Professor

Wesley Campbell

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1.9
Overall Ratings
Based on 70 Users
Easiness 1.7 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 1.5 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 1.8 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 1.7 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (70)

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March 30, 2020
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A+

He prefaced this class by telling us it was the hardest physics lab offered for undergraduates. While I don't know how necessarily true this statement is, I personally found this class very, very, time consuming and difficult. What is nice is the collaborative atmosphere with fellow classmates because its so small (6 of us this quarter), so make friends quickly!

It's hard because you're learning brand new skills every week which are the utter basics of optical design (AMO, physical chemistry, imaging science) , including polarizers, waveplates, lasers, optical cavities, etc. I personally don't have an immediate gift for experimental science and struggled quite a bit as I kept learning new things. The actual quantum part is the final experiment which is an experimental verification of Bell's Inequality (an optional Hong-Ou-Mandel). That being said, this class is so cool and more importantly, immediately useful. I thought optics from lower div was god awful boring until we started looking at the more advanced EM topics that you don't typically learn from 110 series. Plus, you get a stronger intuition for how QM works!

Highly recommend but not for the faint of heart.

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March 5, 2024
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A

This instructor was an excellent teacher. Campbell clearly cares a lot about students not just mastering the math, but the intuition that underlies it and all the physical principles we learn. He contextualizes and explains the mindset behind the discoveries of turn-of-the-century physicists in a way that I haven't experienced from other physics professors, and I think more physics classes should be taught this way. Excellent course experience. Homework and exams are about the same as other physics courses, which the exception that the homeworks are often extrapolations of our class discussions.

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Feb. 21, 2024
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A-

This class had a very heavy workload and the tests were very difficult, but the curve was really nice in the end. The lowest grade on the midterm with the curve was something around an 82. I think if you go and talk to him at office hours, he can be very helpful, but sometimes the lectures can be a little confusing without the 1 on 1 explanations. The class is very fast paced, and you definitely should be reading the textbook. The TA for my class was amazing, so if you get a good TA the class will be a little bit easier as well.

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Feb. 14, 2024
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A

This class ruined my life. It really is an honors class in that the grade at the end of the course is not an issue, but the mental turmoil and trauma it puts you through is. The problem sets are only 6 problems long, but would take me upwards of 8 hours a week, but I'm also not particularly great at physics so this was probably on the longer end in the class. There's also detailed solution guides online for the homework sets which saved my life. The first midterm is truly a terrible thing, but it does prepare you well for the final. There's definitely genuine value in taking this class over 1A if you're interested in physics since Professor Campbell did go much more in depth than the 1A curriculum, and he's a pretty chill guy who's passionate about what he's talking about. If you're willing to put yourself through torturous problem sets and tests, you'll get a good grade and learn something extra, but it really does drain the soul out of you.

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Dec. 26, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A

If I’m being honest, I was terrified of this class the instant I signed up for it. If you’ve read some of the reviews of the other professors that taught this class you’d know why lol. But now that fall quarter is over I’m so grateful I took this class. Professor Campbell really is a great teacher because he’s not only trying to teach you the material, but also teach you how to think like a physics major. I remember some questions from the start of the course that felt completely impossible to do by myself… and by the end of the course those questions felt like a joke. Our TA, Charlie, was also an amazing physics super genius with very helpful office hours.
This class is only offered fall quarter, and I highly recommend not missing out on the opportunity to enroll!

P.S. I got annihilated by the midterm but don’t worry if you do well on the final you can still make it out with an A!

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PHYSICS 18L
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
April 10, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: B+

This professor curves down for labs. I shouldn't even need to elaborate but I will. The labs weren't particularly hard but due to the course being online in Fall 2021 (for whatever silly reason they kept a lab class online when every other one was in person at this point) the labs were notoriously difficult to set up properly to get data by the end of the course. At one point the TAs, who were really the only way to get help due to the class structure, didn't even know what to do/how to answer students questions about the labs. I went to just about every office hours trying to learn Python for this course since I had never used it before (Python should be a prereq for this course). Going to all office hours and meeting with TAs outside of their normal hours to complete my assignments to their liking I was still somehow losing points on the labs. Regardless I ended the course with ~93%. In any other course this would be an A or at least an A-. In Wesley's class this is a B+. Despite having shown significant effort to accomplish the tasks assigned to both TAs and the professor and confirming that my assignments met the requirements they were looking for before submission every time, he refused to remove the down curve because that was "representative of the work I did." The work I did didn't raise any alarms when I showed it to you before submission, make it make sense.

