Professor

Pietro Musumeci

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4.6
Overall Ratings
Based on 32 Users
Easiness 1.6 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 1.9 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.2 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.2 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (32)

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April 5, 2012
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

this dude is funny! haha. i only went to a few lectures but he was cool. The average on the midterms was around 70%. he has my recommendation

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Jan. 7, 2013
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Hands down, one of my favorite upper-div professors. The material is difficult (105A and B), but he explains it pretty well and assigns very good homework problems. I like how he doesn't bother with really bullshit topics. He'll ask fair questions on the midterm that are homework-difficulty, so if you can do the harder homework problems without the solutions manual, then you'll do well. Take him if you can; I wish he taught all the upper-div physics classes.
He's also hilarious and nice and seems to enjoy the class as well as his students.

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Nov. 16, 2011
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Just wanted to help all those people with a first pass that couldn't get corbin. Corbin's the best, but differently your second choice should be Holczer, yes he's hard to understand but every class I took with him the majority got A's. I love Musumeci as a professor, but only like 15 out of 150 got A's, it was the worst curve ever, or maybe it was just my bad luck. My other friends also took Jura and said he was also easy. Btw when I say it was easy I mean regarding the professor, because physics 1A itself is not an easy class.

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June 11, 2010
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Musumeci is a good professor. He has an accent and is limited in some respects with the English language, but if you ask questions and listen carefully, he is an easy professor to understand. He is very smart and actually very funny. His jokes catch you off guard and he is just a hilarious person. I mean very funny for some reason. lol anyways he has my recommendation.

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June 6, 2010
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Professor Musumeci is a great teacher. He has an accent, but you can understand him most of the time, and his accent makes the lectures more interesting. Most of the time he will try to keep students interested. His tests are not too easy or too hard, but I recommend that you take the time to study for it. There are three questions on midterms, just like other physics teachers.
Reading will greatly help in this class, but the problems Musumeci does in class are very similar to what appears on tests. He also provides old tests for students to study. Students would have to use Mastering Physics to do homework, but thats as worst as it gets. Otherwise, I recommend him over other teachers if you want a class that isn't difficult.

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June 22, 2010
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Professor Musumeci really wants you to learn the material in physics, and usually does it by getting to the core of the course aka - he does many derivations, but they do eventually help you in the end. He makes the class interesting to be a part of and is very willing to help you during his office hours. He's a very blunt person though, so make sure you know exactly what you want to ask or talk about during OH. I would recommend his class, mainly because his tests are difficult but doable, and are challenging but very helpful for the final. He also puts past midterms from last quarters up on the website for students to practice with, which I found very helpful. Overall, he enjoys teaching physics, and those who take his class may find it enjoyable as well.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
July 2, 2010
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Musumeci was a great professor; my favorite of my first year at UCLA. He's a young Italian guy with a sweet accent, and very funny. He also cares a lot about student learning, and is a good lecturer. some people complain that his tests were hard, but that is not completely true. The tests are slightly more complicated than the homework, and if you understand the concepts and can conceptually think, you'll do fine. However, he does not curve generously. He told us after the first midterm that too many people got A's, and that only about 7 or 8 students should get A's. I thought I got an A easily, but ended up with a B+.

