Some of the reviews on here are really unfair. Dr. Holczer is probably one of the nicest professors I have ever had at UCLA. He really does care about whether or not you do well in his class. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into when I first went to class because his writing can be illegible and I felt like dropping the class, but I stuck with it and it paid off. I went to his office hours frequently and he was really helpful. He also stuck around for like15 minutes after class one time to answer my questions. He really did help me see the value of physics and for that I am appreciative. Not all professors are perfect and Holczer is by no means a perfect professor, but he is kind and completely fair to the class. His tests are just like the Mastering Physics and recommended problems. I never missed a lecture, I would bring my book with me to lecture and open it up to the same lesson he was going over in class and take notes as he was talking so I could better understand the lecture. I haven't been in a single physics class that didn't require me to read the book, so note, that this is what comes along with any physics class. Just do the homework and you will be set, it could be a lot sometimes but it is a great review. Also go to office hours and ask him your questions, he is more than willing to help.

Good Luck!! And don't listen to everything on bruinwalk they probably never went to class and therefore struggled. It isn't all that bad, I survived and it was by far the easiest physics class I have taken at UCLA.

I agree with the previous review in that a lot of the reviews posted are quite unfair. Professor Holczer cares A LOT and is very friendly and understanding. It is worth going to his office hours. His lectures are meh but everything else is good. His exams are extremely fair as is his partial credit rubric. He also gives a lot of opportunity to gain extra credit. He is a great professor and is definitely passionate. It is kind of rare to find such a kind professor on this campus. To ace the class: review masting physics thoroughly, know the material, know the equations, use your cheat sheet well, go to office hours and ask questions!

Holczer is a very kind professor who genuinely wants his students to succeed. However, he's not the best lecturer. After the first lecture, I never watched another one, even the recordings. His teaching style is vague and his handwriting is difficult to read. Honestly, just read the textbook and you'll be fine. It does a great job explaining concepts and also gives plenty of example problems. The homework for this class is typical for a physics 5 class. There's a weekly problem set and weekly mastering physics questions, but they shouldn't take more than 2-3 hours to complete. In my opinion, the exams (2 midterms, 1 final) were pretty easy, considering that I only watched one lecture throughout the entire quarter. Going through the example problems in the textbook and the problem sets will definitely help you prepare for the exams. So if you want an easy A, which most people do, take Holczer. However, if you want a more engaging lecturer, maybe try a different professor.

Dr. Holczer is not a very clear lecturer because he tends to repeat himself and his handwriting is difficult to read. That is why I did not attend most lectures, but took notes on the powerpoints and read through the textbook for understanding. The exams in this class are not difficult — they are essentially an extension of the weekly homeworks that we complete. The questions mostly rely on you knowing which formula or equation to use, and from there it's usually plug and chug. Optics was a little more confusing for me, so I would recommend paying extra attention at that time.

Professor Holczer is an extremely fair professor and is very generous on his exam grading. He doesn't do mastering physics and instead does written problem sets of 3-4 questions once a week for homework.

I did however stop going to lectures about halfway through the quarter. The lectures were very conceptual, focused too much on derivations of equations, and ultimately did not contribute to my learning of the material. His handwriting is also messy making answer keys not very useful. But, if you do the readings and work through the homework sets with TAs you can still do well. Overall, I'd recommend taking this class with him if you okay with teaching yourself the material, and if so, it will be an easy A.

Grade Breakdown:
15% Lab
15% Homework (the weekly problem sets)
15% Midterm #1
15% Midterm #2
40% Final

Karoly Holczer is a great man. He exemplifies honor, strength, and passion. In addition, he exemplifies courage. Cut this guy some slack. Going from being a Soviet spy to a meager physics professor at UCLA, teaching people who think this class is hard (what?), is quite the tough task for Russia's greatest nuclear physicist.

No but in all honesty, this class is super easy. Do the homework, and you'll get an A. I have literally no idea what the people below me are saying, but I know that anyone who got through physics 6b and 6a (with any professor) will find this class a joke.

Isn't it?

Although some of the reviews may advise you to deter from enrolling in this class...Don't listen to them. Professor Holczer can be difficult to understand due to his accent, but he ALWAYS encourages his students to ask questions and let him know what he can do to clarify his instruction. He has even gone out of his way after class to personally ask me if he was being clear during lecture or if the pace was too fast. He begins the course covering the basics of physics, and from there he pretty much assumes you know what's happening and are keeping up. The textbook is expensive, don't buy it - it's online. The two midterms and finals are worth 80% of your grade and are based on material from the textbook. You are allowed a cheat sheet on the exams which is VITAL to do well on the exams so take it seriously. Studying isn't even necessary with the cheat sheet. The exams are tough but with the cheat sheet, you will succeed in the class. The weekly homework is worth 20% of your grade and is usually easy and straightforward. Honestly, I stopped attending lecture after week 5 because I knew I could handle the class without going and I had minimal physics background prior to taking this class...The grading isn't harsh and it is relatively easy to achieve an A in this class. I recommend!!!!!!!

Holczer is a very nice and likable guy, but a poor teacher. I stopped going to his lectures and went to Corbin's instead or just read the book. The class was extremely easy with me just taking college prep physics in high school. Holczer has an accent which is very hard to understand (though kinda awesome) and his handwriting isn't good. We graded homework in class which was definitely a plus, none of that online hw stuff. His tests were extremely easy. They are just questions from the book. In fact one of the questions on the final was a question I had done the night before while studying. Pretty much everyone gets A's which really helped my GPA since its a 5 unit class. I'd take his class again so that I'd get all the easy tests but just go to a different teacher's lectures.

Holczer's exams were extremely easy. I don't think I learned very much by attending lectures, but I just read the book on my own and did the problems and that's how I did well. Lectures weren't boring though so I went to pretty much all the lectures. He is an extremely hard guy to get a hold of and he still hasn't answered my email...

Not a good professor, his lectures are incredibly disorganized (he jumps from equation to equations with little explanation), he is difficult to understand with his accent, and he goes through incredibly difficult problems during lecture that you will not see on any exams. He does do some fun demonstrations though, and he is pretty funny. I stopped going to lectures after the first exam 5th week and did better on the second exam because of it. His lectures only confused me when I thought i understood the concepts from the book. Book is necessary; exams problems are taken directly from the practice problems. The final was 10x more difficult than the midterms, and was curved significantly.