2.7
Quality4.2
Difficulty38%
Would Retake93
Reviews38%
Would Retake
93
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
14
4
17
3
22
2
17
1
23
What Students Say
“Nice guy, not very clear”
CS1521 - 2.0 rating“His course was amazing, and builds an incredible foundation for future CS courses”
CS1521 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
27%
Textbook Required
18%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.80 avg changeRatings by Course
CS
5.0
(2)COMPINSOCIETY
4.0
(1)CSII1
4.0
(2)CS2521
4.0
(1)CS1011
3.2
(5)Difficulty by Course
CS1301
5.0
CS1211
5.0
CSII1
4.5
CS1521
4.4
CS1101
4.3
Reviews (93)
teaches you like you're retaking his class, cuz thats what i had to do
No Comments
No Comments
Excellent guy
So terrible. So boring. This guy could put you to sleep if you had a bottle of No-Doz in you. His lectures are so arbitrary, boring, convoluted, and pointless. This man made me switch out of Computer Science entirely. Thanks, sholtz.
The lectures come straight from the book. He's enthusiastic about the material, but presents it in such a dull manner it's tough to follow it. The assignments he gave out for programming often had errors in them that he wouldn't mention (or didn't know about) and you're forced to find out about them the hard way... that is, hours of wasted time.
Reall nice guy, not incredibly interesting but who could be when ur teaching the history of computers. All around i thought he was a great teacher and i plan on taking more classes through him.
The worst teacher in the world. Basically stands in front of the class and reads the book. Projects and Labs are so unclear 90% of the class dosen't get them done on time. Treats you like you don't know anything if you ask for help. Oh yeah 50% of his class retakes it and more drops. Basically he single handedly is killing off CS at UMD.
I thought that his lecture was horribly boring and his tests were very hard. Overall he is a nice teacher, but a bad class.
"Hand" down the worst professor at UMD he makes more than half of students switch majors he is no help when you ask questions lectures are read from book word for word, assignments and labs and projects and homework are all very hard! If you survive you are lucky to pass. Exams are hardest I have ever taken. AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS!!
Good instructor kinda helps...Insanely hard projects and I love 'em...Think most students switch majors cos of him though...Loved the class personally
This is an extremely hard class. Though I like the subject material, the projects and labs are hard. Example: I have spent 20+ hours on a project over the course of the last 4 days. This is normal. The work load is insane. There are weekly quizzes, weekly labs, biweekly projects(harder than labs), reading quizzes three times a week, and weekl
If you do decide to take this class, and you get in a tight spot, consider the tutoring center. They've helped me out of many tight spots with my lab. Sidenote: I've been told by multiple CS majors that this is the hardest class they've taken at UMD, so good luck!
There are no girls in this class and 1/3 of the class dropped in the first two weeks. The average on the last exam: 75/160. The guy overall is really nice and he is a genius, but really hard to learn from. This is best depicted by the large amount of students who repeat the class. The people who seem to do well in the class are the ones who cam
Ok guy, failed to relay his knowledge in a student friendly way often times.
Holtz is a good guy who teaches an easy class for those with any computer background. Very dry material and easy to skip class. tests are easy if you actually look at the book.
This class is the deciding factor if your a programmer or not. when i took only 20 students was left after 260 students from cs1 and pretty sure like 60 of them as cs major. just start HW early don't' slack off like cs1 otherwise you be in trouble. Lecture are boring and 8.am, coffee was my best friend. fell asleep class couple of time.
Hated the classes, tests were from hell. Some of his bold words had his made up definition. Doesn't teach you Python which is the whole point of the class. I will admit the first half was fun, but the last half was so stupid. I would recommend getting a good lab partner who is a CS major.
He is a very nice guy and very approachable with questions. The class is hard, but what do you expect, it is a college course. There were a lot of bitter people in the class because of the tests, but that is because they don't know how to program and are too lazy to try. (Sick burn)
Seems like a nice guy. He is very intelligent, so if you ask basic questions you may get a funny look. The projects and tests actually spawned from hell so good luck. If you didn't do so hot in CS 1 the best advice I could give you would be to spend all your time studying and don't have a life.
