Daniel Patterson is a Computer Science professor at Northeastern University rated 3.68/5 on Rate My Professors by 56 students, with 3.3/5 RMP difficulty and 66% who would take them again (RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated October 2026).
Daniel Patterson professor reviews and ratings: 3.68/5 from 56 RMP ratings at Northeastern (66% would take again). RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
He might be familiar with the content but his lectures are wordy and fail to convey useful information. If anything, he makes content more complicated than it already is. This is the kind of prof that teaches to power trip, not because he has a passion for it. For example, no grade rounding. He's also very egotistic. NEU students deserve better.CS2800 2026-06-22 14:03:49 +0000 UTC
He was calm and very nice. He would try his best to each class effectively and make sure everyone understood basic coding. He never gave out tests and instead gave you 12 mini ones called skills you completed in office hours that took 5 minutes. Loved when he geeked out over lamba calculus for fun at end of class.CS2000 2026-04-29 12:00:27 +0000 UTC
There is a lot of homework, but if you go to office hours you should be fine. His lectures are easy to follow and don't put you to sleep.CS2500 2025-03-17 19:30:12 +0000 UTC
A very kind individual who is passionate about the topics and explains them in depth. He goes out of his way to provide students with insight within and outside of the course material that is relevant to everyone in CS. One of the most useful classes I've taken with one of the most loved professors in the department!CS2800 2025-08-18 22:18:36 +0000 UTC
Chill guy, but the way the class is structured is weird. Skill Assessments are hard to schedule and will make or break your grade; if you mess up one, it could drop your grade more than a letter grade. Content is easy to understand as long as you do the reading assigned before each class.CS2000 2026-04-15 10:01:39 +0000 UTC
Best CS professor I've had. I liked his teaching style where he would lecture, ask a question for you to discuss with the people around you, and then explain the answer. As someone with no prior CS background, he explained everything really well. There's pretty intensive HW every week, but that's all CS classes. He's also just a great guy overall!CS2500 2025-03-10 02:34:01 +0000 UTC
In both lectures and the course notes there's so much yapping but so little information conveyed. You'll get next to nothing out of this class. Avoid.CS2800 2025-02-16 03:46:51 +0000 UTC
really caring and so sweet. he remembers your name and office hours are helpfulCS2000 2026-02-05 04:31:40 +0000 UTC
For folks with little/no programming backgrounds, no need to look at other 5-star posts here. His teaching style is not suitable for you. If you just don't believe me, go attend one lecture and you will know what I mean. And if Prof. Patterson is a 5, Prof. Guha deserves a 10.CS2500 2025-02-25 16:27:19 +0000 UTC
Professor Patterson was amazing. He was kind, explained stuff well, and was always willing to help me. Would 100% take a class with him, you do have to show up and actually make an effort to learn but if you do he'll be there to help you. Think some of the complaints can be attributed to the courses he taught, they kind of suck lol but he's greatCS2800 2025-02-06 00:41:56 +0000 UTC
He's a super nice guy and the class grading is super easy. As long as you go to lab, do the homework and skill assessments, you're pretty much guaranteed an A.CS2000 2025-12-15 19:44:25 +0000 UTC
You will either love the way DP lectures, or you will not. I suggest going the first week and switching sections if you don't like it. He stands at the podium, and codes, and discusses with class participation why he is doing what he is doing, I loved this style, instead of switching between tabs every sec. DO NOT MISS CLASS. You will fall behind.CS2500 2025-01-13 18:06:46 +0000 UTC
Very smart guy and a really good lecturer. We used a sub-language 'LSL' within DrRacket. Get ready for many homework assignments and mid-terms. Assignments are kind of hard but the mid-terms are manageable. The best thing I liked about this course was the use of Discord. Students asked good questions and responses were fairly quick.CS2800 2024-05-30 19:07:13 +0000 UTC
Nice and knowledgeable professor, but the syllabus and ‘skills' assessments are oddly structured and tanked my grade. Scheduling skills exams is disorganized, especially with DAS accommodations for test-taking. Homework is easy, but ~70% of the course uses a fake language instead of starting with Python.CS2000 2025-12-13 01:07:06 +0000 UTC
His lectures are very fast paced but the notes are always posted online which is helpful. Go to TA hours as much as possible because it can get you a much better grade on homeworks if they're helping u as opposed to doing it yourself. Tests carry a lot of weight, but he takes the better avg of the tests which is rlly niceCS2500 2024-12-17 00:33:50 +0000 UTC
Daniel Patterson is rated 3.68/5 on Rate My Professors from 56 ratings. 66% of RMP reviewers said they would take them again.
Daniel Patterson's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.3/5 on Rate My Professors.
Daniel Patterson has taught CS2000, CS2800, CS2500 at Northeastern.
Daniel Patterson has received: Khoury Spira Outstanding Teacher Award, Khoury College (2025).
Data updated October 2026.