Polyratings.com: Buffa, Anthony

Home Professor Search Professor List Evaluate a Professor About Us Contact Us

Buffa, Anthony

Cumulative GPA: 3.17/4.00 with 39 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.11
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 3.00

Physics Department, Cal Poly, SLO
Full Statistical Analysis
Evaluate This Professor

PHYS 122 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 12:39 pm, Mar 5, 2013 Report Evaluation		Professor Buffa is very enthusiastic about the material he teaches in PHYS 122! While it may be difficult to follow his train of thought sometimes, he makes the material interesting with many drawings and demonstrations. He also intersperses many funny stories during lecture. The lecture consisted of three midterms, two of them being half take-home/half in class and the other fully take-home, and a final. The lab had weekly quizzes and very short lab reports. Overall, I would recommend Professor Buffa to anyone planning on taking PHYS 122, as he made physics both enjoyable and stress-free.

PHYS 121 Junior Grade Earned: F Required (Major) 6:03 pm, Feb 28, 2013 Report Evaluation		This guy..... yes I failed, yes it was technically my fault. I stopped going halfway through the quarter because Buffa annoyed the crap out of me. He has an extremely high energy level, yet doesn't engage his students at all. Doesn't present material in an organized way, due to his scattered, frantic energy. The class was graded on two midterms and a final, and if you do well on the final that can boost up your grade if you did poorly on the midterms. 121 is not for physics majors or engineers so must of us are not math/physics types, so a 121 teacher should explain things very clearly. Buffa doesn't, and he makes concepts harder than they need to be.

PHYS 121 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:25 pm, Dec 17, 2012 Report Evaluation		At the beginning of this quarter, I unfortunately got appendicitis, had surgery, and missed over a week of class. However, Prof. Buffa wouldn't give me an extension on the first exam, saying "everyone has to go through the same hurdles" and "I don't want to make another test". Bullshit. So, I got an F on that exam because he was an asshole. Since everyone else apparently did bad as well, he made every exam afterward open-book and open-notes (even the final) and he really tried to be more helpful. I then went to every lecture, got extra help, studied my ass off, and managed to get a B-. Overall, I'd say this class was more trouble than it was worth, but it's definitely passable.

PHYS 121 Junior Grade Earned: A General Ed 1:12 pm, Nov 20, 2012 Report Evaluation		Buffa is a good teacher for any student. If you've never taken a physics class before, it's a good introductory course where you'll learn a lot. If you've taken physics in high school, the class is a breeze, since an A is an 85% in here. He's an awesome teacher, but you never get out or class early if that's what you're looking for. Assigns homework as "you should try these" problems, never collects. 3 midterms, 1 final. Good professor, but having him for physics? Amazing. Don't know if you can search for him, since PASS will label all the physics classes as "staff." So my advice is, if you get this guy, thank whatever god you believe in

PHYS 121 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 8:47 am, Aug 21, 2012 Report Evaluation		He is a nice guy and wants you to do well, but he is retired for a reason. He does not present the information too well and it is up to you to try and figure things out. He sometimes forgot what we did or didn't cover and was ready to put something on the final we had not covered the week before finals. He talks the material versus teaches it which can be difficult for a lot of people and doesn't help too much.

PHYS 122 Junior Grade Earned: A Elective 8:55 pm, Dec 29, 2011 Report Evaluation		At first I wasn't sure abou Buffa, but after the first week I was sold. He makes lecture interesting and pulls in analogies that make the concepts way easier to understand. Overall we had a take home test, 2 midterms, and a final. The take home test was easy points and you can go to him to ask questions on it. His office hours were really helpful and he was great in lab!

PHYS 122 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 5:28 pm, Mar 13, 2011 Report Evaluation		Buffa is a really likable guy. He tries to integrate some humor into his lectures to make it more interesting. He is a fair grader and if you study the cover sheet and study guides he gives out you will do fine on his tests. He gives some multiple choice for about 30% of the points and then the rest of the points in two big questions for all of the tests. He will try to make you think on the two big questions but if you understand the material you will do fine.