A friend once told me, "There is life after CS2." He was right, but at the time I could barely see the light at the end of the tunnel. Steve is a great guy, but the class he teaches is grossly "overloaded" with work. Make sure you find a friend that has taken the class before, so you can get help on projects (and counseling) when you need it!
Obscenely difficult class, frustrating projects and labs, it is a weed out class for the computer science programs. You will be doing much more work than the "3 hours per credit" standard.
Kind of a great professor, but often times very boring to listen to everyday which weren't that helpful. Just read the text if you want to pass. Tests are extremely hard. Study is the main factor if you actually want to pass this class. Labs were easy and so was the study guides.
Alot of outside work. He uses clicker questions so its highly that you show up. In the end the clicker question went toward extra credit, so you be the judge on if you want to show up or not. You have a two online quiz per week, which also goes toward extra credit. Not that bad of a class just lots of work.
Dedicate one day per week to do labs and homework. He uses clicker questions for attendance and they apply toward extra credit, so go to class. He's a great help outside of class, especially through email. Lectures can get systematic and boring, but how exciting can you make an intro CS class? My advice: attend class and talk to Holtz a lot.
Class is kinda boring since there is no variety in the class. There is alot of stuff to learn that in the end you generally just memorize the code a oppose to learning how to use it
Extremely intelligent professor but very boring lectures. The book he assigned is terribly dry and difficult to read, and his tests are legendary in the department for being a guaranteed curve. When you tell someone further along in the CS program you're in CS2 you're met with bitter laughter, for a reason.
I found this course to be to incredibly tough... there is just too much work. Lectures are pointless but because of the extra credit they are necessary. He is helpful if you approach him but expect multiple people going for help. Also, projects are very difficult, confusing. Labs are not too bad. I recommend making wise class selections if taking.
Awful, do not take this class. Very dry and doesn't curve test even in mean is close to failing. Do not recommend taking.
Course load is too heavy on hw, assignments, quizzes, projects, and tests. I would strongly encourage to take the class somewhere else or with a different professor. I did alright in the class, but you need a strong background in programming. Good luck if you choose to take it with him.
An extremely intelligent professor. This course however, is no joke, it certainly is difficult. But you get back everything you put in. His course was amazing, and builds an incredible foundation for future CS courses. It was definitely one of my favorite courses as a CS major. It was a good challenge, and worth all the effort.
The CS major initiation class. I needed a lot of outside help in this class. Don't expect going to lecture and reading the text book will be enough. Some of the must useful information for completing the projects and labs was from googling. Boring lectures and legendarily difficult tests.
Professor Holtz is very intelligent, and good at what he does. He tends to rush through tough concepts because he only has a 50 minute window to teach a lot of material. The course in itself is very hard--I don't think any professor could make it "easy". Overall, Professor Holtz is pretty supportive and approachable. (Study guides are worthless.)
Holtz is a goofy guy. First of all, how does he program with one hand, it's astonishing to me. Anyways, his labs are easy. Projects are impossible, but graded easy. And exams, that are worth the majority of the grade, are tough to say the least. All hand written, and no idea what is expected. Tough, but I learned a lot.
Steve Holtz is fine. He's a really nice guy, but he's not very good at lecturing or explaining things. He spent 30 minutes talking about the "this pointer" concept and I came out of it more confused than when I went in. I spoke to another professor about the topic and he was able to explain it better in 5 minutes. Nice guy, not very clear.
His lectures are even more dull and boring that would be expected from a 50min computer science lecture. Textbook is basically useless, don't buy it. His projects have almost no basis on the text, and his lecture notes are based around him telling you everything wrong with the text.
Holtz tries his best to teach an impossible amount of information in 50 minutes. Because there's just SO much information, it's often really rushed and confusing. Quizzes are easy, labs are okay if you work at them, projects are really tough and tests are almost impossible. Definitely consider taking easy classes if you have to take this one.
