2.5
Quality4.0
Difficulty17%
Would Retake88
Reviews17%
Would Retake
88
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
16
4
11
3
16
2
13
1
32
What Students Say
“Your best bet is to learn from the text book”
PHY221 - 2.0 rating“Most knowledgeable man I've ever met”
PHY01 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
24%
Textbook Required
37%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.74 avg changeRatings by Course
230
5.0
(1)PHY220221
5.0
(1)PHY01
5.0
(1)PHY221
3.0
(19)PHY230
2.8
(12)Difficulty by Course
PSY220
5.0
PHYS221
5.0
PHY200
4.4
PHY105
4.4
PHY231
4.3
Reviews (88)
tries to help but is too smart, hard to uderstand, physics is just plain hard!
He's been an A student his whole life and thinks that everybody is the same. Very hard to understand. But very helpful. I hate Physics.
He is *very* helpful and will take time out of class to explain things in detailvery reasonable with grades in the end.
No Comments
I could not understand one word that he said. His accent was so strong and his analogies did not translate well to English. I dropped the class after two days.
Milun (not Milan) is excellent. ALWAYS willing to help, friendly, passionate about the subject. Philosophical occasionaly--funny always. Great English, strong accent--keeps things interesting. VERY flexible grading. Physics is hard,he knows that.
I am struggling at what to say. I mean, he means well, and you can't take what he says seriously (sometimes he can be rude) When I have to retake this class next semester and if he teaches it, I will take him again because...well, he means well...really.
Milun is a good guy. He is very concept oriented, does not like numbers or calculators. If you work hard and show that you care he will make sure you get through. He is very caring and helpfull during office hours. Overall he is a good prof.
Milan can be unclear at times, but that's what office hours are for. He is a good professor, it's just that physics is not an easy subject and you'll have to study to get a good grade!
We'll lets just say don't ask questions because he'll make you feel stupid and pretty much assumes this about the whole class anyway. He knows his material vary well (maybe too well), but doesn't convey it strongly to others.
If you don't read the book & do your homework, you're screwed. If you do your work and ask questions, this can be a really good class. Most of the students who complained weren't doing reading or homework on time. If you do, you'll be ok.
If you have to take this class, get him!! He lectures straight from the book so it's easy to follow along. He gives weekly quizzes that are open book, open note. He lets you use a cheat sheet on all the exams. If you put forth any effort in this class, you should be able to do well.
Dr. Rakovic is very knowledgeable. He's willing to help in anyway he can, physics can be easy only if you make it easy. Do your homework and read the chapters. It takes lots of work. You can do it.
Dr. Rakovic is great. Not easy, in fact the class is challenging. Rakavic does a lot to help you out including cheat sheets and dropping the lowest exam! I learned a lot from this class. Work hard and do good.
Very laid back prof. If you do your work and try hard, you'll get a good grade. Drops lowest exam or two and gives you a piece of paper to fill with notes for each exam. Tells amusing off-track stories during class:)
He does let you drop an exam grade and have cheat sheets, but for this class you need to know your stuff. He pretty much told us at the beginning of the semester that we would not get better than a C in his class, so he sort of discourages you to do better. He is very unclear sometimes too.
I have to say I was SHOCKED to read nice comments about this man. I have not met a person who has not hated having him as a professor. He is unclear, unhelpful and generally does not care about his students. the tests are different than what he lectures on. unless you are a physics genious i would suggest taking another prof.
The test questions come right out of what we go over in lecture, and if you read the book and do the homework problems, the class is a piece of cake.
Apparently you either love or hate this guy. I'm in the second group. He's not very helpful, quite arrogant, and his test questions are unnecessarily tricky. His lecture are usually pretty unorganized. I'd discourage a friend from taking him. The class certainly isn't impossible, but I opted to take a different prof for PHY 221.