PHYS 131 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 12:15 am, Jan 6, 2011 Report Evaluation		Buffa was a pretty good professor. I had taken AP Physics in high school, but that doesn't get MEs out of anything, since they have to take a Lab. Because of this, I already knew most of the material, so the class was very easy for me. He doesn't collect HW. If you have him for lab, he will have a few quizzes near the midterms. These quizzes are exactly the sorts of questions that will be on the midterms, so pay attention to where you go wrong on them, and pay attention to the process he wants you to take while solving. He has a set curve of 85% being the bottom line for an A, so if you pay attention, understand the concepts, and try on the tests you will be fine. Awards partial credit, always attempt every question on midterms or final.

PHYS 121 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:03 am, Jan 29, 2010 Report Evaluation		Avoid this professor if possible. Though his ratings from previous years were good, I was very disappointed. His lectures left students confused and bored. He does curve the final grades which was nice, but it is not worth suffering all quarter through his class.

PHYS 121 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: B Elective 1:26 pm, Nov 30, 2008 Report Evaluation		I was dissapointed by Dr. Buffa's class. He teaches in a way that may score him high points on polyratings--mainly because his curve allows for an easy a, and that's all underclassmen care about, but (call me an ageist) he needs to retire because he is out of touch and his class moves way too slow. Good teachers can make you want to attend class because their lectures keep something dull like physics really fresh and just generally interesting, but when I sit in the back row if buffas lecture, the a students are just playing games on their laptops, texting their buddies, and sleeping.

PHYS 122 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 8:45 pm, Mar 21, 2008 Report Evaluation		his grading system is pretty lenient. 80% curve for an A in the class. when it comes to the final grade, he puts in to account what problems you did well on the final (he's generous when it comes to bumping up your grade). of course it's still a physics class and you do have to put effort in it. do all the hw problems, and study a lot because the test problems can be tricky and will take some thinking.

PHYS 122 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 1:30 pm, Mar 14, 2008 Report Evaluation		Good teacher, explains material well, he wrote the book. He does things his way, regardless of what the department thinks. loves to comment on life. good guy helpful. tests aren't too bad, doesnt collect homework. overall all good teacher

PHYS 121 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 5:07 pm, Dec 31, 2007 Report Evaluation		Buffa means well however half of his class he talked about stuff that had nothing to do with what we were learning, which was frustrating and a waste of time. The tests were different than what was taught in class, and often much harder than the questions that were presented on the study guide. In fact for our first test the average was a 55%, but his curve (80%=A)brings grades up tremendously.



PHYS 121 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:03 am, Dec 24, 2006 Report Evaluation		Buffa is so enthusiastic about physics and makes the class very interesting and easy to understand. Even though I don't think he will be teaching at Cal Poly much longer, I would highly recommend taking any of his classes!

PHYS 121 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 3:50 pm, Nov 2, 2005 Report Evaluation		buffa is the best. i dropped physics twice before taking him and was just shy of getting an A in his class. he is a wonderful teacher and is very willing to help in office hours. he definantly knows his stuff (he wrote the text). he's awesome. i would definantly reccomend him for any physics course.

PHYS 121 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: F Required (Support) 9:41 am, Sep 9, 2005 Report Evaluation		Great guy, good teacher. Very helpful and approchable. But why do the tests have to be entirely different from the book, homework, and class material? Watch out, this guy is harder then he seems.

PHYS 121 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 12:21 am, Sep 1, 2005 Report Evaluation		Dr. Buffa makes you feel really stupid if you ever ask him a question. I really cant figure out why everyone here seems to like him. When I took the class I think that about 15 people ended up droping it... because its impossible. The questions on the test are really hard and not anything like the homework... This guy is not easy, especially when it comes to politics, because I learned more about his political views then physics. BAD PROFESSOR stay away.

PHYS 121 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 4:37 pm, Aug 30, 2005 Report Evaluation		bad grader

PHYS 121 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 1:03 pm, Jan 28, 2005 Report Evaluation		dr buffa presents material in a totally straight forward way, he wants you to learn physics, not just a bunch of math. His "test announcment" sheets are rad, they go over exactly what is on each exam. there are not any suprises. lectures are always interesting, easy to follow. i had him for lab also, i learned alot in there too. the cut off for an A is 80%... rad.



PHYS 123 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 10:37 pm, Aug 10, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dr.Buffa is AWESOME...he is genuinely concerned about his students...I took the whole sequence and this class by far was the hardest...he is a gracious grader, come to class do moderately well and you will pass!!!

