Benjamin Hescott is a Computer Science professor at Northeastern University rated 4.21/5 on Rate My Professors by 14 students, with 3.7/5 RMP difficulty and 71% who would take them again (RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated October 2026).
Benjamin Hescott professor reviews and ratings: 4.21/5 from 14 RMP ratings at Northeastern (71% would take again). RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
You should attend all the lectures. The tests and quizzes were fair -- the homework assignments for NP-Complete were a lot more difficult than the examples in class. Ben is an enthusiastic lecturer who does his best to clear up any confusion. Sometimes the class can go off on a tangent and his handwriting can also be difficult to read.CS3800 2026-06-25 20:42:06 +0000 UTC
Professor Hescott has been my favorite instructor I have had during my time at Northeastern. He is super caring and makes concepts fun and enjoyable to learn about. He can be a bit slow to post code and notes to canvas but the pros so far outweigh the cons in my opinion.CS2810 2024-04-12 00:25:25 +0000 UTC
Had him for CS1800 online lectures. He is an awful explainer and he singlehandedly discouraged me from ever taking a theory-based computer/data science class ever again. God forbid he actually teaches students how to do induction.CS1800 2022-01-19 03:39:11 +0000 UTC
Benjamin rarely makes good on promises to upload important notes to Canvas. He gives out some of the easiest practice problems for the midterm but when the midterm comes around they're twice as hard as the ones you've practiced on. I don't appreciate having to pay tuition while also having to check that my professor does their job.CS3800 2026-06-24 14:17:00 +0000 UTC
Professor Hescott is passionate about what he teaches. His lectures were fun and engaging. The projects in this course were a lot of fun. One of the best Professors I have had at Northeastern.CS2810 2021-12-09 05:02:53 +0000 UTC
Professor Hescott is a good lecturer but his lectures are very simplified versions of the homework for Discrete Structures so often times you need to work with peers, go to office hours and tutoring sessions in order to understand the homework. In the first half of this class the work is relatively easy but it does increase in difficulty.CS1800 2020-12-19 21:15:58 +0000 UTC
Had Ben for his last semester in his teaching career. He is a very chill and very respectful professor. Great at clarifying questions and grades leniently on quizzes and exams. Has probably the most horrendous handwriting in all of homosapiens; but most importantly, he laughs like Peter from Family Guy, and kinda looks like him too. Love him thoughCS3800 2026-06-18 15:50:32 +0000 UTC
GOOD PROFESSOR, THE COURSE HAS LOADS OF HOMEWORKS AND RECITATIONS! BUT PROF HESCOTT IS GREAT!CS1800 2020-11-19 22:41:03 +0000 UTC
Prof. Hescott is an amazing person but not the greatest lecturer in my opinion. At least for this class (Theory of Computation), lecture notes were always very late to be posted on Canvas, homework/quiz/test grades were always late to come back, and Piazza questions were left unanswered for multiple days. I'd take Prof. Walters instead.CS3800 2022-12-02 02:45:15 +0000 UTC
He's an incredible lecturerCS1800 2020-04-08 04:29:11 +0000 UTC
Great teacher, knows his stuff on complexity theory, always willing to give more help to students.CS3800 2018-11-08 19:43:31 +0000 UTC
lectures are boring if you took did well in AP Stats, try to test out. homework can be challenging to complete, a lot of wikipedia and math exchange reading. skip parts on the hw that are hard and not worth a lot of points. office hours are crowded. start hw early.CS1800 2020-01-29 19:49:15 +0000 UTC
Phenomenal teacher and person. Very accessible outside of class. His office hours are super useful: attend. He is very clear and responsive to questions, an engaging lecturer (attendance not mandatory but everyone showed), and makes students feel heard and respected. Friends at all levels of skill thought Hescott was amazing. Reasonably challengingCS3800 2018-04-23 22:57:09 +0000 UTC
Good and entertaining professor. Explains the material well. Yet, many times the homework assignments are nothing like the material Ben covered in class.CS1800 2019-11-21 16:13:48 +0000 UTC
Benjamin Hescott is rated 4.21/5 on Rate My Professors from 14 ratings. 71% of RMP reviewers said they would take them again.
Benjamin Hescott's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.7/5 on Rate My Professors.
Benjamin Hescott has taught CS3800, CY4973, CY7790, CS3950, CS4180, CS5180, CS2510, CS2500 and 3 more at Northeastern.
Data updated October 2026.