes are no cakewalk and honestly ill say the grade you earn is the grade you deserve, Solid Professor look forward to taking his classes again

Dr. Hartloff is a professor who really cares. If you show that you are willing to put in effort outside of lecture, and do more on your own to get better, he becomes a lot easier to work with and learn from during office hours and class. Don't skip lectures, and definitely don't cheat on HW. Had no coding experience before taking CSE115.

It's a group project class. Put in some real effort to make some quality software and you should be OK. Choose your group mates and project wisely - They can drastically effect your experience. I definitely learned a lot from our project, but not much from Jesse himself. He's an OK guy, but literally anyone could've "taught" this course.

If you're serious about CS, Jesse is a great guy to have around. Won't hold your hand, but incredibly helpful for the more complicated facets of the course. Do your work and put the time in early, as the syllabus makes the course look deceptively easy. Experimenting on your own time with new concepts or prior experience is needed to get the A.

Jesse is an awesome dude. Super helpful during office hours/after class and sets clear expectations on day one. The course starts off deceptively easy but ramps very fast in the 3rd week. None of it is easy, but it's super rewarding to build software with real world functionality. Expect to spend 15-25 hours coding for each project. Have fun!

Straightforward grading, based off of the amount of work you complete. Keep in mind that this class (also taught by other professors) is one of the most dropped/resigned classes for the entire university. If you aren't already familiar with coding, which this class is meant to teach you, you will need to put in a lot of work.

if you aren't a cs major, oof.

This professor is a lot better than most people give him credit for. It's an intro CSE class and it teaches you an incredible amount compared to almost any other class. The material is straightforward and if you're willing to put in the time it takes to learn how to code you can succeed with this professor.

Good guy Funny jokes

I took his class as a Biology major and transferred to CS shortly after. Now I am a senior and can say he is the best professor I've had at UB. Caring professor with a clear grading criteria and a well structured class with a good website. Since your success is tied to the programming assignments, just don't procrastinate and you'll learn a ton.

Sonichu is the highest form of art.

So his score is low cause alot of the kids in CSE 115 thought it would he handed to him. He gives you a solid base but like all cs classes you are supposed to research topics and such yourself aswel.

CSE 116 is a hard class. Even, CS is hard in general. There is a reason why CS major has 80% drop out rate. Genetic Algorithm and Calculator might test you beyond the limit. I had to do all work for MMO project. But, in the end, I became so so good at programming as a freshman that I even got offers for research assistant. It will pay in the end

Contrary to popular belief, Jesse is not a bad professor. Could he be better, of course, but he very clearly lays out the expectations of this course within the first few lectures. It is a HARD COURSE that requires A LOT of work outside the lecture hall. He shows sufficient examples of actual code and teaches theory reasonably well.

This course was a lot of work, but Jesse was a good and fair professor. He adjusts the course to be more reasonable if he deems it unreasonable. The weekly homeworks were of varying levels of difficult, and they were many hours of work. The group project was the worst part of the course, and it's 1/4 of the grade and dropped me from an A to a B.

This is the first semester the new CSE116 curriculum is implemented. The other reviews here have merit, for the amount of work given mid semester AND the week before finals is absolutely insane and must be changed. Not a bad prof but very disorganized this semester, and the group projects honestly have to be revamped because they suck really bad.

He is a good man.

Hes a great prof but keep in mind most of the people here are supper bitter that they needed to actually put in effort

Contrary to what most people on here say, Jesse is a very fair professor. There were times when I struggled but the TA's are very knowledgeable and able to help. Jesse is also very prompt with replying to people, he has replied to my Piazza posts quickly and promptly. Yes, he has terrible grammar but he gets his point across very well.

Jesse's class was a lot of work but it was well worth it. The confidence build from being thrown into the deep end on unfamiliar projects on a monthly basis was immense. I left this class a much better programmer than I came in as. But yes, the homework assignments are very difficult and require a large time commitment. Keep up with the lectures!

Great structure for the class (116) graded mostly on whether or not you really understand the topics (as you should in any real class) but the homework is a nightmare. spec sheets are vague and lack very important and clear information that you absolutely need to know to get by the autograder. Useful and knowledgable professor but autograder man

Hard Questions each day. 1 or 0 all grades

Just amazing. Don't look at the other ratings, they are old syllabus, now the course is well organized. He is so caring and makes you understand the topic, when you devote yourself to the course and follow his guidance, you're probably gonna ace it. but IT AIN'T AN EASY COURSE, work hard, if you show honest efforts, you'll get plenty of makeups .

