Very clear and concise in his lectures. Has good slides that he puts online for review in addition to his clicker questions. Good lecturer with clear speaking tone. Has only a few examples per lecture which is good because he reviews the concepts mostly. Very intellligent and demos are always interesting/entertaining.He only wears argyle sweaters.

He gives very good, clear explanations on all subject material. Occasionally he will crack a good joke too. A very good professor overall. (And he has a cool accent)

He explains things very well, and though it may seem weird that he uses (Keynote?) slides as opposed to the blackboard like most profs, I think it was a good call. He didn't waste class time deriving formulas that are already in the book, and kept everything as pain-free as possible for a difficult class. Tests were very fair, just do the hw!!

One of the best teachers i've ever had, he has very good examples and explanations even though material is difficult. You don't really have to read the book if you go to lecture

Awesome teacher. The class is difficult but his tests are challenging but fair. His lectures are clear and he gives good examples. Also, he is very easy to approach and makes himself available to answer any questions students have during office hours. He is really good about answering emails too. Couldn't recommend more.

Great teacher!

The best professor in the physics department. Very approachable and always willing to help. Very funny and smart, does cool research also.

Great teacher, very helpful. Impecable color coordination.

Very clear and organized, examples are a bit fast. Excellent lecturer

An awesome, dedicated teacher. He clearly cares about the class and made me way more motivated than when I was first coming in. If you don't prepare thoroughly for lectures, though, it's a hard as hell class. If you put in the hours, you can get a good grade though. He is always up for answering questions and will talk until you understand.

An excellent professor, tough class. Makes lots of available time to help students out during office hours.

Can you say coolest accent ever??? Really though I didn't learn much from his lectures, just a lot of fun demonstrations and reading off power point slides. UW physics department is more at fault of the poor organization of the class than Tolich is.

He was a nice guy, I didn't see him as an exceptional teacher, but he definitely cared if students understood the material.

THE BEST. THAT IS IT. TAKE HIS CLASS.

Difficult class in general. I got through it by going to the study center every other day. The TAs definitely help and nikolai also helped out a lot during his office hours. He really cares about you learning the material and won't look down on you if you have difficult time understanding the concepts. Final was easy compared to the previous exams

Awesome professor, our section was always better than others in terms of performance on midterms. The professor made a difference. Tough course in general, especially for someone like me who hasn't taken AP physics.

He is very approachable and not condescending when asked questions about the material. If you give enough time to Smart Physics before lecture and at least try the smart physics homework, you will stay on top of things and probably do pretty well in the class.

awesome teacher, clear lectures, easy exams. One of the best physics teacher in the department.

He is the best physics prof I've had. Super great power points, which he also posts. His test questions are clear and easy to understand, and actually ask about what he teaches in class. Highly recommend.

Always there to clarify, the class moves fast and is challenging, but if your willing to put in the work, he will help.

Tolich was great - straightforward, very polite and helpful. He did a good job of slowing down where he needed to, and also keeping lectures interesting.

One of the best professors in the department

Tolich gets a little overhyped because all the other physics professors really suck. Anyways, tolich is great because he's VERY straightforward about his expectations. Study the practice midterms he gives, because he's doesn't go off tangent from those. In his class, you can expect the expected.

Awesome Professor!! Humble, knowledgeable, and has a deep understanding of physics principles and are ready to explain to his students in simple words. He always writes fair exams.

Nikolai is a great professor. He comes off as incredibly intelligent in lecture but manages never to belittle students for questions he considers obvious. He makes the occasional joke in class and his demonstrations are always worth the watch. His class is very fair. It is tough, but he tells you exactly what you need to know for exams.

Best physics lecturer I had at UW. Gives a good mix of theory and example problems in lecture and the homework challenges you enough to prepare you for tests. Between lecture notes, tutorial, lab, and online prelecture, I did not need to use textbook much

One of the best professors I have had at the University of Washington. Hands down. Takes the time to help students with physics

Honestly one of the best professors I've ever had.

Professor Tolich delivers clear lecture. Lots of in-class quizzes and guiding-through examples. Based on my experience, while targeting 4.0, stay above 2 standard deviation over average on each exam and make sure getting nearly full points on all other things, you'll get what you want. Exams are based on homework and what you learnt in class.

He is a fine Professor. Very friendly though he looks super busy. His main problem is that his classes often have abnormally high curves. His exams have three parts: multiple choice, tutorial and lab section. These are often recycled from lab manual, tutorial and slides. Good luck!

Great professor. Does some cool work and has a gift of distilling physics lectures into something generally interesting and entertaining, while still deftly demonstrating the mathematical meat of it all. Pretty visible in the physics study center downstairs and around campus.