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March 15, 2016
Quarter: Winter 2016
Grade: A

I loved having Prof. Campbell for mechanical physics. He is a young guy that interacts very well with students. I thought he gave some good lectures, but you can expect to fall asleep a couple times in his class. Some people love that he gives massively curved tests (the average on the first midterm was a 37%) and others don't. He is generous with the curve though to make sure that people succeed and learn something in his class. Would definitely recommend him to anyone.

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April 9, 2016
Quarter: Winter 2016
Grade: C+

Professor Campbell was overall a good professor for Physics 1A (probably better than the overrated Corbin). He was very direct and clear about what physics we needed to know and he explained and derived physics very clearly. The class was built around a 33/33/33 A/B/C and lower curve, but I felt that Campbell was very generous with the grades that he gave out considering that I got below average on all 3 exams. His exams are way harder than the practice exams from previous years exams that he uploads to CCLE and there is really no way to study effectively for the exams outside of doing the old midterms and going to lecture. One of the more disappointing parts about the class was his use of the BS Mastering Physics program which does not further the understanding of physics and does not help at all for the exams. Overall I would rate him a 7/10 and I would recommend him over other 1A professors. Good luck on his hard tests though.

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May 26, 2016
Quarter: Winter 2016
Grade: B-

Only a quarter after I've taken him do I realize how much I liked his class. He's always helpful and willing to answer questions patiently. His midterms aren't too difficult, but his final blew everyone out of the water. There was one question that I would be surprised if anyone got above 20% on it. The highest score on the final was a 67%, and the average was a 47%, if I recall correctly. Don't be arrogant and skip lectures. What he discusses is important.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 2, 2016
Quarter: Spring 2016
Grade: N/A

Worst class i've ever taken so far in ucla.

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PHYSICS 180Q
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A+
March 30, 2020

He prefaced this class by telling us it was the hardest physics lab offered for undergraduates. While I don't know how necessarily true this statement is, I personally found this class very, very, time consuming and difficult. What is nice is the collaborative atmosphere with fellow classmates because its so small (6 of us this quarter), so make friends quickly!

It's hard because you're learning brand new skills every week which are the utter basics of optical design (AMO, physical chemistry, imaging science) , including polarizers, waveplates, lasers, optical cavities, etc. I personally don't have an immediate gift for experimental science and struggled quite a bit as I kept learning new things. The actual quantum part is the final experiment which is an experimental verification of Bell's Inequality (an optional Hong-Ou-Mandel). That being said, this class is so cool and more importantly, immediately useful. I thought optics from lower div was god awful boring until we started looking at the more advanced EM topics that you don't typically learn from 110 series. Plus, you get a stronger intuition for how QM works!

Highly recommend but not for the faint of heart.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 17
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A
March 5, 2024

This instructor was an excellent teacher. Campbell clearly cares a lot about students not just mastering the math, but the intuition that underlies it and all the physical principles we learn. He contextualizes and explains the mindset behind the discoveries of turn-of-the-century physicists in a way that I haven't experienced from other physics professors, and I think more physics classes should be taught this way. Excellent course experience. Homework and exams are about the same as other physics courses, which the exception that the homeworks are often extrapolations of our class discussions.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1AH
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A-
Feb. 21, 2024

This class had a very heavy workload and the tests were very difficult, but the curve was really nice in the end. The lowest grade on the midterm with the curve was something around an 82. I think if you go and talk to him at office hours, he can be very helpful, but sometimes the lectures can be a little confusing without the 1 on 1 explanations. The class is very fast paced, and you definitely should be reading the textbook. The TA for my class was amazing, so if you get a good TA the class will be a little bit easier as well.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1AH
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A
Feb. 14, 2024

