Historical instructor

CARY FOREST

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.73/5 from 11 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

PHYSICS 208
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
Physics 208 has the worst organization of any class I've ever taken. Twice the honors lecturer hasn't shown up and students were not notified. Cary rambles so much his message is almost incoherent and Its way more difficult to learn from him than the internet or book. Cary shares almost no useful info in each lecture, and Schmidt shares too much.
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PHYSICS 322
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
Probably the worst Physics teacher I have ever had. He simply goes over derivations from the book, but in a very hard to follow manner. His homework often simply doesn't ask questions with no explanation. His tests also are on topics not convened in class at all. Avoid him if you can.
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PHYS247 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
He was an all right professor, he rambled on a bit but in the end he taught you what you needed to know. He tends to spend a lot of time in lecture on derivations.
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PHYS248 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 5/5
Physics 248 is the hardest class in the history of time and space. That said, Professor Forrest is very good at delivering interesting lectures, although he may ramble a bit, it usually ends up being helpful later. He's very helpful outside of class at well. One of the few professors that's a morning person.
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PHYSI247 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 5/5
Seems to talk as if he knows he's smarter than you. Grades pretty hard and isn't very helpful in terms of office hours.
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PHYS247 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
A really nice guy but not the best prof ever. It's definitely necessary to read the book even though he doesn't talk about what we read very much. Rarely gets everything done that was planned.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with CARY FOREST

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026ECE/NE/PHYSICS 726Plasma Magnetohydrodynamics
Spring 2026NE 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2026PHYSICS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2026PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2025ECE/NE/PHYSICS 922Seminar in Plasma Physics
Fall 2025NE 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2025PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2025PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2025ECE/NE/PHYSICS 527Plasma Confinement and Heating
Spring 2025NE 790Master's Research and Thesis
Spring 2025PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2024PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2024ECE/NE/PHYSICS 525Introduction to Plasmas
Spring 2024PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2023PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2023PHYSICS 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2023PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2022PHYSICS 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2022PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2022PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2021ECE/NE/PHYSICS 922Seminar in Plasma Physics
Fall 2021PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Fall 2021PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2020PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2020PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2019PHYSICS 208General Physics
Fall 2019PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2019PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2018PHYSICS 322Electromagnetic Fields
Fall 2018PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2018PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Spring 2018PHYSICS 603Workshop in College Physics Teaching
Spring 2018PHYSICS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2018PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2017PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Fall 2017PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2017PHYSICS 805Special Topics in Physics
Fall 2017PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2017ECE/NE/PHYSICS 527Plasma Confinement and Heating
Spring 2017PHYSICS 498Directed Study
Spring 2017PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Spring 2017PHYSICS 603Workshop in College Physics Teaching
Spring 2017PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2016ECE/NE/PHYSICS 922Seminar in Plasma Physics
Fall 2016PHYSICS 249A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2016PHYSICS 298Directed Study
Fall 2016PHYSICS 299Directed Study
Fall 2016PHYSICS 498Directed Study
Fall 2016PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2016PHYSICS 248A Modern Introduction to Physics
Spring 2016PHYSICS 299Directed Study
Spring 2016PHYSICS 603Workshop in College Physics Teaching
Spring 2016PHYSICS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2016PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2015PHYSICS 247A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2015PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2015PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2015PHYSICS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2015PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2014PHYSICS 321Electric Circuits and Electronics
Fall 2014PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2014PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2014ECE/NE/PHYSICS 527Plasma Confinement and Heating
Spring 2014ECE/NE/PHYSICS 922Seminar in Plasma Physics
Spring 2014PHYSICS 199Directed Study
Spring 2014PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2013ECE/NE/PHYSICS 525Introduction to Plasmas
Fall 2013PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Fall 2013PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2013PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2013PHYSICS 322Electromagnetic Fields
Spring 2013PHYSICS 603Workshop in College Physics Teaching
Spring 2013PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2012PHYSICS 322Electromagnetic Fields
Fall 2012PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2012ECE/NE/PHYSICS 726Plasma Magnetohydrodynamics
Spring 2012PHYSICS 603Workshop in College Physics Teaching
Spring 2012PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2011ECE/NE/PHYSICS 724Waves and Instabilities in Plasmas
Fall 2011PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2011ECE/NE/PHYSICS 922Seminar in Plasma Physics
Spring 2011PHYSICS 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2011PHYSICS 805Special Topics in Physics
Spring 2011PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2010ECE/NE/PHYSICS 525Introduction to Plasmas
Fall 2010PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2010PHYSICS 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2010PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2010EP 569Research Practicum in Engineering Physics II
Spring 2010PHYSICS 415Thermal Physics
Spring 2010PHYSICS 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2010PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2009ECE/NE/PHYSICS 922Seminar in Plasma Physics
Fall 2009PHYSICS 415Thermal Physics
Fall 2009PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2009ECE/NE/PHYSICS 525Introduction to Plasmas
Spring 2009PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2008PHYSICS 249A Modern Introduction to Physics
Fall 2008PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2008PHYSICS 248A Modern Introduction to Physics

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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