Brent Nelson is a Physics professor at Northeastern University rated 3.5/5 by 63 students, with 3.78/5 difficulty and 50.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Brent Nelson professor reviews and ratings: 3.5/5 from 63 student reviews at Northeastern (50.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
The guy knows his stuff & lectures well -- his train of thought moves fast though, and if you don't understand the first time you can get lost very easily. Few examples & few office hours make it difficult to learn the material on your own (which is what you have to do). Maybe for modern he's clearer, idk.PHYS5111 2017-04-09 10:52:25 +0000 UTC
I found Professor Nelsons teaching style and class lectures to be catastrophically poor at conveying the material in the book, the material requisite for completing the homework, and the material covered on the tests. Additionally, office hours were a scheduling nightmare and homework was returned months late if at all.PHYS2301 2016-11-30 15:55:48 +0000 UTC
definitely one of the smartest people youll ever meet in person. the only problem I had is that i think he's a little too smart to teach undergrads. he assumed we knew a fair bit more than we did, and on top of that he goes really fast. if you study your notes/read the textbook and go to class, you'll do fine, and also learn a lot about physics.PHYS2303 2011-12-16 11:48:48 +0000 UTC
Great professor!!PHYS161 2010-07-28 12:50:53 +0000 UTC
fair grader and extremely extremely helpful. sometimes his method of solving problems is obfuscating and taxing to follow; i.e. he frequently substitutes and modifies his own notations for the values in a problem.PHYU161 2009-01-09 12:31:38 +0000 UTC
in my opinion, he's too brilliant to be teaching Physics 1. he goes really fast and he messes up from time to time but when you go to office hours, he literally does the graded homework for you. its awesome.PHY161 2009-01-09 00:11:36 +0000 UTC
His depth of knowledge and interest in the subject is unbounded. Brings a theoretical slant to class -- be prepared for higher expectations and more challenging problem sets. He is generous with his time outside of class and is always willing to discuss improvement strategies. Overall great guy to get to know and learn from.PHYS303 2007-11-10 09:03:59 +0000 UTC
nice guy. messes up his examples sometimes which can be confusing, but overall hes ok.PHY1 2007-03-20 11:18:19 +0000 UTC
Brilliant professor. He definitely knows what he is talking about and I cannot imagine a better professor for Modern Physics. The coursework is difficult and he does not make it easy, but if you devote the time and effort, you will walk out of this class a smarter individual.PHYS2301 2012-02-13 22:16:30 +0000 UTC
He is very helpful in and out of class. He goes way too fast tho. He tries to make everyone pass. Very helpful. Gives a lot of partial grade.PHY161 2008-11-20 15:00:21 +0000 UTC
He messes up his examples sometimes, but he makes a point of fixing them after class and emailing the corrections. He'll go off on interesting tangents toward the end of class, mostly just more advanced examples of that day's lecture. He's very accommodating and a real effort to make sure everyone passes.PHY161 2008-11-17 20:21:30 +0000 UTC
Brent Nelson has an average rating of 3.5/5 from 63 student reviews. 50.0% of students said they would take them again.
Brent Nelson's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.78/5 based on student reviews.
Brent Nelson has taught PHYS4305, PHYS5118, PHYS2303, PHYS7316, INSC1502, PHYS5111, PHYS5113, PHYS5115 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.