Corbin was an extremely interesting professor. His lectures are fun and he explains everything with the utmost clarity. He does not assign any homework which makes life easier. But his tests are a totally different story cause they are ridiculously difficult. People average at a 30% on his tests. However, you feel better cause everyone does just as bad so the curve is wonderful. If you're looking for an easy A Corbin is not the prof for you... but if you just wanna have some fun and actually learn physics go for him, even though you're GPA will take a plunge.

If you love learning take this class! Like everybody says, Corbin's class is very very challenging and you will likely find yourself frustrated with your results on the exams. Sure, it's a trial by fire, but you will come out of this class actually understanding physics. Corbin's lectures are actually fun to attend and his explanations are incredibly clear. The guy has a lot of personality and humor. DON'T blow off the homework even though it's not graded and not nearly as hard as the tests. If you can work through those problems quickly and accurately, you will be ok. Use them to build your problem-solving skills so that you will know how to approach the crazy questions on the exams and not panic. His tests aren't in the test bank, so don't bother. I highly recommend going to office hours (make sure to bring questions!). Conceptual issues are best addressed there (versus homework problems, which Corbin seems to prefer that you try to struggle through yourself because him telling you the answer doesn't teach you as much). If you put a lot into this class, you will get a lot out! Try to enjoy yourself and don't be too harsh on yourself when you get that first midterm back. When it comes to later courses, you'll be miles ahead of your classmates because you survived physics with Corbin.

I absolutely loved this class. Corbin is a fantastic lecturer and he really teaches you Physics at a high level. He doesn't go easy on you at all. He doesn't collect homework but you need to do the homework and study all the in-class problems if you want to do well in the course. My favorite prof so far.

I loved Corbin. If you're the type of person who truly wants to learn and understand physics, Corbin is the guy to take. Many STEM classes focus more on teaching you a lot of stuff (counting dots) but don't show you how it all comes together (connecting dots). Corbin definitely does the latter.

I really enjoyed going to his office hours too. I didn't at first, thinking it would be unnecessary for an intro mechanics class; I later realized that Corbin's OH exposes you to all kinds of awesome material beyond the scope of 1A. The class is challenging, but the learning curve is very steep.

Like other reviewers have said, you need to come into this class with the understanding that it won't be an easy A. You need to be prepared to do problems, practice, and pay attention in lecture. Luckily, Corbin is a great lecturer, but in the end you must still be willing to put in the effort to really understand the concepts behind each question.

Overall, I would take 1A with him again because I learned a lot about how to study physics, but I would not take 1B or 1C with him because I'm not in a major that needs a deep understanding of physics anyways. Would strongly recommend for Physics/Mech E majors though.

Corbin's confusing. Honestly, I don't know why all the ratings seem so great about Corbin's clarity and all that. I felt like he made the math pretty confusing and it was hard to follow. I feel like he also crammed a lot of the topics in and I didn't feel like I had enough time to do the homework. I even got a good grade in this class and yet I still didn't like the way the class was taught.

The rumors are true this is possibly the toughest class I have ever taken at UCLA. Corbin is a solid lecturer that keeps me interested, mostly because I am frantically trying to understand the notes he is writing on the board, and speaks good English. Sometimes I wish he used a a mic because it is hard to hear the farther away from the front you get. The exams are nearly impossible and are very calc heavy especially the final. If you love physics and love complex math derivations on exams take Corbin. If you want an easy A go somewhere else.

Corbin is the best Physics professor I have ever seen. Although he always express his contempt towards math, he did indeed give the deepest mathematical explanation towards all the concepts. Even the text book fails to reach the level of his clarity. As a math major, I highly recommend the course to everyone who wants the "dark truth" of mechanics and to those who enjoy solving algebra problems containing only characters (without number).
His exams are fun :D

I took the legendary Corbin for the entire 1 series and I don't regret it. I'm not sure I can say anything about his classes that hasn't already been said, but I'll go ahead regardless.

Corbin is an excellent lecturer who wants nothing more than for everyone to understand the material as well as he does (that's actually his informal criterion for an "A" grade). He teaches and tests physics the right way, which is in variables only (no "plug and chug" here), and correspondingly ditches the useless "mastering physics" homework. He assigns book problems, but you can really do as many or as few as you want at your discretion since he doesn't collect any. You can really do problems out of any good physics textbook you can get your hands on, but it's safest to go with the recommended book (he posts recommended problems for the last few editions). Not collecting homework also means that your grade is entirely dependent on the two midterms (25% each) and final (50%).

His lectures do tend to be fast and math-intensive. You have some time to get your math skills to where they need to be during 1A, but if by 1B and 1C they are still lacking, you won't be able to keep up with his lectures, and you'll end up having to do way more work just to make sense of the notes you scribble down. But make no mistake: knowing your math doesn't mean you'll necessarily do well. It just means you have the chance to.

All of his classes are difficult with good reason. His main testing philosophy is that an easy test with a high average doesn't tell him (or you) how well you know physics. He makes ludicrously difficult exams with low averages so that a high score means you really know your stuff, and that a low score doesn't seal your fate. He is well aware that his tests are brutal, so he tries his best to reward hard work with generously-curved grades at the end of the quarter, particularly taking it into account if you do well on the final. But as he likes to say, you can't fake your way through physics, at least not with him.

The bottom line is that, in my opinion, Corbin is a solid choice for the 1 series because you come out of it well-prepared for whatever physics-related upper divs you have on the horizon as a physical science or engineering major.

Corbin's reputation precedes him.

As many other reviews state: Corbin genuinely cares about learning, something that you won't find very much of in South Campus at UCLA.

He's one of the few professors, if not the only professor, that's made me *want* to go to lecture. Never did I want to skip a lecture because I wanted to learn, I wanted to be engaged with what was taught. I made it a priority to attend lectures.

That being said, there's no podcasting. His lectures aren't posted. He doesn't use slides. You *have* to come to class. And it's worth it! He explains the material very very well.

His exams are brutal. Do-able, but not in the time-frame given. To study, the best way is to master the material such that you can do problems FAST. Doing textbook problems under time constraints is probably the best way to do this.

He doesn't care for mastering physics, which is great, and he doesn't assign homework, which is greater. However, if you're going to stand any chance of surviving his exams, you better knock out a lot of practice problems.

In regards to his office hours, they're entertaining. I wouldn't necessary say they're beneficial (I only went a few times), but there's always a lot going on. That being said, if you take the extra effort to go out every week and really get to know him, the chances that you'll fail do get slimmer.

Good luck! and enjoy.