Wow!

REVIEW FOR PHYSICS 1B!
Pietro, Pietro, Pietro… where to begin.
At first glance, Pietro Musumeci seems like the kind of professor you’d want to take. The reviews are glowing, the ratings look solid — it all sounds promising. And I thought so too. First day I walked into class, I saw that joyful twinkle in his eyes, that unmistakable spark of someone who genuinely loves what they do. There was this honest enthusiasm, that passion to teach us — as one particularly kind review phrased it — a “far less educated audience.” Everything was going fine, that is until he actually started teaching. The first real issue you’ll notice is his handwriting. It’s not just bad, it’s actively trying to be unhelpful. You’ll be introduced to what’s affectionately called the famous Pietro variable. What is that? Oh, it’s some circular, spiraling, vaguely P-shaped figure he uses in almost every physics problem. Is it a theta? A rho? No — it’s a screw you. Decoding his notes becomes exhausting. Then there’s the pace. He tears through material at a speed I’ve yet to see. I mean, he does make a valid excuse — he said it’s tiring standing in class for so long so late. Concepts are introduced without context, examples come without explanation, and before you can process what just happened, he’s already three topics ahead. The homework assignments? Fair. Manageable, even. It gives you the illusion that maybe, just maybe, you’re keeping up. Unfortunately, this sense of security lasts exactly until the first exam, where you’re greeted with problems so detached from what was covered it makes you wonder if maybe Pietro gave the wrong test. You might start questioning whether you just didn’t study enough, but then you take a look at the exam key — and realize no, that problem was actually impossible. Maybe Pietro likes problems that are unsolvable and are just meant to be suffered through. To his credit, Pietro cares about physics. He’s kind, approachable, and passionate about his subject. But passion alone doesn’t make a good class, and no amount of enthusiasm can compensate for poor execution. The frustrating part is that it feels like it could be a great course — the foundation is there, but something went seriously off. So if you see those older, glowing reviews thinking you’ve found a safe pick, don’t fall for it. Whatever version of Pietro they had, it’s not the one teaching now.

Review for 1B: EXAMS way too HARD (even harder than Corbin's). Please choose other professors if available.

REVIEW FOR PHYSICS 1B (no listing for 1B in registrar database):
Professor Musumeci is a wonderful teacher who is greatly accomplished in his field but retains the ability to connect with a far less educated audience. He does not rely on slides to teach and instead draws on a digital whiteboard and derives formulas live. Exams are very fair, and even more fairly graded. There are 2 midterms and one final. Homework consists of 8 questions per week of moderate to high difficulty. Overall, I highly recommend choosing Professor Musumeci as your instructor for this course!

Musumeci is by my favorite physics professor I've taken physics with. His first midterm was very easy but the second was a lot more difficult. I think it is clear he cares about his students and explaining concepts as best as he can. I would note that his handwriting is a bit messy and hard to read sometimes, but you do get used to it. I really enjoyed his class and you can tell he is very knowledgeable but also a clear explainer. He is passionate about physics. I would recommend reviewing example problems he goes over in lecture and homework questions. He likes to use questions that combine several topics on exams. Overall I would definitely recommend taking physics 1b with this professor

Musumeci is a great in class lecturer. I could follow him much better than Corbin and he was funny and gave cool demos. His tests were also reasonable. The Mastering Physics is of course an overpriced piece of crap but the homework problems were still useful in preparing for his tests. His lecture notes are useful and pretty organized. He is the best physics professor I have had at UCLA. He honestly teaches better in big groups - I found him to be not that approachable during office hours.

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.