He is absolutely no help when it comes to homework questions. I don't even think he's qualified enough to be teaching. The tests aren't bad because they're exactly like the Lon Capa homework but I would NOT recommend taking him because he is absolutely no help with learning the material.

Driest professor I've ever had. Lectures are mandatory and completely boring. Is no help and is horrible at explaining how to do problems. He does one or two example problems per section then expects you to know how he did it afterwards and moves on. During the homework recitation he just awkwardly and silently sits there instead of offering advice

Mr. Cook is the most boring teacher you will ever take but his class isn't very hard. Going to his lectures are absolutely pointless except doing the clicker problems (which he does grade). His slides in class have absolutely nothing to do with your tests and don't even bother looking at them when studying for the tests. The tests are pure CAPA!!!!

Do your GPA a favor and do not take John Cook. He is condescending and does not explain concepts well, just reads off of powerpoint slides with 1000000 words on them. Tests are lonCAPA, but not the homework problems, so very difficult. It is easy to pass with a C (a 59%) but an A is a 91% and he does not curve. Awful awful awful TAKE MY ADVICE.

Horrible class. This class should only be for physics majors.

mandatory attendance, painfully boring lectures. Doesn't even make his own powerpoints, just drearily reads from powerpoints taken from online

Spends most of the class lecture reading off slides and telling his own personal stories. Jokes to try to keep a room of people not paying attention or falling asleep alive. The Lon-Capa homework, ABSOLUTE worst homework system in the history of education and lectures you learn nothing. Nothing at all. Good luck teaching yourself, you'll need it

Is extremely boring in lecture and reads straight from slides. Tests are impossible and have nothing to do with homework or lecture. Do not take him.

Cook is probably the worst professor I have ever had. I ended up getting a tutor and still got a 70% on the second exam after two weeks of studying with a tutor. His in class examples are done in the hardest way possible and he says he does it on purpose to frustrate you. I would recommend taking someone else. Loncapa homework you need a chegg

Only used slides to teach, barely any examples, only used loncapa for homework and is the only way youll learn, be prepared to chegg most of it. Apparently he isnt even the worst in the department. Good luck, 9/10 would not recommend.

Cook is a terrible professor. He uses boring slides that are hard to follow along with. Doesn't do anything in class to help the students understand the material better. Some questions of the tests are completely different from what he did in class.

He is terrible. Worst prof I have ever had. He doesn't answer questions and will not help if you ask. He teaches one thing and test on another. He says the test are just like the homework but they are way different. AVOID AT ALL COST!!

Unfortunately, if you go to USC you will not find any good physics teachers. I cannot speak for the rest of them, but John Cook is the worst. He doesn't teach you anything of any value. Instead of teaching you how to work through problems he will have you try them, fail, and move on. Homework is impossible without a chegg account.

lets be real folks if you are taking physics at USC your gonna have a bad time. it does not help that John Cook is one of the most boring professors i have ever had to deal with. along with being boring he just expects you to know things that are so abstract its beyond tedious to find. when it comes to grades in the course you arent really PT.1

your arnt really gonna know where the hell you stand especially with his backwords method of grading. next theres the homework which is next to useless you legit have to chegg everything because it offers no help and the chances of you making it to his little study sessions is slim to non. finally test his test are multiple choice with 6 choices .2

doesn't know how to explain things in more than one way. examples he goes over in class are nothing like the homework or the test. exams are multiple choice with about 6-8 choices each -- good luck guessing because you probably will end up doing that.

if you have to take physics DO NOT TAKE COOK. exams do not reflect the class at all and you WILL get 20's on every test. He sucks so much. Sassy responses if you ask questions and he teaches physics like you are an upper level physics major. Unless you want to chegg all the homework, go to class, and fail don't take him.

Easily the worst class/professor I have ever taken. Lectures are pointless, as you most likely will not understand what's going on, but he takes iClicker attendance. Exams are impossible, with multiple choice options A-H. There is a lot of homework so find a friend to split a chegg account with if you want to pass. Also has a creepy mustache.

Worst professor I have ever taken! He is very lazy. He gave us test review questions for the exam but without any answers! And then complained when we asked for them. Is that not what a professor is for?? He claimed that our class average of a 59 (that was the rounded avg btw) was good? Basically, avoid Cook if you can.

Avoid at all costs! He doesn't teach, he reads the slides that are already posted online. He doesn't explain anything and expects everyone to have a huge physics background. Grading is slow considering all tests are scantrons. Test questions are homework questions with different numbers, so reworking those was the best test prep.

WORST PROFESSOR. I hate this man. successuse of Chegg + do all extra credit + get I-clicker questions correct. I pretty much taught myself this class by memorizing the Chegg steps for the EXCESSIVE hw he assigns. if you have to take phys DONT TAKE COOK. bad professors like him shouldn't be allowed to teach, let alone earn a living from it...

