Historical instructor

Ankur Desai

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.62/5 from 8 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

ATM171 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Fantastic professor and probably one of my favorite. His lectures are clear, relatively easy to understand, and almost an easy A. There is a few papers but that's expected of a Comm B. There is a textbook but its not required (most readings are not required but you'll get the most out of the course that way). Group project (Fall 2021) but easy.
Rate My Professors ↗
ATM171 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Taken for Comm B/Phys Sci. Bi-weekly (noncumulative) quizzes and papers and no finals/midterms. Can use notes during quizzes. Lecture slides posted online. Not too "science-y" of a science class. Light on homework, apart from the … Read full reviewShow less
Taken for Comm B/Phys Sci. Bi-weekly (noncumulative) quizzes and papers and no finals/midterms. Can use notes during quizzes. Lecture slides posted online. Not too "science-y" of a science class. Light on homework, apart from the papers (all of which were pretty short). All in all, a great class for knocking out these requirements. Great professor.
Rate My Professors ↗
ATM171 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Desai seems really knowledgeable in lectures, and really knows what he's talking about. He throws a lot of information at you, but just copy it down since the quizzes are open notes and come right off of his lectures. Just papers and quizzes, no final or midterm, pretty straightforward layout. Would recommend for Comm B.
Rate My Professors ↗
ATM171 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Desai is very cool and very knowledgeable about the classes he teaches. He lays out very clear grading criteria and gives you plenty of time to work on the papers and such he assigns. If you show up to class you will get an A.
Rate My Professors ↗
ENVIR171 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Took to fulfill Comm B. Requirement. Boring voice. Not exciting. Not textbook heavy. Not too much reading. Recommend taking notes on a computer. Bi-weekly papers, Bi-weekly quizzes. No midterms or final. Papers are time consuming, but content is easy, not complicated. Lowest quiz grade dropped. 2 Long Papers. Must take notes, PPTs not helpful
Rate My Professors ↗
ATM171 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
I needed to fulfill a physical science breadth requirement, and I am glad that I had taken this class by Professor Desai. There is either a short paper or open-note quiz every week; attendance matters; and two longer papers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it isn't at all. Plus, there is no final. I would recommend.
Rate My Professors ↗

Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Ankur Desai

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle

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

Instructor identity & provenance
{
  "instructor_uid": "instructor_23c7b9ec6a9084c17525ea51",
  "source": "legacy",
  "source_instructor_id": null,
  "identity_basis": "name_only",
  "identity_status": "unresolved",
  "name": "Ankur Desai",
  "email": "DESAI@AOS.WISC.EDU",
  "first_observed_at": "2025-12-03 12:33:41.418072+00:00",
  "last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
  "ratings": {
    "review_count": 8,
    "quality": 4.62,
    "difficulty": 2.25,
    "quality_count": 8,
    "difficulty_count": 8,
    "profile_id": "rmp:1262870",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1262870",
    "match_basis": "exact_name",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:55:01.147610+00:00",
    "courses": {},
    "bayesian_quality": 3.9340612739618543,
    "prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
    "prior_weight": 20
  },
  "current": false,
  "courses": [],
  "revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "instructor_url": "/instructors/ANKUR_DESAI--instructor_23c7b9ec6a9084c17525ea51"
}