Jeff is a nice guy. He's trying. He's just not a very good lecturer. His lectures are all over the place and impossible to follow. He posts somewhat helpful lecture notes after the fact but it's clear he comes into class not knowing what he's going to talk about. Easy exams though.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Jeffrey Schmidt
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Didnt really learn anything, exams were not related to lectures or homework he gives a practice exam and you have to copy all the formulas from the practice exam and use them on the actual exam to do well so you dont actually learn anything.Rate My Professors ↗
Schmidt is passionate professor, but for a tough E&M unit he teaches it poorly. His slides are super complex and he doesn't make it easy to follow since he just reads off the slides without engaging the class at all. The labs and homework for this class are time consuming so you will need to lock in a lot more than you think for this class.Rate My Professors ↗
Schmidt is one of the two professors for Phys 207, and is a caring person if you go to his office hours, but his lectures are impossible to follow and understand. He does not try to engage the class in any way and just reads off complex slides which are impossible to follow. The homework is time consuming but the labs are not as difficult.Rate My Professors ↗
Taking 208 with Jeff was an absolute nightmare. Class was super unorganized, didn't go over actual content in lectures, exams were super difficult, TA's were awful, they often ignored questions on piazza they didn't want to answer. This class honestly tested your ability to memorize questions/answers from course material rather than learning it.Rate My Professors ↗
Jeff is boring. Really boring. I'd rather have this class be taught by a potted plant. Getting up at 8 am every Monday and Wednesday was impossible. Jeff doesn't teach the material well, and seemed surprised when nobody knew the answers to his questions. If I had an hour to live, I'd spend it in this class, because it felt like an eternity.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Jeffrey Schmidt
Directed Study
1–3 creditsDirected Study is an intermediate-level mentored research project in physics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
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
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.29 GPA, 42.9% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.30 GPA, 53.7% A/AB (n=41 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.50 GPA, 66.0% A/AB (n=50 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Directed Study
1–3 creditsAdvanced-level mentored research project in physics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Research
1–12 creditsResearch supervised by individual faculty members. Students formulate and plan original research, creating work that contributes to the field of physics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 299 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 449 | Atomic and Quantum Physics |
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 499 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 990 | Research |
| Fall 2026 | PHYSICS 711 | Theoretical Physics-dynamics |
| Fall 2026 | PHYSICS 799 | Independent Study |
| Fall 2026 | PHYSICS 801 | Special Topics in Theoretical Physics |
| Fall 2026 | PHYSICS 990 | Research |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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