i love prof. gong and this class <3 homeworks and exams were super easy, especially if you have a stats background (sql problems are similar to/easier than stat 3250 data manipulation). the conceptual objectives at the beginning (erd, relational schema) were new to me but overall logical and easy to understand. make sure you have a solid group for the group project and all should be well! prof. gong is truly the sweetest professor and wants to help her students succeed.

Prof Gong is super nice & really cares about her students - go to her office hours if you want to learn about her research or just want to chat! The class moves slower before midterm 1 (basic concepts, ERD, RS), then picks up leading into midterm 2 (SQL). There's no final, just a quick presentation for a semester-long project (be careful who you choose to work with).

Really useful class. The course goes over Entity-Relationship diagrams, Relational Schemas, SQL, and visualizations using powerbi. If you have a stats/cs background, the SQL stuff isn't that bad. It's basically the one week you cover SQL in SDE, but stretched over multiple weeks. The professor is really nice, accommodating, and really approachable. I do think this class can be somewhat challenging for those that have never programmed before, but I think she walks through it in a way for everyone to understand. There's a group project with milestones that isn't that stressful as well. Six homeworks with one drop, 2 exams. #tCFSpring26

This class was a very practical and thorough examination of relational databases and SQL for business use-cases. As a statistics major it was a decent amount of review, but as a COMM student I'm sure you could learn a lot of new material. The format of the class was very easy to succeed with and the mix of lecture and in-class activity was just right. Professor Gong was also very pleasant and helpful when needed. No complaints for this class! #tCFS24

Gong is an awesome professor! She's new to McIntire, so she really listens to our thoughts on how the class is set up. I love how she teaches – it's super organized, and she pretty much spells out everything you need to know on the course website. She even helps you put together a cheat sheet for the two exams. The group project takes some time, but it's spread out over the whole semester, so it's a cool thing to talk about on your resume. The exams are handwritten, but with the cheat sheet, they're not too bad. There are five assignments in total, and you can skip one. Plus, the in-class stuff doesn't count, and participation is easy. Totally recommend this class!