Ehsan Elhamifar is a Computer Science professor at Northeastern University rated 3.1/5 by 214 students, with 4.13/5 difficulty and 31.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Ehsan Elhamifar professor reviews and ratings: 3.1/5 from 214 student reviews at Northeastern (31.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
Used other resources to learn the topics. Stay away if you can.CS6140 2025-06-20 14:37:30 +0000 UTC
The content isn't well organized and isn't comprehensive enough to be useful. For instance, the learning algorithms of important models are sometimes not discussed at all !!! The focus is only on inference for a large portion, which is useless without understanding how the models are optimized.DS4400 2024-10-02 17:30:36 +0000 UTC
This was the best class that I took at the graduate level. Clear explanations, great materials, fair exam, generous office hours. I have lots of great notes I saved to go back and read every time I need a reference.DS5220 2022-11-17 20:42:32 +0000 UTC
This professor couldn't be more useless. Lecture notes posted are trash. Has his own website with no information. Also why is it you can lose 10% on your grade for participation, and if you participate he gets pissed.CS4400 2021-10-28 22:43:51 +0000 UTC
His lectures and lecture notes are enough to survive through the course and have been a great resource. Unlike the remaining comments, I found him to be very reciprocating to student doubts during the class.CS6140 2022-04-27 00:48:43 +0000 UTC
Professor Elhamifar's class is a pedagogical nightmare. Lectures lack coherence, with explanations resembling cryptic puzzles. Grading is a mystery, marked by vague feedback and seemingly arbitrary scales. Seeking clarification is futile, as the professor appears disinterested. Students, beware of this academic abyss.DS4400 2023-11-29 05:38:44 +0000 UTC
Best!DS5220 2018-04-03 13:48:29 +0000 UTC
The homework doesnt help to better understand the course, and they are not even graded correctly. The exam is different from the homeworks. He doesnt answer to questions in the class but he asks questions alot.CS6140 2019-01-22 08:10:02 +0000 UTC
Going into this class I didn't have a very good fundamental understanding of basic machine learning concepts, but this class really helped me solidify these ideas. Professor Elhamifar is honestly really caring and understanding, he provided comprehensive lecture notes and stayed extra after every class to answer questions, couldn't ask for more.DS4400 2022-12-20 07:12:26 +0000 UTC
Homework won't help you learn the material. The exam questions are different from what he teaches in the class. The TA believed that the students did good in the exam, but when we saw the grades most people were shocked. He didn't let us see the exam sheets. He won't give you solutions to Homework or exam, so you won't know your mistakes.CS6140 2019-01-20 19:54:29 +0000 UTC
He doesn't use Canvas, everything is on Piazza. Homework 1 was chaotic because we had to turn it in on paper and then try to get it back, but then we were allowed to submit by email after. He uploads notes on Piazza from class, and yes they're scratchwork, but you get from them what you need. He does randomly yell at people for no reason also.DS4400 2021-12-06 23:33:41 +0000 UTC
Time consuming homework. He assigned long papers to us to summarize for our homework, but he didn't check them, and graded us by absolutely no criterion! This is ridiculous ! bad grader.CS6140 2019-01-08 22:40:08 +0000 UTC
While Ehsan is not exactly the best professor, he doesn't deserve a rating of 1. It's true that his lectures are hard to follow along with but they are supplemented with concise lecture notes. Also his exams are fair to the material taught. Pretty much anything on the exam can be learned from reviewing lecture notes and homeworks, which is nice.DS4400 2021-12-06 05:07:43 +0000 UTC
He teaches so fast and doesn't explain anything. If you didn't understand, that's your problem. He gave 4 homeworks and implementation questions too. The implementations take long time but he doesn't give any feedback if what you did is correct or not. His exams are so easy but the grades are so low. Plus, he never ever shows you your exam sheet!!!CS6140 2018-02-08 16:15:48 +0000 UTC
Disrespectful to students in class and lectures miserably. Lectures are hard to follow with no proper course material. Incapable of using technology and openly admits to being unable and unwilling to run a Canvas page as an ML professor. Becomes aggressive if asked questions. Writes equations on the board for 2 hours without explanation.DS4400 2021-10-22 14:53:03 +0000 UTC
Ehsan Elhamifar has an average rating of 3.1/5 from 214 student reviews. 31.0% of students said they would take them again.
Ehsan Elhamifar's classes have a difficulty rating of 4.13/5 based on student reviews.
Ehsan Elhamifar has taught CS6140, CS7170, DS4400, CS7180, DS5220 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.