Professor
Ferdinand Coroniti
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Most Helpful Review
So..for about the first 2-3 weeks, I had no idea what was going on in the class! For some reason Coroniti thought it would be fun to give us proofs out of our ass..that after 15 minutes, he would tell us we would not even have to know! However, after a fear of failing..I studied my ass off for the first midterm and surprisingly did really good! The average was 48/100 and I got a 59..Despite his rampant proofs, Coroniti is really nice, and begs (literally) for questions during lecture. He also tells you exactly what types of problems are going to be on the tests and he really guides your studying so that you can study efficiently. He did not recommend us to do random practice problems, like we did in 1A..so I didn't! The lectures get SO much better after the first midterm once you get into Electric fields and Gauss's Law and Electric Potential. They really helped, especially with example problems. The second midterm was fair as well, however I underestimated the difficulty of Taylor series expansions which were a significant part of the grade. The test was also way to long for a 50min class! The average was a 55/100 and I got a 51 (& the graders are GREAT with partial credit). The last stretch of material, circuits and magnetic fields are surprisingly really interesting (despite having to use torque again). He once again told us all the types of problems that were going to be on the final. And for all of his tests he recommends doing all the homework problems as practice problems (which i think helped)..The final was hard as shit though (but doable), he somehow made a vertical mass on a spring hard as hell! But in general, if you studied well, one could literally get more than half credit on each problem. And some of them were so reminiscent of previous midterm problems but with a slight twist they were still okay. Some of the problems were daunting at first, but after sitting and thinking about them, you could definitely have a couple of epiphanies during the final. I ended up with a B in the class (and i hate physics with allll of my heart & soul)..Even though i think I should have got a B+!
So..for about the first 2-3 weeks, I had no idea what was going on in the class! For some reason Coroniti thought it would be fun to give us proofs out of our ass..that after 15 minutes, he would tell us we would not even have to know! However, after a fear of failing..I studied my ass off for the first midterm and surprisingly did really good! The average was 48/100 and I got a 59..Despite his rampant proofs, Coroniti is really nice, and begs (literally) for questions during lecture. He also tells you exactly what types of problems are going to be on the tests and he really guides your studying so that you can study efficiently. He did not recommend us to do random practice problems, like we did in 1A..so I didn't! The lectures get SO much better after the first midterm once you get into Electric fields and Gauss's Law and Electric Potential. They really helped, especially with example problems. The second midterm was fair as well, however I underestimated the difficulty of Taylor series expansions which were a significant part of the grade. The test was also way to long for a 50min class! The average was a 55/100 and I got a 51 (& the graders are GREAT with partial credit). The last stretch of material, circuits and magnetic fields are surprisingly really interesting (despite having to use torque again). He once again told us all the types of problems that were going to be on the final. And for all of his tests he recommends doing all the homework problems as practice problems (which i think helped)..The final was hard as shit though (but doable), he somehow made a vertical mass on a spring hard as hell! But in general, if you studied well, one could literally get more than half credit on each problem. And some of them were so reminiscent of previous midterm problems but with a slight twist they were still okay. Some of the problems were daunting at first, but after sitting and thinking about them, you could definitely have a couple of epiphanies during the final. I ended up with a B in the class (and i hate physics with allll of my heart & soul)..Even though i think I should have got a B+!
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Most Helpful Review
Many people will think that this professor is hard. That's true. But at the same time, anyone who actually puts in the time and effort to understand the derivations he does in class and focus on the important things he says during lecture can earn an A. My track record in Physics was a C in Physics 1A and a B+ in Physics 1B. In an effort to finish off the 1 series on a high note, I decided to step up my game: I was really attentive in class, attempted the homework without ever referring the answer key, and go visit him during office hours to clarify my notes. He was very nice and was willing to answer all my questions. How does he grade? For Physics 1C in Fall 2015, it was 5% homework, 22.5% per midterm (x2), and 50% final. How hard were his exams? In the language of the earliest reviews, this is a snapshot. 1st midterm: avg 55/100, got 77 2nd midterm: avg 44/100, got 79 Final: ???/225 My final grade: A Ironically, he goes over what will appear on the exams. He says exactly how many questions will appear, the topics they will cover individually, and some practice problems relevant to the topic. Yet people still seemed to have trouble. Having understood what the professor wants from the midterms, I didn't find the final difficult at all, though I wouldn't say it was that easy either. Nothing's easy. But it felt like a good puzzle that pulled some tricks from the past midterms, but nothing really surprising. His exam questions emphasized derivations he had done in class. But as a general guideline, to succeed in any class, one needs to know that a performance on an exam is an indication of how much one understands what the professor wants one to know, or get out of the course. The exams assess whether you can actually apply the concepts from class. If you understand the concepts well enough, the exams should feel trivial. That's the ideal. Otherwise, you're doing it all wrong. In retrospect, Coroniti helped me appreciate Physics very much. He's an exceptionally smart and caring man.
