1.9
Quality4.3
Difficulty21%
Would Retake108
Reviews21%
Would Retake
108
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
108 total ratings5
15
4
6
3
7
2
10
1
70
What Students Say
“The worst professor ever”
CSI1100 - 1.0 rating“The average for our Final Exam was terrible”
CSCI2600 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
43%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.76 avg changeRatings by Course
CS1100
5.0
(1)CSCI4963
5.0
(1)CSCI4430
5.0
(1)CSCI4380
2.8
(6)CSCI1100
2.3
(3)Difficulty by Course
CSI1100
5.0
CS2500
4.5
CSCI2600
4.3
CSCI2500
4.2
CSCI4380
4.0
Reviews (106)
The worst professor ever
I register for Rate my Professor just to let others know do not take course with this prof. His lecture note is not helpful AT ALL. You'd better youtube and look for online courses instead of reading through his notes and slides. Lots of homework. His exams are hard. The average for our Final Exam was terrible.
You don't have to go to lecture at all to pass CS1. Just read the note packet, do the lecture exercises, and use stack overflow to help you with the homework. Be careful because weird things can pop up on tests.
Do not take this professor's course!!! Trust me! Too much homework, and too difficult for an introduction course.
He's a great guy who is just trying his hardest. The lecture exercises are easy, the labs are not too tough, and the homework are doable. Exams suck but they get curved like crazy so its okay!!!!! Great dude!!!
Kuzmin was okay for Comp Org. He really seemed to enjoy the course, unlike the rest of the class. He was very enthusiastic and excited to answer peoples' questions, and he did a good job answering them. He had to pick up the class half way through, so for a late start, he did a pretty good job. Comp Org itself is not a great course though.
Professor Kuzmin is one of my all time favorite professors. While the lecture was dull (comp org just sucks.. not his fault), he was always willing to help and I learned a lot by going to his office hours and receiving help. I have also had the pleasure of working alongside him as a mentor and he truly loves his job and it shows.
Great professor and is teaching the class very well.
Terrible. I don't understand anything he talks about in lecture. Quizzes are ridiculous difficult. nothing similar to the past quizzes and homework.
Quizzes are insanely difficult. Material is not relevant to homework, labs, or even lecture notes. For example, last semester (spring 2019) quiz 3 was 1.5 pages. Fall 2019 Quiz 3, 11 pages.
TERRIBLE teacher. Quizzes are super hard and irrelavant to the homework or labs. Does not teach and only reads the powerpoint. Blows through the material quickly and expects you to have it mastered the next day. If you take him expect most of your education to come from youtube or google. Kuzmin is definetly on here rating himself the 5 stars.
This is by far the worst professor I have ever had. I have attended almost every lecture so far and it doesnt prepare you at all for the quizzes or homework. He spends lots of time on stuff you dont need to know and rushes through things that are on the test and doesnt teach the programming you need to know. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
The worst professor. Lots of difficult homework. He think he teaches very well and give us hard quizzes. However, I think he is wrong!
Tests every 2 weeks, laughably hard. The last exam had to be curved so sharply that the minimum d was a 22! He gave us an 8 page test in 50 minutes. He then told all of us that we didn't study hard enough and said he could finish it in 12 minutes. He explains how to do the labs and the homework in the lecture AFTER we had to do it ourselves. RUN.
Just an absolute nightmare. Gives incredibly tough quizzes every 2-3 weeks. They're absurdly long, and he refuses to shorten them because he can complete them in 12 mins. Won't give practice exams and won't accept any criticism about his teaching methods. He gives absolutely no indication in class when something he is lecturing on will be on tests.
Given hard quizzes every two weeks; won't give any practice test. If there is another professor available, RUN! Otherwise, GOOD LUCK!
The worst professor in my life. Try to excape him Take his course if you want hard quizzes and homework. :)
Many of the complaints are valid. That being said, Kuzmin is clearly trying his best as a lecturer even if he falls short. If you spend time to talk to him in office hours, he's actually very kind and will spend a lot of time explaining concepts. Clearly very knowledgeable, just not great at lecturing. Class was heavily curved at the end.
