UC Berkeley: Italian R5B

Taking an english class my last semester at Berkeley... have I already ranted about jumping through hoops? Oh, yes I have.
I got a B in the course, when I got A's in my physics courses. How? Well, there was no turning in hard copies of essays for the course, it was all online submission. Sure enough, I thought my submission went through but apparently not, which resulted in a 0 for that essay. Ole Sarah Rusell refused granting an exception -- it was either in-on-time or zero. I got A's on the last two essays even though I was too insulted by her to have any motivation, but I can't really blame her, its the system's fault. The system is quite skewed: a grade for an english course is supposed to represent the student's ability at thinking critically about the readings, which manifests itself in essays. Instead, the system measures the student's ability to do busy work: points were given for various tasks that had to be completed daily, ranging from "peer-edits" to "reading responses," which were always rewarded with full points if completed, even if you gave the dullest, lowest level thinking, generic response imaginable. My first essay was my best.


1st Essay:


2nd Essay:


3rd Essay:

UC Berkeley Physics 137B: Quantum Mechanics II

I took 137B with Stamper-Kurn and really enjoyed the course.
His homework was very interesting as he gave us papers to read and homework problems regarding quantum computing/information, but it was a lot of work. I squeaked by with an A-.
He never posted the final exam solution, but it was so hard. Here are the homework problems + solutions, "quiz" solutions, and lecture materials that he posted: 137B.zip

Here is a preview of the midterm solution and a homework solution:

 

UC Berkeley Physics 105: Classical Mechanics

I had Knobloch for 105, and he's an impressive professor; he does long derivations on the board entirely without notes, and is mathematically rigorous. He is a very classically-minded professor, traditional, formal.
He's a big recycler of old homework and exam problems, so here are the hw and exam solutions that he gave us: 105.zip

 

UC Berkeley Physics 112: Statistical Mechanics

I remember looking at the list of courses that I would have to take for the physics major, and Statistical Mechanics was the main course that I thought would be an absolutely dry and painful experience. It turned out to be completely the opposite: I had Holtzapfel and he explains the concepts extremely clearly, and brings the material to life.

I guess he assigns the same homework every semester, and he recycles a lot of problems from past exams. 

Here are all the 11 homeworks and solutions that he posted, as well as some old exams: 112.zip

A preview of the first homework and hw solution: