2.7
Quality3.3
Difficulty43%
Would Retake187
Reviews43%
Would Retake
187
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
45
4
27
3
14
2
32
1
69
What Students Say
“He doesn't do a great job of explaining things and just codes in front of the class for lectures, so you definitely have to teach yourself”
COMP116 - 2.0 rating“He has very little patience if students don't understand a concept”
COMP116 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
73%
Textbook Required
0%
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Predicted Grade
A-
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Improving
+0.77 avg changeRatings by Course
COMP222
4.5
(2)COMP421
3.5
(32)COMP116
2.7
(78)COMP550
2.4
(75)Difficulty by Course
COMP116
3.6
COMP550
3.2
COMP421
3.0
COMP222
1.5
Reviews (187)
John Majikes is fine, but if you don't have an affinity for computers, his class can be really hard. His assignments are extremely hard but are much harder than the exams in my opinion. He doesn't do a great job of explaining things and just codes in front of the class for lectures, so you definitely have to teach yourself.
John is a really supportive professor and he tries really hard to help everyone learn as much as possible. He answers questions on piazza and is quite accessible outside class. And he is willing to take students suggestions such as making videos about class material for students to review later.
Easy A if you know what you're doing and are good with computers, but if you don't naturally like computers, this class can be kind of hard. He has very little patience if students don't understand a concept. This is his first semester teaching, so maybe he'll get better in the future.
A typical student, new to programming but willing to work hard for a career in the sciences, should find this class appropriately challenging. My main critique is of the class structure: there are a few LARGE assignments instead of many small ones to master skills. John listens to feedback and meets his students halfway any way he can though.
He's new to teaching and doesn't explain well. You may feel a bit of confused in the first few classes, but it will get better if you understand what this course is about. There weren't many homework and if you work hard on HW, you'll be fine on the exams.
He's new and is struggling with some things but he's such a great guy. Go to his office hours if you don't get something and he'll go above and beyond to explain it.
First of all, really nice guy. He really cares and wants you to succeed. The problem is that he has many flaws in his teaching style. He often confuses himself and others when trying to explain an answer. If you have no prior experience with coding you will be lost, as he does not take time to explain vital basics. You will need to teach yourself.
If you have no pre-knowledge of computer science, this will be hard. You will need to work a lot if not understanding the class. I should admit that this professor is a good guy, and the TA do a lot of help too.
He is a great guy and really goes out of his way to help students, but he isn't the best teacher. He is new to teaching and doesn't really teach much in lecture. I primarily learned from going to the LAs with help on the assignments. I had no coding experience, but learned enough from repetition of the assignments.
he's nice in person but he assumes you have computer knowledge you do not. he's so passive aggressive while answering questions on piazza. there's not much practice which is something that is vital in this class. if you dont already have a solid python background this class is incredibly difficult
If you don't know anything about computer science, do not take this course with him. He has made the course extremely difficult and assumes that everyone has previous comp knowledge. He is rude when answering questions on Piazza, and the LAs act like it's a burden to help you during office hours. He also doesn't explain anything in lectures.
I have been more frustrated with Professor Majikes than any other instructor I can remember. He does not explain concepts well which is made worse by the fact that he is exceedingly rude on Piazza where students post questions, refusing to offer help when multiple students ask. In his class I felt as though he didn't care about students succeeding
Professor Majikes is not very good at teaching lessons. He makes excellent class notes and is always accessible outside class. I got a A on this class by studying on his inclass notes. Since this is the first year he teaches I think he is trying to improve his teaching skills and I see his improvement. i believe next year's class will be better.
This was his first time teaching which was kind of apparent. Still though, his lecturing was very ineffective (I just self-taught using his notes) and he ignored many students' requests to make the class better. He was overall very rude on piazza in a truly unprofessional manner. I got an A in this class because of my own self-teaching.
This was John's first semester teaching, and that's apparent. He doesn't explain the code well, and his lectures aren't constructive. I got a 98 in the class from teaching myself based on the class notes and the assignments. I often left lecture confused and frustrated. He does give the opportunity to get extra credit and test corrections.
When TA office hours consistently have around 20 people in them, there's a problem. He did not go over fundamentals of python , so the actual material went over the heads of most of the class. The assignments were pretty hard, but doable if you started early and went to office hours. The tests were hard, but test corrections were available.
Prof Majikes was a very nice man who seemed to want all of the students to pass and understand the material. Unfortunately he did not effectively teach the course and even though I studied a ton, I was never able to grasp and understand what he expected us to know. He was not a good teacher and this was one of the worst classes I've ever taken.
Nice guy, though kind of unreasonable at times. Teaching wise, I was lost the entire semester even though I was trying as hard as I possibly could. Midterms difficult, class averages around 20 - 30 %!!! Taking this course with this professor without prior coding experience would be the worst mistake of your life. This is NOT an intro course.
