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- Brent Corbin
- PHYSICS 6C
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Sure, Corbin is a tough professor. But honestly, if you're looking for an easy ride, you clearly aren't meant to be at UCLA. I hate physics, and yet this class made it very do-able for me. It takes work and a fair amount of studying, but the curve is very generous. He likes to try weird problems on the midterms so if you get a low grade, don't fret. The final was much more straightforward, as he himself said it would be. As long as you stay above the curve (usually really low anyways), then you will be fine. And hey, you might use your brain for the first time in your life and learn something!
His lecturing is really good, but when it comes to midterms and finals
you will see the problems that you've never learned it before.
The first midterm average was 30%
Also if you cannot make to his OH, never take him
Everyone seems to think that Corbin is such an amazing professor. Though he does know his stuff, I feel like he did not explain concepts, simple concepts at that, very well at all. He needs to realize we really don't care about the subject and just want to learn what we have to know. He needs to learn how to stay on track and not deviate from course requirements. I also don't think it's fair that he lectures on stuff that is "not found in any textbook" (according to him), because if you don't understand it you can't get help from any text. Also, if you can't make his office hours, you apparently miss out on a lot. Sometimes in lecture, if he can't finish a topic because of time constraints he would say that he'd finish it in office hours, which would suck for you if you can't make it. All important information should be taught IN CLASS, and only other questions and examples should be done in office hours.
With that said, although his averages are insanely low, he can't fail everyone, and the curve is pretty high. It's definitely not very hard to get an A or a B in his class, just like in every other physics class. The concepts in 6C are pretty straightforward if you like optics and fluids and that sort of thing.
A piece of advice for his tests: try and do as much as possible, but if you see a problem that you have no idea how to do (which is usually like 60% of his tests), then move on and try to get some points for other problems. Simply writing random (but relevant) equations down gets you a couple points every here and there. Don't be afraid to draw pictures too. The graders are pretty lenient. Oh, and the workshops are very helpful, I definitely recommend them :)
But, to save you the trouble of constantly worrying about low midterm grades, just take another professor.
If you are thinking about taking Corbin for 6C, you must be prepared to work for your grade. Like the others have said, he is a great teacher when it comes to lecturing and knowing his stuff. Don't be fooled by high curves and whatnot, he expects you to know the material - you can't get by with memorizing formulas and writing them down expecting to get credit. Be prepared to put in many hours of studying because his midterms are tough (he likes to have "fun" with it, so don't expect to be able to finish it), but his final is very fair. All in all, he is a great teacher, but don't expect to slack off and make it through like other physics classes. I have a lot of respect for Corbin, but oh lord the hours i spent trying to understand it well... Don't rely on the book, you must attend lecture, his office hours are very helpful even if there are 30 people trying to cram into his office.
The first week of class, "Brent" (we call him that by his request) derived Maxwell's equations and covered the board with vector gradients, partial derivatives, and other forms of calculus that the class had either forgotten or never seen before. This wittled the class down to about 70 students (compared to the other 6C lecture, Bertello's, which had about 200 students), but Corbin's tests were very fair and not much harder than other 6 series professors I've had. He tries to throw in little curveballs to make his tests more critical-thinking oriented, and not plug-and-chug. You aren't allowed to bring an equation sheet either, which forces you to really study and understand the material. Overall, though, in spite of his initial scariness, he isn't really that hard. (At least for the 6 series, anyway... I heard his 1 series tests are killer). He's the friendliest, most caring professor I've ever had. He really tries to get to know you, and remember your name. He makes friendly jokes around during office hours, and looks out for every student.
Sure, Corbin is a tough professor. But honestly, if you're looking for an easy ride, you clearly aren't meant to be at UCLA. I hate physics, and yet this class made it very do-able for me. It takes work and a fair amount of studying, but the curve is very generous. He likes to try weird problems on the midterms so if you get a low grade, don't fret. The final was much more straightforward, as he himself said it would be. As long as you stay above the curve (usually really low anyways), then you will be fine. And hey, you might use your brain for the first time in your life and learn something!
His lecturing is really good, but when it comes to midterms and finals
you will see the problems that you've never learned it before.
The first midterm average was 30%
Also if you cannot make to his OH, never take him
Everyone seems to think that Corbin is such an amazing professor. Though he does know his stuff, I feel like he did not explain concepts, simple concepts at that, very well at all. He needs to realize we really don't care about the subject and just want to learn what we have to know. He needs to learn how to stay on track and not deviate from course requirements. I also don't think it's fair that he lectures on stuff that is "not found in any textbook" (according to him), because if you don't understand it you can't get help from any text. Also, if you can't make his office hours, you apparently miss out on a lot. Sometimes in lecture, if he can't finish a topic because of time constraints he would say that he'd finish it in office hours, which would suck for you if you can't make it. All important information should be taught IN CLASS, and only other questions and examples should be done in office hours.
With that said, although his averages are insanely low, he can't fail everyone, and the curve is pretty high. It's definitely not very hard to get an A or a B in his class, just like in every other physics class. The concepts in 6C are pretty straightforward if you like optics and fluids and that sort of thing.
A piece of advice for his tests: try and do as much as possible, but if you see a problem that you have no idea how to do (which is usually like 60% of his tests), then move on and try to get some points for other problems. Simply writing random (but relevant) equations down gets you a couple points every here and there. Don't be afraid to draw pictures too. The graders are pretty lenient. Oh, and the workshops are very helpful, I definitely recommend them :)
But, to save you the trouble of constantly worrying about low midterm grades, just take another professor.
If you are thinking about taking Corbin for 6C, you must be prepared to work for your grade. Like the others have said, he is a great teacher when it comes to lecturing and knowing his stuff. Don't be fooled by high curves and whatnot, he expects you to know the material - you can't get by with memorizing formulas and writing them down expecting to get credit. Be prepared to put in many hours of studying because his midterms are tough (he likes to have "fun" with it, so don't expect to be able to finish it), but his final is very fair. All in all, he is a great teacher, but don't expect to slack off and make it through like other physics classes. I have a lot of respect for Corbin, but oh lord the hours i spent trying to understand it well... Don't rely on the book, you must attend lecture, his office hours are very helpful even if there are 30 people trying to cram into his office.
The first week of class, "Brent" (we call him that by his request) derived Maxwell's equations and covered the board with vector gradients, partial derivatives, and other forms of calculus that the class had either forgotten or never seen before. This wittled the class down to about 70 students (compared to the other 6C lecture, Bertello's, which had about 200 students), but Corbin's tests were very fair and not much harder than other 6 series professors I've had. He tries to throw in little curveballs to make his tests more critical-thinking oriented, and not plug-and-chug. You aren't allowed to bring an equation sheet either, which forces you to really study and understand the material. Overall, though, in spite of his initial scariness, he isn't really that hard. (At least for the 6 series, anyway... I heard his 1 series tests are killer). He's the friendliest, most caring professor I've ever had. He really tries to get to know you, and remember your name. He makes friendly jokes around during office hours, and looks out for every student.
Based on 21 Users
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