MSA E1001

5 short but obscure problem sets 1 very technical 10-page paper on a topic of your choice 1 relatively-easily graded final. You only have to answer for 100 out of 150 to get an A.

Light - several research questions per week assigned either in class and/or through lecture notes. Moderately difficult midterm Quiz Medium difficulty final 1 final project

I took this class thinking that I might minor in Materials Science and Engineering. Bailey changed my mind pretty quickly. He is an awful lecturer. He fills a board a minute with random equations and diagrams, and spends most of his time talking at the board. He never looks around to answer questions that anyone has. He continuously repeats things to hammer it in your head, but this adds dullness to his already sleep-inducing lectures. The class would be tolerable if his readings were helpful, but they only help a little, and he hands them out two weeks after he's covered the material. His homework refers to the most obscure sections of the lectures and the readings. The only good thing about him is that he's willing to meet outside of class, but that wouldn't be necessary if he was clearer in class. And chances are, the material he's presenting is so over your head you won't know what to ask.

Professor Noyan is an incredibly intelligent and engaging lecturer. That being said, this class is a hefty one, far beyond your typical 1xxx level course. The work load is not heavy, but the concepts discussed in this class are fairly advanced and will cover a large amount of material. This was an extremely rewarding class with a moderately difficult midterm and a somewhat easier final. It was easily my favorite class of the semester.

a few problem sets (which he writes himself- most questions are extremely elementary, while a few require pages of math). a final one week before class ends. a 10 page paper and presentation on the last day of class

a pretty ridiculous class all around. prof. bailey is pretty disorganized. theres no textbook and the notes are all over the place, so the material is hard to follow. bailey doesnt understand what material is hard to grasp and what material is pretty simple. all the work culminates at the end in a single test, 10 page paper and a presentation. to his credit he means well but this is not the course to take to fulfill the pre-professional requirement.

None - class is too disorganized to function

Horrible Course. Don't take it. Bailey is one of the many Columbia teachers who care more about their own research than teaching students. He canceled so many classes that our midterm was on the last day of classes. He is extremely soft spoken, so much so that sleeping in the 4pm class was quite easy. There was a final paper and project where he looked for ways to grill presenters. Didn't get a lot out of this class. I'd say even if you are a material science major, consider a different pre-prof, and if you aren't stay away.

A few problem sets (pretty easy), a midterm, and then a 10 page research paper. No final for us, but that doesn't seem like it's usually the case.

Nice guy, dull class. Dull dull dull. He's really into what he does, but the lectures still don't stick for some reason. If you are bad at chemistry (hint: I am bad at chemistry), you may have a tough time with it, but he's the world's most forgiving grader. (Comments like "This shows a complete lack of understanding of the material. B+.") We also had about eight classes this term cancelled. Draw from that what you will.