Derek Padilla

PHY11 · PHY21 · PHYS20 · PHYS40 · PHYS41 · PHYS42 · 21 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 94/100
RMP rating: 4.7/5
Take again: 100%
Difficulty: 3.0

The decision

Take him whenever possible if you .

Best fit · Effort For RewardCrystal Clear LecturesExam RedosPhysics SaviorFair but ToughOffice Hours Gold

Students overwhelmingly call him the
, but redos, equation sheets, and
Attendance and if you want the A

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

FairEffort

58/100

An A and redos, but and real work is required.

; no online reviews were available.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

38/100

Physics content stays hard even when lectures are excellent, with frequent tough problem-solving.

; no online reviews were available.

Is attendance flexible?

MustTake

96/100

Near-universal praise and 100 percent take-again sentiment brand him a must-take physics professor.

; no online reviews were available.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Fair

64/100

Tests are hard but fair, with redos and partial recovery that reward effort without free grades.

Format shift

; no online reviews were available.

Workload

Moderate

52/100

, and reading are real but manageable if you stay current each week.

Format shift

; no online reviews were available.

Teaching experience

Excellent

93/100

Students repeatedly call lectures clearer than the , and student-centered.

Format shift

; no online reviews were available.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

72/100

, and occasional group projects.

Format shift

; no online reviews were available.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

21 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

In-person students almost , and fair hard testing with redo chances.

Main concern

and skipping class or .

What students said

“Really good at explaining material. I've never had a .”
PHYS40

“Re-do's will save you, they can bring a test score up 1 full letter grade.”
PHYS20

“Physics is tough, but Derek made it fun.”
PHYS42

Remote format

Online

0 reviews

Low confidence

No stored summary is available for this format.

Main concern

No main concern is stored for this format.

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

but transparent, often with equation sheets and redo opportunities.

Hard but fair examsExam redosEquation sheetsHomework-aligned questions

Assessment risk

Standard

58/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

Hard multi-problem exams that match lecture content, often with equation sheets and partial redo credit.

Redo examsEquation sheets5 problems per examHomework-aligned tests

“The but fair. You are always given equation sheets.”
PHYS20

“ and gives back 10% on the "redo".”
2405

“He only teaches what he is testing. 5 problems on each exam.”
PHYS20

Online

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“Derek is by far the greatest professor out there. ... TAKE HIS CLASS.”
Voice snapshots generated from 21 in-person , and recommendation strength. Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

93/100

“Hands down the . , and he's an awesome guy!”

👍 Recommendation Rate

96/100

“I hope he gets more classes. He's doing a great job”

🧪

58/100

“He is a very tough tester, but he cares about his students and lets you try to make up the points.”

📚 Workload Balance

52/100

“The work, and assignments and relative easy, but they all depend on the reading and being present in class.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

.
he outshines every other physics teacher.

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

but work hard to get that A.
Even with taking AP Phys B and C, he was a tough teacher.

Theme 3

❤️ About Character

, and .
super laid-back and
, and funny.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

88/100

Evidence confidence

21 consistently glowing, detailed reviews with little contradiction make the profile highly reliable.

Inside 21 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 517

4 out of 53

3 out of 51

2 out of 50

1 out of 50

Course coverage

PHYS206 reviews

PHYS405 reviews

PHYS415 reviews

PHY112 reviews

24051 review

Show 2 more courses

PHY211 review

PHYS421 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

12 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 1 · A 4 · A- 2

B range

B+ 1 · B 1 · B- 1

C range

C 2

D range

No reported values

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

No reported values

Derek Padilla

Take him whenever possible if you x x x x x x x x x.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

FairEffort

Challenging

Recommended

MustTake

See how this professor fits your week.

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

In person

Online

See what students actually said.

🎯 Teaching Quality

👍 Recommendation Rate

🧪 x x x

📚 Workload Balance

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

❤️ About Character

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

Take him whenever possible if you .

🧪