Lectures aren't great, homeworks can be annoying and the quizes people averaged 50%s on. That being said, he is trying harder than a lot of profs and he will help you if you give him the chance.
So I previously submitted a bad rating, but since then I've had Professor Kuzmin for 2 additional classes, and I actually really like him. I think the first class was poorly organized, but it was his first time teaching it. In the other two classes I've had with him since, I think they were taught very well :) He is a caring teacher.
His lecture notes are kinda bad, but they are public. Make sure you pay attention and follow along in python, he goes kinda fast and sometimes doesn't post the code you want in his notes. ps CS1 is taught in python, so indian guys on youtube are your friend and can reinforce what he said in lecture.
I've had Kuzmin for the past 3 semesters (CompOrg, PSoft, and ProgLang).He has improved so much, and I think he's really found his stride with ProgLang. He does not lecture but handles course management/organization, super nice and flexible, always willing to extend due dates or clarify. He's a nice guy and explains well one-on-one.
I've had Professor Kuzmin for Comp Org (CSCI 2500) in Spring 2020 which was not a great experience, but I can honestly say he's greatly improved and his lectures are less dry. He really cares about his students and truly strives to be helpful and fair to his students. Regardless of what the topic is, Professor Kuzmin tries his best to teach!
This professor is easily the worst professor I have had at RPI so far, he will take slides that were written by the textbook company and then fly though them with almost no context given. Expect to search up everything and essentially learn by yourself. This material is interesting but is clearly taught by the wrong person. I dont know why I pay.
As an instructor, he is very nice. He is open to any extra credit/ review session request and trying to be as helpful as he can, I got over 100%. As a teacher, he needs to focus more on his teaching quality. He is lacking the ability to control the pace of the class (going off tangent/ fly through the material). And he needs to improve "his" PPT.
Overall, Prof. Kuzmin is great. He has a great passion for his teachings and really cares about students' feelings. he also gives students options to choose their preferred curve. Definitely would like to take his class again.
Database systems is an interesting class and it's clear that this professor knows what he's talking about. The lecture exercises for the course are incredibly annoying and the homeworks fall out of sync with the lecture contents past HW 4 which makes them more difficult to complete and stay on top of the lecture material.
Professor Kuzmin is extremely unclear with his expectations for students. He also gives out assignments that aren't relevant to learning the course material (read: busywork), and grades students on their knowledge of concepts that were barely touched upon in class.
Avoid this class at all costs, take in the spring with a different professor. He grades you in homework + labs on material that you will learn a week later in class. Be prepared to look literally everything up in this class. Lectures are dull. All around do not recommend this professor. He's a nice guy, just a poor lecturer.
He made Comp Org a "trainwreck class." You learn next to nothing from his lectures. His assignments are terribly balanced, and graded pedantically. The schedule may as well not exist since he either cancels every office hours or misses lectures. You learn everything from the textbook and whatever unreasonable assignments he puts on your head.
Kuzmin is willing to make up for mistakes and listen to students, but this is set off by how horrifically incompetent he is as a professor. He gives out absurdly difficult assignments at very strange timing, to the point where I wonder if he even reads his own syllabus. If you need to take Comp Org, just wait until spring.
Kuzmin clearly cares about his students, however I feel like he loses sight of his position as the professor. He will often put material on labs or exams that he views as easy but is challenging for the vast majority of students. That being said, he was very open to feedback and comments, and made many accommodations to help our grades.
I'm not going to sugar coat this: Kuzmin's classes are tough. However, he knows that and makes every effort to help his students. I think what sets apart those who like Kuzmin and those who didn't is that those who liked him went to his Office Hours. The guy knows his stuff, and he will go out of his way to help those who care to learn it well.
Principles of Software was one of the best software classes I took at Rensselaer. Kuzmin is a great guy, the lectures are long and the class is tough, yes, but the work we were doing actually felt meaningful. The homeworks solidified lecture content, and the material felt very useful; they were also just enjoyable. Can't recommend him enough!
