Alex Zettl - University of California Berkeley

Professor: Alex Zettl

Department: Physics

College: University of California Berkeley

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7B
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is a baller. Great lectures (Really engaging). Great explanations. Very helpful during OH. The tests were okay. They correlated with his research sometimes. You should buy the Portable TA v2 to succeed and a good GSI.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I love this man. If I could take every single class with him for the rest of my college career, I would. Briefly considered switching to physics so I could work with him. I think his exams were reasonable if you paid attention in class and genuinely understood the concepts, though the final was hell. Love his mustache.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7B
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Great teacher minus his exams. Lectures were clear and understandable, but exams were BRUTAL - like 634892x the difficulty of the lecture. Final was a nightmare. Again, great lecturer and physicist, but exams were not fair considering what we learned. Exams combined various known concepts into 1 problem, but then made them as difficult as possible.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7A
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is really funny and kind. His tests are typically pretty tough, though. I got 54% on his final and that curved to an A- looool

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7A
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Absolutely amazing lecturer. He manages to make lectures hilarious and fun for the students. Explains the materials and concepts very clearly. Exams are generally fair and are based on concepts gone over in lectures (but exam questions can be a lot more complicated than the ones gone over in class).

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHY7A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

My favorite professor at Cal so far. If you have a chance to take physics with him, absolutely do it.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great Professor! His lectures were always easy to follow and he showed applicable demos. If you have a good GSI, you're golden for this class. Textbook doesn't help at all. Not an easy class, but if you go to lecture and discussion, you should be OK.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7B
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Zettl had a predictable structure to his lectures and incorporates helpful and actually interesting demos. Super personable guy too, he's fun to have a conversation with! His tests are not easy, however, so definitely start studying at least a week in advance.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7B
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Best STEM prof I've had. His lectures were interesting and kept me awake, even at 8am. Exams were hard, but homework and labs were a big chunk of the grade.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great lectures. Really helped me understand physics.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Do your best to attend lecture. You can usually get the same material out of the textbook/discussion, but he is fun and has interesting demos. Skipping his lecture is one of my greatest regrets of the semester. Make sure to do lots of practice problems and attend discussion. Tests are varying difficulty, sometimes hard and sometimes easier.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7B
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Best Professor I've had at Cal so far. Awesome, engaging lectures.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• 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:

I found his lectures boring, but it could be more due to the fact that it's mechanics and less because of him. His voice is pretty dry though, although he can be funny. Lectures are pretty helpful. The tests were brutal though, but don't sweat - it's relatively curved so chances are, everyone does badly and you'll get a better grade.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Super funny and great demos and lectures

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Brilliant lecturer. Gives fantastic explanations and also does very difficult problems in class, but manages to make them completely understandable. His tests are all across the spectrum of difficulty; now and then, they can be ridiculous, and other times, they're extremely easy. If you can, take his class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Alex Zettl talks in a low and monotonic voice. But surprisingly, his lectures are extremely interesting, not only because the course content itself is interesting, but also because the his speeches are full of humor and intelligence. I'll never forget the last lecture, in which he triggered laughter every 3 minutes.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Best physics professor. Amazing demos, just a great person, but tests are killer

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Entertaining and affable professor. Lectures mostly consist of deriving equations with some cool demos thrown in. Exams are pretty average difficulty for the Berkeley physics department.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Zettl is a great lecturer--his derivations are easy to follow, he is engaging, knowledgeable, and always has a cool demo. He is easy to understand and his handwriting is neat. Additionally, you may ask him for help on anything in office hours, and he answers thoroughly. He welcomes questions in lecture. Exams are hard, but it's Cal.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: P
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Great at lecturing but gives horrible test. Don't take the class with him if you're not a good test taker.