APP H3300

Short but interesting problem sets weekly, the problems actually make you think. The workload is very manageable. Two midterms and a final, which are easier than the problem sets.

1 Problem set/week. Some speciality topics related to Professor Venkataraman's research. 11 HWs worth 15% of your grade. 2 Midterms worth 20% each. Final exam worth 40% of your grade and 5% freebie points for putting in effort and being respectful.

The class is very complete and gives a very comprehensive review of electrostatics and magnetostatics. Navratil is a very good professor; he is very understanding and his lectures are overall effective , although there are some sections that I learned more efficiently through the textbook. The curve is extremely generous. Overall an amazing course.

The course uses a great text by Griffiths, "Introduction to Electrodynamics" Latha is well known for being a GPA killer, but I wouldn't say she's all bad. She's more than willing to help you if you put in the effort and respect, i.e. show up to class, ask questions and pay attention. She won't fail you if she can see you've done your homework and have made a serious attempt to understand the material. That being said, she also has a historical curve for the courses she teaches. That means if you are below the curve in a "smart" year you might not be doing so bad but if you are on the curve in a "dumb" year, you're screwed (as is the rest of the class). Supposedly she failed two students last year and handed out 5 C's. The workload is hard, mostly reworded problems from the book. You can go to the solutions manual if you want easy answers but you're going to eat shit on the exams. Since HW is not such a big part of the course grade, doing well isn't important. In fact, if you are not doing great on the HW it's probably a sign you're actually doing it yourself and it will show in your exam grade. This is a great course; lots of material to cover but all very interesting and it will often times leave you pondering the world around you. The last few weeks this year were very rushed and we covered a little more than 3 whole chapters (4 partial chapters) in about two weeks. Keep up…

If you're on the top of your class it's laughable. If your in the lower portion it's not too bad and you can expect to get rocked later on if you find it hard.

Average professor. Knows his stuff, teachs it on about level for 3000 and isn't boring enough for it to be a major issue. Hard to approach but not because of his personality; he's so busy that it's hard to find him. Your best chance is actually making an appointment. Short fair problem sets which are are likely too easy if nothing else. Exams are moderate with plenty of time allowed. The biggest problem you'll ever have is when he tells you what he won't put on the exams and the exact type of problem happens to make up 1/3 of the actual exam.

A short problem set every other week. 2 midterms: one open book, one closed, both easy. Open book final, also easy

If you want an easy A, this is the class for you. If you want to actually learn E&M, you're probably better off trying 3007. Professor Navratil will occasionally break from the physics to show where we actually see the stuff in a lab, but that hardly compensates for how little depth the class goes into. The problem sets are too easy to actually learn the material, and the exams are so easy that a good grade is meaningless.