Rakovic is the man. He doesn't assign any homework, and the tests all consist of 3 straightforward questions. He teaches things that actually matter, mostly concepts. Also, very funny, and extremely helpful if you ask him anything in his office. Nice and fair, will always give up points on a test if you make a good arguement for your answer.
horrible class, and he is confusing, slowest in teaching but still confusing
he might have been a good professor if he could actually speak the english language
If you catch on to mathematical concepts quickly, then he would be fine for you. I do not. I struggled and he didn't know how to bring it down to my level. I got a tutor and studied a ton and still didn't pass. He actually mocked people in class for asking questions. His tests are long and difficult with negative points on multiple choice questions
I had him for 220 and 221 and he is the most intelligent man I have ever been around. The only reason why people don't like him is because they aren't smart enough to appreciate his intelligence. He is a great prof with a great outview on life and is more than willing to help you out. He's the man.
His lectures are straightfoward and often entertaining. His tests can be hard but if you prepare for them you will be fine. He's only tough to understand the first lecture, then you get used to it. The class is tough because the material is tough, if you don't do well it is because you don't put the time in,you can't blame him. Very good Professor!
The class is hard, but he really wants students to learn. You have to put in the work though. He is super-smart, and expects students to put in the work. If you do, you should be just fine. I don't know why people comment on his accent. After no more than one class, you should have no problem understanding.
He is the best physic professor that I had so far. The important thing is you need to do the work and take good notes, attend all classes. He is very nice ! :)
Best professor at Grand Valley. His Eastern European antics mixed with his brilliant mind result in a class that you will look forward to going to. Take Rakovic or you will utterly never understand this...
This guy is fantastic! I'm not a physics person at all, but I LOVED this class because of this prof's style and skill in teaching. He's very entertaining, but be sure to formulate your questions well or he'll tell you it's a nonsense question! Study HARD for his tests! Take him!
Routinely comes in late, but honestly he was excellent. You can tell he usually only teaches high-level physics classes. Exams are not terrible, and I loved how he worked out many example problems during discussion and basically taught us how to derive our own formulas. Dry, sarcastic, and typically disrespectful, I would still recommend him highly
Routinely comes in late, but honestly he was excellent. You can tell he usually only teaches high-level physics classes. Exams are not terrible, and I loved how he worked out many example problems during discussion and basically taught us how to derive our own formulas. Dry, sarcastic, and typically disrespectful, I would still recommend him highly
Fantastic! Most knowledgeable man I've ever met! It's trivial!!
Honestly, I do not know why he is teaching. Exams are much harder than practice problems, and the material covered on the exam was done being covered weeks before the exam so you had to relearn everything. His teaching style makes absolutely no sense.
He comes into class at least 5 minutes late everyday and hold you over class time. You take the test three weeks after you learn the material. He doesnt really make sense, and when asked a question he can not really answer it. I absolutely HATE this class. I dont attend the discussion because he is late and makes me later for my next class.
It's obvious that Rakovic knows what he is talking about, but he gets mad when the students don't understand. Pretty helpful when you ask questions, unless its something "trivial", which for him is everthing. Teach yourself out of the textbook, its your best bet at passing this class if you aren't a Physics wiz.
Rakovic is a great prof. Yes its difficult and he can be a bit hard to understand at first, but if you're an engineer major every professor you have will be hard to understand. He will help you any way he can. He has 3 different grading schemes and will use whatever one gives you the best grade. He even curves to make sure almost everyone passes.
Your best bet is to learn from the text book.He goes through material quickly in lecture and elaborates on stuff that he says we dont really need to know so it is not clear what we might be tested on. He speeds through questions from the book during discussion but does not involve the students so its not very productive. Frustrating class.
I hated this professor at first, but as I got used to his teaching style, it got better. His tests are difficult, so study hard. It is extremely helpful to get a tutor. He can be rude and extremely blunt. Go to his office hours! He is much more helpful in person. Although this class was tough, I learned a ton.
Terrible professor! Seriously do not take him! Have to learn everything yourself in the book, laughs at you if you answer questions wrong, tests are super hard, has an accent that you have to get used to, and goes through the material fast.
Both Discussion & Lecture are just going over examples. He literally talks for the entire hour straight with no pauses. Has thick accent, kind of hard to understand. I found i learned 10x better by just reading the chapter myself. I've heard he's alot of help if you visit his office hours... High recommend taking this class with another professor.