Majikes started out a decent professor who would make videos to help us better understand material and would explain things as best as he could, but later on he became unreasonable. We would ask questions on piazza and he'd refuse to answer them and would be very rude. Lectures were useless and I think he has trouble conveying material as he's new
To cut him some slack, it was John's first semester teaching, but he really did not know what he was doing. John made my first semester at UNC so much more stressful then it ever needed to be. He walked into class saying that it would be easy, but made it incredibly difficult to understand with his terrible teaching. A nice guy, but bad teacher
I know even less about computer science than when I started this course. Horrible. Constant state of confusion that only worsens following lectures.
If you do not have prior coding experience, you should take Dr. Majikes's COMP 116 with a mentality to learn new material. If you're not willing to put in the work, do NOT take this class. If you have many errors or questions, you can just go to office hours and he and/or the LA's will do their very best for you. He will NEVER make you feel bad.
Majikes truly does care about his students and did want his students to excel. However, since it was his 1st semester, it was clear that he did not have much experience teaching. It did require lots of independent learning and work but with the help of office hours, it is possible to do well. If you don't have time, then yikes. MAJIKES.
I tried to be understanding as he is a new professor, and only started teaching a semester ago. However, he just cannot teach to save his life. His lectures are just so confusing and he always had debugging issues that hindered the progress of class. He may be a good person outside the classroom, but definitely not a good teacher.
Not an effective professor. Students are always lost in his class and he doesn't address questions well. They would also introduce new material during recitation even though he said they would not. I have to do a lot of self-teaching for this course as I don't have a background in CS.
He's a nice guy, but Yikes Majikes... If you play around with the code on your own, you can figure it out, but don't count on his lectures because they're not super coherent.
This class was the worst class I've taken so far. ORGO 2 was better! I wanted to cry/did almost every time I tried to complete an assignment. My friends who are grad students in coding programs even said that the tests are too hard for an intro level class. His lectures are so disorganized and incoherent and he does not answer questions.
ive never written a RMP review in my 4 years at unc, but i feel really compelled to so others dont take this. majikes is such a nice guy but this is one of the worst and most difficult classes ive taken here. i only passed because of submitting homework early & test corrections. if youre not already a comp expert DO NOT TAKE! avoid at all costs
Tests are impossible. You are taught at a level 1, worksheets at a level 2, and tests at a level 10. He does allow for partial credit, which bumps tests grades. Professor Majikes is accessible outside of class, and very helpful, but you need to put much time into this class to do well. I was worried about failing it up until I got my grade back.
Other than making the midterm next to impossible, Prof. Majikes doesnt seem to understand that most students in his class arent comfortable with the material and he would rather just move on than focus on the topics his students struggle with. Hes also extremely condescending during both office hours and in class if you have a question.
Majikes is the kindest professor I've ever had. He always goes out of his way to personally work with students through their concerns. Students take advantage of his kindness and regularly complain about their grades in a disrespectful manner that any other professor would not condone. I learned so much about python in this class.
Majikes is a professor that genuinely cares about his students. He puts in a ton of time and effort helping kids with individual questions about their code- almost to a fault. It is not hard to do well in his class as long as you pay attention and go to recitation. His set-up for class helped me go from no coding knowledge to able to use Python
John Majikes is an excellent professor who cares about his students' success. He offers many opportunities for extra/partial credit, so you can get a good grade with enough persistence. What many people seem to forget is that beyond just his lectures, he also provides his students with comprehensive worksheets that guide you through each concept.
Sometimes in his lectures, I would get a bit confused but when I messed with the code myself, it wasnt that bad. Majikes is pretty cool, he always had office hours when I needed help. Its not a bad intro to Comp class
Prof. Majikes is one of those people where you can tell they know a lot about the subject they are teaching & are passionate about it, but are terrible at teaching & communicating the material to others. If comp sci is your thing, you'll be o.k. in his class. If it is not, good luck Charlie. As a person, he's wonderful. As a prof, yikes Majikes!
As advertised on the UNC website, this was an intro level course, yet I would say it is anything but that. I had no background knowledge and had to practically live in TA office hours. Majikes may know his stuff but cannot teach and does not understand that he should go over what his students don't understand but expects them to teach themselves.
Dr. Majikes is a really cool professor. He is experienced and helpful. His office hours are accessible. You can learn things beyond the lectures and textbooks. Overall, a great professor.
He's generally not good at explaining things, especially for real beginners like I was. The tasks seem ridiculously frustrating and difficult, but if you persist and actually do the assignments, you will benefit. He's unwavering on most things (grades) even when everyone is begging. He is so friendly, but lectures were usually a waste of my time.
Professor Majikes really cares about his students and is doing his best to teach them computer science. The reason why many students dislike him is simply because they arent spending time out of class learning how to code on their own. Ive never coded before but with the great setup of class notes, worksheets, and assignments I learned a lot.
Honestly, this is one of those classes that depends on the student. People with programming experience will find the class quite easy, while those without struggle. The assignments and worksheets boost your grade a ton, and the tests are easy given the amount of time you get. John is a nice guy in general and prepares very good notes.
The class was definitely disorganized at times, but rapid turnarounds for grades and opportunities for extra credit were definite upsides. A lot of the coursework requires more complex problem solving, and it definitely helps to familiarize yourself a bit with Python before taking the class.