Many people will think that this professor is hard. That's true. But at the same time, anyone who actually puts in the time and effort to understand the derivations he does in class and focus on the important things he says during lecture can earn an A. My track record in Physics was a C in Physics 1A and a B+ in Physics 1B. In an effort to finish off the 1 series on a high note, I decided to step up my game: I was really attentive in class, attempted the homework without ever referring the answer key, and go visit him during office hours to clarify my notes. He was very nice and was willing to answer all my questions. How does he grade? For Physics 1C in Fall 2015, it was 5% homework, 22.5% per midterm (x2), and 50% final. How hard were his exams? In the language of the earliest reviews, this is a snapshot. 1st midterm: avg 55/100, got 77 2nd midterm: avg 44/100, got 79 Final: ???/225 My final grade: A Ironically, he goes over what will appear on the exams. He says exactly how many questions will appear, the topics they will cover individually, and some practice problems relevant to the topic. Yet people still seemed to have trouble. Having understood what the professor wants from the midterms, I didn't find the final difficult at all, though I wouldn't say it was that easy either. Nothing's easy. But it felt like a good puzzle that pulled some tricks from the past midterms, but nothing really surprising. His exam questions emphasized derivations he had done in class. But as a general guideline, to succeed in any class, one needs to know that a performance on an exam is an indication of how much one understands what the professor wants one to know, or get out of the course. The exams assess whether you can actually apply the concepts from class. If you understand the concepts well enough, the exams should feel trivial. That's the ideal. Otherwise, you're doing it all wrong. In retrospect, Coroniti helped me appreciate Physics very much. He's an exceptionally smart and caring man.
Most Helpful Review
He was great for Astro 3. Very excited and interesting in lecture. I never fell asleep. He uses lots of slides to keep the class interesting and teaches the class very straightforwardly. You can tell he really cares about the subject matter and his students. I really enjoyed Astro 3 because of him.
He was great for Astro 3. Very excited and interesting in lecture. I never fell asleep. He uses lots of slides to keep the class interesting and teaches the class very straightforwardly. You can tell he really cares about the subject matter and his students. I really enjoyed Astro 3 because of him.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2018 - Coming into this class, I was really interested in Astro 5: Life on other planets. The first half of the quarter was about lipids, carbohydrates, and a bunch of other things (avoiding curse words here) very indirectly related to what the topic of the course was. But that was fine. The absolute, WORST, part of this class is how unorganized and ambiguous Coriniti's slides are. He doesn't explain them that well in class either. However, I would take this class again because the second half of the class was very interesting, even though the slides didn't get any better. It was about actual other planets and solar systems, and how life/Earth/the universe was created. Nothing to do with lipids or carbohydrates. There is a small curve to make the class average a B/B+.
Winter 2018 - Coming into this class, I was really interested in Astro 5: Life on other planets. The first half of the quarter was about lipids, carbohydrates, and a bunch of other things (avoiding curse words here) very indirectly related to what the topic of the course was. But that was fine. The absolute, WORST, part of this class is how unorganized and ambiguous Coriniti's slides are. He doesn't explain them that well in class either. However, I would take this class again because the second half of the class was very interesting, even though the slides didn't get any better. It was about actual other planets and solar systems, and how life/Earth/the universe was created. Nothing to do with lipids or carbohydrates. There is a small curve to make the class average a B/B+.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - He is an extremely tough professor. He is so profound at physics to the point where he probably doesn't fathom that we don't understand everything immediately. He zooms through the material and diverges a lot from what the book says or the order that it's supposed to be in. He is pretty impatient and is not afraid to subliminally belittle you when you ask him a question in class. His midterms were OK but oftentimes he would not be clear on what he expects us to know. The final was tough and included like 2/6 problems we've never seen variations of. Says he curves the class, but he barely did.
