Current instructor

Alex Levchenko

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.94/5 from 18 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

Phys406 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 5/5
Kind guy, very considerate, hilarious. Do not be fooled, however, he will make you work harder than you've ever worked. In fact he will challenge you more if you seem to do be doing well; he wants you to learn. I learned more in one semester than probably the rest of my physics degree.
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PHY415 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
He derives pleasure from torturing students with long difficult homeworks. He doesnt help students and ridicules them for asking questions. Avoid him if possible.
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PHY415 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
Horrible professor. Horrible explanations. Horrible class. Physics is supposed to be like a fun math class, but he makes this class unbearable. So horribly bad at explaining things it's actually crazy. He being employed by UW makes one question the reputation of this school. God awful lecturer and hater of students.
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PHY415 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
God awful professor. Thick accent that makes it hard to follow his lectures. He does not care if his students learn anything from the class.
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PHY415 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 5/5
I wrote a +ve review earlier mid-sem but I wish I had waited for the hell that came at the end before opening my mouth. Horrible class taught at a graduate level to undegrads. Class strength fell from 45 to <20 in the first 3 wks *I wond… Read full reviewShow less
I wrote a +ve review earlier mid-sem but I wish I had waited for the hell that came at the end before opening my mouth. Horrible class taught at a graduate level to undegrads. Class strength fell from 45 to <20 in the first 3 wks *I wonder why*. Dense homeworks, doesnt help students and ridicules them for asking doubts. Avoid if you're into thermo.
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PHYS311 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Alex Levchenko is a theorist who does not understand how to teach undergraduate courses. Only take a class from him if you have a PhD in math. He doesn't understand the level that his students are at, mathematically and in physics. He doesn't explain any of the physics concepts, he just speaks math during lecture. He cares about pedagogy at least.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Alex Levchenko

STATISTICAL MECHANICS II covers advanced phase transitions, renormalization group methods, and non-equilibrium quantum dynamics.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2025–Fall 2025 · limited sample

PHYSICS 799 is a graduate-level independent study course focused on conducting mentored research projects in physics.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026 · limited sample
PHYSICS 990

Research

1–12 credits

PHYSICS 990 is a research course where students conduct supervised research projects with individual faculty members.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026PHYSICS 716Statistical Mechanics II
Fall 2026PHYSICS 799Independent Study
Fall 2026PHYSICS 990Research

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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