Burton Budick

I'd second that he's a good guy, but I'd only advise taking this class if you have *at least some* background in physics. If his lectures are your first exposure to the subject it's quite the uphill battle (not impossible, the curve is generous). It's just not the class to be in as someone new to physics.

I disagree with a lot of these reviews. Well I agree that he's a nice guy who likes to joke during lectures. However, he doesn't ruin your grade. I got my grade today and it was pretty good so I'm saying this from direct experience. He always has one or two problems on the midterm LITERALLY from the practice tests he gave you. So if you study the practice tests well you will do well on the midterms. He usually has about two new problems but they don't diverge too much from the previous exams. The exams aren't usually that hard, if you get the concepts from the previous exams. The homework I will admit can be quite a pain. The homework to do it properly actually takes more than an hour or two. The first few easy chapters can be done quickly but as the material gets harder it requires more time. He actually grades them so the homework gets really annoying as well. I never went to the recitation so I can't say much. To prepare for his exams effectively do all the practice exams and know them all. They can be quite a burden since he like gives you about 3-4 at a time. But if you do them right, they will ensure you a good grade. This is a lot of work but I didn't find it necessary to study physics everyday. For like midterm I just studied for a day or two. He isn't exactly the best lecturer in the sense that what he teaches isn't what is on the exams. Also he covers concepts very v…

I read the reviews about Prof. Budick and was terrified, absolutely terrified at the prospect of taking his class. (I didn't get a spot in Blair's...) The other reviews are largely accurate--Budick is a very approachable, affable and entertaining professor and his exams become difficult unless you do a lot of problems. What you have to realize though, is that Budick will not hold your hand in this class like Blair will. If you're self-disciplined and have an ounce of pre-med drive, you'll do fine in this class. The whole thing about the thousands of problems that await you and the potential of smart kids doing poorly in this class...um, that would be the case in any class if you didn't know how to study for it. If you ask any Physics professor how to do better in physics, he/she will tell you to do more problems. It's no different in this class. Also, if you're in Budick's class, I guarantee you will learn more (much more) than Blair's class and probably will understand it better for the MCATs. So suck it up, do the work and get your A.

Burton is a friendly old man, and he teaches well, and straight out of the book. He seems really friendly and engaging, although don't try to ask him about your grade: he gets that question all the time, and his response is to be a toughass about it. He does not believe in generous curves, which doesn't help in a class full of post-bacs. Take Tuts if it's at all an option, even if you can't make it to lectures, you'll get a better grade without a doubt.

The curve saved my ass. He's not a good lecturer, but he's a good guy. I hate his exams oh man. There's 2 "midterms" and one final. They are the only items that contribute to your grade in the class. However, if you complete all of the homework assignments (from which he will pick a couple questions to grade), it will help you if you are in between letter grades. For example, if you are in between a -B and B, and you did all of the homework questions, he will give you the B. You most definitely have to do practice outside of lecture or else you will do poorly in his class. I got by on YouTube prep videos and cramming the last 3 days before an exam. And I ended up with a B+ so it's possible just a lot of work on your part.

I really like this professor. I've read the other reviews and while I can't really disagree with a lot that is said, I really enjoyed the classes. We covered a lot more material than Blair but if you want to get your money's worth and be better prepared for the MCAT then you should really try to learn some physics. If your interested in the topic at all you won't be bored and you'll be challenged. From what I've heard about Blair's class, I would have been bored because he goes very slowly. Although I like that in his approach you don't need a calculator on the tests. If I had to say something negative about Budick's class it's that you lose way too many point due to math erros than to conceptual erros. Doing math under pressure is not fun. But there's nothing more annoying than doing poorly on a test just because you didn't realize that you forget to change the sign in an equation.