With no prior coding experience, I found this class quite challenging. However, Majikes is super accessible outside of class and gives really great debugging help. If you do the assignments&worksheets and put effort in, it is possible to do well. The midterms and quizzes are hard, but get covered by the final. Definitely a great prof who cares.
I've never coded before but this class helped me understand the basics. Majikes was always accessible outside of class. Going to recitation and messing with code outside of class really helped me learn how to use python. You just have to learn how Majikes words his questions and notice when he asks the same thing a couple times. Love that man
Easily worst class I've taken thus far at UNC. Asked the class if we understood what was going on, we said no, he responded with 'okay, well, we gotta keep moving' then gave us a pop quiz on said material. If you're looking for a 100-level computing class, keep looking, or at least find a new professor.
John Majikes is a nice guy if you aren't taking a serious class with him. He told a lot of interesting stories and encouraged us to practice some problems. He let you get as much as you wanted out of the class and basically gave out free As. I also took 116 with him, and he was very different in this class because of the small size.
Personally, I really enjoyed taking COMP116 with him! I've never taken a COMP class before, and he was very helpful. The reason why he is rated poorly is because he is not sympathetic and looks like he doesn't care. But if you reach out to him, he really does care and genuinely wants to help you. Also tons of extra credit!! Really boosted my grade.
Covered maybe half of the course materials another professor would with this class. Tests were piss easy yet he often made simple mistakes. Also didn't have a respectable command of the information, less so than students, so he removed all chances of regrade requests and his office hours after refusing to admit he messed up grading one question.
JM teaches less than Pizer and he disrespects his students by simply refuse to regarded, though he was obviously wrong sometimes.
You walk into class and the first 2 lectures he is discussing how low his rate my prof score is, and why it's wrong because he's ACTUALLY "amazing." Semester progresses - makes constant errors during lectures, often telling class to leave early because he is frustrated and can't debug his own code. Tests are even more messy and incoherent.
Terrible professor who just doesn't know how to teach. He tries but he is just a bad teacher. Spent 75% of the class time fumbling through zoom and other technical difficulties.
Mean to students, the syllabus is gimmicky and grading is inaccurate. Does give a lot of bonus though.
I hoped I would like this class, but sadly not. He frequently brushes off concerns, won't own his mistakes, and punishes the class for nothing (e.g. all extra credit cancelled after he accidentally published one early). Recitations are "optional", but he cancelled all mock midterms after not enough students came to one. Nice guy, bad experience :(
All of his homeworks, assigments, and midterms run off of a buggy website that implements another professor's code. It's not uncommon for there to be errors or bugs in the coding or for the site to just not work. Often blames students for problems. He'll ask for questions and then get upset and rip into students if they don't ask the "right" ones.
Ma(y)ikes is a notoriously bad professor and this fall is no exception. Givens little to no practice problems and spends most of the class talking about himself. Get ready to spend all class worrying about worksheets . The exams as poorly made and not reflective of in-class material and practice exams. Oh, and enjoy his honor court threats.
Acts nice but is very stubborn about not being flexible even when he messes up or is in the wrong.
Majikes is both a bad teacher and a bad person. He deflects questions constantly and pushes students around. He constantly has errors with his own grading/assignment system, acknowledges them, and then gets mad at students for the fallout that comes from his own errors. The list could go on for a while. He's a rude person and tries to disguise it.
Professor Majikes is awful to his students. People are scared to ask questions in class because he's extremely rude and makes you feel stupid. He also has an immensely flawed system and blames the students when it has consequences, and refuses to be cooperative or sympathetic to mistakes at all. Don't take him unless you want to feel ridiculed.
Cares about students. Always trying to improve. Has industry experience. Shows use cases of algorithms including interview questions. Uses his own website, which immediately tells you if your answer is correct. Website is sometimes buggy, but is fixed quickly. Exams are hard but it's content you have seen, the questions are similar to homework.
He seems like a nice guy at first, but turns out he is immature and rude. Don't bother asking questions. He'll make you feel stupid for it. And when he has bugs on his website, he'll somehow act like it's your fault. The class isn't too difficult, but this guy should have stayed in the industry. Not the right personality for teaching.
This professor purposely gives insane questions on tests to lower the class average.
Worst prof I've taken to date. Very condescending and doesn't really care for his students at all. He gives exams/worksheets/quizzes that in a short time frame that makes it substantially harder to complete. He can't teach at all, read the textbook and you'll survive. It's too bad he's the only 550 prof rn.
I'm pretty sure he made someone cry during a midterm, and I only mention that because it was a major trend for him to react harshly to simple mistakes (that usually stemmed from his own website design). Huge curve ball question on the final. Some worksheets were timed (as little as 1 minute) and he won't usually give extra time when needed.
Has to be the worst CS professor at UNC. Snaps at you if you ask questions, and makes sure the material is difficult to understand by testing your speedrunning skills, forget about problem-solving. If his website is broken, he believes the logical choice is to blame the students for using it. -DO NOT- take 550 with him if you can find ANYONE else.
Not a great professor. His tests expect mastery of topics which are not fully covered in lectures. When asked questions he will often point to the textbook or else avoid giving a clear answer. While there is a lot to get out of this course, this professor makes the experience very difficult and stressful with his tough teaching style.