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July 21, 2010
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Alright flat out. I got a C+ in his class. I know, I know, most of you are thinking "blasphemy" but honestly I was never so glad to get a C+ in my life. I struggled constantly at the beginning of this course after having switched from being an English major to a Mathematics Major and since I took him late in the year I hadn't taken used any math since the AP tests senior year. I got around approx. an F or D on the first midterm and right on the mean on the second midterm. Fortunately Musumeci has a policy that if you show improvement throughout the course that he will take that into consideration when making the final grades. I now feel that if I were to retake the class that I would get at least a B in it.
Musumeci is Italian and hence has an accent which everyone seems to comment on so I thought I might as well too. It does not really impact the class though, I sat in the back row a few times when I was late and I could still understand him. However I do suggest getting to class on time if not early because the chalkboards can get really dirty over time making his writing difficult to make out sometimes.
His midterms and are not overly hard there usually just tends to be one little trick to each of the questions which is what elevates them past the level of a homework question. If you do enough practice problems and study the material you should do well. The biggest challenge going into the midterms is time management. You have one hour to answer three questions and this is where moderation is key. On the first midterm I spent too much time on the first question, which I got nearly full points on, but got almost no points whatsoever on the other 2/3 of the test. On the second midterm I rushed through all the questions quickly and went over them once or twice but on all of them I missed one vital portion of each question which brought me down to the mean(Ex: I got the properties of an inelastic and elastic collision mixed up on a short answer subquestion and missed several points due to that despite doing all the calculations right in the actual problem itself, I forgot about a small amount of gravitational force in the problem as a block was moved up an inclined plane, which exudes friction).
As everyone stated he has a good sense of humor which makes the course very entertaining. For anyone taking Physics 1A, I have to say that Musumeci is one of the best professors out there. I've heard of professors that utilize equations from math classes that are beyond the required and are not as caring as him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 18, 2010
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Pietro is a wonderful guy. I took two upper div classes with him and worked in his lab, and I can say that he is both an excellent teacher and a mentor. His class is very entertaining and he took one of the hardest subjects in physics (E&M) and actually made it doable. He spent the most time focusing on the useful aspects of the material and ignored the unimportant stuff. It was refreshing to have a young and energetic professor for what are typically thought of as the hardest upper div physics classes.
Working for him has been great as well. PBPL (Particle Beam Physics Lab) is a fun lab with a bunch of great people. To any physics students out there looking for a good research opportunity, there seems to be funding, and PBPL is a great place to work.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 4, 2014
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

His course is not particularly difficult until the second half of the material, for Diffraction and Interference. He knows what he is talking about, but for these sections specifically, it is hard to grasp what he is saying and his pictures suck.

Otherwise, his midterms are straightforward, but again, by the second half of the course, it's hard to know what formulas are relevant.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
April 5, 2012

this dude is funny! haha. i only went to a few lectures but he was cool. The average on the midterms was around 70%. he has my recommendation

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 105A
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Jan. 7, 2013

Hands down, one of my favorite upper-div professors. The material is difficult (105A and B), but he explains it pretty well and assigns very good homework problems. I like how he doesn't bother with really bullshit topics. He'll ask fair questions on the midterm that are homework-difficulty, so if you can do the harder homework problems without the solutions manual, then you'll do well. Take him if you can; I wish he taught all the upper-div physics classes.
He's also hilarious and nice and seems to enjoy the class as well as his students.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Nov. 16, 2011

Just wanted to help all those people with a first pass that couldn't get corbin. Corbin's the best, but differently your second choice should be Holczer, yes he's hard to understand but every class I took with him the majority got A's. I love Musumeci as a professor, but only like 15 out of 150 got A's, it was the worst curve ever, or maybe it was just my bad luck. My other friends also took Jura and said he was also easy. Btw when I say it was easy I mean regarding the professor, because physics 1A itself is not an easy class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 11, 2010

Musumeci is a good professor. He has an accent and is limited in some respects with the English language, but if you ask questions and listen carefully, he is an easy professor to understand. He is very smart and actually very funny. His jokes catch you off guard and he is just a hilarious person. I mean very funny for some reason. lol anyways he has my recommendation.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 6, 2010

Professor Musumeci is a great teacher. He has an accent, but you can understand him most of the time, and his accent makes the lectures more interesting. Most of the time he will try to keep students interested. His tests are not too easy or too hard, but I recommend that you take the time to study for it. There are three questions on midterms, just like other physics teachers.
Reading will greatly help in this class, but the problems Musumeci does in class are very similar to what appears on tests. He also provides old tests for students to study. Students would have to use Mastering Physics to do homework, but thats as worst as it gets. Otherwise, I recommend him over other teachers if you want a class that isn't difficult.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 22, 2010