Steve Holtz was a really good teacher who taught an extremely difficult class. The class size halved in the first few weeks. His lecture notes are fantastic and instead of reading in the book, just go over the lecture notes. He always states the the book is wrong anyways, and the book has a lot of fluff. Make sure you focus during the lectures
Holtz is a pretty good professor for the subject matter. CS1521 is going to be really hard no matter who teaches it, this is the course that teaches you everything about coding. I learned more through this course than any other course I've taken. As long as you get all the projects done and show up to lab/discussion, the tests aren't too bad.
As long as you pay attention in lectures and at least attempt all the projects you'll be just fine.
I loved Holtz. Don't get me wrong, CS II is probably the hardest class you'll ever take. Still, I think he's great. He's very knowledgeable and incredibly talented. Projects are pretty difficult, especially the later ones, but they're usually graded pretty leniently. Quizzes aren't bad, labs are fairly easy. Tests can be quite difficult too.
I took this class as a physics major and immediately found it useful for data manipulation/graphing. Steve Holtz is a great guy and is pretty funny as well. As a professor, he knows his stuff and conveys it well in lecture. He makes sure to show the implementation of all the concepts. Tests and homework are hard, but grading is extremely generous.
He expects instant memorization of code that is merely glanced over. It is difficult to follow when he spits code out.
Mr. Holtz, aka Steve, teaches one of the hardest classes in the computer science curriculum. However, he is also the worst at lectures. He just reads code to you, and most times that I did go to class I was left more confused than before I came in. My advice is to not buy the textbook, and rely on your TA for help. Projects are also impossible.
Terrible lecturer who expects code to be memorized. Study guides for exams give no help and are useless. Projects are very difficult and the instructions unclear. The issues I have with Steve Holtz extend far beyond the word limit I'm given here. By far the worst professor I've had in the 3 years I've been in college.
Holtz is the most misunderstood professor in the CS department. He is very passionate about the subject and it shows in his lectures. Unfortunately, CS2 has to cover a lot of content in a short amount of time. Holtz's classes will make you so much better at whatever he's teaching. I've had him for several classes, and wish I could take more.
Start your projects earlier than the night before and it won't be so bad!
Boring lectures that are almost not worth attending. Lecture notes posted online and the only thing you miss is token demonstrations as he reads right off his slides. Read the notes and the projects and labs are more than do-able, but start early on projects or you will not do well.
He's a nice guy and he definitely makes his lectures accessible outside of class. I would say that if I wasn't taking other much more difficult time consuming classes it would be an easy A. The projects and labs are pretty decent and TA's are great for help. Tests are difficult but can make up for it with 100% on labs and projects.
I took Holtz for Intro to Visual Basic. Sometimes we didn't cover necessary material a couple days before the due date. He did the best he could with the lecture time he had, would heavily recommend lecture or you will be confused. Used book twice, got out of lab early almost every time. Really nice guy, class is more of a time sink than difficult
The material that you learn in the class is very hard and it might seem like he is going very fast but if you do not understand the concept he will very kindly explain it until you understand it. Projects and labs can be tough but if you try and show that you worked hard he will help you before the due date. Great guy!!
Lectures can be boring but they are very helpful and he is always willing to explain what someone doesn't understand and answer questions. Tests are pretty tough but they're graded very generously. Labs/projects are also difficult and are time consuming but he is willing to help. Overall he was a good prof, but you need to put in the effort.
Holtz is a great professor but be prepared for the projects. I found the projects to be very involved and time consuming, but if you do the projects, the tests will be a breeze. I would recommend having Holtz as an instructor, but be ready to work.
I had a terrible time in this class bc of Holtz's unreasonable expectations for an intro level class. Holtz's projects each week got to be so difficult and he left us hanging. Even the TAs were confused and said they were way too difficult for an intro class. I strongly advise staying out of this class w him if you're not a computer expert.
Lectures are a bit boring some days, but you can tell that he really is passionate about the subject and is always willing to answer questions. Projects and labs can be very time consuming, but are doable.
Talked off of a power point and did not explain anything. Tests were very hard and lots of projects to do.
As others have said, the course can be a bit hard. However, that is just the nature of this subject since CS2 has a lot to cover. Starting the projects early helped along with talking with the TAs
Lectures are pointless to go to because notes can be just as well understood by reading yourself. Hopefully you make friends because this class is very difficult to get through by yourself.
