← Physics (PHYSICS)

Hardest courses in Physics

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.

Find your fit

33 courses

Ranked courses have at least 100 recorded letter grades.

Calculus-based General Physics for engineering students covering electricity, magnetism, light, and sound.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Josh Weber

The course content was inherently difficult, though one student found the workload manageable. Another noted that Weber often rushed at the end of lectures and did not finish his notes, which affected the pace of instruction.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

General Physics is a calculus-based intro for engineering students covering mechanics, including kinematics, statics, dynamics, energy, and momentum.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Josh Weber

The material is inherently difficult, and students described the class as very hard. Final and midterm questions were similar to those seen in discussion sections, though the overall workload remained challenging.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

General Physics is an introductory non-calculus course covering mechanics, heat, and waves, with applications to various fields including the life sciences.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Benjamin Spike

Exams were described as tough because no points were awarded for showing work. Students indicated that if they could complete quizzes and homework on their own, they would likely do well in the class.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Calculus-based intro physics for biology majors covering electricity, magnetism, light, and modern physics as a continuation of PHYSICS 207.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Abdollah Mohammadi

Lectures often moved quickly, requiring independent study to grasp concepts. Students reported that the course elements and practice materials were difficult and did not align with each other.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Calculus-based General Physics for biology majors covering mechanics (kinematics, statics, dynamics, energy, momentum), heat, and sound.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Abdollah Mohammadi

Exams were described as difficult and sometimes covered material not in homework, requiring extensive practice with past tests to succeed.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Continuation of PHYSICS 103 covering electricity, magnetism, light, optics, and modern physics with cross-field applications; not recommended for physical science or engineering majors.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Daniel Thurs

Students reported spending a couple of hours each week on pre-lectures, homework, and quizzes, and found Thurs’s exams difficult.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Introduction to Quantum Mechanics covers historical background, experimental basis, wave mechanics, the Schrodinger equation, and the hydrogen atom.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Thad Walker

The course required proficiency in Mathematica to navigate the assignments and exams effectively.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Thermal Physics introduces thermodynamics and statistical mechanics from a physics perspective, covering phase equilibrium, kinetic theory, and classical and quantum statistical mechanics.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Alex Levchenko

One student described the course as heavily theoretical, noting it was 90% analysis and required strong math skills to succeed with the homework.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Advanced classical mechanics covering vector analysis, conservation laws, symmetry, rigid-body dynamics, and Lagrangian/Hamiltonian formalisms.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Roman Kuzmin

Homework assignments were characterized as hard and long, contributing to the overall challenging nature of the class.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Covers electrostatics, magnetostatics, induction, Maxwell's equations, electromagnetic waves, and relativity in the context of electromagnetism.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Ke Fang

Problem sets and discussion problems helped students understand the material, with exams reflecting similar content to the problem sets and textbook examples.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Modern physics continuation covering quantum mechanics, nuclear/particle physics, condensed matter, and atomic physics with weekly lectures and discussions.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Jeffrey Schmidt

The instructor derived everything from memory and moved through the material at a very fast pace.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Graduate course covering statistical foundations, ensembles, distribution functions, thermodynamics, quantum gases, phase transitions, and non-equilibrium problems in statistical mechanics.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

An introduction to the physical principles underlying solid-state electronic and photonic devices, including elements of quantum mechanics, crystal structure, semiconductor band theory, carrier statistics, and band diagrams. Offers examples of modern semiconductor structures. Prior experience with MATLAB [such asE C E 203] is strongly encouraged but not required.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Irena Knezevic

The grade was determined entirely by three exams, which were curved such that an 85 percent resulted in an A.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Advanced quantum mechanics covering atomic physics, special relativity, and applications to molecular, solid state, nuclear, particle physics, and quantum statistics.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Thad Walker

One student rated the difficulty at 4 out of 5, indicating a challenging but manageable workload under Thad Walker's instruction.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Electrostatics, magnetostatics, Green functions, boundary value problems, macroscopic media, Maxwell's equations, the stress tensor and conservation laws, electromagnetic waves, wave propagation, dispersion, waveguides, radiation, multipole expansions, diffraction and scattering, special relativity, covariance of Maxwell's equations, Lienard-Wiechert potentials, radiation by accelerated charges. Knowledge of electrodynamics (such asPHYSICS 322) strongly encouraged.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Jeffrey Schmidt

The course used Jackson E&M as a tough text, with a significant workload of many problems assigned every week.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Advanced Quantum Computing explores quantum theory applications to the hardware and software of modern quantum information technology, covering circuit theory, decoherence, error correction, and physical implementations.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Introduction to energy sources and environmental impacts, applying mechanics, heat, electricity, and nuclear physics to fossil fuels, renewables, and nuclear energy.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · John Sarff

The class was described as very math-heavy, but students noted it was not hard if they completed the homework and attended discussion sessions.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

A Modern Introduction to Physics is a calculus-based course covering mechanics, waves, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and modern physics with computation, aimed at Physics, AMEP, and Astronomy-Physics majors.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Duncan Carlsmith

Students reported heavy homework loads and time-consuming lab reports, with programming components described as difficult and unconnected to lecture material.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Covers mechanical, thermal, electric, and magnetic properties of solids, including band theory, semiconductors, and crystal imperfections.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Mark Rzchowski

Homework was considered quite easy once students put in some thought, and tests were reasonable in difficulty.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Physics 325 covers classical and modern optics topics like imaging, lasers, and interferometry, reinforced by weekly laboratory experiments.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Advanced quantum mechanics covering electromagnetic field quantization, atomic structure, molecules, and relativistic effects via the Dirac equation.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

A Modern Introduction to Physics covering electromagnetism, circuits, optics, and modern physics topics with computation.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Yibin Pan

The lecture pace was described as challenging, requiring students to stay engaged. One student noted that using resources like the textbook and Unstuck study made all the difference in succeeding.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Physics of Sports applies physical principles to competitive sports like track and field, cycling, archery, golf, football, and basketball to enhance performance understanding.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Jim Reardon

Homework packets were long and due on Wednesdays, while lectures involved writing on the board with limited explanation, requiring attendance for both homework and Fridays.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Physics in the Arts covers sound perception, harmony, musical scales, instruments, and studies of light including lenses, photography, color perception, and mixing.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Pupa Gilbert

The material was described as manageable, with one student advising to read the textbook rather than doing prelecture work for solid prep.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Intermediate laboratory course covering modern physics experiments, including gamma-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, blackbody radiation, and Cavendish G measurement, with emphasis on statistical uncertainties and error propagation.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Introduction to modern physics covering kinetic theory, relativity, quantum theory origins, atomic structure, spectral lines, and solid state, nuclear, and particle physics.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Duncan Carlsmith

Homework was tougher than exams, and lectures sometimes went beyond the course scope, though the textbook provided helpful support.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Advanced Laboratory covers experiments in classical and modern physics, emphasizing statistical data analysis and research lab notebooks.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Jim Reardon

Students reported that the instructor made them work hard, though the effort was structured to ensure they could handle diverse lab scenarios afterwards.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Introduction to machine learning in physics covering probability, optimization, and applications like collider data and image classification.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2024–Spring 2026

Physics Colloquium features lectures delivered by staff and visitors.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

The Ideas of Modern Physics explores the twentieth-century physical world picture, covering classical physics, relativity, and quantum theory with an emphasis on conceptual meaning over practical applications.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Gerry Bauer

The course included five exams, four quizzes, and frequent weekly homework assignments, which one student felt was excessive for a three-credit class.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026