Plan ahead for courses where students have earned lower grades.
Lowest historical GPA first. At least 100 letter grades over the five years through the selected term. Grades reflect past outcomes, not workload or a guaranteed result.
7 courses
Ranked courses have at least 100 recorded letter grades.
Examines the origin and evolution of life using astronomy, biology, and geology, covering the search for extraterrestrial life and life's history in the solar system.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Eric Roden
The course was described as having too much material for a 2-credit load, requiring students to memorize lecture slides for exams. One student noted the workload felt more appropriate for a 3-credit class.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Explores black holes, dark matter, and dark energy, covering spacetime warping, plasma beams, cosmic acceleration, and fundamental laws governing the universe's fate.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Christy Tremonti
The format included two asynchronous lectures per week with two quizzes each, followed by a small group discussion.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026An introduction to the evolving universe covering the big bang, stellar lifecycles, black holes, galaxies, and modern cosmology including dark matter and energy.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Thomas Beatty
Weekly homework and math exercises were present but not considered busy work; exams were not math-heavy, though some math was involved in section assignments.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Covers Milky Way structure, Local Group galaxies, observational techniques, composition, motions, active nuclei, and galaxy formation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Christy Tremonti
Students managed group homework assignments with instructor support, though the class could feel random at times due to the volume of new concepts introduced.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026The Physical Universe applies physical principles to understand astronomical phenomena like the solar system, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and cosmology, emphasizing origins and evolution with required nighttime telescope observation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Elena D''Onghia
A past student reported minimal homework that served as a mock exam before tests, noting that attendance requirements were initially about 70% but later became irrelevant.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Explores the modern view of the solar system, exoplanets, celestial motions, planetary formation, and the origin of life through quantitative and qualitative analysis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Alex Lazarian
Weekly homework assignments took only five to ten minutes, and attendance at lectures was not mandatory, though lectures covered all exam material.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Seminar in astrophysics covering current topics in the field.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026