Fall 2019 - He is an extremely tough professor. He is so profound at physics to the point where he probably doesn't fathom that we don't understand everything immediately. He zooms through the material and diverges a lot from what the book says or the order that it's supposed to be in. He is pretty impatient and is not afraid to subliminally belittle you when you ask him a question in class. His midterms were OK but oftentimes he would not be clear on what he expects us to know. The final was tough and included like 2/6 problems we've never seen variations of. Says he curves the class, but he barely did.
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Most Helpful Review
I took astronomy 5 this quarter. This professor and his assistent laura, kept saying "don't worry, don't worry," the whole quarter. We don't know too much about this class, it is the first time that we are teaching it, don't don't worry don't worry." At then end they were very tough for grading this class despite the low quality, and the hard to hear voice this teacher has. I don't recommend to take classes with this professor because he pretends to be honest but he doesn't. He will screw you up at the end.
I took astronomy 5 this quarter. This professor and his assistent laura, kept saying "don't worry, don't worry," the whole quarter. We don't know too much about this class, it is the first time that we are teaching it, don't don't worry don't worry." At then end they were very tough for grading this class despite the low quality, and the hard to hear voice this teacher has. I don't recommend to take classes with this professor because he pretends to be honest but he doesn't. He will screw you up at the end.
Most Helpful Review
sooo rude and tactless OMG. never have i met a professor who tells you you're a failure when you go to speak to him regarding your standing in class. I am not joking or exaggerating, he shouldnt be allowed to teach. if u want to repeat the class you take with him, yes take it. otherwise u see the man run the opposite direction as quickly as you can. he is horrifically mean and has no manners. his exams make you wanna kill yourself.
sooo rude and tactless OMG. never have i met a professor who tells you you're a failure when you go to speak to him regarding your standing in class. I am not joking or exaggerating, he shouldnt be allowed to teach. if u want to repeat the class you take with him, yes take it. otherwise u see the man run the opposite direction as quickly as you can. he is horrifically mean and has no manners. his exams make you wanna kill yourself.
Most Helpful Review
Physics is hard...there is no easy way out..i struggled in 6B but coroniti was worth it.. Lectures: he takes his time to explain everything, and encourages people to ask questions. At the begining of the 1/4 you'll feel lost because his lectures are mathmatically conceptual (no #'s) but you will get use to it..so don't worry if you walk out of lecture like "what the F*** was that". Homework: not much is assigned, he is lenient on the due dates. EXAMS: these can be difficult only because they are conceptual, no numbers. however if you focus on your notes and understand them you'll be fine. the problems on the 2nd midterm are exactly the ones you do in class. before the exam he explains what will be on it question by question so there is no suprise. Corontiti: is one of the nicest human beings on earth. he will never make you feel small so don't be intimidated...he knows physics is difficult and understands his student's concerns. he might answer general questoins vaguely so be specific with your questions. hope this helped..good luck
Physics is hard...there is no easy way out..i struggled in 6B but coroniti was worth it.. Lectures: he takes his time to explain everything, and encourages people to ask questions. At the begining of the 1/4 you'll feel lost because his lectures are mathmatically conceptual (no #'s) but you will get use to it..so don't worry if you walk out of lecture like "what the F*** was that". Homework: not much is assigned, he is lenient on the due dates. EXAMS: these can be difficult only because they are conceptual, no numbers. however if you focus on your notes and understand them you'll be fine. the problems on the 2nd midterm are exactly the ones you do in class. before the exam he explains what will be on it question by question so there is no suprise. Corontiti: is one of the nicest human beings on earth. he will never make you feel small so don't be intimidated...he knows physics is difficult and understands his student's concerns. he might answer general questoins vaguely so be specific with your questions. hope this helped..good luck
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