I am not a physics major, and if I'm honest I'd rather not take physics. That said, Corbin made the class fairly interesting and engaging. He went a bit psycho on the last day talking about gravity waves and no one really knew what he was talking about. His midterms have hard problems but they are more a test of speed than knowledge. Fortunately on the final there was enough time to work through the problems which I think helped bring up my grade. One big advantage of Corbin's class is that he doesn't require a textbook or mastering physics, which are big checks down the drain for the other professors' classes. Overall he is a good professor; would take him again but I have a time conflict next quarter.

Yes, Corbin's class is difficult. However, that does not mean that it is difficult to do well in his class. People who claim that his class is a GPA killer are just plain wrong. All you have to do is stay ahead of the curve, which is not a difficult task when the averages on his midterms were 38 and 42 out of 90. Do the homework problems he recommends, take note of the problems he mentions in lecture could be tested, and pray you have a TA as helpful as Agnieszka.

As for Corbin himself, he is a wonderful professor. However, unless you had an absolutely terrible high school physics experience, he will not "rebuild your physics understanding from the ground up," as previous reviewers have argued. What he will do is ensure that you fully understand the important concepts in mechanics and are able to apply these principles to complex problems.

Take Corbin. You'll be fine.

Is it the toughest physics class UCLA has to offer for the series? Yes

I've heard he uses only variables in all his questions "Yes. You've heard right. Nowhere in the course would you encounter a single problem that uses a number"

But do you feel fucking awesome and a deep sense of fulfillment after reaching where he wants you to reach? FUCKING YES. If you plan to have a career in a science, don't miss the opportunity to have this man as your professor and his squad of awesome TAs

I took his class a few quarters ago. He is a great teacher. He teaches you physics like how it should be in real life. His exams are hard because he expect students to use what they learnt. And it is not going to be a problem if you don't get a high score, you just have to comprehend what he teaches and you might be able to get an A with a 60 points.

Corbin is like all other reviews before said, awesome. He geniuely cares about his students and them doing well in his class. I came into this class with great scores on both AP Physics C classes and got a pretty big shock. He essentially rebuilt my knowledge of physics from the ground up and taught it in a very detailed way. I go to most office hours and he actually mentions a lot of what goes on the midterms and exams during this time. He needs a bigger office. Great man, loves to curse, funny as hell, loves kit radios.

By far the funniest lecturer I have ever had. He definitely makes physics very interesting and motivates people to learn physics for fun, and not as a chore. That being said, his midterms and final were the hardest tests I have ever taken, and if it weren't for his generous grading and partial credit, everyone would fail his class. Go to the lectures and office hours if you can, do lots of practice problems and an A is not impossible.

I took Physics 1A, 1B, and 1C with Professor Corbin. If I hadn't, my first two years at UCLA would have been much worse. Not only is Professor Corbin an excellent lecturer, he has a way of making 200-person lower-div physics classes seem very small (this is especially due to his tight-knit office hours groups). In short, take Corbin. He actually is not that hard (that is, if you do problems in multiple books and go to office hours frequently) and you will leave his class a better thinker (and I got A's in 1A and 1B and am expecting an A in 1C, so it definitely is possible!)

Professor Corbin is easily the best professor that I have had thus far at UCLA. I have taken Physics 1A and 1B with him, and I will be taking Physics 1C with him in the Fall. I will be entering my Sophomore, and from what I have heard about my future professors, Corbin will eclipse all of them.
DO NOT listen to the people who say that he is intentionally trying to screw people over in terms of grades. Those people obviously never went to his office hours (which he has nearly every day). He genuinely cares about our education, and I find that to be the best quality a professor can ever have.
I'm not saying this because I have gotten an A in both of the first two classes with him. I am a C and B student, trust me. I just think that the value of the education I receive from Corbin is better than what I would get from anybody else.
I'm not going to lie to you, his tests are really hard. And when I say hard, I mean the average is usually around 30-40%. But don't think of that as a reason not to take him. He is making sure that you understand the material more than just merely memorizing the equations. He wants you to be "fluent", not "familiar".
Definitely take Corbin. It will make your education experience better here. And everyone can take a slight hit to their GPA, even though it is definitely possible to get a B or maybe an A in his class.

My brother is a freshman and he just told me that corbin's class was the first physics 1A class to be completely filled. I couldn't believe that it wasn't Holczer's class ... his class is so easy . Its open book, and his midterms and finale is from his homework. You do the homework and you're almost guaranteed an A. I took 91A with corbin and it was the worst class I ever took in UCLA, his lectures are way too difficult.

this class isnt hard if youve taken ap physics b (or ap physics c mechanics i would imagine but i guess you would have passed out of it). basically its mechanics so moving stuff but with a little calculus involved and some rotational stuff. i can say that i learned very little because i already knew most of it. lecture is 4 times a week and theres a discussion so this class will get very boring over time. midterms and final are all conceptual so not numbers involved. on each of his midterm there is one homework problem on it. i got burned out over the homework so i recommend just looking at the answers