This is such a terrible professor it can't even be explained how bad he is on this website. If you are coming here to figure out whether you should take his class.. Don't. Drop the class and wait for them to hire a rock as a professor, it'll be much more easier.
worst professor in UNC
Never have I been more anxious to attend a class. Majikes can be extremely condescending when answering questions and gets easily frustrated with students often for unjustified reasons. His website had frequent issues. His lectures were rushed and badly explained. He made a student cry in front of the class during a midterm for a simple mistake.
Majikes is by far the worst professor Ive had in my entire life. Condescending, unhelpful, and overall impossible to learn from. Lectures are tough to follow, questions are met with sarcasm. His website has many glitches that he blames on students, and it affects their grades. My advice? Save yourself the trouble and find another professor.
Majikes himself should be more familiar with the contents of the course. He should try harder to be an educator than to be a boss. If you want a good grade, attend his class for the quizzes and worksheets, absolutely read the textbook, and pay little attention to the lecture notes.
By far, the rudest professor I have ever had in college. The material itself is not bad and the course is not too hard, but the professor's attitude is just unacceptable and is the only reason this class can be difficult. Don't bother asking him for assistance/questions, you will usually get a snarky, blunt response that doesn't help you.
Good professor who emphasizes helping his students actually learn the material and be able to understand it enough to change how we use it for ourselves. The students who say he's rude just asked dumb questions in lecture and got blown up for asking for answers without understanding the questions. As long as you're not grade grubbing he's chill.
Has a condescending tone when answering student questions. Was extremely disorganized in terms of setting up quizzes and assignments at the beginning of the semester. When I decided to lighten up my Fall 2020 course load, choosing this class as the one to drop was an easy decision.
Dr. Majikes is a good transition into the field of Computer Science. It's always best to pay attention and think for yourself before asking. His responses can be snarky and unsettling to the point where you don't feel comfortable asking again, but it is a very high level class. What you put in is what you get out of it.
Its his way or the highway, but he doesnt do a good job of explaining his way. Not a good teacher and not a good guy
He's a tough grader but always available to his students!
Professor Majikes is obviously very knowledgable in his field but he is not good at teaching. He spends a good portion of the semester threatening students for honor court violations and has virtual "in-class" worksheets that he rushes students to submit within a few minute time window. I dont understand why he places so much strain on his students
Majikes can on occasion teach content well. However, where he doesn't fare well is with the endless amounts of worksheets he expects you to submit instantaneously after asking regardless of lag, the condescending tone when asked a question, and threatening honor court violations. Also he attempts to deviate from the textbook for no reason at all.
Ok so many people are bashing Majikes... But I think he's a fine professor. The lectures are good and he seems to genuinely care for students' learning. Tests are challenging especially the pseudocode but none of it is outside of expectations. Just make sure you study hard for this course.
He isn't nearly as bad as people make him out to be. I didn't get an A but I also didn't put in the work to get an A. He is a decent lecturer and more than happy to answer questions. The biggest problem is how fragile your test grades are, relatively minor mistakes or misunderstandings will drop you a letter or more.
Nice guy, just does not understand how to make tests or set reasonable time limits for exams
The guy creates tests that are absolutely disgusting to take. Disgusting. His lectures are second-rate but I'll agree that he tries to make up for it by stopping every 5-10 minutes for questions (since he knows students will be lost). Go to office hours and talk with the TAs to get help early because that's the only way to succeed.
I think people are being quite unfair to him. Sure he's snarky, but it's not mean-spirited or rude. It's just his sense of humor and manner of speech. People put him through a lot, and I feel they really project their struggles with compsci on to him. One on one he explains things well, and he's certainly fair if you can keep up.
Class is not hard, but it is for sure annoying. It is a shame that UNC has to default to Majikes for such a core subject like algorithms. Majikes cares more about the grade student's get rather than the content they learn. You are genuinely better off self-studying the content.
Majikes is not as bad as people make him out to be. He is kind but sometimes communication makes him seem bad. Some of it is cs majors being bad at talking to their prof. Some topics he didn't appear to understand as well but he's working on learning them and making the class better. Very accessible out of class. Some of his policies seem mean
Worst professor I've had imo. He does the course on his own website which is stupid since you're writing code in a textbox that doesn't support indentation, the website constantly has errors. He gives out 100s of in class worksheets and exams were poorly graded, he tested on a brief concept and weighted it 2.5% of our entire class grade. Rude prof.
Professor Majikes is the worst CS professor Ive had at UNC. He is blatantly rude and condescending to his students and his exams are atrocious at best. He cares more about the grades that students receive in his class rather than the material that they learn. I would not recommend taking 550 with him, but I realize his is the only option. Good luck
The worksheets are useless. I think the best way to learn is by reading CLRS for the theory, and doing codeforces problems for the applications and for inspiring problems. I think the class could benefit from putting some of the easier problems from codeforces as exercises or homeworks.
