Howard Milchberg

This professor has taught: ENEE380, ENEE381, ENEE382, ENEE488, ENEE496, ENEE681, ENEE690, ENEE790, PHYS260, PHYS270, PHYS404, PHYS420, PHYS499L, PHYS899

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Howard Milchberg PHYS404 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/31/2024	I was debating whether or not to leave a review, because the problem with this class is something Dr. Milchberg probably won't change: the textbook. But it NEEDS to be changed. The entire course revolves around it, and it is by far the worst physics textbook I've ever had. My dad studied physics in college just like me, and one time we were talking about stat mech when he said, "Yeah that class was terrible because we had this awful textbook, 'Thermal Physics' by Reif." Funny enough, we used that exact same textbook for this class, so it looks like my generation is forever cursed by that terrible, terrible book. Dr. Milchberg is a very solid lecturer, but unfortunately his lectures come from that textbook. 90% of the homework and exam problems come from that textbook too. I honestly wish Dr. Milchberg could have come up with more of his own homework and exam problems, because the few that he did come up with made way more sense to me than anything from Reif. All that to say, Milchberg is a good professor who unfortunately structures the course around a poorly written textbook from the 1960s.
Howard Milchberg PHYS404 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/11/2024	This class was very hot and cold. Pros: -Dr. Milchberg is a great lecturer. I really felt like the content from lecture was sticking, and is was definitely worth my time to go -Dr. Milchberg does listen to student concerns and will accommodate students -Generous exam grading policy Cons: -The textbook. I personally didn't like Reif in the slightest. It was difficult to read and the homework problems selected from it often left me confused with the textbook providing no info on how to move forward. -Exams were pretty tough
Howard Milchberg PHYS260 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/11/2024	Still a mystery how I got an A in this class. PHYS260 seemed pretty rough for everybody, no matter the professor, but man was this class weird. There weren't any numbers on ANY of the exams--just derivations, which we kinda sorta learned how to do? It was pretty much guessing in this class though and everything I learned in it (if it was anything) I have forgotten by now.
Howard Milchberg PHYS404 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/01/2024	Milchberg has very streamlined lectures that are clear cut in terms of what you should know. I personally do not find them lacking and his style of teaching is very interactive. He likes to ask questions to the class which is great because it encourages you to actually keep up with him. Homeworks are challenging, but they encourage you to learn. He is a funny guy. I recommend taking 404 with him.
Howard Milchberg PHYS404 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/07/2024	Milchberg was one of the best professors I've had from the physics department. He clearly cares about his students very much and loves discussing physics with students as well as getting to know them personally. He might look intimidating at first (I think it's the eyebrows), but once you talk to him, you will know that he is a humorous guy who has a great passion for physics. I don't understand why some people think he is disorganized. He has a clear course structure and notes for every lecture. I have had professors who clearly seemed like they did not prepare for their lectures at all, and Milchberg is not one of them. He also has a fantastic grading method and his exam questions are relevant to the homework. If you are to take PHYS404, take it with Milchberg.
Howard Milchberg PHYS404 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/06/2024	Awful. I have no words. I meant to leave a review overview, but he is not only unclear and taught me nothing, but he's also rude and condescending.
Howard Milchberg PHYS260 Expecting a B- Anonymous 01/12/2024	This class was the hardest class I have taken so far at UMD. Every time I go to lecture, I think I'll learn something but I leave more confused. Words cannot describe how stressed this class has made me. Thoughts of switching majors or even dropping out have occurred because of Physics 2. Milchberg is a very intelligent man but he expects us, sophomore students barely into our majors, to grasp the information right away. He goes on and derives formulas on the chalkboard and most of the students have no idea what he is talking about. He also wants us to base things off his lectures and not the textbook. Grades consist of 20% textbook problem sets, 25% midterm 1, 25% midterm 2, and 30% final. He emphasizes improvement; if you do better on test 2, it could count for 50% of your grade. Similarly, if you do better on the final than the midterms, that score would be 80%. One tip is don't do the problem sets the night before (guilty), space them out over the weeks. He typically gives you two weeks to do 20 problems, and drops the problem sets that are right before a test. His tests are incredibly difficult but he lets you bring a cheat sheet. Pay attention to practice problems and problem set questions. He's sometimes a funny guy but his teaching style was really hard for me. I never got my final score back, but people that have see that the average was a 26/100. Milchberg mentioned that there was a grade cutoff change instead of an assignment curve which was the only reason many of us passed.
Howard Milchberg PHYS260 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/06/2024	He places a big emphasis on actually understanding the material rather than just memorizing formulas. His class and lectures are disorganized but a large part was also due to the curriculum change with PHYS260 this past semester. His tests focus on derivations and conceptual understanding rather than plug and chugging equations, which is better for understanding the material. If you show up to every lecture and take notes, you will do well. He is also very accommodating if you go to his office hours or speak to him personally. His exams frequently cover questions used on previous practice exams/HW or concepts gone through during lecture, so review them well. Take him if you want a strong foundation in fundamental physics. His only downside is that his lectures can be difficult to follow as he jumps around the board a lot and can write messy.
Howard Milchberg PHYS260 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/21/2023	Milchberg is an extremely poor lecturer and I got nothing out of attending lectures. He is very disorganized and skips over concepts and just goes into the math. I gave him 1 more star though because he drops 1 out of 2 midterms (I mean who does that) and the final could replace most of your grade. He also just frequently gave us 100%s on homeworks because why not.