PHYS 122 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 9:43 pm, Apr 29, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dr. Buffa is so enthusiastic about physics, so for non-physics majors it is great. He is one of the best physics tachers i've had. He is always willing to help and does alot of demos to help the student understand. He also realted alot of the physics material to everyday class. I would totally recommend takig physics w/him.

PHYS 122 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 8:15 am, Mar 29, 2004 Report Evaluation		buffa rocks. he has the gift of relating physics to real-life examples. fairly simple course material. take if you can!

PHYS 121 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:42 pm, Feb 25, 2004 Report Evaluation		Great guy. Easy class. Didn't have to turn in any hw allows a cheat sheet for every test plus gives you a study guide that is pratically the test's twin. Just don't completely blow off any tests other wise you'll only get a B

PHYS 123 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 6:26 pm, Jun 22, 2003 Report Evaluation		Dr. Buffa is a great professor, I strongly recommend taking him. I had him for both 122 & 123. 123 is definitely harder, but he curves a lot (80% is an A) so if you put in a little effort, you can get an A pretty easily. Do the review sheet he gives you and the homework problems which seem most relevant. The problems on the test are always a little harder than on the review sheet, but you do get to have a notecard and calculator. He goes off on tangents sometimes, but they're usually pretty interesting. He's a nice guy and very helpful in office hours too. The only bad thing I could say about him, which isn't that big of a deal anyway, is that he always goes at least right to the end of lecture and frequently five minutes over.

PHYS 123 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 10:48 am, Jun 19, 2003 Report Evaluation		Buffa is the man. He is way chill about talking to you about grades and problems you are having. One of the most laid back professors I have ever taken. Dont be intimidated just because he wrote the book and is really smart, because his lectures explain the entire book and there are really no tricky questions because all of the material is from his knowledge, which is really the book. Strongly recommended!



PHYS 123 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 9:25 pm, Jun 17, 2003 Report Evaluation		Buffa was the most concerned physics teacher I've had at CP. He was very willing to help students when they needed it. His tests are hard, but he's a very fair grader. I would highly recommend him for physics. Getting to know him on a personal level helps, too.

PHYS 131 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:20 am, Mar 6, 2003 Report Evaluation		All I can say is that this guy has the most awsomee, godly curve in the universe! I got D's on two of the midterms and probably an A on the final and a B+ in the class!

PHYS 131 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:29 pm, Nov 2, 2002 Report Evaluation		This guy was really into it. Overall a great teacher. I had like a D going into the final and came out with a B+ yeah baby! The curve rules! Granted I took AP in highschool and got a B. I took 131 in the summer here and did not goto class for two weeks and still got the B+. I thinik that speaks for itself.

PHYS 121 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 5:24 pm, Sep 6, 2002 Report Evaluation		Dr. Buffa is definitely an interesting character. He is a great lecturer- you won't have any problems staying awake in class. He cracks jokes all the time and I think he gets a kick out of himself. There were a lot of times when he would go off on a tanget but all his stories were worth listening to. At the first lecture he hands out the homework assignments for the quarter. None of the homework is turned in but it in your best interest to do it. Before each exam he hands out a sample exam. Be prepared because the sample exam is not nearly as hard as the actual exam. There are four tests and a final. He doesn't curve but anything over 80% is an A, 70-80% is a B. . . . If you show improvement on the final he takes that into A LOT of consideration for your final grade. I had a 69% going into the final and ended up with an A- in the class. I would recommend Dr. Buffa who has to take physics!

PHYS 131 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 4:44 pm, Sep 4, 2002 Report Evaluation		Let me start off by saying that I got a B- in high school physics, so I was pretty scared when I enrolled in this class. I studied for a couple of hours before each test and the day before the final I had a 91% in the class (80% is an A). The final was ridiculously easy. I think somebody said this before but I'll reiterate it here: If you pay attention during the lectures, take a few notes, and do some of the exercises, you shouldn't have a hard time getting an A in this class.

PHYS 122 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 1:24 am, Mar 31, 2002 Report Evaluation		Dr. Buffa is a smart man. He knows his stuff so well that he makes it seem like piece-of-cake. His curve is fixed: 80%=A, 70%=B, and the C range starts from 55%. If you attend his lecture don't do homework, you can get at least a low "C." However, if you attend lecture and do some homework problems, there's no reason to not get lower than an "A." Impressingly, he hands out practice tests that tell you exactly what type of problems you'll be tested on. Thus, you only need to make sure to master those problems, which are usually two. However, there are short "quick calculation" problems that don't take more than a minute that either come right out of the homework or lecture (that's why it is important to attend lecture and do the homework). This guy is a fair grader. I had a 56% in his first midterm, and earned an "A" in the course. His jokes parallel his intellect. His jokes either crack you up or make you think. He's not a slacker when it comes to grading, so you can always expect to get your midterm back the following lecture after a midterm along with the answers to the midterm (too bad he doesn't hand these before the midterm).