Gets a bad rap. The course isn't easy, but the majority of test questions are based on application (so not bad). Main issue is poor communication of expectations/content, but is ultimately very fair. Genuinely cares and tries, but he needs to take more care in phrasing, explanations, and class preparation. Review CLRS/HW and you'll be fine
Teaches off of his slides and memory, both of which are bad sources. He spent a whole class showing his 'polynomial time' 'greedy' solution to the 0-1 knapsack problem. A student tried to point out the textbook says this is not possible, but Majikes just brushed them off. His solution was just basic recursion, taking exponential time.
All work is submitted/graded by his own website that is horrifically poorly coded to the extent that it incorrectly detected honor court violations and gave students erroneous grades. He is also a dreadful lecturer. Put off this class until your last semester on the chance someone else might teach it. (For reference my course grade was a high pass)
Easily the worst professor at UNC. THE WORST. He is ignorant about his course materials and arrogant towards his students. He simply has an average IQ and understanding of algorithms but his ego and inability to explain and understand are maxed out. Phenomenal WORST professor. learn algo yourself. you can do better.
all his homework and worksheets are submitted through his course website which has a very user unfriendly interface. the block for coding is so confusing that you copying your code from IDE to the website will be regarded as cheating by his so-called "security"program. think about it. he will literally accuse you of cheating yourself.
he's just not as smart as he thinks he is. poor man. so sad for him. he barely knows the principle behind those algorithms he just knows what to do but he doesn't have a clue of how and why and now he's accusing his students of not being able to understand. a man who has huge ego and little ability to self-reflect.
he needs to work on his phrasing. the English sentences he wrote are just confusing. sometimes I felt like it's his phrasing instead of the algorithm that makes the worksheet, homework, and exams hard. easily the worst learning experience one could've ever dreamed of.
Constructive feedback: Majikes is a nice person and wants to do his best! One main improvement would be only using class time for teaching. Personal stories are frequently shared and take time away from material. Logistics should be clear and not need a great deal of explanation, kept to 5 minutes max per lecture would be ideal.
My favorite comp sci class so far. Slides condense information well. But even then, some of them feel out of context/complex. Exams very true to worksheets/homeworks; it's an algorithms class, you have to understand theory AND how to apply it to code. Do the practice/old exams! Majikes cares but is brash occasionally. Take the class seriously!
Not as bad as everyone says, its obvious he cares & he is improving - however he just isnt a great prof and doesnt seem to understand the material well. Makes a lot of things confused and convoluted as a result. Not a hard class overall, just wish it was taught by someone with an actual background in algos and theory (like Snoeyink or Plaisted)..
Whined about having to cancel class for ONE session for a MENTAL HEALTH DAY. He mentioned this many times after it happened and it was tone-deaf and offensive. He clearly cares more about sticking to his syllabus than the well-being of his students. He frequently cites his score here so I think he knows he's awful. Also brags about his net worth.
This was one of my favorite classes that I've taken at UNC. Majikes's slides and worksheets make the material very easy to digest and understand. He has decades of industry experience which is reflected in his teaching style. The exams are similar to homework. One complaint is the custom javascript pseudocode... python or just JS would be better.
Majikes is actually a nice guy, especially when you talk to him 1-on-1. I took 550 and 421 with him and, based on his years of industry experience, he clearly knows the material enough for practical purposes. However, it doesn't seem like he has a deep enough understanding of the theory to teach the courses well. Did quite a bit of self-teaching.
After decades of applied experience at IBM, Majikes is now the sole instructor for... a theoretical algorithms class (harder than dog training). Content is confusing (to him too). Why are his slides so long? Textbook written by aliens, incomprehensible. He is great at drawing. Ask him about airport security, swordplay, machine learning, or art.
Professor does not teach well. Talks too much about IBM and brags about how much money he has. Piazza was not helpful because Prof always responded with go to office hours. Exams were tough but workload for this class is very reasonable.
The hate towards Majikes comes from overly sensitive students who ask stupid questions. He will be condescending if you ask a question that was already explicitly answered, but otherwise he is more than happy to help. I did ask a few good questions which were not well responded to, but his excellence and care as a professor more than made up for it
I don't believe that his RMP should be this low. Majikes was clearly a caring professor and made it clear that he was working to become better. Sure there are some problematic aspects of the course but he came to lecture with great energy and made up for it. That being said, I don't believe like we learned algorithm content well at all
Snarky if anything but you can tell he really wants people to succeed and do well. Had a good attitude, was realistic and down-to-earth. Didn't go to class all that often but when I did he was constantly asking if people had any questions so he knows the material can be confusing and wants to help make it clearer.
He's def not as bad as some people say for sure, but the guy brags about working at IBM every f*cking day. Overcomplicates a lot of the material which I found to be really the only issue, but it was a big one imo. Nice guy tho
Really not that bad though he can be annoyingly snarky or pompous. Still seems to care though. Read the textbook before lectures, the book tells you what you're doing, Majikes gives you the practice to visualize it. The tests are pretty good and very similar to homeworks. Just practice them and you're golden.
Majikes, the man, the legend, he's like a referee stuck in a professor's body with almost zero sympathy and compassion towards his student. Honestly he should find another job.
