Allan Widom is a Physics professor at Northeastern University rated 2.1/5 by 28 students, with 3.6/5 difficulty (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Allan Widom professor reviews and ratings: 2.1/5 from 28 student reviews at Northeastern. TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
Awful ILS professor. He does not care about you understanding concepts and doesn't shy away from the fact that he doesn't want to be there just as much as you don't. ILS is supposed to help you understand concepts, but he doesn't believe in memorizing formulas and tells you that you're lazy and you should derive all your formulas. Just awful.PHYS1155 2013-09-26 07:23:31 +0000 UTC
He is a wonderful theoretical physicist. If you don't have any backgrounds of advanced mathematics, you will never understand not only his courses but also any physics. Advanced mathematics is the key word to understand his lectures at least.PHYS7302 2013-06-07 14:10:31 +0000 UTC
I had Allan many years ago when I was in grad school. It looks like he hasn't changed a bit. I never cared for his "I'm too smart to explain it on your level" attitude and his scientific output over the years proves this is all an act. He's a poor teacher.PHYS5 2012-01-16 13:57:48 +0000 UTC
Extremely rude man. Throws up a lot of math on the board with little physical explanation behind it. He was one of the worst teachers I have ever had in my life. Smart man no doubt, but terrible teacher.PHYS2305 2010-04-28 15:36:27 +0000 UTC
Probably the one of the smartest people I have ever met. He is also one of the rudest, most petty, and childly vindictive as well. Yells at you if you ask basic clarification questions(he writes really small and obscures the board). He also openly mocks students who have problems or trouble(he mocked a girl who asked him to write larger b/c shePHYS145 2009-12-07 14:04:23 +0000 UTC
2 grades...a midterm and a final. each with 4 problems. get 2 problems wrong the entire semester and you get a CPHY145 2009-04-23 14:14:45 +0000 UTC
I took him for physics 101. But he also teaches quantum mechanics. PhD from Cornell. This man is a genius and a socialist in hiding. He ALWAYS goes over practice problems and even puts up explanations on his website if you skipped class. The only time you ever have to show up for class is midterms, (3 midterms) and a final. All of which were easy.PHY101 2008-07-22 00:56:15 +0000 UTC
Well, all I have to say is that it will be an interesting class with him. He makes poor first impressions, but he's a funny guy. His teaching methods are well, not normal. A lot of times he's not clear, especially if you don't know calc. If you don't have prior calc experience do not take this teacher! So yeah overall it was interestingPHY151 2008-01-07 19:30:11 +0000 UTC
Without a doubt the worst professor I've had at this university. Unclear, unhelpful, disrespectful to students who ask questions. Unprepared for lectures entirely. Does not do what he says he is going to do on the tests. Should not be teaching.PHYU601 2007-04-16 12:50:31 +0000 UTC
He stresses that if you do the problems you will do well and it is true although Id go over them twice to get an A. if you really can't figure it out there is a free walk in Physics workshop in Churchill. He likes to try to make students question the how and why of everything--which I like. He can be hard to understand and works only in variables.PHY141 2007-04-04 21:13:01 +0000 UTC
T E R R I B L EPHYS151 2006-11-26 23:50:39 +0000 UTC
No CommentsPHYS1 2006-08-29 14:16:20 +0000 UTC
very smart guy, knows his stuffCLASSICALDYNAM 2006-04-27 09:35:26 +0000 UTC
No CommentsSTUDENT 2006-03-29 13:13:17 +0000 UTC
As an ILS professor he was almost totally useless. He spent a lot of time going over PreILS (useless) and was only helpful in going over PostILS (some of the time). For his lecturing he only explained elementary concepts which doesn't do much good. His quizzes are extremely easy though and he lets you out early all the time.PHYU157ILS 2006-01-09 11:07:10 +0000 UTC
Allan Widom has an average rating of 2.1/5 from 28 student reviews.
Allan Widom's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.6/5 based on student reviews.
Data updated July 2026.