Jessie doesnt deserve these bad ratings, hes a great professor. People on here are a vocal minority. All the people who are satisfied with him dont take the time to write a good rating on here. This course is not hard at all, especially if you have programming experience outside of 115. Gives a great foundation in the important areas of CS.

The only way you'll fail 116 is if you weren't trying at all. It was easy. The only people that rate Jesse badly are the transfers from CC that didn't realize that CS ! Game Design. He even gave tons of extra credit for y'all....I had so many points I could have gotten an A without taking the final exam.

Class is super well organized. You get TONS of chances to redo your work. CS is really hard and if you dont put the work in you wont get anything out of it. also the lectures were streamed on twitch which was awesome to rewatch or just watch the lecture earlier.

This class personally made me excited to continue pursuing a CS major. I love the sense of accomplishment after completing a large project, and how lecture questions are assigned to students every class, which allows me a lot of exposure to the material. I left this class feeling confident that I understood the course material.

Jesse is one of the best professors I have ever had. This course has a unique grading system that admittedly, he could have explained better, but it works well. You must prove that you understand every topic, which sounds daunting, but as long as you show a decent effort you will be given an opportunity to make up anything you miss the first time.

This class is a lot of work. There are lecture quiz after every lecture and you have one day after the lecture to complete it. The projects are also very difficult and you either pass them or fail them. Jesse helps the students a lot, if you are struggling send him an email or just talk to him he will give you an extension.

Jesse Hartloff is the gem of the CS department. All of the bad reviews before are from people who were too lazy to even put in a minimal amount of effort. You gotta attend class and you gotta pay attention. The guy even streams on Twitch, I mean what professor does that? His projects are tough but completely doable.

Here's the truth folks: Most of the people who are complaining are simply the people who don't put enough effort. It is a heavy course, no doubt. But Jesse gives way too many opportunities for students to pass. Lots of homework, but they are all doable. He also carries a good sense of humor so that's nice. Most important, he is understanding.

One of the best professors in the CSE department. He is very lenient with course deadlines and will give you more than enough opportunities to pass but is not kidding when he says you must spend 40+ hours a week on material. Grade is based on number of homeworks you do and passing all components or as he calls them "LOs (Learning Objectives)".

Very good professor. Relatable. He gets concepts through your head successfully. However this is a college computer science class so be prepared to work. All in all a great profesor.

Which professor in buffalo streams on twitch? Which professors let doggo on stream? Show up to class and learn you will pass. If you are not willing to learn and spend time I don't think Jesse is the right professor for you.

The design of this course is to have a lecture and then a lecture task that is part of a larger project to implement the concept you just learned. Needs work (yes)but nice to understand the concepts seen in the lectures. The lives on twitch are fun and prof Hartloff is really cool and takes time to answer questions on the chat after the lecture.

Jesse is an amazing prof. If you show you are putting in effort, he will go above and beyond to work with you. He's also very receptive to feedback and makes changes to things students find confusing. Take this course if you want a great professor who really cares about students and will actually teach you the material, but expect to work too.

Jesse believes if you put in the effort you should at least pass the class. However he gives you more than enough materials and lectures to get the A, but you do need to work fairly hard for it. Information Jesse taught me in CSE116 and CSE312 has helped me alot at internships

This semester Jesse changed the grading and project criteria and it's a world of difference. Truly respect him, he cares about his student's success and will do everything he can to see you pass if you show the effort. 10/10 would recommend for the material and his project style. Super straightforward and you always know what to expect.

Dont listen to the haters on Jesse. Most uncomfortable experiences come from people going from CSE115 to CSE116 who arent ready for the difficulty jump. He really ramps it up in this class but its all useful stuff and their is a lot of help when you need it. Put in the effort and you will pass, assuming you care about comp sci.

Hartloff is an amazing CS professor. Most of the reviews on this page seem to be coming from his 100 level CS classes. As somebody who has taken those before taking him again for higher level classes, those classes were very fair. He has gone out of his way to give plenty of mental health days due to COVID as well. One of the best professors at UB.

I agree most neg. reviews here are more unhappy about the content rather than the prof. It was a lot of work but Hartloff was great. The deadlines (for Spring 2021 at least) were very forgiving, since he allows a deadline extension if you show you've been putting in work and haven't just been putting it off. Very chill but very professional too.

