Corbin is the best for 1A/B/C. Why?
No BS: no textbook required, none of that "Mastering Physics" nonsense - and he makes sure to call out that BS for what it is
Engaging lectures: it's entertaining and you're gonna *want* to go, which is good, because lecture is incredibly central to the class

Other notable features of his classes, which are good for some people but not others:
Optional homework: so awesome! but with great power comes great responsibility - basically you could save a lot of time by not doing the homework, but if you don't already have the experience to be sure you do well on his tests, you're gonna need the practice
Challenging tests but generous curve: it's a learning experience in itself
Super popular office hours: obviously they must be good, like the lectures, or they wouldn't be so popular - but I basically never went just because of how packed they tend to be. The man needs a bigger office. If you want individual attention, you might want to look to other resources

You're gonna learn, you're gonna like the lectures, and you're not gonna have to put up with BS. Take his class.

By the time you take Corbin, you will have heard how hard he is and how great of a professor he is. While both of these are mostly true, there is a little more to it than this.

Though his final and midterm scores are extremely low, the tests themselves aren't as hard as they seem. The main problem on the midterm is time. The problems are pretty predictable, and even if you miss all of the challenging parts you can still score way above the average because most people freak out for these tests and neglect to study the basics. If you don't waste time on what you don't know and think carefully before attempting each part then time is the only thing holding you back. This means practicing many problems is key so that you can recognize what to do quickly. The final gives you a lot more time per problem, but there is also a LOT of material that is fair game. If you have kept up with the material all quarter long then you should be fine. The questions themselves are much easier than the midterms if you studied the right things.

He is a great professor for many people, but not all like the comments seem to make you think. If you are someone who understands physics and math pretty well, then Corbin is about as good as you can get. If you don't have a very strong background in physics and math, then you will often get lost in his lectures. If you just write everything down and go back and look at your notes after you have practiced some problems, then things will go more smoothly. But if you are still having trouble then each lecture will get more and more confusing because his lectures really do build upon one another. And his office hours are apparently great, but good luck getting one-on-one attention if you need it.

If you are good and physics and want to become great then this is the guy for you. If you are shaky at physics and want to get better, then there are probably better options, unless you have a very good TA. Also, he often lets it be known how bad most textbooks (including the one for the class) are, but the practice problems and the simplified explanations actually complement his notes perfectly, in my opinion. Also, he makes it sound like the notes that you take are the key to doing well, but often other explanations can help make things make sense too. So, while he is a GREAT teacher, he's not quite as immortal as he wants to come off as.

Bottom line: Don't let him intimidate you. You'll hear many stories about how hard and scary he is, but he gives more A's than any other lower division physics professor, makes very useful notes to help summarize what he does in class, doesn't collect homework (but still gives suggested problems), gives a TON of partial credit, gives very predictable tests, and considers all of the test in you grade, so one bad test won't hurt you much at all.

In short: take him if you like physics and are at least moderately good at it, and don't take him if you struggle, as you will fall through the cracks. I learned to love physics even more than I did, and I got an A without going to any office hours or doing a ton of homework, but the experience is different for everyone, so, while he is a great professor, he isn't for everyone.

This is my first class review and I've felt compelled to do it because of Prof. Corbin. He is honestly the best professor I have ever had at UCLA. His tests may be hard and the workload is really a lot but if you want to learn something, nothing can beat this. I didn't take Physics 1A and B with him because of the rep he had and I regret it. You do have to be very diligent : attend discussion and do the problems, complete the hw honestly, attend office hours and do the readings. If you want an easy class, this isn't it but you can get so much value out of it. His teaching style is everything; there's a genuine sense of him wanting to teach you something.

Dr. Corbin's class is not a walk in the park, but you will pass if you put in the effort. The quizzes and tests will make you question yourself, like hard, but he curves pretty hard. You will get physics by the end of it whether you like it or not, just be prepared to put in a LOT of work and studying.