Holtz is a great guy and he really knows his stuff when it comes to C++, but be prepared to work for the grade you want to receive. The projects in particular take a long time to complete, but if you complete them the tests won't be too bad. He is a fair grader on exams and projects, but the quizzes are tough.
Taking a step back, this class is supposed to teach you a solid portion of Object Oriented Programming, and how to solve abstract problems- in practice it does not work. Mr. Holtz skims over important concepts in class, leaving most of the learning out side of the class. Problem solving is tricky too, as the projects are VERY vaguely explained.
Do you want to understand what's going on? This prof won't help you with that. I had to heavily rely on study groups, the textbook, and the TA. His lecture slides are so boring to look at and so hard to understand!!
Took him for CS 2. He's a nice guy with good intentions, but his teaching style and lectures seem to go over most people's heads. He was an ok prof. Advice for CS 2: #1 watching supplementary youtube videos on-top of lectures helped a TON. #2 Just keep your head down and pass the class!
Out of the entire CS faculty at the UMD, I would say that nobody is more enthusiastic than Holtz. He's a funny guy, and I crack-up occasionally. However, CS2 is a brutal class, and even Holtz knows this. Get ready to rely on the tutoring center and the TAs, because this is the weed-out class for CS majors. Get on his good side, and you'll be fine.
Holtz was Ok, his lectures are hard to follow unless you read the book first and his projects can be tough to understand and I don't think taught me very much. Best way to stay ahead is read and communicate with TA's on problems. One good thing is that if you get at least one point on all assignments he gives an automatic boost of 10% on the final
Tests are awful and are most of your grade. Have a lab or project due every single week, including weeks of tests. Lectures are basically out of the book along with a few examples that he has made on his own.
Professor Holtz will teach you C++, but during the process you will drown in projects/labs. Quizzes and exams are on questions related to labs and projects but can sometimes be irrelevant parts of the lab that will only test your memory, not your knowledge of content. Book is very helpful, reading the book will help you with vocab on exams
Not Holtz' fault but why does CS2 gotta be like that :<
Steven Holtz is a necessary evil of the UMD CS department. CS2 is a weeder class given that it has tough subject material, but Holtz does not make it any easier. He isn't that approachable and makes it hard to ask questions. It's hard to understand lectures given that he just uses a PowerPoint of his code as his teaching resource.
By far the worst professor I have taken. His class is hard to understand since most of your grades are from exams (70%). His lecture notes are not helpful. I recommend you take the following class with a different professor when the class is offered in person. . Make sure you choose the right TA or else the labs and projects are going to be hard.
Best CS teacher at UMD, HANDS DOWN!!!
In this class expect to have hours of projects weekly sometimes an exam is thrown on top of it the day before a project is due. No study guide for any exams besides him giving you a very vague description of what you will see on the exams. Giving you 50 minutes for the entire exam makes it almost impossible to complete.
Advertised class as in person but changed to online last second. Does not teach just uses old videos, hours of work every week including test weeks, tests are only 50 minutes, NOT enough time to make it through in time. Very hard to get in contact with. I read the textbook, watched his videos did the work and received 50% on midterm 1. TERRIBLE!!!
Class was all recorded lectures except for lab once a week when we got our lab/project for the following week. assignments start easy but get very difficult by the end of the semester. Be prepared to watch every lecture and read most of the book if you want a A in MATLAB. Tests are very question heavy for the amount of time allowed.
The lecture videos don't help very much when it comes to the exams and quizzes during the course. The projects can be difficult, but they helped me grasp the basics concepts. The tests and quizzes are open book, but they are timed in a way that makes it hard to fully rely on the book. The TAs are also pretty lenient when it comes to grading.
Worst prof/teacher I have ever had. This class is already incredibly difficult yet Holtz insists on his lectures being online and taught through outdated slideshows. He holds office hours for one hour a week during the busiest time of day on a Monday so that no one is able to reach him. Horrible, just absolutely horrible.
CS1521 was given online via lecture videos every week on top of labs/projects and textbook readings. Expect to put many hours into this intro CS course because it is a massive jump from CS1 with Allert. Holtz can only teach you so much through his lecture videos so also expect either teaching yourself or using your TA or a tutor as a resource.