Clueless. Take Comp Org in the spring.
Kuzmin's lectures are not the best which leads to problems with the hws, but he really cares about his students and is always accessible during his office hours and is eager to help. He also will push back the deadlines if he realizes that people are having trouble meeting them which is good.
Professor Kuzmin is very knowledgeable about Computer Organization, but he is a very poor lecturer and tends to repeat the same things over again in class. He doesn't really know how much his students know, and this has caused situations where a massive curve needed to be applied so the class wasn't all failing exams. Take it with a diff prof
Prof. Kuzmin is easily the most caring prof I have ever seen and he really listens to the students. The homework assignments are not to be shrugged off but you'll do just fine if you pay attention in the lectures. Beware of exam 2 but I feel that may have just been a freak chance for this semester only. Overall, 10/10
I think overall Professor Kuzmin is a good professor, his lectures are not the best but he is very caring. Just do some self-studying after the lecture and study for the exam. He's pretty lenient, especially if he realizes that an assignment he gives out is too difficult.
Dr. Kuzmin's lectures are often uninteresting and unclear. My class was also blindsided by a few extremely difficult assignments and tests. Despite these issues, Dr. Kuzmin is BY FAR the most caring professor I've met at RPI. He works with students on deadlines and is generous with extra credit. He is also a genuine and friendly person.
Kuzmin edited the homework by changing the copies from few semesters ago. He changed only some requirements, but the workload was doubled or even tripled! Just do meaningless job. Also, he likes to skip classes for stupid reasons.
Lectures can be a tad dull at times, and HW and exams can sometimes be longer and harder than I think he intends, but he's one of the most caring and kind profs I've ever seen. Always nice to talk to, very knowledgeable and happy when people engage with the lecture material. Also, infinite crib sheets and insanely good course eval incentives.
He's a very nice man when you talk to him outside of class, but one of the most boring lecturers I have ever had. He also has very poor organization so the class has been run very helter-skelter. Additionally, the content of the lectures is unrelated to the online textbook homework, which is different content from the actual homework and the tests.
The class was very disorganized. Homework assignments (which are important learning checks) were often posted very late or not at all, leaving students without a way to check their understanding before (very difficult) tests. Professor's lecture style is also not engaging at all.
This guy has no clue about what's happening, the homework, test, online separate hw, and labs are all different materials. The class is around 4 homework behind and everything is just so disorganized. Overall terrible.
He lectures in a monotone voice. So many students fell asleep in his class that he had to clarify that when students fall asleep during lecture they still get attendance points. TA's were unable to check off all students in a 2 HOUR TIME SLOT. Knowing the class was going to fail the 2nd exam he gave 70 points of extra credit on a 100 point exam.
I don't know what does he talking about in the class, test is too hard, nobody can do that.
I never select this course again
He doesn't have a clear cognition of his syllabus, always piles hw and test together
So bad
This is a very bad course, kuzmin cannot arrange the time reasonably and provide exams of normal difficulty
terrible course
He has absolutely no idea how to h teaching, difficult assignments and exams
difficulty course
disorganized, bro was sick and procrastinated more than me
not good, monotone lectures
Dont take it, decided to make a project homework and test all on the same week because he cant plan anything out.
Bro really procrastinates more than his students
everything written before me is true and he never responds to emails himself
Procrastination when it comes to grading, been waiting on multiple assignments to be graded from over a month ago. never answers emails, group projects with lack of preparation for it or time
Never ever take this course by Kuzmin
He used exams to make this course more difficult. His lecture was just reading power points , but attendance was mandatory.
too hard
I believe prof Kuzmin cares and understands the content he teaches, but this class was plagued by logistical problems, and as somebody who learns most from DOING rather than listening (Dr. Kuzmin gives long lectures), only getting 4/7 homeworks, missing 3 or 4 labs, and getting our final project late, all due to clerical errors, really screwed me.