Corbin is honestly a really good lecturer and I'd even say that I liked this class. The material was interesting and Corbin's explanations were clear. This was my first time taking a class with Corbin and I feel like of the three physics classes that I have taken, I learned and understood the material the best with his class. With that said, it was just as difficult as Corbin's reputation would have you believe. As I took it online I can't speak to how it compares to his in person lectures, but I had to work very hard to do well in this class. Quizzes were very challenging, with the averages always being around a 60%. For the final I studied more for one test than I ever have in my life and still failed it. Failing the exams was pretty disheartening, but just remember that the curve is what matters. One tip that really helped me was reading the textbook along with attending the lectures to help solidify the material. If you want to do well in this class it takes a lot of work, but you will learn the material.

- Corbin is really engaging and makes physics actually interesting, rather than trivial.
- The quizzes (which were in place of the midterms) were quite hard, but nothing extremely impossible, you just have to make sure you keep up with lectures and particularly the homework. I was behind on the homework, but doing the homework really prepared you for the quizzes.
- The homeworks themselves were fairly normal, and he's very open to any questions you send him.
- For lectures, I took notes during the live lecture, then watched the uploaded recording to fill in gaps in my notes. This took time but I think it's really important.
- The final was quite hard. Most of them were based off examples done in class, but taken up a notch. If you look at the examples and try and follow a similar method, you'll be fine.

Corbin's 1C during the Covid quarter had surprisingly not too difficult quizzes, although the final was just absolute death. Fortunately, the quizzes made up the majority of the grade as opposed to the final exam (60% quizzes, 30% final, 10% mastering physics completion). He usually doesn't do homework grade, but for remote learning he has added Mastering Physics problems as kind of a grade booster, which I thought was a good addition because you really need the extra practice in a class like 1C. However, consequently, the Mastering Physics would take up a tremendous amount of time, but if you did all of them before the quizzes you should be in decent shape. Yes, Corbin's class is really hard, but he is a good lecturer, which makes up for it. Additionally, the grading seems to not be as harsh as people might think – I got full credit on a problem for having merely a "reasonable explanation" even though my answer was completely different from the one that Corbin provided in the quiz solutions. I recommend his class if you want a challenge and are willing to put in the work to learn, as well as possess the humility to be absolutely destroyed intellectually when you realize how much there is to learn.

If you are reading this review, you probably have heard the usual things people say about corbin: that his lectures are great but the exams make you want to curl up into a ball and question your existence, that you can't hide behind a note sheet or memorizing equations from the textbook because it really is conceptually challenging, and that hes a bit of a character. All these things are true, but I would recommend this class for a different reason. I think I can honestly say Corbin is one of the only professors I've had that actually cares about student's success, and not just superficial success where he gets to feel generous about giving out a bunch of A's at the end of the quarter. He actually wants/believes that his students will achieve their dreams later in life and he cares enough to teach a class where he gives them the tools to make that happen. He pretends to be tough and scary but secretly he just wants to have fun and joke around with his students. There's been a recent trend where people shy away from his class because they're afraid that the tests will be too hard, which is understandable, but the benefits of this class far outweigh the difficulty.

Took it online and I must say I only did well because I could rewatch lectures. Some of the quizzes were IMPOSSIBLE, like I didn't even bother answering part of the quizzes. Be prepared to work your ass off to do well (watching and understanding his lectures is important to doing well). If he does mastering physics again START EARLY, trust me you don't want to rush really hard physics problems in the last couple days while you have to study for a bunch of other finals. Still love Corbin <3

Very difficult material. Online he split the midterms into 5 timed quizzes each worth 10% of your grade. Final was still timed but everything was open book (obv no talking and definitely none of those ask a question sites, he cracked down on monitoring those). He used Mastering Physics for the first time this quarter making it all due at the end. If he does that again, START WEEK 1, trust me so many people didn't finish, I ended up having to do like 7 problems/day for the last couple weeks and some people had even more, and let me just tell you the human mind is not built to endure that... I very nearly went mad. Quizzes were still Corbin quizzes! You really need to actually understand the stuff, go to office hours. Corbin is an excellent explainer and I must admit some of the lectures went completely over my head the first time, but luckily you can rewatch parts you need and I don't think delivery of material could have been any better. Compared to other online classes, I thought this was one of my better ones as far as how much I actually learned, but also one of my most stressful ones.