Get used to being told things are "trivial". Once past the accent I enjoyed the class because of his friendly demeanor. Lots of time is spent doing examples. More often than not he'll go over on the scheduled time whether in lecture or discussion. All in all he's decent, given you're decent.
He's a friendly and very knowledgeable guy. His lectures can get a bit intense, bit if you pay attention it should be fine. It's a difficult course so make sure you're keeping up with everything. Probably the best prof there is for this class. I liked his accent. Oh, and it's fun tallying the number of times he says "trivial".
Rackovic is hard. He can be difficult to understand at first and expects his students to master the material for an exam. Nothing is trivial when it comes to preparing for an exam. Fair to students and hands out EC points like candy. Is a great lecturer and really knows and gets excited about physics. Would take again in a heart beat.
Dr. Rakovic was very helpful on office hours, always willing to help clarify the subject material. His lectures were beneficial but unless you are naturally mathematically minded read the book like I did- it will save you. Fair grading scheme but make sure you do well on the first test! It will help a lot.
Rakovic is funny once he gets to know the class. At first he seems kinda mean though. He does have an accent but it's completely easy to understand. The exams are only made up of 3 questions in 50 mins, so if you bomb one question you end up with a D. Ultimately, you really need to be solid in math before taking his class.
He is a good professor overall. He is very passionate about the material and truly wants students to understand it. However, classes primarily consist of proofs with very few examples. If you read the book and do lots of practice problems you'll do fine.
Physics is overall a hard class, but he was not very helpful to the students that did't understand the material right away. If he saw one or two people understood the subject, he would continue on. Isn't a strong believer in curving. All test are 3 questions.
He is very philosophical with physics and will ramble on often on material that doesn't effect the course. Do attend class though and copy down the example problems he does at end of each chapter. He allows 1 sheet for each chapter on exams and allows anything to be written. One of better physics professors at GV.
This class is a beast. There are three exams and a final; I needed a tutor to pass. He gives lots of bonus points. He will often ramble on about complicated physics concepts and expect that you understand them, even when the class is left in the dust. He is extremely good about giving partial credit, this class's saving grade. Don't slack on hw.
Mixed feelings. Prof Rakovic is funny, quirky, and entertaining. Can come off as rude sometimes in class, but is very nice and helpful in office hours. He allows 1 cheat sheet front and back every exam (3 on the final!), however, his exams are HARD and he does not give hardly any partial credit. BUT he gives a lot of opportunities for extra credit
Personally don't recommend taking in the summer if you're someone who has to work hard to understand concepts. Six weeks goes by VERY fast. But, if you're going to take this class I do recommend taking it with Prof. Rakovic. He knows what he's talking about and if you REALLY listen and pay attention you will learn a lot. Extra credit can be earned.
This class is difficult taught by anyone. There is a lot of controversy due to his teaching style compared to his tests. Tests are extremely difficult that doesn't relate well to the lectures. He can be harsh but he does mean well and is funny. There are bonus points that are offered throughout the course that are critical for your grade.
You could miss every lecture and if you study on your own you can still do well. His tests are solely MC with no partial credit so it is hard to do well. He gives a lot of e.c. and curves your grade so if you bomb a test don't worry. He allowed us 3 cheat sheets on each exam so know how to do the hw and discussion problems and you'll be fine.
Do the online homework, show up for discussion, get the bonus points and you can pass with ease. Lecture is tough to sit through. 4.0 students are not advised as exams are extremely difficult, one miscalculation can be detrimental in during an exam.
Bonus points save your grade (so, do discussions ahead of time, participate in class), and be absolutely sure to visit his office hours and pay close attention to lectures if you don't want to spend double-time trying to teach yourself. Past his rough outer shell is a squishy, kind, nerdy theorist who means well, so don't be phased by his demeanor!
This was his first time teaching PHY200 and it was clear it was way below what he normally teaches. His lectures were not super helpful but he gave extra credit points for attendance.