Tolich is one of the best professor in the Physics department. Grab his class before its closed!

Great professor. Really does care about student learning. He will go step by step on paper to show you how to solve certain problems. He will mostly explain till a question is resolved. Still read your textbook very well. Use the Practice textbook, since HW is out of there. Show up for in class questions.

Had Tolich for 121 and 122. He's really great and his tests are very clear and not overly difficult. Make sure you understand the labs and are doing the hw problems on your own not looking them up or anything. Reading the textbook is also crucial.

I took Daryl Pedigo for 121 and Tolich is much better. HIs lectures are better and he is a lot better at explaining concepts. 122 is a hard class in general and it moves quickly but Tolich does a fairly decent job teaching a hard subject

Physics is the hardest sequence at UW, it cannot be escaped. The professor doesn't even matter, the material is hard no matter who teaches it. Tolich is a caring guy and obviously knows his stuff.

I had Tolich for the entire physics series. He's one of the best physics professors, I've heard negative comments about Pedigo and the other profs, but Tolich is the best. He does interesting demos. Make sure to study lecture slides, often he'll take material straight from slides and use them on tests.

Tolich is hands down the best professor I've had at UW so far. The physics course material is extremely difficult, but he manages to teach the core concepts in a clear/intelligible manner. Going to lectures, office hours, study center etc. will help you understand the topics covered. If you have the choice, I would highly recommend taking his class

His lectures are fairly weak, but the poll questions are really helpful since he walks through the reasoning/process of each one. His tests are fairly difficult and long, so portion your time wisely - the multiple choice section draws from the Mastering homework and post-labs (no partial credit), and the tutorial section draws from the tutorial hw.

Great lectures, office hours are even better, does a great job of explaining physics in a clear, precise manner. Exams are very fair :)

Only issue is that he covers material very very quickly. Besides that, the polling questions are very helpful in understanding what's going on, the demonstrations are fun, and he's just a good dude. Very unintentionally funny. Made me love physics.

Lectures are not the most informative, so be sure to supplement them with the textbook. His in class polling is great for understanding concepts better. Solid dude.

Really great professor! He makes physics sound interesting. His lectures are super clear and he always goes over each problem patiently, even if most people get it right. He cares about students. Im really sad he wont be teaching 123 next quarter, I wish I could take it with him

Tolich is the man

insightful lecture; would definitely take again if he teaches phys123.

excellent professor, share recording and prepare lecture slides. patient for students' question and can well explain all the question, he makes this difficult class less stressful! i really like this professor!!! i love his European accent!

I took Physics 121 and 123 with Nikolai and he's solid. Any class in the physics 12X series is run very similarly aside from lecture style. Nikolai sticks to powerpoints and is fairly learning catalytics heavy (in class participation system). His explanations are great and easy to understand. Study lecture homework questions LC for easy midterms.

Great lecturer for a difficult subject (don't worry, it's way better than PHYS122). The demos are super important to pay attention to and you should definitely at least skim through the textbook before lectures.

Tolich isn't the most exciting guy, but that's not what you need from your physics professor. Lectures are clear and informative. He's accessible outside of class and seems to genuinely care about students. Was really helpful when I missed a midterm due to illness. Solid choice for sure.

The professor is good, the class is not. UW physics is a weed out class for eng. majors. So the class averages are very low, but the curve gets to a grade. You will have to teach yourself physics because the lectures are just example problems. Which is a good and bad thing. If you dont understand be prepared to spend A LOT of time at officer hours.

Nikolai is the Man! I had the privilege to have him for both 122 and 123. 122 being my best. However, 123 was still great with Nikolai, but the material was less interesting. Nikolai does a great job explaning concepts. PLZZ go to his office hours. He will test stuff he explained well in class. HE IS THE REASON I GOT INTO ELECTRICAL ENGINERRING.

I had Tolich in PHYS 122 and PHYS 224 In a sea of science professors and math professors that don't care Tolich is an absolute gem. His lectures are informative and his test prep material is always well set up. Does his section of PHYS 12X very well and also does well in teaching PHYS 224. Best professor I've had in any "weed out" class.

I really hate physics, but I really like Tolich. He is a great professor and does his best to make EM easier. The content is really rough, but you're way better off with him than most other professors.

Tolich is the best intro-stem professor I've had yet. I actually enjoyed being at his lectures and I felt like most of the material presented to us, was formatted on the test in a way that we all felt prepared for it. His practice midterms are really helpful and he even put a few on there. Study and show up !