If you want a prof who cares less than dirt for his students, this is your guy. You can ask a serious question about your final grade and he'll respond with "I don't know" and then move on like its nothing. An A is not impossible but you have to teach yourself everything. He is useless when it comes to learning the material. Wont pass without chegg

I am a junior in college, and I have yet to drop a class. This class will be my first dropped class, because I dont see how anyone could succeed in this class. He doesnt work out problems in class, he just explains the formulas and variables. Its clear that he doesnt prepare you to succeed in his class. Also, no curves, and no rounding grades!

John cook was the worst professor I have had. His lectures are useless. He gives you formula sheets and test review that are useless and are nothing like the exams. I had to use chegg for all of his homework because he doesn't do well when it comes to working out problems in class. The students made it clear we didn't understand... he didn't care.

THE WORST professor I have ever had and I think exists period. Questions are natural for physics, it's not an easy subject, but don't you dare ask him to clarify something in class. He will make fun of you and belittle you for trying even though he sucks at explaining things. He said it "wasn't his job to teach us math." SIR?

Whatever we learned in class was not represented in the tests. They were a lot like the homework, which already wasn't like the lectures. He also said he wasn't qualified to teach us math because this was concept based physics but anything outside of lectures was math so Chegg was a must have. He also made us pay for ProctorU which is invasive.

Cook has easily been the worst professor I have had. The final exam had like 15 different answer choices and he does not care if you understand the material or not. In fact, I think he is aware that no one understands which is why the class is weighted. He gave EC but only got me 5 EC hw points where I already had 100. Avoid class w him.

disclaimer: ALL usc physics teachers suck. cook is NOT a good teacher, and extremely unsympathetic to students who are struggling. tests are not like homework or lectures so it's hard to do well. i somehow pulled an A out for this class because of the EC and attendance points, but i had a tutor during the semester to help me with this class.

If there is one class I could drop, it is this one. I knew going into online physics would be difficult (I had no choice), but the fact that he was my only option made this worst. He doesn't teach, he's downgrading to students, doesn't explain homework problems, and not to mention you have to watch lectures before the actual lecture. DON'T TAKE!

hes a nice guy but his class takes up a stupid amount of time and its hard

He is literally by far, the worst professor I have ever had. The physics department is not the greatest, but he surely doesn't help it at all. If you are signed up for, drop him immediately. I have never seen a professor this disrespectful to students. If you have a question he does not like, he simply ignores it or makes fun of you. -10000/100.

The physics department at UofSC is already not amazing, but Professor Cook does not help in this matter. His lectures are fast-paced and confusing to those who do not already have a strong foundation in physics. His tests are hard but are based on the equally hard and tedious homework. I would not take him if you are already not amazing at physics.

Professor Cook expects you to have full knowledge of physics before you even start the course. Very fast-paced class. Tests are extremely hard. If you don't want your GPA to drop exponentially, I recommend choosing a different professor. I'm suffering.

Lol where to begin! This was the worst experience with a professor I have EVER had at USC and I am now a senior. Not only is he rude and simply does not care about his students he responds in a condescending manner every time you have a question or are confused. I would not wish this man on anyone! He made me and many other students miserable! GRR

Literally the worst professor ever! Do yourself a favor and take the class at a tech school, you will actually learn something. The tests are so bad that I have received 30's on them, but I am some how passing the class. Another pro-tip, he gives you at least 8 different multiple choice answers for each question. Look at the rating!

Hands down the worst professor Ive had in my four years at USC. He doesnt care about his students in the slightest and does absolutely nothing about the fact that the class average has been a failing grade for all three exams so far. He also doesnt reply to e-mails which makes things 10x more frustrating. If you care about your GPA, avoid him!

By far one of the worst teachers I've had at USC. Being online due to covid has somehow made him think he can record as many lectures as he wants and upload them for us to watch outside of class even though class meeting were already mandatory. Avoid at any cost.

There were approx. 5-8 extra "lecture videos about an hour long each that had to be watched along with mandatory class each week. Lots of homework and exams were insanely hard. He's not great at teaching in general either. I will say though if you make the effort to reach out to him he will make somewhat of an effort to help.

This class genuinely was one of the worst experiences of my life. Paid to take exams, lectures were long and tedious, had videos that if you didn't watch you wouldn't pass. The only reason I passed was because of an amazing tutor that helped me learned the content. Never take John Cook. Only good thing about him was his mustache.

AVOID AVOID AVOID

The information in this class is hard to learn and Cook does not help. The homework problems are way harder then the example problems in class and look nothing alike. He's not the greatest lecturer and doesn't always give clear answers to questions we ask.

DO NOT take Dr. Cook unless he is your only option. I'm a junior with a 4.0 and this is going to be the class that breaks it. He expects you to watch 7 hours of online lecture videos before he starts each chapter so he doesn't have to actually teach in class. Only passing this class because of my engineer dad that tutors me.