During class, Majikes gives huge blocks of code without explaining them, leaving it impossible for us to reproduce on homework. Not to mention, the homework doesn't line up with lectures! Office hours are extremely limited (one question per hour) and his answers to questions in-class are very vague and often not directly responding to the question.
People really give Majikes a bad rep. He might not be the best at explaining certain topics (like for loops) but for the most part I never really had an issue with him. He cares about his students and he cares about what he's teaching. He's a very black and white type of professor and if you understand that you will do just fine in his class.
Imagine a beaver, building a dam to block the flow of a river. Except there's no river. The beaver, despite the lack of water, continues to build. His dam is strong and sturdy, but ineffective. Now, imagine that the beaver is Dr. John Majikes. He's an expert in his field and wants to help his students, but doesn't teach them in the way they need.
Homework assignments take forever to complete and are way more difficult than what we learn in class. It's like learning 1+1=2, then having to do calculus homework assignments. If you make a tiny mistake on his midterms (i.e. missed a colon), you get an entire problem wrong --> 80% midterm grade. If you do this on two problems, 60%.
John Majikes is one of the more interesting professors at UNC. Learned a lot about his salary, his wife, trips to Jamaica, working at IBM, and many other details besides algorithms. However, I liked his website. On tests and WS he has green lights to indicate whether you got a question right or not, which is very helpful. You can pass if you study.
Consistently having people score below 50% in an intro level class tells you all you need to know. Despite his website/system failing often, he can't come up with good changes so students end up bending over backwards to make up for a problem that shouldn't have existed in the first place. Tests/homework are way harder than what's learned in class.
Majikes is a very good professor. He has many hilarious stories and is very caring.
The moon is smaller than the earth. The earth is smaller than the sun. The sun is smaller than Majikes' ego. Majikes will tell stories about his greatness and superiority, but if you're able to laugh it off and focus on his lectures he's actually quite a decent teacher. His worksheets are helpful but you need godspeed to submit them on time.
Went to his OHs, said I had a quick question, didn't want to bother him. He said "Oh, like you're doing now?". All I could say was "Huh?" but he kept cutting me off and going "huh? huh? huh?" and closing his hand in front of my face. When I came back, he was ranting to a unwilling student how security is an illusion, so my question went unanswered.
Easiest COMP classes at UNC
The average class grade is A-. Definitely highest among computer science department.
Not as bad as his reputation, lots of complainers got caught by his anticheat software. The green light feedback for correct answer is useful but not an advantage since everyone has it. Doesn't teach details of solving recurrences, etc., so you **need outside resources** to do well. The homework assignments are fine, pretty light workload
Okay, here is the deal, Majikes may not be the best teacher, but he cares about his students, he constantly finds a way to improve his course and his teaching. As long as you have any programming experience prior you will be fine in the class.
This class is reasonable, especially if you have any coding experience. He lets you have cheat sheets for the exam, but to do well on his exams you have to actually practice on your own, if you just fill the sheet with everything you'll struggle. He does waste a lot of time talking about stuff unrelated to coding, but he makes a genuine effort.
Not the best teacher, goes off track, and doesn't always answer your questions directly when you ask them. Everything is very standardized and programmed though, so it is easy to figure out what you need to learn and do to get good grades. Kinda just a weird guy who says borderline phobic things but is generally willing to try ad help.
Pro. Majikes might be a fun/nice person, but I personally believe that he's not a good professor. Whenever you ask him for help, he's not very helpful and it can be very aggravating. Although I strongly recommend taking a different professor if you think you might struggle with coding.
Spends more time going off track than teaching.
A controversial figure to be sure, but his heart is in the right place. He may seem to have an ego, but it is often in wellbeing to the service of the students. His course materials could be improved, but he is aware of that and welcomes critiques. Not every professor is like that.
Yeah he cares, but so do most. Expect him, as many others have said, to spend a minimal amount of time in the mandatory lecture talking about the actual subject material. His course website looks like it was made by a child, and functions the same way. Easily the worst prof I've had at UNC. Avoid if possible.
he's really not that bad as a professor. I've had worse.
kinda sucks won't prepare you for exams, really scattered all over the place. Pls avoid this class if you can. SQL isn't even hard its p straightforward hes just a pain in the ass to work with. He doesn't know how to change or be flexible with students even slightly.
While I will agree that Majikes clearly knows what he is talking about, he seems to not care about his students in the slightest. Often he would spring random, graded, worksheets on the class, and would then berate us for struggling on his pointlessly hard exams, while refusing to cover material in lecture and telling us to learn it on our own
Prof Majikes is a really nice guy, but not a good professor. He does care about his student so much, and really want to teach this course well, but just can't explain the material clearly. 2 MT, drop the lower one, so make sure to do well in the first one (cuz mt2 is way harder than mt1). happy to answer questions and help students outside class.
Nice guy, really caring but just doesn't teach well. I like him as a person but don't like his course at all. Not hard to get a good grade but you don't learn so much.
He's the most divisive CS prof. He's a great guy who cares even if it doesn't seem that way at first. He's very willing to share his time one-on-one with you, unlike all other CS profs here. He genuinely loves his job. That aside, he's bad at lecturing. You need to learn from his worksheets and from the textbook. Overall, he's an inspiration!
