Historical instructor

LARISSA BACK

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 1.57/5 from 14 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

AOS425 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Avoid at all costs. Had her for ATM OCN 522 this semester and it was the most incoherent class I've taken in my five years here. The grading is extremely inconsistent, her lectures are rambly and her answers to questions only left me more confused. Also means office hours didn't help much. She's a great person, but teaching ain't for her.
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AOS425 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
This Professor has no idea what she is doing, doesn't review topics that she teaches, and has no idea how to answer questions you ask in class.
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AOS425 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
Larissa is a wonderful person, but a terrible teacher. Her expectations are so often unclear that it makes it seem like she has no idea what's going on. Her grading is inconsistent and it makes it really hard for students. Once again, I like Larissa as a human, but not as a professor.
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AOS425 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
Despite being switched out of teaching the core courses at Madison (310/311), her teaching style has not changed from any of the other comments. She is dumbfounded that you cannot learn from her poor teaching, unavailable even at designated office hours, and only handed back one graded assignment the entire semester so final grades were a toss up.
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AOS310 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
WORST. PROFESSOR. EVER! Professor Back, should go back to school to learn how to teach. I cannot believe the AOS faculty have assigned someone so irresponsible to the undergraduate core curriculum as Dr. Back. She may very well understand the concepts, but she fails to teach to those it may not come easy. Repeating the same example, does not help.
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AOS311 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
She really tries to help with understanding of material during lecture, but sometimes the best way to learn was to teach yourself from the book and internet. Very clear on what will be on tests.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with LARISSA BACK

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

View last recorded teaching term →

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

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026ATMOCN 425Global Climate Processes
Spring 2026ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2025ATMOCN 522Tropical Meteorology
Fall 2025ATMOCN 901Foundations of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Research
Fall 2025ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2025ATMOCN 425Global Climate Processes
Spring 2025ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2024ATMOCN 522Tropical Meteorology
Fall 2024ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2024ATMOCN 425Global Climate Processes
Spring 2024ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2023ATMOCN 522Tropical Meteorology
Fall 2023ATMOCN 900Seminar-meteorology
Spring 2023ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2022ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2022ATMOCN 522Tropical Meteorology
Spring 2022ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2021ATMOCN 425Global Climate Processes
Fall 2021ATMOCN 900Seminar-meteorology
Fall 2021ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2020ATMOCN 425Global Climate Processes
Fall 2020ATMOCN 900Seminar-meteorology
Fall 2020ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2020ATMOCN 405Aos Senior Capstone Seminar
Spring 2020ATMOCN 801Topics in Theoretical Meteorology
Spring 2020ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2019ATMOCN 425Global Climate Processes
Fall 2019ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2019ATMOCN 522Tropical Meteorology
Spring 2019ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2018ATMOCN 425Global Climate Processes
Fall 2018ATMOCN 900Seminar-meteorology
Fall 2018ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2018ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2017ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2017ATMOCN 801Topics in Theoretical Meteorology
Spring 2017ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2016ATMOCN 310Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean I
Fall 2016ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2016ATMOCN 522Tropical Meteorology
Spring 2016ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2015ATMOCN 310Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean I
Fall 2015ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2015ATMOCN 311Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean II
Spring 2015ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2014ATMOCN 801Topics in Theoretical Meteorology
Fall 2014ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2014ATMOCN 522Tropical Meteorology
Spring 2014ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2013ATMOCN 310Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean I
Fall 2013ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2013ATMOCN 311Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean II
Spring 2013ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2012ATMOCN 310Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean I
Fall 2012ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2012ATMOCN 311Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean II
Spring 2012ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2011ATMOCN 310Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean I
Fall 2011ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2011ATMOCN 311Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean II
Spring 2011ATMOCN 990Research
Fall 2010ATMOCN 310Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean I
Fall 2010ATMOCN 990Research
Spring 2010ATMOCN 522Tropical Meteorology

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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