Luke Cota

PHYS111 · PHYS151 · PHYS152 · 19 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 28/100
RMP rating: 2.5/5
Take again: 41.18%
Difficulty: 3.4

The decision

Avoid unless you already know physics and only need a .

Best fit · Self Taught ProChronically lateDisorganized lecturesTest heavySelf-teach physicsChill grader when organized

Students repeatedly call out chronic lateness, flip-flopping policies, and unprepared lectures.
Exams and graded items are few; many say you learn mostly from YouTube and the book.
A minority of older reviews praise him as nice and passable if .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

FairEffort

58/100

Some say it is hard to fail if and study, but and this will not be an easy A.

; in-person comments stress self-study for a decent grade.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

32/100

Physics , and students need prior calc or physics background to keep up.

Both formats rate difficulty high; online .

Is attendance flexible?

Varies

55/100

Many say he does not take roll and lectures are skippable, but and one tag warns skip class and you will not pass.

enforced; online mixes mandatory and optional.

Is this professor recommended?

Avoid

28/100

and most detailed comments urge students to pick anyone else.

Online and in-person both lean against recommending him; a .

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Lenient

62/100

Often described as a in some terms.

Format shift

; in-person still called tough but not impossible to pass.

Workload

Moderate

48/100

and labs; not endless busywork but exams carry the course.

Format shift

Similar workload pattern online and in person.

Teaching experience

Poor

28/100

Students widely report lateness, disorganization, , and teaching yourself from YouTube.

Format shift

Online and in-person both criticize organization; a minority of .

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

72/100

Most sections are a handful of weight.

Format shift

; in-person is traditional exams.

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

16 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

, and unhelpful; a few early reviews say he is nice if .

Main concern

, and lectures that force students onto YouTube.

What students said

“Cota is late to class frequently and . I don't trust what he says at all because he flip-flops his policy whenever he feels like it.”
PHYS152

“Absolutely horrible professor. and acts like he doesn't care about his students.”
PHYS151

“Expect to learn mostly everything on your own time, and watch a lot of youtube videos.”
PHYS152

Remote format

Online

3 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

Online sections still suffer from lateness and falling behind schedule; but organization is poor.

Main concern

He falls far behind and dumps multiple chapters into the .

What students said

“He is sometimes late for class and got SOO far behind. We had 3 chapters for the .”
PHYS152

“He'll ask questions, which nobody will know the answer to then get mad when no one answers. He skips steps and assumes you are following.”
PHYS151

“Tests where take home (4 tests w lowest dropped) and where moderate to hard.”
PHYS152

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

online take-homes help, but and .

Take-home exams onlineIn-person examsFew graded itemsStudy guides sometimes provided

Assessment risk

Standard

52/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

In-person exams are unclear, poorly written, sometimes rescheduled, and .

In-person examsUnclear test contentRescheduled testsStudy guides not always helpful

“3 tests and a , but .”
PHYS152

“ and make your life miserable.”
PHYS111

“His study guides are not helpful whatsoever for .”
PHYS151

Online

Online reviews describe take-home exams that are moderate to hard, with lowest test sometimes dropped.

Take-home examsLowest test droppedModerate to hard

“ and manageable.”
PHYS152

“Tests where take home (4 tests w lowest dropped) and where moderate to hard.”
PHYS152

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“Cota is late to class frequently and . I don't trust what he says at all because he flip-flops his policy whenever he feels like it. Avoid.”
Voice snapshots generated from 19 reviews (3 online, 16 in person), highlighting lateness, self-teaching, and . Credibility rating: High.

🏫 Teaching Quality

28/100

“Throughout this course, Professor Cota was late to class and was not prepared for each lecture.”

👎 Recommendation

28/100

“Unless you want to learn .”

📚 Self-Teaching Required

30/100

“I taught myself everything by watching youtube videos and going to the tutoring center.”

📝

62/100

“I'd say he's a .”

Theme 1

⏰ About Lateness & Organization

Hardly on time, horrible with planning
He is almost always late every class
because he forgets to print them out

Theme 2

📖 About Learning on Your Own

You must learn everything on your own
Expect to learn mostly everything on your own time, and watch a lot of youtube videos
I ended up depending on the book for concrete examples and help

Theme 3

🧪

This will not be an easy A
I think it's almost impossible to fail this class, or get a bad grade
and manageable

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

78/100

Evidence confidence

19 reviews spanning 2013-2021 with consistent themes of lateness and disorganization, though early reviews are more mixed than recent ones.

Inside 19 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 53

4 out of 52

3 out of 53

2 out of 55

1 out of 56

Course coverage

PHYS15210 reviews

PHYS1516 reviews

PHYS1113 reviews

Reported outcomes

No letter grade reported results lead the reported letter grades.

14 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 1 · A 3

B range

B 1

C range

C- 1

D range

No reported values

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

Drop/Withdrawal 1 · Not sure yet 6 · Rather not say 1

Luke Cota

Avoid unless you already know physics and only need a x x x x x x.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

FairEffort

Challenging

Varies

Avoid

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

📚 Self-Teaching Required

📝 x x x

⏰ About Lateness & Organization

📖 About Learning on Your Own

🧪 x x x x

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

No letter grade reported results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

Avoid unless you already know physics and only need a .

📝

🧪