He prefaced this class by telling us it was the hardest physics lab offered for undergraduates. While I don't know how necessarily true this statement is, I personally found this class very, very, time consuming and difficult. What is nice is the collaborative atmosphere with fellow classmates because its so small (6 of us this quarter), so make friends quickly!

It's hard because you're learning brand new skills every week which are the utter basics of optical design (AMO, physical chemistry, imaging science) , including polarizers, waveplates, lasers, optical cavities, etc. I personally don't have an immediate gift for experimental science and struggled quite a bit as I kept learning new things. The actual quantum part is the final experiment which is an experimental verification of Bell's Inequality (an optional Hong-Ou-Mandel). That being said, this class is so cool and more importantly, immediately useful. I thought optics from lower div was god awful boring until we started looking at the more advanced EM topics that you don't typically learn from 110 series. Plus, you get a stronger intuition for how QM works!

Highly recommend but not for the faint of heart.

This class was probably the best class I could've taken as a freshman. The first lecture completely blew me out of the water, but quickly, Campbell's teaching style became more comfortable. The homework is hard and time consuming, but this class was very memorable, and I met some wonderful people in it. If you want to take this class because of the challenge, then I would say to do it as long as you are aware that it is a CHALLENGE.

Campbell was a great, engaging lecturer, and moved at a quick pace to avoid distractions. I would say this though, read the book before, take notes and what it has to say, then add what Prof says afterward. Copying lecture notes may lead you astray, as he mainly just draws the scenarios and writes some of the math. He leaves out a lot of the theory/concepts. Attendance was not mandatory. A note though, if you have not taken multivariable calculus, definitely do some self-teaching, as this will make a lot of your concepts easier to follow. Campbell can overcomplicate things in his lectures, so as long as you can follow along with the concepts and try to replicate his math, then you should be fine.

Overall, this class was very generous in terms of content, support, and curving. If you do not want to dedicate your life to this class, then good luck. But if you are determined to learn on a rigorous level, then this is the course for you.

Wes is an awesome professor! He is a great lecturer and truly cares about student learning. He also makes class interactive with demos and Q&As. In regards to exams, there was one midterm (30%) and the final (40%). The exams were difficult but do-able. He generously curved them as well. If you're taking physics 17, I highly recommend taking it with Campbell.

The instructor for this course is exceptional in many ways, providing an enriching and engaging learning environment. While the required textbook is primarily useful for select homework questions, its utility is limited beyond that scope. However, the lecture notes are a standout resource, diverging from the textbook yet offering comprehensive and clear insights that can significantly aid in excelling in the course. These notes are highly praised and can be a primary study material for students.

Physics 17 occupies a peculiar niche within the physics department, ostensibly serving as a foundational course for advanced studies in quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics. Despite its label as "modern physics," the content can feel somewhat dated, with certain early concepts not being extensively applied in subsequent courses. This redundancy raises questions about the course's necessity, as subsequent upper-division courses do not strictly require it as a prerequisite, allowing students to bypass it without detriment to their academic progression. This situation has led to a lack of uniformity in how the course is taught, with instructors often cherry-picking content from advanced courses, leading to disorganization and confusion.

However, Professor Campbell stands out in his approach to teaching this course. Having previously dropped this course due to a challenging experience with another instructor, my return under Professor Campbell's guidance was transformative. His methodical and step-by-step explanations make complex concepts accessible and engaging. His humor and approachability contribute to a positive and interactive classroom atmosphere, encouraging questions and fostering a deep understanding of the material. Notably, Professor Campbell designs unique and thought-provoking homework questions that enhance the learning experience.

Beyond his teaching style, Professor Campbell is exceptionally supportive, readily available outside of office hours, and quick to respond to emails. The course's pace is well-judged, ensuring that students can follow along comfortably. His approach not only prepares students well for advanced topics in physics but also instills confidence and enthusiasm for the subject.

The examinations in this course are challenging yet fair, designed as learning experiences that encourage deep understanding rather than rote memorization. Despite my initial reservations about the necessity of Physics 17 for advanced studies, Professor Campbell's instruction has been invaluable, leaving me with a strong foundation and a heightened interest in physics.