Let me first start off by saying that we, in Budick's class, resent all those who are in Blaer's class. While people in Blaer's class are receiving good grades with minimal effort, those in Budick's class slave for hours on end with problem sets that 1.) don't really affect your grade (i.e. you can get by without doing them) and 2.) don't really resemble the problems given on the tests. Physics is not easy and I don't agree with the review that if one takes this class seriously it would be a breeze. The amount of time you put in this class doesn't really translate into a good grade unless you really know your physics. Budick doesn't really dumb down the material. He goes off on derivations really quickly which is why his class is about 5 chapters ahead of other classes. Budick is a nice and friendly man, and I don't believe he is a "toughass" when you ask him about your grades. What many people have a problem with is the pace of his class and overall difficulty of his tests. He does give practice exams and among those practice exams one question will be on the test so it is to your advantage to know the solutions. However in the end his class is just overbearing. If you have background in Physics, which there are several in the class, then I see how the class might seem easy, but for the rest of us who've had no exposure to the subject, it's torture. His class is not cake walk…

There are alot of negative reviews on here for budick, many of which made me iniatially apprehensive about signing up for his course. This was also the first college couse I have taken as I just finished the class over the summer of my senior year in high school but quickly my concern was cast away and i became captivated with Budick's lectures. If you want to really learn physics budick is the way to go. He was easily one of the best and quirkiest teachers i have had and his stories and lectures made the class especially interesting and even hilarious at times. Budick is however very tough to understand sometimes and I highly reccommend that if you are to take this class that you read the lecture slides he posts on courseworks before class. It is also necessary at times to read ahead; the class moves incredibly fast and if you dont go ahead youll be stuck behind. Before each exam Budick posts a series of practice tests online with his answers in the back. Often his work is difficult to follow but if you spend the time struggling through on your own first it will really pay off when you have to take the actual test. If you are taking this course to prepare for the mcat he does cover topics that may be on the test. I also highly reccommend that you consider taking the lab along with the lecture. Columbia has some amazing resources and it is well worth it to take advantage of th…

While some of the reviews on here are perhaps a tiny bit extreme, it became clear to me by the time we had the first midterm that Prof. Budick has some serious teaching deficiencies. I basically taught the entire course to myself, with the help of a study group and the grad students in the study room (note that about half the grad students are useless at explaining things and/or don't speak English; the other half are great). The worst thing about Budick is his complete and all consuming inability to gauge student understanding - he had no idea, at any point in the semester, including immediately before and after exams, what students did or did not understand. When answering questions, he often trips over his own words - he clearly understands the problem in his head, but is often unable to explain how he got from step A to step B to step C. Worse, sometimes he makes minor errors when going between steps (which he often does in his head) and then this results in a serious error by the time he gets to the solution. Often he'll respond to a student's question by pointing to the board and saying, "well, that process occurred when we went from this step to this step", but it isn't clear to anybody how he went from A to B. Sometimes the answers on his exam solutions sheets, which he gives you to prepare for exams, are just wrong. I have always been very good at math, and actually l…

There are a lot of older reviews that seem to be not too fond of old man Budick. I think he is fantastic. He really is an interesting lecturer who is one of the best I have ever had. A lot of people complain about him ("do more problems, less stories") but I think its his stories and his endearing personality that make him great. Some of his tests are challenging, but so are all the other teachers. My one complaint is that he gives you 4 "practice exams" which are real exams he has given in the past (and by "past" I mean the 1830's). These should be treated as "practice problems" more than "practice exams", because often they in no way resemble the test that he gives you. I transfered out of his section for the second semester, purely because I couldnt attend his class at that time anymore (715pm). If he taught a section during the day, I would have stayed in his class. My new teacher is great (parsons), but I miss Budick. I will probably never have someone as engaging as he is. He is very smart, funny, interesting, helpful if you go to see him, personable, and generally likeable. He is the only teacher I have ever had to seemed genuinely interested in our opinion of how the class was going. He had us submit critique cards after both tests, which he responded to in front of the whole class. That shows tremendous character and dedication, for someone who has been teaching somet…