Professor Meng is evidently knowledgeable about the given topic. However, with that being said, his lectures are incredibly boring. He is very monotonous and has low energy, making it very difficult to stay engaged during lectures. This class has two online exams (a midterm and a final taken on Bruin Learn), and a lab section each week, which was incredibly easy. The exams are a reflection of his slides, in-class quizzes (which are not graded), and labs. While the material itself may not be very difficult, there is a tremendous amount of physics and geophysics present throughout the course. Therefore, without having a solid foundation or interest in physics, you will have to work extra hard to get a good grade. Overall, I would recommend taking some other GE’s that will be slightly easier and interesting at least.

Professor is nice. He posts slides before classes, which is very helpful. He also records every lecture on zoom and posts them. His accent makes it pretty hard to understand him. Lectures were extremely boring and he moves pretty fast-paced. I had about 10 pages (1.5 spaced) of notes after every lecture and the material was so excruciatingly boring that I stopped going after week two. Attendance is not taken during lecture, but it is taken during lab (but you can attend either and be counted for attendance via zoom). Labs consisted of 50 minutes of just working on the lab assignment with other classmates. The TAs help and will pretty much just tell you the right answer if you ask if your answers are correct. Easy to catch up if you don't go to class, but pretty time-consuming because of the lengthy slides. Besides a weekly lab assignment, there is also a weekly homework assignment, where the professor gives you a couple of videos and you pick one to summarize. I could finish them in 30 minutes because it was so easy (just pick the shortest video). He offered 3% extra credit boost to your grade if you review him and the TAs through UCLA surveys at the end of the quarter. Midterm and final were extremely hard, but they are both administered through BruinLearn and open for 24 hours on the day of the exams (once you open the exam, though, a timer starts). Since it was online, I got A's on both and finished with an A+. Easy GE if you have people to help you through the midterm and final

This class was extremely boring. I found it very difficult to pay attention in lecture--if you're into earthquakes and earth science then you might be more engaged. The plus side was that this class was extremely easy and very low-effort. It is a great way to satisfy your science GE, and all exams are online which makes it even more convenient and less stressful.

This class was extremely boring. I found it very difficult to pay attention in lecture--if you're into earthquakes and earth science then you might be more engaged. The plus side was that this class was extremely easy and very low-effort. It is a great way to satisfy your science GE, and all exams are online which makes it even more convenient and less stressful.

very easy GE, but kind of boring. the prof is very knowledgable in this subject, but the subject material is kind of uninteresting to me. attendance wasn't taken at lectures; we also had the choice of going in person or watching via zoom. I skipped this class often since I feel like I didn't get much more from the in-person lectures than just taking notes on my own (slides are posted online). labs were pretty quick and easy. midterm and final were both online and decently difficult. there is a textbook but it is not required and he never references it in the lectures or on tests, it's mostly for extra information (I didn't buy it).

Pretty chill dude same with the T.A's

You don't need to go to the lectures at all, but it does help a bit for the tests and labs.

This class has exposed me to surface of geophysics. And that's all. Did I learn how to be a competent geophysicist? No. Did this class get me more excited about geophysics? No. Better yet, this class showed me how to effectively take the excitement out of geophysics, which I personally see as a hard feat.

The professor does not have a good rapport with his students. His presentation style is erratic, his expectations are haphazard, and his labs confuse students.

This class will likely be the first and last geophysics lab I will take in my life. It is unfortunate that it had to be with this professor.

I would have loved this class, BUT Professor Meng is superrrr boring. It's not an exaggeration. His classes are an absolute DRAG. I always ended up teaching myself what he said in class, because I drifted off al lot. Other than that, this class was pretty cool. The field trip was fun, and Professor Meng has JOKES. I really don't know how someone so funny can give such boring lectures. The labs were super easy. I found the midterm and final really hard but that's probably my fault, for not paying attention.

Professor Meng is the GOAT. Yea the class lectures were boring at times, but the content of the lecture is cool, and he posts lectures all online also. Midterm was easy, Final was a bit more difficult. Labs are easy also.