While there may be structural questions regarding the necessity of Physics 17 within the curriculum, Professor Campbell's exceptional teaching abilities and dedication to student success make a compelling case for the value he brings to the department. If given administrative authority, I would advocate for a reevaluation of the course's role within the curriculum while ensuring that instructors of Professor Campbell's caliber are recognized and rewarded for their significant contributions to student learning and engagement.

This instructor was an excellent teacher. Campbell clearly cares a lot about students not just mastering the math, but the intuition that underlies it and all the physical principles we learn. He contextualizes and explains the mindset behind the discoveries of turn-of-the-century physicists in a way that I haven't experienced from other physics professors, and I think more physics classes should be taught this way. Excellent course experience. Homework and exams are about the same as other physics courses, which the exception that the homeworks are often extrapolations of our class discussions.

This class had a very heavy workload and the tests were very difficult, but the curve was really nice in the end. The lowest grade on the midterm with the curve was something around an 82. I think if you go and talk to him at office hours, he can be very helpful, but sometimes the lectures can be a little confusing without the 1 on 1 explanations. The class is very fast paced, and you definitely should be reading the textbook. The TA for my class was amazing, so if you get a good TA the class will be a little bit easier as well.

This class ruined my life. It really is an honors class in that the grade at the end of the course is not an issue, but the mental turmoil and trauma it puts you through is. The problem sets are only 6 problems long, but would take me upwards of 8 hours a week, but I'm also not particularly great at physics so this was probably on the longer end in the class. There's also detailed solution guides online for the homework sets which saved my life. The first midterm is truly a terrible thing, but it does prepare you well for the final. There's definitely genuine value in taking this class over 1A if you're interested in physics since Professor Campbell did go much more in depth than the 1A curriculum, and he's a pretty chill guy who's passionate about what he's talking about. If you're willing to put yourself through torturous problem sets and tests, you'll get a good grade and learn something extra, but it really does drain the soul out of you.

If I’m being honest, I was terrified of this class the instant I signed up for it. If you’ve read some of the reviews of the other professors that taught this class you’d know why lol. But now that fall quarter is over I’m so grateful I took this class. Professor Campbell really is a great teacher because he’s not only trying to teach you the material, but also teach you how to think like a physics major. I remember some questions from the start of the course that felt completely impossible to do by myself… and by the end of the course those questions felt like a joke. Our TA, Charlie, was also an amazing physics super genius with very helpful office hours.
This class is only offered fall quarter, and I highly recommend not missing out on the opportunity to enroll!

P.S. I got annihilated by the midterm but don’t worry if you do well on the final you can still make it out with an A!

This professor curves down for labs. I shouldn't even need to elaborate but I will. The labs weren't particularly hard but due to the course being online in Fall 2021 (for whatever silly reason they kept a lab class online when every other one was in person at this point) the labs were notoriously difficult to set up properly to get data by the end of the course. At one point the TAs, who were really the only way to get help due to the class structure, didn't even know what to do/how to answer students questions about the labs. I went to just about every office hours trying to learn Python for this course since I had never used it before (Python should be a prereq for this course). Going to all office hours and meeting with TAs outside of their normal hours to complete my assignments to their liking I was still somehow losing points on the labs. Regardless I ended the course with ~93%. In any other course this would be an A or at least an A-. In Wesley's class this is a B+. Despite having shown significant effort to accomplish the tasks assigned to both TAs and the professor and confirming that my assignments met the requirements they were looking for before submission every time, he refused to remove the down curve because that was "representative of the work I did." The work I did didn't raise any alarms when I showed it to you before submission, make it make sense.

I loved having Prof. Campbell for mechanical physics. He is a young guy that interacts very well with students. I thought he gave some good lectures, but you can expect to fall asleep a couple times in his class. Some people love that he gives massively curved tests (the average on the first midterm was a 37%) and others don't. He is generous with the curve though to make sure that people succeed and learn something in his class. Would definitely recommend him to anyone.