anonymous asked 1 year ago
Registering for physics 150 next fall, and I\\\\\\\’m only able to take the class with Lubensky, who has extremely poor reviews on RMP for this class (nearly all 1 stars, which I\\\\\\\’ve never seen before). Everyone on there says to avoid his class for 150 at all costs. There\\\\\\\’s another prof, Melnichuk, who seems much better, but his class times don\\\\\\\’t work for me. Since I\\\\\\\’m already bad at physics the reviews for Lubensky are scaring me a little… for anyone in the class right now, is he that bad of a professor? Should I try to avoid him? What do I do??
Hannah answered 1 year ago
Hi, I hope your semester is wrapping up well! Thank you for the question.
It’s understandable that you are unsure of taking a class from a professor due to the ratings on various platforms (as many students likely are!). I just wanted to remind you of some of the resources that you have access to aside from the professor for Physics 150:
- You can always join the SLC study group for Physics 150
- The SLC also has a peer tutoring program (drop-in or appointment-based)
- Physics 150 should have GSIs and/or TAs – they should hold office hours, which you can always visit for extra help.
- Your peers in the class! You can always ask/find a new friend to ask for help in the class; collaboration with each other goes a long way.
That being said, if you feel that the professor will make or break your experience in the course (as in you feel that professors have a significant influence on how you perform in the course), and your schedule is pretty flexible, it shouldn’t hurt to take Physics 150 in the future (different semester). (If you’d like, you can always ask if the lectures will be recorded for both professors and if you can have access to them.)
I hope this helps! If you’d like further clarification, please feel free to stop by our office hours or submit another question.
-Hannah, PMH Advisor.