The only class where I felt despair not from my lack of understanding, but from the insurmountable workload. Having homework, an exam, and a final project due on the same week should be a crime.
He's a very nice guy do not get me wrong but his class is super disorganized and difficult and well no-one understands anything, I got a B+ so i must understand like 88% of the material right? Nope I learnt basically nothing. Everything is super difficult, no-one gets anything and his lectures are bad. You NEED to do the extra credit!!!
Professor Kuzmin is a very kind person, he just lacks an understanding of what his students know in his course. There were multiple times when I spent time before a lab to complete it and the TAs would not understand how to approach the problems. Grades had to be heavily inflated at the end of the semester with extra credit.
He is one of the most understanding professors I've had at RPI. He will always be lenient on missing/later work if you have a personal situation. The course content is difficult and the exams aren't very fair but every year he finds a way to fix the grades at the end of the semester.
Mandatory lectures in which he extends the least important part to 2 hours, then proceeding to test the most important (and least explained), incomprehensible work scheduling, literally do not take with him, or any class for that matter. Had to go back on no curving and give a ridiculous amount of extra credit just to not have everyone fail.
Dr. Kuzmin is by far the worst professor I've ever had. He often lies in the syllabus and it seems like he's making up the curriculum as he goes. Homework instructions are always very unclear and he doesn't answer questions until a couple days before it is due. He spends weeks explaining simple ideas and glosses over difficult ones.
Dr.Kuzmin basically just read his powerpoint super fast. And the homework is heavy and the lecture does not teach at all. You need to learn the whole course by yourself and figure out how to do the homework by yourself.
The class is 8 am and attendance is mandatory. And the homework is heavy and gross. The lecture does not teach at all, and Dr.Kuzmin does not know how to give fair exam and homeworks. Also, Dr.Kuzmin put the project, homework, and exam in the same week, which is extremely nasty.
Will change quiz policy without telling students. For example, if a quiz is opened on submitty at 9:30 you would expect to be able to work on it until 10 (30 mins), but you have to submit by 9:55 to get credit even though the quiz says there is 5 minutes remaining. Anything submitted after 9:55 is a zero, no points deducted per minute. Ridiculous
Although prof Kuzmin is not the best lecturer, his homeworks are informative and interesting. The exams are a bit tough tho... Stop coping y'all give him time and you will understand his class.
Cool guy but legit has almost zero common sense.
Kuzmin is a nice guy, I have noting to say that goes against that. But He had no clue how to manage this class. Our 2 hour labs were previous semester's week long assignment. The content in hw/lab were covered 2 weeks prior. Not to mention that the first homework was a month late and the schedule never adjusted well.
I Envy those who werent required to take a class with him.
Really disorganized professor. Failed to upload the first homework for a whole month, then gave insanely challenging labs on some weeks, and super easy ones on others. Very poor lecturer as well - often just talks non-stop for an hour fifty. Highly recommend not taking a class with him.
Dr. Kuzmin is genuinely helpful in one-on-one encounters, but he was not well-suited to the task of teaching this course. He was constantly behind, both in lectures and assigning homework, to the point where the last homework was made extra credit (and it was painful to complete). Moreover, his tests were poorly designed and weighted improperly.
Lecture is useless, show up because he gives extra credit because he realizes that showing up to lecture is a waste of time otherwise. Just a terrible experience overall.
Okay lectures and notes, very caring. Occasionally assigns too much work but the amount of late days given can offset it. Exams aren't easy, but are fair and allows unlimited crib sheets. Assignments can be released late, but deadlines are extended to compensate.
never really went for lectures except the ones where we had quizzes. tests weren't too bad. homeworks were pretty intense but nothing took took long. prof Kuzmin is very very good at debugging. he can almost find a bug in almost any program.
One of the worst professors ever! DO NOT TAKE HIM! (unless you are ready to unalive yourself!!) Class isn't structured at all, doesn't care about students, exams make no sense (picks questions from somewhere and dumps it), unrealistic/delusional.
