Which is the More Recommended Professor to take Course in??

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
1
  1. Davide fossati vs Vaidy s sunderam for introductory computer science 170?? with no knowledge whatsoever about coding beforehand. I currently am enrolled in Vaidy s Sunderam's class. Any tips or advice?
  2. Nicholas Llewellyn vs Tracy Mcgill for intro to chem 150?? Nicholas Llewellyn got higher ratings than Mcgill on RatemyProfessor. But I heard on campus that he is harder than Mcgill. So I am conflicted. Add/drop/swap period is about to end, and I need good advice. I never took ap chem in high school and literally know nothing about chemistry.... I currently am enrolled with Nicholas Llewellyn for CHEM 150. Any tips or advice??
2

@bernie12 It’d be great if you could answer these questions here since you know a lot about Emory.

3

pro@procrastinator

Sorry, I had 2 lab meetings in a row and am about to go to another one, so was cramming an experiment between (I am on mountain time BTW).
CS

  1. I think Sunderam has the best reputation. Don’t know much about it from experience, just heard this. By time I hit physical bio, I had to just teach myself program…as I did in my MS.
    Chem
  2. A) Don’t worry about difficulty. Usually good but difficult is better. Also, contextualize. McGill designed much of the curriculum and is FAR more seasoned as a teacher than L. Notice the difference in the number of ratings. I would argue that McGill is stronger as her high rating has held up over way more ratings, but even this interpretation needs nuance.

B) Have you gone to chem 150 yet? I suspect everyone but Soria will standardize the midterms (as said in my post on STEM courses), so differences in “difficulty” will be irrelevant (BTW, they would be exams designed ultimately by McGill). This curriculum is still new so they are trying to standardize as much as possible for assessment purposes. All I know is that you all will receive the same 150 final, so even if one is harder, if they are known to be good, it may be better to take them as the final is like 1/4 of the grade and the midterms can just be put on a curve if the instructor makes them tough. Choose based on style between them (have you attended both for lecture sessions? Try that and feel their styles out). Also, any instructor that more successfully integrates the structural aspects of chemistry (I’ve seen the exams when McGill was piloting 150 and L was still on the 141 curriculum and prior to the ochem specific content, L did a better job demanding students really get structure) will help you better for 202 and 203 instruction where you need to understand how to interpret and draw structures much better. Think big picture.

Let me know if you have any more questions and I’ll answer some time after the meeting.