I failed all three of his exams and still passed the class with a C because of extra credit points and curving. His lectures make no sense and the homework is easier than the actual exams. He is available to help and wants to help you pass but just doesn't teach very well. The course itself was very hard anyways.
This is by far the worst prof I've had at Grand Valley. His lectures are all over the place with a thick accent and he does not even finish the few examples he actually gives (which is very few). For a class like this, thorough examples are crucial. I'm an A student and science major, and I got a D on the first exam. He also doesn't put in grades.
3 exams all multiple choice and around 12 questions. Some are pulled from discussion but not most. Funny guy and offers a lot of extra credit, just has a thick accent. Lab is extremely easy and helps boost your grade (20%). You don't have to go to lecture as long as you're disciplined enough to teach yourself.
I would not recommend anybody to take this class under this professor. I believed after the experienced and after reading peoples comments. Students , check your professors name n peoples comments before signing any classes.
Quirky. Posts his own notes online. Worksheets done on own. Would skip over things that were intuitive (they werent). Would get frustrated w/ class and then would lecture to 2 ppl in front. Got to point where only 12 people would show up. Lots dropped. Exams were 3 ?s. Better off teaching yourself. Did give good explanations when asked though.
Don't recommend. Lectures not organized, expects you to know things that you may not know, all around confusing. Many ppl dropped and didn't show up because class isn't useful . Prepare to teach yourself. Only went to class for bonus points. 3 q's per exam. Avg. test scores around 60 percent. If scores are that bad, its the prof, not the student.
Seemed as though he wanted his students to fail. When we all did well, he was not happy for us. He was not very accessible outside of class, told us to not email him because he wouldn't respond. Difficult to understand. Often had to teach it to yourself. When he wrote on the board, he was all over the place, making it hard to follow.
He's not a bad professor, he just doesn't really want to be a professor. Definitely does not care if his students pass the class. He's a tenure professor who thinks he can do whatever he wants. He hates emails so just go to his office hours, but you need a thick skin to handle his feedback.
Super rude when asked questions during lectures - no one ever wanted to speak up. Only based on 2 exams and a final, with 6 quizzes scored out of 4 points (meaning if you get one question wrong you're automatically getting a 75% ). Grading is not lenient. No curving. The averages on exams were low 60%'s. Also very hard to understand bc of accent.
Worst professor I have ever taken, and honestly the worst professor at GV! He does not prepare you well for his exams at all. I could have studied for the whole semester, and I still would have not known what to do on the final. He is rude and condescending. He makes students feel dumb if they ask a question. Dont make the same mistake as I did!!
Rakovic is possibly the worst professor that I've ever had. He is hard to understand and his lectures are just reading his notes. The exams are 3 questions so it's easy to fail. He doesn't answer questions in class and makes students feel dumb when they ask.
Worst Professor I have ever had. He is so mean spirited and it genuinely seems like he does not care about his students. He doesnt teach, he just reads his pre-made notes in the lectures. Any time someone asks a question he makes them feel stupid and embarrasses them in front of everyone. 0/10 would not recommend him to anyone.
worst professor i've had at grand valley. I am current in his physics 221 course and he will not help us outside of class at all if we don't ask questions in lecture. He is rude when asked questions so no one wants to ask questions. You can hardly understand him and it doesnt help that his handwriting is awful too. Hard grader, would not recommend
Literal worst professor Ive ever had. He makes you feel stupid if you ask questions and genuinely does not want to help you. Lectures are just him reading off the textbook so its not easy to learn. Exams are only 3 questions so if you get one wrong you have a D. I study for 15+ hours for every exam and have failed 2/3. Do not recommend.
He will kill any enthusiasm you may or may not have had remaining for physics. Genuinely the worst professor I've ever had. His lectures are incredibly rushed/confusing, he is completely unwilling to answer questions when you have them, his grading criteria is unclear, and when grading, will crucify you for the simplest mistakes. DO NOT TAKE.