I'll be honest, the physics series is rough, but Tolich made it better. He knows what he's talking about and wants us to learn. The exams are tough but he posts several practice ones and draws from them sometimes. If Tolich is an option, take him (I took him for 122, 123)! I would 10/10 recommend. He's known to be the best prof for the intro series

The physics intro sequence in general is tough, but I think taking the course with Tolich could help a lot. He gives pretty good explanations to questions and cares about your learning. I feel like he's really passionate about physics and it definitely shows in his lectures.

Best organization of all the 12X classes I've taken. Expectations were clear, and Prof went above and beyond to help me succeed. I emailed about struggling to meet the deadlines, and he met with me over ZOOM and gave me permission to turn work in late for full credit! Course was still very demanding and moved really fast, though.

Prof. Tolichs class was well-organized and well-run. Online lectures were clear and useful, and he was very accessible outside of class. Made PHYS 123 tolerable.

Professor Tolich knows how to lecture. The PHYS 12X series is pretty challenging, and he was the best professor I had. He teaches you how to relate equations to physics concepts which is very useful for exams. Practice midterms provided were helpful study tools for the exam. Do the homework and review textbook questions before the exam! Good luck!

Seemed to really care about his students learning, even online. First physics professor I had that made me like physics.

Lectures are very detailed. Course is hard, moves fast but that is bc of the admin as physics series are a ton of work. !!!Edit: You MUST use practice problems outside of class w/ solutions manuals. Study groups/discords help + share these. I learned well after this series. Felt dumb. Academic record kinda nuked due to not knowing beforehand :(!!!

Absolutely stellar professor. Very knowledgeable, funny, and engaging. The introductory physics sequence is hard in its own right, but Prof. Tolich made 123 a lot of fun. Ask him about his previous projects! Make sure you show up for class and study for exams.

Nikolai (not to be confused w/ his wife Kazumi Tolich) is the best phys professor I've had. He explains stuff well and really cares about student success. I loved in-person lectures because you get the chance to work w/ your classmates on the in-class lecture quizzes. Phys has never been my strong suit but I ended w/ a pretty good grade in 123.

He showed up to my lab section on the first day of class - teaches around 300 students. Super caring prof that makes sure you know the material. Tolich wants you to succeed in the very brutal physics series. Has just as much hw as the previous 2 classes but with a teacher that makes the class interesting.

After the first week of sitting in both lectures, I decided to join his lecture section instead of showing up to the one I'm actually registered for. He explains physics in the simplest form possible without any of the other tangents that plague other physics teachers. Would recommend.

Prof Tolich is very caring and good at his job. He genuinely cares about his students knowing the material and can explain difficult concepts in a way that's much clearer than other physics profs' explanations. He always welcomes questions. This class is still very difficult. I recommend doing a lot of extra practice for exams.

Professor Tolich is a great teacher, he is so caring and clear in his lectures, and really goes out of his way to help you during office hours. The class has a lot of difficult materials that it goes over, but he makes it possible to understand it all with all the resources he offers. Overall a great experience for a hard class.

Really amazing professor and even better human being. Extremely considerate and understanding towards students. Amazing lectures and explanations. If you pay attention in class you will easily understand at least half the material. Very helpful and can be easily accessed outside the classroom. The best physics prof. Dont hesitate to take his class.

Brilliant lecturer, does mostly problems in class which is super helpful. Always responds to every Ed discussion question before exams and overall very nice. Physics is difficult no matter what but he helped a lot

Tolich is the best physics professor at UW hands down. The physics series will always be a tougher series, but he has good explanations during lectures, and is very easy to reach outside of class, especially on Ed Discussion.

A very good lecturer simplifies concepts to make them accessible to the general class.

Hes a pretty great professor and explains things well, but like the rest of the series, the professor doesn't really play a big role in the class.

Despite the terrible 12x physics curriculum Tolich became one of my favorite professors at UW. Not many office hours but willing to schedule one-on-one meetings with students. He's not only knowledgeable but very good at explaining topics, alongside being approachable. Lectures go fast and I would recommend at least skimming the reading.

I personally dont like physics but i loved tolich as a prof, he made lectures very enjoyable and ensured his students understood the content.

Tolich has very clear lectures. Had office hours twice a week. Cared about students improving and show this by being available to advise on study strategies when exams came around. He also really does try to make the exams fair. If you have to choose between him or another professor, Tolich is almost certainly the better option.

Personally, I felt like Nikolai wasn't extremely friendly. But rating him objectively, and judging him purely based on his abilities to teach, he was fantastic. He did an excellent job of explaining complicated topics in ways for each student to comprehend.

