Reviews of professor Nicholas Weaver

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Weaver is by far the worst CS professor at Cal. His teaching style is annoying and he goes on random rants that don't help your understanding of the topics. Some days I would leave the lecture realizing I had gained 0 extra knowledge and so I had to self study most of 61C and 161. His tests are EXTREMELY difficult but he grades on a curve.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Nick Weaver is a great person! He is incredibly intelligent and has really cool stories about security. That being said, his lectures can be TOUGH to follow. He adds in a lot of tangents and I couldn't go to lectures because they would get really confusing with all the side content he adds. You have to put in a LOT of work to understand material.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Great professor, funny and lectures are interesting. Mentions real life applications and connections to topics.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
This is a great professor, if you have the chance to take a class with him I 100% recommend. The homework load isn't bad, a MyMathLab every week and then a few written problems that if you do then you can get an easy A on the quizzes (because they are the same problems). The review guides for the midterms are also very similar to the actual test.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Gets a bad rap because of his lectures being very personal and humorous in style. He's very clear about his philosophy of "hard test, easy curve," so while his classes cover a lot of material, it's easy to do well provided you stay on top of it. And he's pretty funny, very worth attending lecture

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Professor Weaver has strong opinions and gives strong lectures. While the material goes fast, he makes sure to cover it all. This can get a little overwhelming at times, but he makes it manageable. Some of the exam questions were flawed though (no correct answer), so approach them with caution.