The class is ok
It was interesting at first but then it got boring because it was mainly just focusing on very particular topics from papers. The lab portion is so annoying because you have to learn how to use Matlab. To sum it up, I got to the point where I just wanted the class to be over already.

The whole class felt disorganized and tough. There were only 3 homeworks given when we thought we’d get weekly homework’s. EVERYTHING on all slides are fair game on exams, and there’s a LOT of information.

The class touches on a very interesting topic. I'm generally interested in the material. I did not like the matlab portion though as much, since my programming experience was with c++. If you are good at matlab, u should give this class a try. The assignments were graded really late, I wish they could be done earlier. TA is very helpful, and I hope he will have more office hours.

The project assigned to graduate students only was very unclear. He decided to let us know about project through a zoom call on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He said he would make accommodations but he didn't. On finals week he announced that grad students will be presenting their project on the first day of Spring Quarter despite being a Winter Quarter class. It's unfair he can constantly disregard grad students personal time and not make accommodations for the students when he stated he would. He doesn't even respond to emails and the TA responded incredibly late as well. Pretty smart of them to do all this after the instructor evaluations are already over. Professor and TA also really didn't care about the class.

The class was interesting at the beginning, but then it gradually got worse towards the end. The topics became boring and the class got really unorganized.

It was weird that he taught MATLAB, but we only had one homework and one midterm question about the syntax of MATLAB. We didn't actually have to write MATLAB code for homework like he stated he would assign us to have. He frequently talked about what's going to be on the next assignment and then never assigns it.

Also It really bugged me that during the week before finals (around 3-4 days before), he last minute decided to post another lecture and have another homework assignment due. He should at least post it earlier.

Overall easy A if you like an uncaring and unorganized professor that curves.

Let me start by saying, if there has ever been a professor more deserving of a review, it’s Mehta. Much like the other comments from this quarter, this class was a complete disaster. I have never had a professor who so blatantly cared less about the well-being of his students and the organization of a class. Despite only having three instructors—Mehta and two TAs—there was effectively ZERO communication between them ever, and there was never a clear answer as to what would be on a test. Concerning the lectures themselves, he frequently ended the lectures early, as if he just wanted to leave asap; he only ever read from pre-made slides, clearly never putting extra effort into making the material even remotely interesting.

While the midterms were not too bad, the final was an actual joke. Not only incredibly difficult, but it was unproctored for portions of the test and we were given (supposedly) 4 hrs to take the exam— both of which are completely against university policy regarding a final. Additionally, and perhaps most insane, students went outside after the test proctoring was over, still with tests in hand, and collaborated on the tests together.

Despite all of this chaos and disorganization, the TAs essentially didn’t even read the finals and curves most people’s grades really highly.

TLDR

hear me now, listen to me later: do NOT take this class w Mehta. I have never had a professor so undoubtedly unfit to teach students at this university. Ripp all y’all fouls that end up taking him ha.

Worst class ever! Professor simply read from the Pearson slides, didn't even know when there was an exam, constantly changed class policies. Would strongly recommend against taking this class.

If you do not want to kill yourself by the first midterm, run!! I do not recommend taking this class with this professor. We had our first midterm in week 3 after the chaos of remote learning caused by the LA fires. We had 50 minutes to complete a couple of MCQs and SAQs. The second midterm was sooo much harder than the first, with four MCQ's and six very hard SAQs. I honestly do not think all students could finish all SAQs with the insufficient time we had and the difficulty of the questions.

After the second midterm, after seeing how poorly his students did, we were told that our best midterm score would be used for both midterms; all else would stay the same. This shows how poorly the exam went. I do not know what will happen (I am writing this before the final). Students have not heard anything regarding how the grading is going to work. His rating has decreased since starting the winter quarter from 2.4 to 1.6, and it probably will continue to decrease.

Mind you, there is only one TA for this class, and he's a champ. There was a lot of miscommunication throughout this quarter. I didn't know where the final would be located because his announcements did not mention them. You wouldn't know where the location would be unless you asked the TA. (I was about to pull up to a different location until my friend told me).

Please save yourself and not take this class, even if it's the only one available.

TAKE THIS CLASS WITH MEHTA!

Easily one of the most accommodating professors I had during Physics 5B. Grading scheme is as follows:

Quizzes: 85% of grade, 5 quizzes + lowest quiz dropped
Lab: 15% of grade

Quizzes are easy as long as you listen to the lectures, which were recorded, and take good notes on them. I did, however, take this course during COVID so if he teaches again during the school year I don't know how different it would be.

This class was unbelievably disorganised. The class is over, and our homework from week one has yet to be graded. The TAs did not seem to know what was happening in the class any more than the students did.

In the first week, Mehta mentioned that he "doesn't like teaching" 5B because it "crams too many topics into one course"; Mehta's disdain for this class caused problems for everyone involved, as he sped through slides and skipped over sample problems during lectures.

There was a lot of miscommunication between the TAs, Mehta, and the students regarding exams; we would receive contradictory emails from Mehta and each of the TAs telling us "no equation sheet" followed by "print out an equation sheet" followed by "here is a PDF of an equation sheet, but don't bring it to the exam." Our first two midterm exams were ridiculously easy, our final was ridiculously hard due to missing information and confusingly-worded exam questions.

Overall it just felt like nobody knew what was happening, which topics were on exams, and Mehta's disorganisation made this class deceptive. I would highly recommend other professors after taking the final for this class, what the f$#@ was that???