Howard Milchberg PHYS260 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/21/2023	If you are a physics major, or someone who is generally interested in the more theoretical side of physics, I would one hundred percent recommend taking a class with him; however, if you are like me and are a non-physics major who really wants to learn more applicational problems, he is probably the worst teacher you can have. Oftentimes, the class would divulge into random tangents which no one would understand, and the subject matter was often too complicated to understand, and was unnecessary to learn as it would have served us better to have more application problems that applied to our majors.
Howard Milchberg PHYS260 Anonymous 12/15/2023	Milchberg is not very good, and the only reason he gets 2 stars is for his excellent exam policy where he will drop your lowest midterm or even replace both midterms with your final exam grade if it is higher. Otherwise, he just writes things down on the chalkboard while explaining things in a scatterbrained way which makes it hard to follow the examples. He also doesn't use a microphone and will be almost impossible to hear unless you sit in the front rows of the class. Nothing he does in lectures is really interesting enough to warrant the class's attention, and yet he somehow manages to be frustrated by the lack of engagement even though he isn't doing anything to fix it. He seems to expect too much from students, as he would commonly write something down on the board, ask if everyone knows what it is, and receive no response. Milchberg's teaching style is just not suited to an undergraduate course, and it makes the class so much more of a drag as a result. Avoid him if you can unless the other options are absolute trash.
Howard Milchberg PHYS260 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/10/2023	I would not recommend this professor for PHYS260. He was very unorganized, wrote illegible notes on the chalkboard, spoke softly, and did not use canvas at all. The most redeeming factor that prevented me from giving him a 1 star was that the practice exams he sent out were very similar to the real exams. This being said, his exams were still extremely hard with averages in the mid-60s for each one. He also did not cover all the material for the course, we hardly made it through half of the syllabus. Hopefully, we will not need anything from this class for future courses, since we didn't cover much at all. I do like how he drops your lowest exam, but that is basically standard in the physics department. Overall, if you want to gain anything from taking PHYS260, I would avoid Milchberg at all costs.
Howard Milchberg PHYS270 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/16/2023	Physics is a really boring class at times. Milchberg is never boring. His only flaws are that he goes into too much detail and can be a little disorganized. If you like physics or math or are majoring in one of those you will love his class. He really knows his stuff and he is very nice and is also fair and listens to his students. He asks questions to the class and if you have a questions he will really try to get you an answer, he wants you to succeed and learn. If you are an engineering major you may struggle a bit. His lectures will bog you down with fine details and things that you may not have to care about or may not apply to you. His lectures are also almost entirely conceptual which can be hard for engineers who are used to building things and using numbers physical literal examples. His grading scale is very generous, the homeworks are textbook problems that you have 2 weeks to do and while his exams are hard, he will only count your higher midterms and if you do better than either midterm on the final he will use your final exam grade as 80% of your total grade. This class isn't a lot of work and honestly if you show up and take notes and pay attention you will be fine.
Howard Milchberg PHYS260 Anonymous 10/05/2023	He is the most unorganized professor I have ever had. His lectures are very unorganized as well as the way he runs his class. He writes everything on the chalkboard, does not use a microphone but speaks really softly, and is not easy to work with if you have accommodations. His "curve" in his class is nice but it is not worth having him as a professor. I would not recommend taking him for any class.
Howard Milchberg PHYS404 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2023	Milchberg is a less-than-ideal professor. He would write out lessons on the board, which is always appreciated, but he would routinely write things all over the board with no discernable direction. This made writing notes and following along with his work difficult most of the time. If anyone talks in his class, even merely to ask the student next to them a clarifying question, he will pause the class and attempt to single out the student. His homework rarely relates to what is taught in class. Additionally, the book used for this course is very old and hard to read. There are no figures or thorough examples in it, so only truly dedicated readers will be capable of making it through a chapter. His exam policy is appreciated as other reviews have noted, but it is not enough to make the class worthwhile. I would avoid him if given the choice.
Howard Milchberg PHYS270 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/05/2021	I would say Milchberg is an above average lecturer. In his lectures he spends time deriving formulas and explaining concepts. He will include a few examples but not too many. His reviews before the final and midterms were helpful where he could do more examples and summarize concepts. The homework is time consuming but you get roughly 2 weeks per assignment to complete it. He also uses an improvement grading style where only your best midterm is counted and if your final exam grade is higher than your best midterm then that counts for both your final exam grade and midterm grades. Usually on midterms and the final he will include a problem that's similar to the homework. Overall Milchberg is a nice professor and wants to help his students.
Howard Milchberg PHYS270 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2018	Milchberg is a decent lecturer and a great/hilarious guy. Homework was straight out of the textbook for 270, and the exams were pretty insane, but his grading is dependent on progress. The departmental final for 270 meant that after his exams the final was a cakewalk and almost everyone in the class walked away with an A. Just wish I could take him for 420, but they switched up the professors on me.
Howard Milchberg ENEE690 Expecting a B Anonymous 02/15/2011	Can be a little difficult to approach but he does care about teaching and is very willing to help. Some times I think he doesn't realize how difficult his hw/exams can be but overall a solid teacher and fair grader. Seems to appreciates effort, know your hw inside/out and you'll be ready for at least 50% of any exam. Think more about concepts, I never got anything lame a like a derivation or extremely calc heavy problem on a test.