Professor Musumeci really wants you to learn the material in physics, and usually does it by getting to the core of the course aka - he does many derivations, but they do eventually help you in the end. He makes the class interesting to be a part of and is very willing to help you during his office hours. He's a very blunt person though, so make sure you know exactly what you want to ask or talk about during OH. I would recommend his class, mainly because his tests are difficult but doable, and are challenging but very helpful for the final. He also puts past midterms from last quarters up on the website for students to practice with, which I found very helpful. Overall, he enjoys teaching physics, and those who take his class may find it enjoyable as well.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
July 2, 2010

Musumeci was a great professor; my favorite of my first year at UCLA. He's a young Italian guy with a sweet accent, and very funny. He also cares a lot about student learning, and is a good lecturer. some people complain that his tests were hard, but that is not completely true. The tests are slightly more complicated than the homework, and if you understand the concepts and can conceptually think, you'll do fine. However, he does not curve generously. He told us after the first midterm that too many people got A's, and that only about 7 or 8 students should get A's. I thought I got an A easily, but ended up with a B+.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
July 21, 2010

Alright flat out. I got a C+ in his class. I know, I know, most of you are thinking "blasphemy" but honestly I was never so glad to get a C+ in my life. I struggled constantly at the beginning of this course after having switched from being an English major to a Mathematics Major and since I took him late in the year I hadn't taken used any math since the AP tests senior year. I got around approx. an F or D on the first midterm and right on the mean on the second midterm. Fortunately Musumeci has a policy that if you show improvement throughout the course that he will take that into consideration when making the final grades. I now feel that if I were to retake the class that I would get at least a B in it.
Musumeci is Italian and hence has an accent which everyone seems to comment on so I thought I might as well too. It does not really impact the class though, I sat in the back row a few times when I was late and I could still understand him. However I do suggest getting to class on time if not early because the chalkboards can get really dirty over time making his writing difficult to make out sometimes.
His midterms and are not overly hard there usually just tends to be one little trick to each of the questions which is what elevates them past the level of a homework question. If you do enough practice problems and study the material you should do well. The biggest challenge going into the midterms is time management. You have one hour to answer three questions and this is where moderation is key. On the first midterm I spent too much time on the first question, which I got nearly full points on, but got almost no points whatsoever on the other 2/3 of the test. On the second midterm I rushed through all the questions quickly and went over them once or twice but on all of them I missed one vital portion of each question which brought me down to the mean(Ex: I got the properties of an inelastic and elastic collision mixed up on a short answer subquestion and missed several points due to that despite doing all the calculations right in the actual problem itself, I forgot about a small amount of gravitational force in the problem as a block was moved up an inclined plane, which exudes friction).
As everyone stated he has a good sense of humor which makes the course very entertaining. For anyone taking Physics 1A, I have to say that Musumeci is one of the best professors out there. I've heard of professors that utilize equations from math classes that are beyond the required and are not as caring as him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 110B
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 18, 2010

Pietro is a wonderful guy. I took two upper div classes with him and worked in his lab, and I can say that he is both an excellent teacher and a mentor. His class is very entertaining and he took one of the hardest subjects in physics (E&M) and actually made it doable. He spent the most time focusing on the useful aspects of the material and ignored the unimportant stuff. It was refreshing to have a young and energetic professor for what are typically thought of as the hardest upper div physics classes.
Working for him has been great as well. PBPL (Particle Beam Physics Lab) is a fun lab with a bunch of great people. To any physics students out there looking for a good research opportunity, there seems to be funding, and PBPL is a great place to work.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1C
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 4, 2014

His course is not particularly difficult until the second half of the material, for Diffraction and Interference. He knows what he is talking about, but for these sections specifically, it is hard to grasp what he is saying and his pictures suck.

Otherwise, his midterms are straightforward, but again, by the second half of the course, it's hard to know what formulas are relevant.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
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