Tomas Arias - Cornell University

Professor: Tomas Arias

Department: TBD

College: Cornell University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS3316
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Arias gives fantastic lectures. Course website is well prepared. Homework are quite a lot but generally inspirational.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Arias was one of the most passionate professors I have had at Cornell. Even though I despised physics, he somehow managed to make me enjoy the class.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Arias is a nice guy, but is not very accessible to get help from. The P-Sets were incredibly difficult, covering material not taught and requiring 5-12 hours a week in office hours. The TA's often weren't sure how to do the questions (citing them as being harder than some of their grad-level P-Sets). OHs were ALWAYS packed (50-80 kids at a time).

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Arias is a wonderful professor that really cares about his students. The problem sets and lecture videos/pre-class exercises are a lot of work, but Professor Arias' dedication to his job makes it very enjoyable and worth it!!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Take him now - it will be a fun ride.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good teacher, only complaint is that the tests questions were asked in very obscure and confusing ways. Many of the tests were based on randomly plugging in formulas, without the need for much physics.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYS3316
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Arias knows A LOT, and wants to meticulously prove things to his students. He is a GREAT lecturer, and is very open to talking to students both in and out of class. Homework was really difficult and took many hours (for me, 8-15), but I did come out of it a lot better at math.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Arias is very passionate, which makes lectures more enjoyable. Other than that the class is crap. The discussion section is not representative of the difficulty of prelims. The problem sets are WAY too hard and do not help you for the prelims. In my experience, you feel like you know your stuff and then the test rolls around and you don't.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I liked the flipped format of the class but I found the homeworks to be unnecessarily difficult. The tests were difficult but nicely curved. The lecture videos and questions were informative, organized, and easy to complete. If you put in the time to understand everything and attend lecture as the course goes on, you can do well.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Physics E&M was a lot of work and demanded a lot of time that I sadly did not always have. Prof. Arias is a really nice guy who genuinely cares about his students and is truly happy when the median grade on exams is high. Don't sweat the problem sets too much, as long as you understand the Co-Ops you'll be okay for exams.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Arias really cares about the students. He gets very happy when people in class understand the topics in lecture, and if they don't, he does his best to clear things up. This course is very fast-paced, and Arias doesn't like to waste much time. The problem sets are incredibly challenging, but if you understand the COOPs you'll be fine on the prelims

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He really wanted to see us succeed and seemed genuinely happy when prelim scores were high. Probably the most likable professor I've had so far.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He kind of reminds me of a dad. He was very approachable and encouraging during office hours. I started off struggling, but he was always willing to accommodate my learning style. Some people liked the flipped classroom method, and things really started to click once we switched to videos.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• 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:

Prof. Arias is a good teacher. I learned a lot through his 'flipped classroom' method of teaching. I would highly recommend watching the video lectures at a faster pace, as Arias speaks kind of slowly and pauses a lot. You can take a 45 minute video lecture and turn it into a 12 minute lecture. Major time saver. Definitely attend lecture.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Arias is the best professor that I have had in my time at Cornell. He is kind, approachable, knowledgeable, and an all-around great guy. When students voiced concerns, may it be with format or content, he listened and acted, at one point even starting to produce hour-long video lectures to help. He is amazing, and deserves high praise.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Clearest professor I've ever had. Empathizes with what the student knows and doesn't on a intimate level. However, you'll have to do a lot of work for his class (if you want to do well, that is).

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: 2213
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Arias is truly dedicated to making sure his students understand the material. The exams (with the exception of the multiple choice on the first one) were very fair and very straightforward. Problem sets were challenging but very doable. He also made himself available for questions and pretty much wouldn't let you leave until you understood it!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Best professor I've had in my four semesters thus far. He's extremely helpful and genuinely wants everyone to succeed. He's also very passionate about the material and teaches is better than anyone else could. If you have a chance to take a class with him, don't pass it up.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Simply the greatest

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS2213
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Arias is an amazing professor. If you ever have to take 2213, make sure he is teaching. Arias is so caring about students performance, and he is genuinely a nice guy. This is a really difficult course, especially if you struggled in multivariable like I did. The problem sets are hard, but they prepare you well for the exams which are pretty fair