Very Knowledgable in the content:)

handsome and charming

He is very kind and great at explaining concepts. He will always make time to help you on his own time if you need it.

Would recommend based on how good his lectures are-- he makes them interesting and has little demos but theyre also super concise and prep you really well for the tests. He's really helpful in office hours too and just generally cares a lot about the class.

12X at UW is terrible but he is a great professor. Make sure to show up to class and participate as the live quizzes are worth 10% of your grade which makes a difference. Stay on top of the content and ask lots of questions in tutorial/lab. The tests are hard but you can get a good grade even if you do poorly because they grade so many assignments.

Intro physics at UW is absolute hell. Tolich is a great professor, who goes in depth with all the stuff that'll be on the exams. If he's an option for 122, definitely choose him as it's the hardest one.

Nikolai Tolich teaches very well, he uses slides in class and explains obscure physics content in a clear and understandable way. He is willing to answer questions. The exams he gives are a bit difficult. Not a good experience taking introductory physics at the UW with a variety of homework and pre-class reading problems. The class load was severe.

His explanations were very clear. He always explained how to get the answers and why it was that particular value. Like PHYS 121, the tests and homework were extremely difficult; it is easy to flunk the class if you don't study. However, Tolich's office hours and extra availability towards exams really helped me study. Highly recommend him.

Professor Tolich does a great job going through all the example problems brought up in the lecture as well as any additional questions from the lecture room. He also does his best to use examples that students can more easily picture, and is quite active on the online discussion board.

One of my favorite professors! He is so enthusiastic about every lecture with cool experiments in almost all of them. His office hours are helpful and he's such a sweet guy. Reading the textbook for the reading quizzes is important. Course expectations are clear. A difficult class (regardless of what professor) but his grading policies are great.

Took this after taking PHYS121 with Kazumi, very similar structure. ~40% of the grade is low hanging fruit if you participate, exams are forgiving since they let you drop one if needed, and your score is bumped up if the class average is too low. Explanations were clear, lectures were well structured and easy to follow with lots of demonstrations.

Nikolai is a wonderful professor! He cares so much about his students and always makes himself available when someone is struggling and needs extra help. He is extremely understanding and patient, and he does his best to make sure everyone can keep up. Physics 122 and 123 are very challenging classes, but he makes them digestible.

Nikolai is the GOAT of the basic physics sequence. He's a great lecturer with very helpful office hours, and his explanations and answers to questions are phenomenal - he also does lots of cool demos in class. He tends to write difficult exams, so be prepared to study hard beforehand, but know that he'll help if you let him.

the phys 12x series is the hardest intro series (perhaps only beaten out by calc) at UW. Tolich somehow managed to get me to enjoy the pain. Bro held 4 hours of OH before the final. Bro responds on Ed discussion like it's the huzz. Kazumi (his wife) is also incredible and they both are excellent teachers. UW peaked the day they hired the Tolichs.

love him so much hes goated and i would not trade him for a diff physics prof. 10/10 love him and his voice

Nikolai is extremely passionate and amazing at teaching the subject; questions asked in lecture are broken down in a very digestible way. Flipped-classroom model, so expect to put in work outside of class to actually read the textbook. Seriously, read the textbook.

If it weren't for Tolich, I wouldn't have taken 123 and, instead, taken another science class. His presence, lectures, and support made everything crystal clear to me, even the most difficult stuff. He held extra office hours before exams, unlike many other profs. Tolich is amazing and was my motivation to finish a very difficult quarter.

I had Nikolai for 122 and 123. He's definitely a great lecturer but is somewhat limited by the department's strange structure for the intro courses. The labs and tutorials in 123 were pointless and repetitive. The material is a little easier than 122, but harder than 121. If you're ECE, probably take Math 224 instead.

Professor Tolich is able to convey the topic clearly and use many different examples to explain the physics concepts being taught in class. I personally found the examples and analogies really helpful, and he is also eager to answer all questions that arise from students during lecture and does so in a very constructive and informative way.

He's a great lecturer but limited by the odd structure of the PHYS 12X series. The labs and tutorials in 123 were repetitive and didn't add much value. I didn't rely on the textbook—it's helpful for boosting your grade but not essential. The best way to do well is to master lecture content and go through as many practice exams as you can.

Fantastic professor!!!! Really patient with students and explain everything clearly and in multiple ways

Tolich is one of the good ones- he's very down to Earth and it's clear that he cares a lot about his students' learning. The canvas page is well organized and the flipped classroom model works out quite well. Only complaint is the course pacing- we fell behind before midterm 2 and it felt like a mad dash at the end to plow through circuits.