AI Rate Professor

Physics & Planetary Sciences

Margaret Wessling

PHYS06 · PHYSICS102 · PHYS102 · PHY103 · PHYS101 · PHYS103 · PHYSICS101 · PHY101 · PHY102 · 103 lifetime ratings

AI rating
46/100
RMP rating
3.3/5
Take again
58.33%
Difficulty
4.1

The decision

if you want rigorous physics and and tutorials as non-negotiable study time every week.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerMountain of homeworkConceptual hard examsSocratic group learningCurves and effort creditSelf-teach heavy
  • Physics 101-103 is a heavy grind: , and conceptual exams that many call brutal.
  • Students who do all work and use , and real understanding; others fail or drop.
  • Online or asynchronous versions suffer most because she rarely lectures and expects textbook self-teaching.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

34/100

, and , but conceptual exams and volume mean an A still demands serious weekly grind.

Both formats require heavy work; online self-teaching makes the A path even harder for many.

Is the course easy?

BrainBurner

18/100

Students call Pierce physics sequence among the hardest classes, with abstract conceptual focus beyond plug-and-chug.

In-person and online both rate difficulty extreme; online lacks lecture support.

Is attendance flexible?

Mandatory

30/100

Most reviews list attendance mandatory, group work every class, and .

In-person participation is central; .

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

52/100

; hardcore learners praise growth while others urge finding another professor.

In-person recommendations are mixed-positive among survivors; and .

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Fair

52/100

, and , but nitpicky exam wording frustrates many.

Format shift

and ; online still calls her decently fair.

Workload

Overwhelming

12/100

, and reading quizzes make the load the top complaint.

Format shift

Online HW mountains are especially severe; .

Teaching experience

Average

52/100

Knowledgeable and caring, but lectures often short, quiet, or Socratic, so many learn mainly from groups and homework.

Format shift

Online suffers from almost ; in-person quality depends on whether students like guided group discovery.

Assessment method

Balanced

62/100

and labs build the grade, but hard conceptual midterms and .

Format shift

Both formats pair constant HW with ; online still test-heavy.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

44 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

In-person uses short lectures, long group tutorials and , and .

Main concern

, and 5-hour meeting blocks.

What students said

“ . 4 questions each and most of the class never finished”
PHY102
“There will be a lot of work (At least 6 assignments weekly)”
PHY101
“One of the hardest yet most rewarding classes I've ever taken”
PHY102

Remote format

Online

6 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

Online sections provide resources but little lecturing; breakout rooms, huge HW loads, and self-teaching from the book dominate.

Main concern

No real lectures plus impossible homework volume for many remote students.

What students said

“She and most of the time spent in zoom calls was in breakout rooms”
PHYS101
“spend 8+ hours on mountain of work = A”
PHYS101
“ ”
PHY102

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams emphasize deep conceptual explanation over pure calculation and are widely described as very hard even with curves.

Conceptual open-ended examsHard multi-question testsCurves and test correctionsTutorial-based exam prepGroup and solo exams

Assessment risk

Strict

32/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

In-person tests are short but brutal conceptual sets, often unfinished by the class, with , and .

Open-ended conceptual questions4 hard questions per examCurvesTest correctionsTutorial-like problems
“ . 4 questions each and most of the class never finished”
PHY102
“ than numerical answers”
PHY101

Online

Online exams are still concept-heavy and paired with ; reviews do not clearly document webcam proctoring.

Concept-heavy examsHeavy homework prepFair but brain-flexing tests
“ , but they will flex your brain”
PHYS101
“a lot of homework and didn't see it on the tests but some of the problems were fun”
PHY101

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“One of the hardest yet most rewarding classes I've ever taken. .”

Voice snapshots generated from 50 physics , and split recommendations. Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

52/100

“Wessling is dying to help students, but people just rarely come to her”

📚 Workload Crush

12/100

“Expect at least 4-6 assignments per week”

🧪

30/100

“ ”

👍

52/100

“If you want an easy Professor, you probably shouldnt be taking physics at all.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • She answers your question w/ a question and never gives you a straight answer
  • lead you to the answer type of prof
  • Good lectures and tutorials

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty and Grades

  • spend 8+ hours on mountain of work = A
  • you will not get an A unless you are super smart or have taken physics before

Theme 3

❤️ About Character

  • Dr. and a caring professor
  • This is where engineering careers go to die.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

50

Recent reviews read by the AI

103

Lifetime ratings

90/100

Evidence confidence

50 reviews across many years and both , and a love-or-hate teaching style.

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 536
4 out of 522
3 out of 514
2 out of 511
1 out of 520

Course coverage

PHY10115 reviews
PHY10212 reviews
PHYS1036 reviews
PHYSICS1016 reviews
PHYSICS1024 reviews
Show 4 more courses
PHYS1013 reviews
PHY1032 reviews
PHYS061 review
PHYS1021 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

45 reported outcomes

A range

23

A+ 3 · A 20

B range

9

B+ 1 · B 8

C range

4

C+ 2 · C 2

D range

1

D+ 1

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

8

Drop/Withdrawal 4 · Not sure yet 4