Reviews of professor Tom Purdy

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
I was quite happy with Prof. Purdy's class. He usually hung back after class to answer questions which was very helpful!

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Physics 2 is a pretty rough class regardless of who you take. Prof. Purdy is a pretty decent choice. My only complaint is that he didn't curve, but I don't know if he has much control over that.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
Class graded on weekly recitation quizzes, weekly homework assignments, three midterms, and the final. He drops your two lowest quizzes, lowest homework, and lowest midterm. Reading the textbook was very helpful in studying. I thought his midterms were straightforward and fairly easy. His final was trickier, but only because it was multiple choice.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
His lectures can get stale at times but he's there after class to answer questions. His HW is very challenging, much harder than the tests. The tests can still be difficult, but you're allowed to handwrite a page of notes/equations, and the free response questions have generous partial credit. And the lowest midterm is dropped.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Tom is a solid choice compared to many of the other physics professors. He gives 3 exams and lets you drop your lowest one. Quizzes and homework hold decent weight. I found reading the book to be crucial. His exams are tough but he gives partial credit. He did lie about curving the class but likely because enough people passed without any curve.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Professor Purdy is definitely a solid choice. There are weekly homework assignments, recitation quizzes (which you can work on with others), and 3 midterms plus a final where the lowest midterm grade is dropped. He is very kind and willing to help students. The class is graded very fairly and I definitely feel prepared for future classes.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
He spent the entirety of every lecture deriving complicated formulas using concepts way outside the scope of the class, diff eq, taylor expansions, complex vectors, and barley shows you how to apply the formula to a problem. No practice problems were done, but the curve is massive and the weekly quizzes aren't bad, so the class is passable.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Spent the class doing "derivations" where he said "just look in the book if you want to see the math". Does not answer questions and does not explain concepts/examples well.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Tom is very nice and a solid professor. He gives 3 exams and a final but your worst exam score is dropped. His tests are pretty tough but he is generous with partial credit.