Jesse gives lots of opportunities to help pass the class and for office hours he stays until he gets to every student which is nice.

10/10

Amazing professor. Extremely fair forgiving and very knowledgeable on the subject matter. I learned more from this class than any class I have ever taken in school. Hands down one of the best professors I've ever had.

Honestly the best use professor ive had so far. Jesse pretty much made the class hybrid to accommodate for covid. Id say the class takes soo much time from your other classes but an A in this class is possible. If you go to lecture and start the lecture task on time youll pass the class. Use the office hours to your advantage.

Best CS professor I have had so far. Be prepared to work hard and learn an incredible amount. Highly recommend for CSE116.

Solid

Honestly, very little about the professor matters for this course. Its all about your group and project managers. Jesse was okay. Nothing really that bad to say, nor anything amazing. He had a couple interesting lectures, but for the most part, people just wanted to only worry about their projects. Make sure to take care of group scrum board.

The lectures were nice. Projects were long and time-consuming. Easy to get an A if you put the time in.

One of my favorite teachers at UB. Hes a nice and a little goofy. Lectures are pretty interesting. The class is definatly pretty challenging, but I think he does a good job of giving kids the chance to succeed. Very fair. My favorite part about his classes are he has a discord chat where you can ask questions mid lecture.

Very fair proffessor. He sets a clear expectation on how to pass the class, how to get an A, etc. The homeworks are very tough but if you go to office hours and actually spend time on it, you can push through it. It's a tough course and Jesse if prepairing you for Data Structures.

Super hard class but Jesse is definitely a fair professor. No exams, just hws that are due every 2 weeks. The hws are majority of your grade and are very tough. He sets a clear expectation from day one so there are no surprises. I heard horror stories about him from old seniors but he has changed a lot and I can say that he's a good professor.

Jesse is one of the best CS teachers at UB. The homework for this class requires a lot of work, so get started on them as soon as possible. Jesse breaks the homework into small parts and covers the materials for those parts every week so its easy to start whenever right after class and the TAs are happy to help however they can.

Overall, Jesse is a really cool dude who has fun and informative lectures! Given that this was my first semester at UB, there were some bumps along the way when it came to some of the projects. Besides the since removed half-semester long project, the first project was the most difficult. I assume this is likely to scare off unqualified students.

Amazing teacher, very passionate and awesome teaching style.

I struggled with this class right until the very end, but it was entirely doable. The grading rubric seems intimidating at first but it's quite lenient once you wrap your head around it. There is always someone available (jesse or TAs) to help, and there are a lot of concepts you learn in this class that are applicable to all of CS

Jesse is a great professor, his rating shouldn't be so low. Of course, this is a challenging course, but his grading is generous. The interviews and quizzes can be intimidating, but he gives students many opportunities to retake them. Also, word of advice, start on your projects early! you don't want to go through hell doing them last second!

I took Jesse for CSE 116 last semester and I think he was great. I skipped 115 since I had credit from Highschool and I found the coursework to be challenging but in a good way. The grading and work for this course is very easy to understand so you know exactly what you must do to do well. Attendance isn't "mandatory" but participation is VERY BIG.

very good professor for 116 in my experience. very fair grading system with lots of opportunity to recover yet make sure you know your stuff.

Jesse is great. The course is intuitive, the website allows you to access lectures, read ahead, and gives supplementary info. Grading may seem harsh, but it really isn't. His system makes sure that you truly learn a concept and that don't just slide through the cracks. The people rating negatively typically were not prepared for real CS work.

By far THE BEST professor for CSE 116. Makes lectures concise and interesting. Goes over issues students have with the code and does memory diagram examples in class to prepare students for quiz. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HARTLOFF FOR 116!!

Jesse is one of the best CS professors at UB. His lecture is very good. It's easy to follow and focus on his lecture. He uploads his lectures on Youtube so it's very convenient to review before the lab quiz, lab interview, or exam. Also, he gives generous deadlines so if anyone says this is a weed-out class, it's not.

this is honestly a weed out class. u will struggle if u don't keep up and put off ur work. u can pass this class if u dedicate 10+ hours of studying every week just for this class and start ur programming tasks on time. this class is quite difficult and u must pass all ur assignments and quizzes/interviews.

His classes are packed with content, but they are also very difficult and require students to allocate time to each assignment, literally.

It's a hard transition I would guess for most people from cse115 to cse116, and people tend to blame the professor for it; I think he is an amazing teacher and does whatever he can for his students.

