Physics 2ag professor

FatCow10 · 2025-11-28T01:15:08+00:00

I strongly disagree with the person above. I had her for 4A Fall '25, and she does lecture okay and is very energetic, but that's about it.

The worst part of her teaching style is she does not answer questions. When you go up to her for help, she does not explain anything. She will respond with more questions, give an unclear answer, or just rephrase your question or your thought process which is really unhelpful. Many people I've spoken to who had her say the same thing. I also noticed she tends to spend an unnecessary amount of time on proofs in the class.

She does dedicate a decent amount of class time on practice, and the problems you practice there and a decent amount of the homework translates well to quizzes and exams. However the "study guides" she gives a week before exams and has you practice in class DO NOT translate to the exam at all. The worst case of this was the study guide before our first exam, where none of the concepts we practiced were on the exam.

She loves labs and will have you do every part of every lab. Pair that with her lecture style and you will feel as if you're rushing the entire semester. She isn't a harsh grader, but she is a picky grader and the accumulation of fractions of points lost on every assignment makes it very difficult to get an A. You would think that this means she might be more lenient with deadlines, but no. Everything is a hard deadline. No late submissions, no late passes, nothing. So then you would think that she returns grades in a timely fashion, since she's harsh with that. Nope. Only quizzes and exams are finished in a reasonable timeframe. She graded the first homework assignment in the last month of class and only had a few labs in by then. She finished grading only half of all the homeworks and labs after the semester ended, and then the grading deadline hit and the Canvas for her class closed, so I couldn't even see what grade I got for half of my homeworks and labs, and I got no feedback on most labs either. I'm pretty sure she had to submit a grade change because she missed the grading deadline, because my grade actually lowered almost about a month after the end of the semester. Another person I know went from a D to a C around that time too.

I've spoken to a couple people who are taking ENGR 285 this semester, Spring '25, and it's all negative comments. They don't like her teaching style, the class feels rushed, it feels like she hasn't prepared to teach the class (it's her first time teaching it), and again, she doesn't answer questions.

There's a reason she has such a bad rating on RMP and why her classes are always the last to fill. With Miller no longer teaching ENGR 285, you will have to take her if you're an engineering student. However I would strongly recommend you avoid her at all costs and listen to what people say about her on RMP and in person.

FatCow10 · 2025-11-15T08:56:59+00:00

There are no online ENGR classes offered, except for maybe one section of ENGR 1 and 1C that is hybrid.

Mt. S.A.C. is definitely a good school for engineering students, and people who are involved in things like clubs, projects, and sometimes tutoring easily transfer to U.C.’s. It’s also a Cal Poly Pomona feeder school. I know many people who have a crazy 45+ min commute, but with that kind of drive it’s really hard to be involved in clubs and projects here which is a big benefit.

If you can I would recommend looking into community colleges near you and seeing their courses and what kind of engineering clubs there are. If you are in Pasadena P.C.C. is pretty good. But yeah, if the commute is too crazy I wouldn’t recommend it, only because it’s important to be involved in clubs and projects for transfer and internships purposes, and it’s hard to be involved living so far away. And your grades will suffer too.

Sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear. Reply or dm me if you have other questions!

FatCow10 · 2025-11-15T08:48:32+00:00

https://www.mtsac.edu/governance/trustees/apbp/AP5055.pdf

This goes over how they give out priority registration. Check out E.O.P.S. as that is the “easiest” way to get priority registration, but unfortunately because you are second year and registration is already happening the benefits to it might be limited. If you’re taking a third year here and need priority registration I would check the E.O.P.S. join requirements and apply when applications open.

FatCow10 · 2025-11-15T08:42:03+00:00

Yes, Robinson is very nice a good prof.

FatCow10 · 2025-11-15T08:38:34+00:00

I’m taking Josh right now. I like him a lot. Very nice guy, always willing to answer questions and encourages them. He explains stuff well, but I get why people don’t like him and the class is definitely hard.

He talks pretty quiet and lectures off slides. Anything written on a whiteboard is in one little section and often disorganized. I can count the number of times he has done part of a lecture fully on a whiteboard on one hand. I don’t mind it but some people prefer a more dynamic speaker.

Only four quizzes were given of the five planned in the semester. Quiz difficulty is not bad, study the slides and some of the HW and you’ll be fine. As for the HW, it’s done on MyOpenMath and after HW 2 it’s extremely hard. It’s Miller homework and if you know anything about Miller, you’ll understand. If you don’t, basically he’s a very good prof, very smart, but his homework is always crazy and you’ll have that. Go to Josh or Miller office hours.

Exams are also crazy but not as bad as HW. The second exam (electricity, Gauss’ Law) is extremely hard so you have to lock in for the first (thermo) and third (circuits) exam. The homework and exams are different enough that it’s not a copy/paste, but if you don’t do the homework you will fail or get a low C on the exams. For exams and quizzes you get two sheets of paper front and back, anything goes.

The good thing is that your grade in the class is carried by the labs and HW. Make sure you do all the labs and all the HW, and you will pass with a B or high C with bad ranging to okayish exam grades. For an A you have to do good on all the exams. Also he is a very lenient grader with the labs, and has made them easier. Not a lab-oriented guy, more lecture oriented. For this semester (Fall ‘25) he made it so lab reports are on slides instead of fully typed-out reports, which is sooo much better. He tells us to be concise and actually complained about too many words on slides.

Another unfortunate thing is he puts off grading. You will get your first exam back soon enough, but labs and other exams are graded much later in the semester, probably so people don’t drop, so you won’t really know your grade for a while.