Horrendous lecturer, slides are absolutely useless and you must depend on the book for everything. The class is easy and the tests are straightforward. However, he covers too much theoretical/algorithms/implementation and not enough of the application. Until he adds loads of projects, you're better off doing personal projects to teach yourself.
Majikes gets a bad rep and I, frankly, have no clue why. He's definitely a bit sure of himself, but that's not really a bad thing..There were multiple times in the semester where he just sort of lost himself, and everyone walked out of the hall having no clue what he taught, but that was only a handful of times. Otherwise, great professor.
His lectures would leave you confused since a) his slides lack visualizations key to concepts like B+ tree insertion and b) he frequently goes off topic. He blames students' poor performance on them not reading the textbook. Had to self-study on Youtube. He's also unwilling to negotiate about grading disputes caused by lack of clarity on his side.
Took 421/550 with him this semester, both of which were def easier than normal b/c of midterm dropping which he said he won't do again. I enjoyed taking his classes. I think the green lights/worksheets are actually a great way to teach, but his slides are terrible (ripped straight from the textbook, most of it is dense theory+not needed for exams)
Prof Majikes is a nice person since he makes an effort to listen to students, but not the best professor. His lectures simply skimmed over the material and we were expected to self-teach ourselves from the textbook before attending. He does not offer partial credit on tests but at least there's a green light if you get the chunk of ?s right.
Tests were easy enough (especially with green lights confirming most answers), and he even gave extra credit on final and dropped lowest midterm. Lectures by themselves are not amazing, but he does expect you to read the textbook along the way. Really felt like project based would be leagues better than exam based. Actual learning was lackluster.
Tests were easy if you review hw and had green lights to confirm some answers. He even dropped lowest midterm and had extra credit on final. Structure of class and exams was more memorizing than problem solving. He included topics like ML and Simplex which didn't feel relevant. Would rather have topics like red-black trees. Not proof heavy either.
The course is unorganized.
He's nice, and his 550 is very easy, but it's almost entirely devoid of content. I learned 6 lectures of material in about 30 lectures.
Worst lecturer I've had in four years. There is an error in almost every slideshow and he assigns homework that is nothing like the book or lecture. Don't take him
Disrespectful Professor and the worst one I have had...
Exams cover nothing from the lectures. In lecture he teaches you how to create a function where you multiply the tip by 0.20. But on the exam he will ask you to create a function of an aggregate or plot data via an aggregate. DO NOT TAKE
Professor Majikes is unprofessional and brags about low ratings he receives and how many complaints he has gotten over the years. Presentations regularly have errors and he has been unprepared for several lectures this semester. Our midterm had major mistakes which were addressed more than halfway into the test period. Take another elective!
Really does seem like a decent guy and some of the below ratings feel a little harsh, but the hws/practices don't come close to matching level of difficulty of tests, and its really frustrating and difficult to manage that imbalance
all the lecture slides have errors in them and he's extremely disorganized. he cannot explain basic coding concepts well and you need supplementary material. (i.e.: tutors, coding websites, and other cs teachers) if you want to do well. do not take him
Absolutely don't recommend. Errors in his slides/exams. No partial credit, you can only submit an assignment or worksheet once. Took away midterm drop + made mt2 worth more. His grader/site often takes hours to run and randomly malfunctions in class. Bad lecturer, boasts about being reported to the Dean and blames his system failures on the student
I would rather take COMP 110. His exam and structure is not what it is and he goes on tangents and digressions. I would rather fail then continue with his lectures. Take 110 with Jordan instead, and go UNC economics.
I talked to Dr. Majikes once about why people have so many bad impressions on him. The true reason is, students decide to now utilize the resources that Dr. Majikes provides and tend to blame their own poor performance due to procrastination on the professor not teaching well. I'm not saying this is the case for all but from all the Piazza posts...
Dr. Majikes is not a bad professor. If you come to class, ask questions, and actually pay attention, you will understand the material. But I felt like his tests/homeworks weren't really representative of the difficulty of the things we did in class, so there wasn't really anything to practice with to prepare you for the difficulty of exams.
Overall, this a fairly difficult course. I think a lot of students believe Dr. Majikes doesn't teach much. However, this is not the case-- he teaches concepts by example throughout tests and homework, rather than by forcing students to answer conceptual questions. He's a good professor, and I don't think his reputation is necessarily fair.
John is a good guy, and I want to like him, but hes terrible at being a Prof. Lecture slides were old and filled with mistakes, his autograding system desperately needs a rework. During exams he would talk loudly and be distracting, and there were mistakes on the tests that wasted students' time trying to get the right answer. Avoid him.
A very reasonable professor, as long as you pay attention in class, do the worksheets, and read the assigned textbooks you will do well in the class. There was a grading problem for our 2nd exam and he gave us an opportunity to get some points back (I went from a 60 to an 85)
Prof Majikes is just real. I was doing A+ in the class until I personally slacked off too much midway through. Everything is doable if enough time/effort is put in (more than with other STEM classes, bc it's like learning a new language). 8am was def tough, but there's no BS with Majikes, and this I appreciated.He also boosts test grades sometimes.