PHYS 121 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 7:35 pm, Jan 4, 2002 Report Evaluation		Professor Buffa's class appeared hard at first because we all did pretty badly on his first of three exams. It turns out that your improvement plays a great role in your final grade. Not to say that if u start out with an F and improve that he'll give you an A. But if you go to him for help, and start improving your exam scores, he tends to forget about any poor grade you may have gotten due to shock on the first exam. The exam questions are similar to in class examples. Although I really didn't do any of my homework, I would always hear students say, "Thank god I did the homework, that was practically the same problem on the test." Buffa also gives a review sheet before each exam with sample problems. There are usually atleast 10 short answer problems/multiple guess and a few long problems worth the mojority of the test points. Buffa was very kind and willing to help whenever he could. The course is difficult but Buffa wrote the text book, so he's well rehearsed in presenting the material.

PHYS 131 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 8:42 pm, Aug 1, 2001 Report Evaluation		Dr. Buffa is a good teacher. His tests are more difficult than other physics professors. I remember him asking atleast one unreasonable question on each test. This simply means that he expected the student to understand the course material slightly beyond what he had lectured in class. Despite that fact, he is a good teacher and presents the material of the course well.

PHYS 121 Junior Grade Earned: Credit Required (Major) 8:42 pm, Aug 1, 2001 Report Evaluation		Buffa is a great lecturer. I didn't have to force myself to pay attention to him. He's not dried out from years of teaching and seems to enjoy himself. Tests were difficult (but I'd never had physics before). His problems on exams were really unlike the homework, and far harder than anything presented in class. If his tests were more in line with the level of difficulty he presents in class, I'd say he was a perfect teacher.

PHYS 131 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 8:42 pm, Aug 1, 2001 Report Evaluation		Dr. Buffa is not necessarily a bad teacher, but he is not someone that I would recommend. He always talks about how easy things are and how you should just use the formulas, but then once you do that on the tests, you get it wrong and he says, "Don't just use the formulas." Also, he is very lazy, especially when it comes to the office hours around the last week of the quarter and there is a midterm. Plus, he doesn't collect homework, which might sound great if you manage to keep yourself up to date even when there is no work due, but if you can't, you will get behind.

PHYS 122 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 2:23 am, Jun 15, 2001 Report Evaluation		Buffa is a really great guy. he's one of those professor's that it's really obvious they are passionate about what they are teaching. and he's a goofy guys who tells random jokes to keep lectures interesting. if you've already had physics before, this class is a breeze. and if not, he's always around and willing to help out. i would definately recommend him for the 120 series.

PHYS 132 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 4:22 pm, Jan 19, 2001 Report Evaluation		This guy is great. Take him if you can and study hard because you will be rewarded. He is a professional and one of the best physics professors here.



PHYS 122 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 3:29 pm, Jun 4, 2000 Report Evaluation		Dr. Buffa's lectures are not exactly exciting, but of course, how exciting can physics be? This guy knows his stuff. His tests can sometimes be insane, but his grading system makes up for it(80% is an A). He assigns homework problems, but you do not have to turn them in. He is always ready to answer any questions you might have, and is really passionate about physics. Dr. Buffa "tries" to tell jokes, so just smile and nod no matter how many times he performs the nose test (you'll understand once you take the class).

PHYS 121 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:09 pm, Feb 23, 2000 Report Evaluation		Dr Buffa is a great professor. You won't need to read the book because you will already understand everything from lecture and be able to do every assigned problem. But, surprise, that won't help you on the tests. He throws some crazy stuff in. He's one of those "conceptual" teachers. So be ready for that, hard tests. Oh and if you do decide to take him...if you don't do well on a test, don't sweat it. Just do better improve on that section on the final. He's pretty cool about that kind of stuff, he knows he's a tough professor. 80% is an A. 70% is a B. And so on. He's a good professor, he knows his stuff...but he's really hard.

	Home Go Back Professor List Professor Search