Prof. Kuzmin is a great teacher. He is one of the rare teachers at RPI that can actually teach without being boring. The only reason the class was empty was because it was 8 AM; otherwise, it could have been more full. But the class was really unorganized. Many of the HW weren't assigned on time and weren't graded for a month or even more.
A dry lecturer but is very knowledgeable about the topics so if you go to class and pay attention you will certainly learn enough to do well in the class. I've had very few professors who care as much as him. Only downsides are that the homework and exams are often on the long side and grades are not updated in a timely manner.
To preface: the professors are nice - however, the course itself is very tough. Rough tests and lots of homework. The hw themselves are a ton of work and the grading for them is insanely rough. If possible, avoid this class.....
I think this course may be my lowest grade
Very hard tests and a lot of homework with little time to complete
This was the most frustrating class I've ever taken at this school so far. His lectures are at least a week behind the schedule, meaning we have to review lectures not covered in class in order to complete homework on time. The quizzes given are unreasonable (though the TAs are very helpful, unlike Kuzmin), but the homework is not terribly hard.
Useless class, no important concept but unnecessarily long and hard exams, terrible class.
Kuzmin is incompetent and should be fired. Expect large homework loads, to be unprepared for the material on the test, boring lectures, lagging course material, and weekly quizzes with trick questions that aren't on the slides.
NEVER EVER TAKE ANY COURSE WITH PROF KUZMIN. He makes everything so necessarily complicated and always picks the hardest problems for tests!!! This class was extremely unbearable, and I actually tried to enjoy the course content. everything is a trick question or an impossible question. he does not care about your grade at any cost! worst prof here
anyone who rates this man higher than 1 star is LYING!!! do not believe them!!!!!
Tough because of his HWs (in this class), which take forever to complete and are hard to get full points on. Tests are way easier then everyones says, short on time but if you understand the material not hard (not memorization based). Kuzmin is very very kind and easy to reach, but just not a good lecturer (especially in large classes, it seems)
Way too much homework, and the grading criteria is very - very challenging. It seems as if it is certain that I will not be getting a good grade in this class.
Very difficult course
I spent my four long, excruciating years of high school studying religious texts as an atheist, certain that those classes would be the most utterly useless ones I would ever take. Principles of Software left them all behind. Nothing in this class is remotely necessary for being a good programmer, and most of it is mindless busywork.
Every time I talk to this guy I'm shocked he passed kindergarten
This has been a very stressful course :(
homework took many hours to implement, debug, and also infer and guess the hidden test cases 60% requirement on tests/exam to final made me fail course. Lecture very hard to understand while quizzes impossible to do with lecture material alone. The practice exam I receive before each tests was very different and also much easier than actual exam.s
What a joke:
During lecture, Kuzmin talks a lot, almost too much sometimes. It's even seen on the slides where there is just multiple slides that say the same thing in a different way. This year especially the exams were increasingly more difficult than previous exams, and even when people complained about the length, somehow the exams were even longer.
Hardest final ever
Final was 20+ pages in 3 hours - less than 10 mins a page of which 95% was free response.......
I didnt find the class or exams hard, and with extra credit i had over a 100 in the class, so people complaining about the final are dramatic. However kuzmin delivers terrible lectures, he is mostly rambling and repeating things multiple times. Seems like a nice guy but the lectures are unhelpful
Seems like a nice guy but he's really bad at lecturing; I almost fell asleep multiple times. I got above a 100 in the course thanks to a HW counting as extra credit b/c we fell behind schedule. Exams were much harder than the practice material, but got graded generously. The TAs came in clutch. Overall just a crappy experience and painful class.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
43%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.76 avg changeRatings by Course
CS1100
5.0
(1)CSCI4963
5.0
(1)CSCI4430
5.0
(1)CSCI4380
2.8
(6)CSCI1100
2.3
(3)Difficulty by Course
CSI1100
5.0
CS2500
4.5
CSCI2600
4.3
CSCI2500
4.2
CSCI4380
4.0