Dr. Majikes is an outstanding professor in and out of the classroom. In the classroom, he enhances student learning through an automatic feedback system, engaging lectures, and listening to student feedback. He genuinely loves interacting with students in office hours, answering questions and offering mock interviews if you ask for it.
Professor Majikes was very kind to me to allow me to take the class even though the class was full. He is very approachable
Professor Majikes is pretty fair. And he does great mock job interviews.
Professor majikes answers emails quicker than any other professor I know. If you are having problems, just email him and he'll meet with you after hours on zoom or as best he can during the week
He gives in-class worksheet and offers so short a time for you to complete.
The homework isn't bad if you go to office hours. He lets you resubmit the midterm which is really helpful. He has many interesting stories about himself and he even goes in during office hours when it's really busy. He gives us a good amount of time to finish the homework and there are green lights to tell you if your answer is correct.
Professor Majikes is a kind and compassionate instructor. However, his explanations during class can cause distraction and confusion among students trying to comprehend the slides. Additionally, he designed the first midterm exam to be excessively lengthy, leaving insufficient time for students to complete it, which is really frustrating.
Lectures were very easy compared to test material.. doesnt prepare you at all. Says he offers opportunities for extra points but they're VERY minimal. All tests were cumulative and (at first) very little material to prepare. Does offer test corrections, but test scores are very reliant on the half credit back. Also gets off track in lecture quickly
It can be fatal if slides are wrong
COMP421 is hard but very interesting, and you will learn. Databases are Majikes's bread and butter, and he's also hilarious.
Nice guy, tells funny stories, but not the best lecturer. Green light system is great, and he offers subsequent submissions in which you get partial credit back for fixing mistakes. Midterms and assignments were slightly difficult, but the final exam was fairly easy. Course material is not very deep, but it's probably useful in the industry.
A useful class, the negative reviews made me wary of him, but he's genuinely a kind guy and means well, and most importantly-- he cares about teaching and likes feedback. Show up, do the hw, and take advantage of subsequent submissions and you will be fine. Does go on tangents but gets through the material and still lets class out early.
Majikes provided extra credit if homework was turned in 1-25 hours before the deadline. Tests and homework is much harder than what is done in class however there are subsequent submits that allowed for partial credit. Outside of graded homework, there is little opportunity to practice. The class is hard, but it is not impossible with some effort.
He's a great teacher, but he is not a good test writer. They are always too long, and do not match the difficulty of the problems we saw in class. But, the final felt very fair, because we had the first three midterms to practice with. However, during the semester, test expectations weren't clear, making it much more difficult to prepare well.
Rip goat
He is an incredible professor. I was initially a bit nervous about taking a comp sci course but it quickly became one of my favorite classes. It was well organized. The homework and lectures were very clear and easy to follow. He cares about his students actually learning and understanding the material, and he is clearly skilled at teaching.
Free my man he aint do nun
After reading these reviews I was scared to take this class, but Professor Majikes proved to be a very nice and fair teacher who I would gladly take another class with.
Took 421 in Fall 2023 and thought the class was straight-forward and helpful. They did my guy wrong fr.
Prof Majikes put so much effort into teaching this class. The class was highly organized and there was a lot of detail, structure, and thought put into lectures and the course website. He also responded quickly on Piazza to questions and was accessible outside of class. Very disappointed and sad how he was treated. We need more CS profs like him.
Rip the database GOAT. Really well organized course and you could tell the dude actually cares and wants to improve wherever possible.
Compared to what we have now, I miss this man.
The greatest. The people that fired him will never have as many commas in their bank accounts.
He really cared about his students and put a lot of extra effort to make this class as fun as possible for us. Learned a lot while he was here, wish he could have stayed. UNC CS let go of a gem. Don't let them dull your sparkle prof
421 was my favorite class I have ever taken. Made learning fun with games and the worksheets were very helpful to study for exams. Sad to see him have to leave, wish I could have taken more classes with him.
I am a Majikes defender for life. One of the most caring professors in the Computer Science department. Was really passionate about teaching and tried his best to make the lecture material enjoyable for students. I am very sad that the university let him go. We really lost one of our best profs.
Very passionate and dedicated!
Sad to see him go. Incredible teacher. Loved how engaging the lectures were. I was excited to take this course and up until he had to take leave I was feeling like it was going to be my favorite course taken at UNC. Often asked for student's opinions on course content, and was super attentive to how the class was doing and what he could do to help!
Good
Professor Majikes was a fantastic instructor when he was teaching our class in the beginning of the semester. I was sad to see him go. He was caring and he did try to help students when he could. He didn't deserve the bad wrap that students gave him at all. Really great guy, so glad to have met and learned from him during the time he was at UNC.
A fantastic instructor, Professor Majikes made learning enjoyable with engaging lectures and helpful course materials. While saddened to see him go, I'm grateful for the meaningful lessons and positive experience in this class. unstuckstudy was a great study aid alongside the textbook.
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73%
Textbook Required
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