This class ruined my life. It really is an honors class in that the grade at the end of the course is not an issue, but the mental turmoil and trauma it puts you through is. The problem sets are only 6 problems long, but would take me upwards of 8 hours a week, but I'm also not particularly great at physics so this was probably on the longer end in the class. There's also detailed solution guides online for the homework sets which saved my life. The first midterm is truly a terrible thing, but it does prepare you well for the final. There's definitely genuine value in taking this class over 1A if you're interested in physics since Professor Campbell did go much more in depth than the 1A curriculum, and he's a pretty chill guy who's passionate about what he's talking about. If you're willing to put yourself through torturous problem sets and tests, you'll get a good grade and learn something extra, but it really does drain the soul out of you.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1AH
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A
Dec. 26, 2023

If I’m being honest, I was terrified of this class the instant I signed up for it. If you’ve read some of the reviews of the other professors that taught this class you’d know why lol. But now that fall quarter is over I’m so grateful I took this class. Professor Campbell really is a great teacher because he’s not only trying to teach you the material, but also teach you how to think like a physics major. I remember some questions from the start of the course that felt completely impossible to do by myself… and by the end of the course those questions felt like a joke. Our TA, Charlie, was also an amazing physics super genius with very helpful office hours.
This class is only offered fall quarter, and I highly recommend not missing out on the opportunity to enroll!

P.S. I got annihilated by the midterm but don’t worry if you do well on the final you can still make it out with an A!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 18L
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2021
Grade: B+
April 10, 2023

This professor curves down for labs. I shouldn't even need to elaborate but I will. The labs weren't particularly hard but due to the course being online in Fall 2021 (for whatever silly reason they kept a lab class online when every other one was in person at this point) the labs were notoriously difficult to set up properly to get data by the end of the course. At one point the TAs, who were really the only way to get help due to the class structure, didn't even know what to do/how to answer students questions about the labs. I went to just about every office hours trying to learn Python for this course since I had never used it before (Python should be a prereq for this course). Going to all office hours and meeting with TAs outside of their normal hours to complete my assignments to their liking I was still somehow losing points on the labs. Regardless I ended the course with ~93%. In any other course this would be an A or at least an A-. In Wesley's class this is a B+. Despite having shown significant effort to accomplish the tasks assigned to both TAs and the professor and confirming that my assignments met the requirements they were looking for before submission every time, he refused to remove the down curve because that was "representative of the work I did." The work I did didn't raise any alarms when I showed it to you before submission, make it make sense.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: Winter 2016
Grade: A
March 15, 2016

I loved having Prof. Campbell for mechanical physics. He is a young guy that interacts very well with students. I thought he gave some good lectures, but you can expect to fall asleep a couple times in his class. Some people love that he gives massively curved tests (the average on the first midterm was a 37%) and others don't. He is generous with the curve though to make sure that people succeed and learn something in his class. Would definitely recommend him to anyone.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: Winter 2016
Grade: C+
April 9, 2016

Professor Campbell was overall a good professor for Physics 1A (probably better than the overrated Corbin). He was very direct and clear about what physics we needed to know and he explained and derived physics very clearly. The class was built around a 33/33/33 A/B/C and lower curve, but I felt that Campbell was very generous with the grades that he gave out considering that I got below average on all 3 exams. His exams are way harder than the practice exams from previous years exams that he uploads to CCLE and there is really no way to study effectively for the exams outside of doing the old midterms and going to lecture. One of the more disappointing parts about the class was his use of the BS Mastering Physics program which does not further the understanding of physics and does not help at all for the exams. Overall I would rate him a 7/10 and I would recommend him over other 1A professors. Good luck on his hard tests though.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 1A
Quarter: Winter 2016
Grade: B-
May 26, 2016

Only a quarter after I've taken him do I realize how much I liked his class. He's always helpful and willing to answer questions patiently. His midterms aren't too difficult, but his final blew everyone out of the water. There was one question that I would be surprised if anyone got above 20% on it. The highest score on the final was a 67%, and the average was a 47%, if I recall correctly. Don't be arrogant and skip lectures. What he discusses is important.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PHYSICS 4AL
Quarter: Spring 2016
Grade: N/A
June 2, 2016

Worst class i've ever taken so far in ucla.

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2 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
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