The lectures are online which seemed fine at first until you realize they are all over an hour long and 4 years old. Hes incredibly hard to reach too. The workload for this class is ridiculous and you never get a break, not even over spring break.
hands down the best CS class so far! The projects and labs were a little too easy. He explains it too damn well. The lectures were mind blowing and electrifying. He explains the concepts with uttermost perfection. He should teach CS1 and more CS classes. This class felt like a 3 credit course honestly.
IMO Lecture videos and book are totally optional. Projects and labs were a letdown, as in they were too easy. Holtz uses STL and that's not what a real programmer does. I did all the projects in C and assembly. Easiest class so far. Plan to spend about 5 hours a week max. Exams were too predictable and easy. I've been programming since I was 9 ;P
He didn't teach the actual class. He was on the prelectures and watched over the zoom for actual lectures. The prelectures and the course content was clearly outdated. A lot of the videos, especially towards the end, talked about how the textbook is incorrect in whatever chapter we were learning. Directions for projects were all over the place too.
I highly don't recommend to take CS1521 with professor Holtz. The guy hasn't even showed up to class once all semester. An assistant professor does the lectures and he isn't good either. The lecture videos are very outdated. The worst part of the class is the projects. His instructions are extremely poor and hard to understand. ]
Not a horrible prof, just a bad class. MATLAB may be helpful but it is just a pain to use. Holtz is good enough and honestly very accessible by email and Slack. HIGHLY recommend emailing him all the time for help on projects and labs instead of struggling by yourself. Very much the type of course where you're teaching yourself, lots of lectures.
I took an online python course and Professor Holtz used someone else's lectures and the TAs did the grading, so I'm not sure what that was about, but the course was structured well and easy to follow. Professor Holtz responded quickly to emails and was very helpful if you needed assistance.
The ratings for this guy threw me off at the beginning of the semester, I thought I was really gonna hate this class. But he uses lecture videos from some other prof & the assignments are actually kind of fun. I never watched the videos, I learned the material off the slides on canvas. Don't get behind in this class, and you'll be fine!
Would not recommend this class, It is severely unorganized and the projects you will doing to relate to modules from weeks ago. He claims you don't need to know math for this course but that is not true, a lot of assignments are math based. While working on this class, I have has many people wish me luck! If you have to option, dont take this class
worst professor in all year of my college. His lecture are very different from his homework. He would teach you about Germany and the homework will be about Japan written in Spanish. Dont take him, avoid him at al cost!!!!!!
Just busy work, modules are outlined poorly, the teacher is insufferable to talk to
This course was extremely hard for an online intro course the lecture videos did not follow the projects that we did that week, so you end up having to teach yourself.
This class made me cry. It was so boring and I had no idea what I was doing throughout the entire semester. The assignments were so stressful and the timed quizzes are challenging if you don't know what you are doing. I had lots of friends in this class so we all helped each other and used our resources and google. Google saved us.
Don't take this class if you need it for a lib ed. Take a different class, not worth it.
The projects for this class are extremely difficult. There is 3 quizzes a week which are pretty easy and 1 assignment due every Wednesday. These assignments are quite different then the lecture material and the videos and slides provide little help. It takes several hours and many headaches to complete one of these assignments. Would not recommend.
He was possibly one of the worst professors I've ever had. He was difficult to communicate with (only through email, no in-person office hours) and if you did email him, his explanations didn't make any sense. If you take this class, you will be coding like you're in the 80s. Everything is done in a very roundabout way.
do not take this class if you dont have to. the lecture videos arent even the teacher, its some other guy. there are quizzes after each video. there is 1 homework assignment each week, be prepared to feel like you jumped off the deep end, spending hours on an assigment because its nothing like "lecture". AVOID.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
27%
Textbook Required
18%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.80 avg changeRatings by Course
CS
5.0
(2)COMPINSOCIETY
4.0
(1)CSII1
4.0
(2)CS2521
4.0
(1)CS1011
3.2
(5)Difficulty by Course
CS1301
5.0
CS1211
5.0
CSII1
4.5
CS1521
4.4
CS1101
4.3