PHYS 2040

To start off, this is the worst class I have ever taken at uva. The material is often not related to the lecture material or is completely out of sync. DO NOT take this class if you dont have to. If you do have to, I would recommend taking it later in the week so that you can get an idea of what youre in for from friends. You have a pre-lab assignment and a post-lab quiz for every lab, and both are frustrating, time consuming, and horrible. This class is way too much work for 1 credit. The in-lab procedures seem easy, but then you get to the in-lab questions and realize that they are often poorly written and unclear. Additionally, only the 2-3 toughest questions will be graded on any given in-lab assignment. Only 1-2 A's are given out in each section of 20-25 students. The TA you get will significantly influence your perception of the class, as Maxim is always tucked away in his office and unwilling to help when asked. The best thing I could possibly recommend is to invest in Chegg, it will save you a lot of time and trouble, I only wish I had realized this sooner. Grace was probably the best TA I've had at uva, she was really nice, passionate, helpful, and even kind of cute - if possible, take her section. I will say that the first semester lab was worse because there was more error propagation, but don't be fooled, this lab is completely useless as well. I got a 95.5% in the class and ended up with an A-, after working my ass off for this garbage 1 credit class. If you manage to get straight A's in all of your other premed classes, but not this one, you are for sure not alone. After two semesters of this bushleague, I can honestly say that I came away with next to nothing except for a strong disdain for Maxim, the group assignment system (in 2 semesters, only maybe 3/10 of my groups offered any help at all), and the material (I used to love physics).

Only take this class is absolutely necessary. It was rather boring and, like semester I, a grade crunch between a bunch of pre-medical students. The labs took too long for the period allotted and thus understanding could not be reached. Oftentimes, setting up the experiment took longer than performing the experiment and getting results from it. Moreover, occasionally the PASCO software will glitch and mess up the data collection causing students to have to start over. Group post-labs are a nice change though and I appreciate that Bychkov is at least trying to better the course. However, it has a long way to go in my opinion. Modification of the lab experiments themselves would be the best way to start. All in all, avoid this class if you truly don't need it. If you are not at the top, you will end up with anywhere from a C to a B+.

What *is* boring? This lab class is a great supplement to the lecture class. You work with your hands using interesting equipment and get a better visual for the course material, as this semester it's sometimes "invisible" and more small-scale. Lab topics align with lecture content through the semester, and you rotate through and meet other students and hash out concepts, test ideas, and work on assignments. It was emailed to us this Spring 2018 semester that about 50% of students were destined for a grade in the A range (A or A-), and the final GPA average was nearly a 3.4. Though the labs are not perfect (*what* is perfect? Nothing!), it's reasonable to get them done within the time allotted, and if you run into issues, you can just ask a TA for help.

It is absurd the amount of work that one must do for a 1 credit lab. Only take this class if you really need to--which is really if your a pre-med student. The main key to success in this class is making time to go to the TAs office hours as they are really helpful--that's the way in which I managed to finish all of the postlabs in time. Also if possible try read over the lab manual before lab as that will prepare you mentally for what is to come in lab and it definitely helps typing up some of the responses to the in lab assignment before you go to class to actually work on the experiments.

For a 1-credit class, it is a massive amount of work - I would argue that this lab took up more time, weekly, than any of my other courses. Still, as a pre-med student, you can't really escape it and just need to make sure you get every single point possible. I highly recommend that you go into grader office hours to contest grading of the lab reports - the graders often wrongly or unfairly take off points, so its an easy way to boost your grade if needed. Additionally, many of the postlab quizzes are pretty tough if you don't go into office hours; some of the TAs will basically tell you what to do to get the right answer, so its worth it.

Time consuming for no reason, and little to gain. The course is a game of Poker. If you get the good TAs, the nice grader, and great group mates you’re set for an A or A- . If you get the bad TAs, the harsh grader, and bad group mates, you’re getting anything from a C to a B, if you work your butt off maybe a B+ or A-. It’s obvious that there are huge difference since some sections no one gets an A others half of them do.