Worst prof I've ever had at GV. Wont answer questions in class. Rude, extremely unpleasant, and condescending. Sends inappropriate mass emails giving out personal academic info of his students. Unfair grading. Exams are near impossible. I'm a straight A student but I'll be lucky to get a C in this class. Take literally any other professor.
avoid at all costs, if you like to be mad all the time please take him. can barely understand this man, he rushes through lectures and will call you out for asking a question. sends unprofessional emails, very rude, has a god complex, and is very condescending. I got all As in my previous math courses and I would be extremely lucky to see a B-.
There are 3 exams and a final exam grade wise in this class. All of which I failed. My actual grade in this class was an F but everyone did so bad he curved all the grades. Your college tuition dollars are worth seeking out a different professor.
Immediately no. He's not a good lecturer and doesn't help.
Steer clear. He is a nice person but an awful lecturer. He would leave for 20 or 30 minutes at a time, labs were unclear, absolutely awful.
One word: Run. I'm a 3.80GPA student and my first two tests were a 50% and 21%. He is not there for his students. Rude and condescending in class and absolutely no help in office hours. This is my second bachelors at GV and he is the worst professor I have ever had. Doesn't go by the text and solves problem in an absurd way that doesn't make sense
I am telling you now do not take this teacher. I would say 75% of people ended up dropping the class. The absolute worst lecture teacher. Will ignore you if you have your hand raised and act like he does not see you. He does not explain or go over what will be on the tests, the exam practices given to students have nothing to do with the tests.
Does not care much about anything, lecture slides make sense but he fails to actually teach anything. Don't take this course!!
Avoid at ALL costs. You're not required to come to lectures but you have to show up to labs, you'll fail if you miss more than two, none of his instructions make sense (the lab professor was annoyed with his assignments every time), he rolls his eyes and huffs if students answer his questions wrong in-lecture, and his attitude is beyond off-putting
The course is based on the tutorial book, but you never go over it. So entitled that he uses his textbook that he wrote to lecture, which has absolutely nothing to do with the actual tutorials. he is extremely rude. He called a few kids in the class "dyslexic" and constantly degraded us for not knowing things prior to him teaching it. WAY too hard.
Do not take this class. Single-handedly ruined my GPA. Professor is rude and discourages questions. Refused to provide a study guide or guidelines for the final exam. Quizzes often had questions that he had not yet covered in class. Very disorganized, refused to release grades. Does not care about his students and their learning at all.
I would rather eat raw chicken every day for a year than take this professor's class again. He is very condescending to every student, wrote his own book for the lectures, and had horrible tests. If I was forced to take his class again I would flee the country and start a small fishing business somewhere in South America just to be far from him.
Overall a pretty alright professor, lots of people dropped the class because they failed and I ended with only 8 people left in my class. If you go through the practice problems and get comfortable with them then you'll do fine. The exams are 3 questions, but he gives partial credit. He also gives out bonus points if you answer his questions.
I felt this was a difficult class. Expect to put in a lot of time going over practice problems. The professor goes over problems in class, but I found his lecture style difficult to follow. Often he would change quantity variable names partway through the problem, which would make notes confusing. His accent was fine, he speaks English very well.
Worst class ever. The professor just writes random symbols on the board and expects us to magically know what's happening. Explains things once in some weird way and then acts shocked when no one understands. Homework was impossible without googling everything. Tests were nothing like what we practiced.
Do not take his class. He assigns copious amounts of homework, and his lectures make no sense. He constantly tells us that the concepts are "elementary" and will not explain anything. There are 3 tests total that are most of the grade. There are 3 questions each, and they are impossible to get right. Less than a 4th of the class didn't withdraw.
Guy is very passionate about the topi, but gets lost in useless math that doesnt relate. has his fair share of off-topic rants. The lectures are so unproductive and rant filled that you won't know whats going on and youll wish you were in a different professors lecture. Dont take this guy.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
24%
Textbook Required
37%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.74 avg changeRatings by Course
230
5.0
(1)PHY220221
5.0
(1)PHY01
5.0
(1)PHY221
3.0
(19)PHY230
2.8
(12)Difficulty by Course
PSY220
5.0
PHYS221
5.0
PHY200
4.4
PHY105
4.4
PHY231
4.3