I tried to give Cook the benefit of the doubt, physics must be a hard subject to teach. But he refused to elaborate in class, the homework is hard, and he expects you to learn the topic outside of class and "review" it in class. If he gave any effort into helping his students I would not be complaining, but he does not care if you pass or fail.

I have never in my whole life struggled with a class as much as I struggled with this class. To do well in this class you won't only need Chegg, laser focus 24/7 but probably a tutor and a ton of physics knowledge prior to taking the class. Homework is fine, and Iclicker is fine but the exams are terrible. Take this class a technical school PLEASE

Dr. Cook is a nice man but doesn't know how to teach students. Instead of learning the material, we watch videos outside of class then come to class and do problems that arent reflected on the exam. Do not wait to do Hw. Iclicker is used to attendance/participation. Exams are hard and almost impossible to prep for. Hw is most useful for exams.

Not only does this professor not seem to care about his students, but he is unable to present the material in a way that I was able to understand. I felt so defeated by this class which doesn't usually happen for me. This will be a self-taught class and it will be difficult unless you have an extensive physics background. Avoid at all costs.

Be prepared to hate yourself for not taking this at midlands or another uni. Worst teacher on campus who cares so little he won't give you pass days if your grandparents die. He doesn't care about you or what ever is going on in your life, he's just there to get paid and that's it.

This was legit the worst class I've ever taken. He expects you to know physics before he even teaches the material. The homework site Lon-Capa looks like something that was invented in the early 2000s and acts like it too. He is an alright guy but the worst teacher I have ever had. This class made me consider dropping out of college all together.

His lectures are so unnecessary. His exams are nothing from what we learn in class. DO NOT TAKE HIM!!

Be ready to give most of the time to the course and get prepared for the class from the modules for the iclicker questions.

Lectures have nothing to do with whats on the test. He seems like a great dude but I would never ever take a class with him again.

Worst professor I have ever taken. He is the only option available for physics 201, so you have no choice but to take him if you take physics here. I will be taking physics 202 at a technical college and not wasting my money here on a professor who does not teach. DO NOT TAKE HIM!!!!!!!!

AVOID AT ALL COSTS! His lectures include 20 mins of history, an irrelevant formula, 2 random examples, and two questions you will be graded on accuracy for through iClicker (which you have to pay for). You need Chegg for a good grade. As a junior, I have never been more frustrated with a professor, nor heard of a professor so poorly reviewed.

Cook is a nice man and tries his best, but this class is god awful. There is an ungodly amount of homework. You will 1000% need a Chegg account if you want to do well on the homeworks. An A is possible if you really prioritize this class, but it will take a lot. This class genuinely took a few years off my life.

DO NOT TAKE. His homework is practically impossible with the information he gives during the lectures. Even after the homework is due, he gives NO solutions. What are the exams based off of? The homework. This class is literally impossible and I passed because I spent HOURS doing the bonus homework problems for extra credit.

Class structure isn't clear at all. Focus strictly on iClicker, hw, bonus hw. Lectures not useful, but attend them for iClicker. Bc of feedback, he did a few review problems in class that ended up on the 3rd exam.Get socratic app for iClicker polls, invest in chegg, do a few bonus problems a day and u will thank yourself at the end/could make an A.

This class and this professor was awful. The way he teaches does not make sense. The homework does not make sense. The progression from lectures to the tests is so different. I study so hard and this class feels impossible.

Save your money and take it at a tech school. He's nice and gives bonus homework to help boost your grade, but that doesn't make up for the lack of actual education in a class that is required for so many majors. Final exam review problems he gives? Useless. The Physics department has a reputation of being bad and I should've listened.

He is a very inefficient teacher. Poor explanations & assumes many things. He literally doesn't teach and just babbles off the slides. Practice problems are useless in comparison to iClicker problems which are much harder. Reasoning for everything is "if you think about it". His handwriting is chicken scratch so I spend too much time deciphering it

DO NOT TAKE! Reads the slides and expects you to learn the material from that. The information in class will not help you with the homework. The homework is the exam. You never get the solutions for the homework so if you get it wrong you will not be able to see how to solve it. Bonus homework will help your grade. Again DO NOT TAKE

Every single day, half of the class left early before his lecture ended. That is how bad this man is.

He needs to pursue a different career!

Quite possibly the worst course I've taken. The material isn't overly challenging (it's still difficult don't get me wrong,) however, the professor is very very bad when it comes to explaining and teaching the course. Frequently blows through several slides in class and skips important ones to discuss a random personal story. Tests are very tough

If this is your only option, best of luck and don't do it

This was the hardest class I've taken and I've been through multiple chemistry and biology courses. He doesn't teach anything useful for exams during the lecture and will have you going through practice problems more confused than before. I would stay far away from this professor and if he is your only option all you can do is pray.