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PHYS 1010 The Physical Universe
Last taught: Fall 2018
16 Ratings
Average GPA
⏱ Hours/Week
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Recommend
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Average GPA
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14 Reviews

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Fall 2018
3.7
Average

I hate physics, but I LOVED this course. Professor Neu is great, and he is always available for office hours. The hw on mastering physics can be tough, but if you ask him about the question he will explain it and it really helps. There's not too much reading and the tests are all multiple choice. Classes are dull at times, but he is pretty good at making demonstrations which makes lecture a little more interesting. I ended up with a B+; I would recommend the class for anyone looking for a science credit to get you through requirements, but it's not a GPA booster.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 3.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 3.0
Fall 2018
4.0
Average

This class isn't easy, BUT it is one of the easier math/science classes that you can take to fulfill your Arts & Sciences classes, especially if STEM classes are not your strong suit/major! Professor Neu is by far one of the most caring professors I have had at UVA thus far. As other reviews note, he genuinely cares about the wellbeing of his students, and will not fail you unless you never go to class and are disrespectful to him. He has a wide range of office hours, and always says that if you can't make them, he'll work something out. He knows the class is pretty dry (it's conceptual physics so...) but does his best to keep it engaging through in class demonstrations. There are 2 weekly readings, and online homework assignments that go along with them. Some are harder than others, but don't take more than a couple of hours. There are two midterms and a final, all of which are purely multiple choice, and pretty hard. However, Professor Neu provides you with practice exams and I highly recommend you do them, as he uses questions from the practice exam on the actual exam. He also allows you to use one double sided cheat sheet which is very helpful. This semester he offered 2 extra credit assignments to boost your exam grades which was super generous of him! The class is also curved which is a plus. Again, Professor Neu is a great guy, and truly wants his students to succeed, which is why I recommend this class!

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 3.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 4.0
Hours/Week 4.0
Fall 2018
4.3
Average

As a non-STEM brain looking to get my last Science CLAS requirement in, I was a bit blindsided by the difficulty of this course. The exams (3), though strictly multiple-choice, are reasonably difficult. However, Professor Neu is just THE best. He genuinely cares about wellbeing of his students and is always more-than-willing to provide feedback, meet for extra help or grant extra credit. Lectures can get dry but on any given days he will spend 60% of the class period doing conceptual demonstrations to keep his students awake. I recommend this course solely due to the fact that he is hands-down one of the best professors I've ever had.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 4.0
Hours/Week 6.0
Fall 2018
4.7
Average

Prof. Neu was engaging and entertaining but as someone who does not do well with science, I still would recommend this course. The exams are difficult and if you don't speak science, you will not like these exams. However, Prof. Neu is super helpful, just go to his office hours and take advantage of his extra credit. You will be fine in the course even if science is not your strong suit, trust me.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 4.0
Hours/Week 0.0
January 2018
4.7
Average

Professor Neu is hilarious and makes the lecture worthwhile. The tests are definitely hard so you need to do the reading and really study-- but Professor Neu is always willing to help.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 0.0
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Fall 2017
5.0
Average

TAKE THIS CLASS. Professor Neu is the best at making a class enjoyable. There are many fun demos he does and he really tries to engage the students. He also tries to make the class easy for students and always tries to be available to help students when they need it. The exams are not too hard as long as you study. You need to read the textbook because he has quizzes based on the chapters. Overall, this is an amazing intro class (esp for non-science people).

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 3.0
Hours/Week 4.0
Fall 2017
5.0
Average

I am definitely not a hard-science person, but this class was so fun and interesting! Professor Neu made the class really engaging and really cared about his students in general. Very helpful to go to his office hours as well. There's a lot of material, so it wasn't necessarily easy, but was definitely worth taking!

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 5.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 4.0
Hours/Week 6.0
Spring 2017
4.0
Average

Prof. Neu is great but the class definitely is harder than it needs to be.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Fall 2017
4.3
Average

Professor Neu is such a nice guy! He is very passionate about the subject and he keeps it engaging with all the demos he does. Your only homework is mostly multiple choice questions due once a week, that take about half an hour to do, and reading a chapter from the textbook that takes anywhere from half an hour to an hour if you don't just skim it. I would highly recommend this class for non-science majors (such as myself) who want a science class that is not too difficult.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 2.0
Fall 2016
4.7
Average

Professor Neu is extremely intelligent and a great guy. Lectures got a little dry sometimes but his experiments and demonstrations made up for it. Homework is a really grade buffer as it's 25% of your grade. If you put it in the effort you can pull out an A- pretty easily and learn a lot.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 5.0
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