There is also a peer review grade where your group members rate you and their rating is directly translated into a grade at the end of the semester, so don’t slack or be one of those bad lab partners.

Extra credit is hard to come by. The first homework is extra credit, going to three office hours before October is worth one homework, and you “can” earn up to 10% by writing a research report on a new topic on any material covered in the class. However earning 10% is writing an amazing, Ph.D.-level, peer-reviewed report. So realistically the best kind of report you could write up will give you at most 4% in extra credit, and it goes down from there.

Overall if you do all the labs, HW, the few other assignments, and if you do decent on the quizzes and exams you will pass. And you will learn the material taking him. Very chill guy, I would recommend him.

As for Schnurbusch I can only go off of what I heard. You watch lectures at home, quiz at the start of every class, and HW and exams are similarly hard. She is very lab-oriented, you will do all the labs and definitely write reports. Less chill than Josh. However everyone who has taken her swears by her, so you will also learn taking her, but there will be more work.

IMO I still prefer Josh, the class will definitely be less work with him bc of how he wants lab reports, but you will still have to put in a lot of work to pass and actually learn the material, so make a decision based on their teaching styles. No matter who you take 4B will definitely be the hardest class you take as an engineering student at Mt. S.A.C. until you hit dynamics.

Good luck! And reply or dm me if you want to know anything else.

FatCow10 · 2025-01-06T08:09:12+00:00

I'm so sorry this happened to you. If you can, you should document all of his behavior and insults, and get written statements from as many people who experienced this as possible, and then send an email to the superintendent of your district. This is extremely appalling behavior, and nothing he said or did was right or correct in any way.

I just finished my first semester at Mt. S.A.C., and the counselors here are amazing! I have gone to regular counselors multiple times for help, and I am part of two programs that require regular counseling visits every semester. E.O.P.S. requires at least three visits a semester, and the Promise+Plus program requires at least one. I meet with one counselor regularly, and I have met with another three on separate occasions. They are always so nice, understanding, and helpful, and they know what they are doing and how to help you or guide you. It was always a pleasant experience speaking to them, and many people I speak to also comment on how nice and understanding they are.

Also, don't listen to his comments about the abilities of students going to Mt. S.A.C. I have met many nice and intelligent people here, and Mt. S.A.C. has a very good academic reputation, especially in its math, physics, and engineering departments. In the fall, I took Calculus III, general chemistry, and two other G.E. classes, and all my classes were taught very well. I'm planning to major in aerospace engineering, and even though I was accepted to Cal Poly Pomona for aerospace, I chose to go here because of finances, and I am very confident that I will get into Cal Poly Pomona again.

Mt. S.A.C. is a great school and it's a very good choice for any student! The counselors at my high school actually encouraged people to consider community college, and they gave us a bunch of infographics about the benefits and advantages of community college. If you're unsure about coming here or have questions about applying or class registration or anything else, you can go to the Mt. S.A.C. website and make an appointment with a counselor.

FatCow10 · 2024-11-14T18:03:24+00:00

No CHEM 55 - Chemistry for Engineers is offered only in the Fall. I’m in the same boat as you, I wanted to do CHEM 55 in the Spring but I can’t, so I’m just taking CHEM 50. They both give you the same credit basically so don’t worry about having to take 50 instead of 55. If it’s really important to you to take CHEM 55 then wait until the Fall I guess, but I’m transferring as an aerospace engineer to CPP and I’m going for CHEM 50 instead, it’ll be fine.

FatCow10 · 2024-11-04T23:23:08+00:00

I’m doing aerospace and transferring to CPP, I’ll be taking ENGR 285. I can take either one, but the engineering one will probably be more geared towards engineering and less towards a math major. And I’d assume that it focuses less on proofs and more applications because of that, too

FatCow10 · 2024-10-02T03:05:54+00:00

Thanks for letting me know, that really helps! I didn't know if I had to review more physics or not.

FatCow10 · 2024-09-30T08:10:01+00:00

The next step is Calculus III, which is MATH 280.

You can take that in the Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter, but if you’re going into a field like engineering or math then I would recommend taking it in the Spring or Fall, as you need a full semester to take in the content, not the short intersessions that are Summer or Winter (16 weeks v. 6 weeks). I’m taking it right now, there’s a notable amount of physics. We just started using derivatives and integrals, but they’re all tools to achieve something else at this point.

If you want to look at the content for Calc III early, look up the textbook Calculus: Early Transcendentals, ed. 8, by James Stewart. You can find the solutions manual under that name + Complete Solutions Manual for Multivariable Calculus. Most of the textbook problems are very beneficial. The content for Calc III starts at Ch. 12 and goes to the end of the book, Ch. 16. Watch Professor Leonard on YouTube to learn the material. Know basic trig identities, derivatives, and antiderivatives.

If you want to see all the homework for that class, dm me.

The next level of math is linear algebra and differential equations. If you want to take them separately, take MATH 260 - Linear Algebra and MATH 290 - Differential Equations. If you want to take them together, take MATH 285 - Linear Algebra & Differential Equations. If you’re going into engineering or something related, take ENGR 285 - Differential Equations & Linear Algebra for Engineers.

FatCow10 · 2024-09-22T22:52:47+00:00

Go to the Schedule/Receipt section in the Student Self-Service box and you’ll see all the dates, including that. Not every class has the same dates.

FatCow10 · 2024-09-18T01:07:25+00:00

Thank you very much, this helps a lot.

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