Current instructor

Lyn Van Swol

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.28/5 from 68 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

CA368 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Prof Van Swol is super knowledgeable in her field, and it's very apparent. The class itself was interesting because it's easy to recognize the content in everyday life. The textbook is nonnegotiable, and your exams will include material from it. Listen to it, and you'll be fine.
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CA368 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Exams are all multiple-choice, drawing from specific examples & theories (mostly from lecture). There are a few papers, but nothing is too hard if you pay attention and take good notes. Lectures are fairly interesting, but slides are somewhat disorganized. However, she is clearly knowledgable about the topic and uses fun examples, so overall good!
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CA368 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
She was one of my favorite professors at UW Madison! She's funny and makes very interesting lectures. I liked listening to her talk which actually made me pay attention. Exams were fair and you lowkey do not need to buy the textbook, just google the studies it mentions before the exam. CA 368 was really interesting- definitely reccomend!
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CA368 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Very knowledgable and passionate. She was funny and engaged with her students.
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CA368 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 2/5
Her lectures were structured terribly and often went on tangents, the class itself lacked a concrete structure and was very disorganized.
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CA368 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
I had her this past sem, she is very spacey and did not give us much information for papers, assignments, or quiz/tests. Half the lectures are online and one in-person lecture per week. she would often last minute cancel discussion sections, not send the link to online review, and overall was not on top of her teaching. this class was disorganized
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Lyn Van Swol

COMARTS 575

Communication in Complex Organizations

3 credits

Examines problem solving in complex organizations by studying communication pitfalls, decision-making biases, and blind spots. Learns to innovate in teams and make high-quality decisions.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.64 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=18 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.28 GPA, 64.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.30 GPA, 63.6% A/AB (n=22 letter grades).

Lyn Van Swol

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2024–Fall 2025 · limited sample
COMARTS 698

Directed Study

1–3 credits

Advanced level project under the direction of faculty member e.g., independent reading with research paper, production project, or member of research team. Graded on a credit/no credit basis.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Eric HoytLyn Van Swol+5 more

No recorded grade history

COMARTS 699

Directed Study

1–3 credits

Directed Study is an advanced level project under faculty direction, such as independent reading with a research paper, production project, or membership on a research team.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades).

Eric HoytAllison Prasch+13 more

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2025–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027COMARTS 575Communication in Complex Organizations
Spring 2027COMARTS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027COMARTS 698Directed Study
Spring 2027COMARTS 699Directed Study
Spring 2027COMARTS 799Independent Study
Spring 2027COMARTS 904Communication Science Colloquium
Spring 2027COMARTS 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2026COMARTS 299Directed Study
Fall 2026COMARTS 368Persuasion and Social Influence
Fall 2026COMARTS 698Directed Study
Fall 2026COMARTS 699Directed Study
Fall 2026COMARTS 760Advances in Communication Theories
Fall 2026COMARTS 799Independent Study
Fall 2026COMARTS 904Communication Science Colloquium
Fall 2026COMARTS 990Research and Thesis

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

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