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1

Class Ratings

5Amazing Class
3Avg. Difficulty
4Interesting
4Useful

Professor Rating

3OK Prof

Prof: Kratsios / Winter 2026

Aug 17, 2026

Comments on the course

If you do the textbook problems, this class is not hard. The first half is actually quite easy, but then it picks up at the second half. Usually, the exams are like the weekly problems, but they also pull directly from the textbook.

Course Content

Set up the same at 1A03 with weekly problems, two midterms, and an exam.

Comments on the professor

Kratsios is a passionate professor who will teach you a lot about visualizing the math. He is also very funny and will poke fun at his students. But if you just want to pass the course and don't care about visualizing it, his class might feel like a waste of time (by the end of the semester, only about 15 people showed up to his lecture because everyone watched Childs' lecture online).

Advice

Watch Dr Child's lectures if you have Kratsios, because Child writes the exams. I knew someone who failed a midterm by studying only what Kratsios taught and not watching Child's lectures.

School: McMasterCourse: MATH 1AA3Delivery: In personGrade: AWorkload: LightTextbook Use: Yes
Exam HeavyAssignment Heavy
1

Class Ratings

5Amazing Class
5Very Easy
5Very Interesting
3Kinda Useful

Professor Rating

4Good Prof

Prof: Carl Richards / Winter 2026

Aug 17, 2026

Comments on the course

I saw a lot of people saying on reddit that this class should not be considered a bird course. I would disagree with this statement. If you don't like writing short essays, I can see why you'd struggle with this class. But the essay topics are interesting, and the workload is so light that I think it is worth it.

Course Content

Lecture attendance is mandatory; there are two lectures a week. Once a week, before Friday at 5 pm (I believe), you have to submit a "summary" of the two lectures. In this short sentence, you say one thing you found interesting about the lesson and one question you had (do this for each lecture). You will write 3 short essays (500 words max) about a topic of your choice from a list. The TAs grade hard, but if you put in the effort, you can easily get high 80s to 90s. The only annoying thing about these essays is that you must write annotated bibliographies (a paragraph about each source to prove you read the whole article). The final project is a research study you do with around 8 other students. Together, you write a 2500-word research paper that is 'original' to the scientific world. Th...read more

Comments on the professor

Dr. Richards is a fair, no-nonsense professor. But he still cares about his students and is completely open to answering any questions. He expects participation in class, but not in an iClicker way (he prefers class discussions). Usually, he brings in professors from other parts of the immunology field to teach classes, so Dr Richard will teach maybe 3 classes at most.

Advice

I think this class is a bird, but it depends on how much you like writing essays and doing research.

School: McMasterCourse: HTHSCI 1DT3Delivery: In personGrade: A+Workload: ModerateTextbook Use: No
Attendance HeavyEssay Heavy
1

Class Ratings

4Good Class
2Hard
4Interesting
3Kinda Useful

Professor Rating

5Amazing Prof

Prof: Maryam Tabeshian / Fall 2025

Aug 17, 2026

Comments on the course

I took this class as a bird, and if you are interested in going into physics or astrophysics, I'd recommend it. But the workload was intense due to the biweekly quizzes, assignments, weekly problems, and projects. You also had to watch online lessons before attending the week's lectures, or you wouldn't fully understand the material (these online lessons are around 45 minutes long). As someone who's not interested in pursuing physics or astrophysics, I had to put way too much work into the class. But if you're really interested in this subject, it can be rewarding.

Course Content

There were no midterms, which was nice. But the workload was intense to make up for it. She will also drop your lowest quiz and project.

Comments on the professor

Dr. Maryam Tabeshian is an amazing professor who cares deeply about her students and ensures they understand the material. Even though I'm not a physics person, she made the topics very interesting and simple to understand.

Advice

If you were taking this course as an easy bird, I'd think again. But all in all, I think the class is rewarding.

School: McMasterCourse: ASTRON 1F03Delivery: In personGrade: AWorkload: HeavyTextbook Use: No
Project HeavyAssignment HeavyQuiz HeavyParticipation Heavy
1

Class Ratings

5Amazing Class
1Very Hard
5Very Interesting
5Very Useful

Professor Rating

4Good Prof

Prof: P. Kovtun / Fall 2024

Aug 16, 2026

Comments on the course

An amazing and very useful course. Once you take this course it gives you a much better understanding of the formulation behind common equations used earlier in your education.

Course Content

Incredibly useful no matter your field of physics. Takes a long time to wrap your head around, but it's worth it.

Comments on the professor

The professor is incredibly knowledgeable and good at explaining math simply. He may come across a tad cold at the beginning, but he is a lovely person and eager to help anyone who wants to learn.

Advice

Attend Office Hours!! Arguably where I learned the most from the class. Take a crack at the assignments and head to Pavel with anything you don't understand. He is more than willing to help if you have questions and have tried the material before going in. He has an open-door policy so you can go see him pretty much whenever you have questions and get an answer right away.

School: UVicCourse: PHYS421Delivery: In personGrade: AWorkload: Very HeavyTextbook Use: Yes
Exam HeavyAssignment Heavy