Current instructor

Justin Vandenbroucke

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.14/5 from 7 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 115
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Prof. Vandenbrouke is a super great guy and prof. He is super caring about his students and wants them to succeed. I have never taken a physics class before this is the class is a little challenging for me but he has helped me so much. He is super helpful in office hours. Overall, he cares for his students and is a really kinda and aprochable guy!
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PHY115 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
It's one of my favorite classes. The professor really cares about this course. He likes asking inspiring questions during lectures, which is a good way of encouraging us to think more. The exams and homework are easy if you spend some time on the slides and the discussions. It's an excellent course for those who are curious about energy industry.
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PHYS115 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
To begin, Vandenbroucke holds a Bachelors in Honors Physics from Stanford and a PhD in Physics from UC Berkeley  this man is brilliant. His lectures are very organized and the material is quite applicable and interesting, so make sure to pay attention (despite his monotone voice). To get an A, go to lectures, look at tophat, and complete hw.
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PHYSICS 115
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
His 115 is extremely easy if you took physics in high school or before. Classes are boring so I barely go but still get an A easily. :)
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PHYSICS 115
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Well, the full course was not too difficult. 2 midterms and 1 final combine 75%. 15% homework and 10% participation. Participation counts as Top hat in lecture and presence in discussion section. Homework part, you have to write an article … Read full reviewShow less
Well, the full course was not too difficult. 2 midterms and 1 final combine 75%. 15% homework and 10% participation. Participation counts as Top hat in lecture and presence in discussion section. Homework part, you have to write an article response around 200-300 words about energy topic, and every Friday afternoon there is a problem set of 4-5 questions from the book due. These are just basic info about the course. Back to the professor, he is really really boring. He speaks the same tone all the time and makes people want to go to sleep. Lectures are tedious and you really cannot learn too much from the course. There are very detailed questions in midterms on multiple choices, really recommend reading through all the points on the slides which will be posted on learn uw. All in all, he is not the best professor but the course itself is not difficult.
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PHY115 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Very chill laid back dude
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Justin Vandenbroucke

PHYSICS 772

High Energy Astrophysics

3 credits

High Energy Astrophysics covers interactions among particles, fields, and radiation in interstellar and intergalactic space, including gamma-ray, x-ray, and cosmic ray production, propagation, and detection.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.60 GPA, 96.2% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.86 GPA, 85.7% A/AB (n=7 letter grades).

Justin Vandenbroucke

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Fall 2025 · limited sample
PHYSICS 990

Research

1–12 credits

Research 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

Pupa GilbertIrena Knezevic+78 more

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027PHYSICS 298Directed Study
Spring 2027PHYSICS 299Directed Study
Spring 2027PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Spring 2027PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 691Senior Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 772High Energy Astrophysics
Spring 2027PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2026PHYSICS 115Energy and Climate
Fall 2026PHYSICS 990Research

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

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