Physics 7B

[Going_The_Distance]

<p>Has anyone taken Physics 7B over the summer? Good idea or no?</p>

[double]

<p>bump…</p>

[calkid]

<p>physics 7b is hard as hell during the semester so maybe the summer session is easier</p>

[Student]

<p>Here’s a copy of my previous response to a similar question:</p>

<p>

Oh no…the instructors for Phys 7A and 7B are terrible, and their curves are very unfriendly. The same instructors return every summer: Bloxham for 7A and Weston for 7B. Only half of Bloxham’s class receives A’s and B’s (compared to 65% in the regular year), and Weston curves around a B-/C+, with the top sixth of the class or so receiving A’s and A-'s. Weston’s exams are pure and utter BS, and even my TA’s concurred. Most of his problems involve heavy mathematics with very rigorous computations and derivations rather than physics. (Think integration by parts/u&trig substitutions, geometry, partial derivs; and, to make things worse, all tests are non-calculator.) If your math background isn’t extremely solid, you simply cannot do well on his exams. (I got an A in multivariable calculus here and a 5 on my Calculus AP, and this wasn’t nearly enough.) For the remaining problems, he picks random exercises in the textbook that are many times harder than the examples he does in class. (Good luck trying to do all of them, since there are 80-100 of them per chapter and no complete solutions.) He often tests the class on material he’s never touched upon. From what I’ve seen, the professors in the regular year give much fairer exams that test students on physics rather than math, and assign grades more generously per departmental guidelines (25%+ guaranteed an A, and 65%+ guaranteed a B). Of course, if you’re not a Berkeley student, then this isn’t an option for you, so you should definitely choose another class if you can. Simply put, don’t regret taking physics over the summer like I did…

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