Samir Bali - Miami University, Oxford, OH

Professor: Samir Bali

Department: Physics

College: Miami University, Oxford, OH

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS670
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

never take any course with him again. note: very disorganized.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHY000
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

If you love to learn things and sometimes not motivated enough, take his class. His class is hard (a good curve at the end for sure) but you can really learn a lot, both led by him and hard work from yourself. He is not like other professors who is so strict on their "policies", if you have situations just talk to him he is always caring.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHY191
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Samir is a fantastic professor. Physics is a challenging class, but through his lectures and the class setup (lecture with practice problems mixed in), it becomes easier. There is a good amount of HW but never too much. Very easy to meet with in office hours. Will go out of his way to help you. Offers extra credit and curves generously. Take Samir!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHY191
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Samir is a really good guy. He really makes an effort to get around to every table while doing group whiteboard problems and is good about giving feedback. If you work hard, Samir will help you and is very willing to meet to teach concepts you don't understand. He has lots of extra credit opportunities for going to extra lectures. Amazing guy.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHY191
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Samir is a funny guy and I found his class, for an 8am, to be somewhat enjoyable. You spend a lot of time working on example problems. The exams were often and comprehensive. I found his class to be all right; expect a big curve to your grade at the end.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHY191
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This course is difficult, there's no changing that. Samir is helpful in class and in office hours. The exams and sometimes the homework are extremely difficult, but persevere because there is an extremely generous curve.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHY181
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If you're going to be taking Physics 191 the course is hard and a little boring to begin with. The classes are two hours long and the material is difficult. Samir does his best to make it entertaining and enjoyable to go to class. The final I thought was the easiest exam of the class, if you're struggling go to him for help and he will help. Curves

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHY191
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Samir is such a nice person and clearly loves his job. He cares about his students' learning and is more than helpful in office hours. His exams, however, were terrible. He picked some of the hardest questions for every exam. If you give it your full effort and still aren't happy with your grade, just remember there is a curve at the end!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHY191
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Honestly no matter how many countless hours I spent preparing for this class there is absolutely no way of being prepared. Samir doesn't teach, he reads slides & gives problems that have no correlation to any of the quizzes or tests (which are also impossible).

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHY191
• Grade Received: D+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Literally doesn't help with any of the work. Provides no description of how to do the work and expects you to figure everything out on your own. His exams are next to impossible if you dont spend DAYS studying for them, and in class exams are rarely ever passed by more than half of the class

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHY181
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Took this class with Bali, if you actually go to every single class and do the homework, this class with him doesn't end up being any harder than general chemistry, it's honestly up to the student, he teaches it much better than beer.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHY182
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Bali is obviously very passionate about his field. He works hard to help students that wish to actually learn and excel in Physics. Don't expect to skip out on class AND ace it at the same time. Just pay attention, take notes, and ask questions.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHY182
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

your understanding of certain concepts is assumed. As a class/group he does not have much patience however very supportive on a one on one basis.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHY182
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Samir tries to be friends but his true colors come out in his grading. He loves to do experiments but then expects you to know things that are barely covered or not covered in class on the test. Overall I felt like he did a bad job explaining and because he did not know how to explain better he left out useful info. I would not recommend him.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYS670
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

If I could first point out the inherent difficulties in teaching Physics not to mention when the students are not majors. I was a Physics Major. Samir succeeds where many other Physics profs. fail at not teaching down to his students. Yes he like all good Physics profs. grade HARD because of the many fine details there are to distinguish students.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHY182
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Great guy, bad teacher. Notes are hard to follow, and he struggles with his own notes, forgetting what he was going to say. Very unorganized. Teaches/test you on outside material. Exams have unnecessarily complex and difficult hw-style problems that ask you to solve/derive things that haven't been discussed in class or hw. Definitely avoid.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHY181
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The first 2 exams are challenging.if you take the time to understand the homework problems, are able work with formulas (not just plug and chug), and take good notes in class, you will do fine.He's very interested in your learning and throws in some cool additional material related to his research, nothing too complicated.Always willing to help.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHY181
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Samir is a great guy and really enjoys his subject. He truly wants you to learn and do well but that doesn't seem to stop him from giving extremely hard tests. You will have to work very hard but you will learn.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHY182
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is interested in students' learning, but he is a horrible overall teacher. His notes suck: if you didn't go to the class you can't really follow them. He adds his own material that is not in the book and no other profs cover. Tests are hard and you have to derive stuff (why? it's already been done). I would try to avoid him if at all possible.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHY181
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Samir was a really good professor once you got to know his style. Expect to do a lot of work outside of class for him and study hard for the exams. He ends up curving a lot and he really wants everyone to be successful. He is very funny and he loves what he does so it makes physics fun. Also, he loves experiments which are fun.