This course focuses on black holes, white dwarfs, and neutron stars. This was one of my favorite courses I took at the U. The grade was based on homeworks, a mid-term, and paper discussion participation. The homeworks probably took ~10 hours per week, and are only during the first half of the course.

Tom is a gem. Get ready to be regaled by stories of him doing dog agility to start the class off. He's a fast lecturer but has no problem going back to explain something in question. He also provides visuals for things that are harder to explain.

Make sure to participate in the group discussions on papers. It's easy to get lost in some of the literature, but asking questions about it is just as important as discussing it. Also (if possible) don't have a class directly after this course, as Tom often goes 5-10 minutes over. Tom is a fan of "back of the postage stamp" calculations, so if you have an understanding of relationships that will suit you well.

Tom Jones