"It's not hard, it's just annoying." But anyways, Jesse is an amazing professor.

For those who think CSE 116 is a weed-out class, tough luck and perhaps switch majors. Since day 1, Jesse made it very clear in his syllabus what you need to do to succeed in 116. The deadlines were fair (considering we had an extra week for the 9 mandatory tasks), memory diagrams and interviews were simple if you paid attention in class.

Great professor. I think Jesse could be a bitttt more encouraging though and have a more positive attitude. And this is more of a course issue but it's so annoying to not have detailed feedback on the lab quizzes. It's near impossible to know what you got wrong and study to fix it. Hopefully they change that. You will learn a lot from 116! :)

Really tough class and the concepts can be tough to grasp or convert into code but Jesse explains everything so well and is always open to questions. Utilize OH as much as you can and practice memory diagrams. There will be times where you might wait for hours before getting help in OH though since a lot of people go there and not enough TA's.

hes great

Definitely a weed-out class, if you can't handle the rigor of this class you aren't cut out for a career in CS. His slide shows were very helpful in understanding concepts. Always take the smaller opportunities for credits, f.e. going to lecture, as they definitely add up, and can be the difference between letter grades.

Course was tough when I took it. But it was one of the most high quality classes I've taken and was transformative. It isn't meant to weed out students. Tbh, it isn't as hard as ANY subsequent courses I've taken (except CSE442 with buckley). Using this course's workload as reference, most 300+ cs courses are 3 credits but have 4-5 credit workloads.

116 is a big jump from 115 but if you are willing to put in the work you will be fine. The only part of the class that really sucks is that you have to complete everything to get a grade other then F, but it is fair considering the next jump to 220/250. The interviews are top tier preparation for actual job interviews, overall great class

Jesse's lectures are run very informally, which is a nice change from typical cs courses. Everyone in the class loved Jesse. The grading criteria are stated the most clearly out of any other class I've taken. I would not take 116 with anyone else.

I came into CSE116 super nervous, having heard a lot from upperclassman. Jesse's lectures were phenomenal, and he pretty much immedietly dispelled these fears away. There's a lot of difficult programming HW, but there's a ton of support. Take 116 with Jesse at all costs!

Jesse's CSE116 class is challenging but worth it. His lectures are super helpful, and the assignments are tough but manageable with the right resources - I found unstuckstudy and office hours to be a big help. Overall, a rewarding course if you're willing to put in the work.

Jesse realest cs professor

Insanely chill professor. Def would take again. This class is only a "weed-out" class if you cheesed through 115 or are a lazy ass

Jesse is one of my favorite professors at UB. Very clear lectures and he's very charismatic. 312 is probably one of the most helpful CSE classes I've taken although it is also the most work-intensive class I've taken. Material is very interesting but the HWs are sometimes challenging but worth it. Project + HW workload is a lot so be ready.

Every hw can be done in a week. HW is split into LOs and AOs. LOs are required to pass the course, they are only obtainable by doing all the hws on time, and if you miss one you FAIL the course. AOs determine your grade, and you also need some amount to not get an F. website is cse312 .com. Didn't go to class. Lost 2 AOs but oh well.

Excellent course structure. Class coveres theory very well and then you get to practice application in the hw. Jesse has great slides shows for all of the units which he explains well, even if it is usually dull. Traces are also done clearly and thoroughly. Pick Jesse over Paul for 116.

Jesse is wonderful. His lectures can be a bit dry but the content is great and he explains it really well. Your mileage may vary with the mastery based grading, but I liked it a lot and it's clear that he really wants his students to succeed and really understand the course material. Very cool guy all around

in my last semester at UB and I just wanted to create this review to appreciate professor Hartloff's courses (I've taken his cse116 and cse312), as they're genuinely useful, hands on courses you should take compared to many other CS courses I've taken during my undergrad.

I think Jesse did a great job explaining all of the concepts that a student would typically need to have solid fundamentals in programming. As for the assignments, although many would complain about them being very difficult I think if was fair if you put the hours in. If you face any difficulties go talk to Jesse, he's a very supportive professor.

Jesse is awesome. I like how he structures his classes; programming heavy with hard deadlines (much like a read job in cs) and there's no surprises. 312 was great and I think all cs majors should take it since it teaches you so many important concepts even if your not going into web dev. I would definitely recommend this class.

Jesse is the goat, as always. Grading is very transparent and his lectures are very clear. The projects are really well designed and will teach you a ton about many important aspects of backend web development.