Current instructor

Mark Rzchowski

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.19/5 from 36 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 415
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Thermo is not an easy class, and I lost myself in thermo until the week before second exam. Lectures are very organized although Rzchowski tends to review previous lectures and repeat himself a lot. He is also super nice helping students during office hours. Very recommended.
Rate My Professors ↗
PHYSICS 551
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
This is my first solid-state physics class, and I think professor Rzchowski did a very good job covering the materials. His lectures were clear, lecture notes were self-contained, the homework was quite easy once you have put some thoughts, and the tests were reasonable in difficulty.
Rate My Professors ↗
PHYSICS 208
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
If you know you're not good at physics, go to lectures. He offers up to 2% extra credit to your final grade for attendance.
Rate My Professors ↗
PHY208 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Rzchowski is a good lecturer, although I thought the textbook was necessary as a supplement. He provides a lot of practice exams so take advantage of that when studying. Extremely generous curve on exams, and there's extra credit. With some consistent work and studying, this class shouldn't be too bad.
Rate My Professors ↗
PHYS208 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Mark does extremely well in explaining difficult subject matter. There aren't a ton of great physics professors so taking him is a no-brainer if you get the chance. Supplies students with helpful resources and is very organized. Overall a great instructor
Rate My Professors ↗
PHYSICS 208
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Most exams were difficult (average 65%), but the professor sets extremely generous letter grade boundaries. The TAs are nice about awarding partial credit on exams. The lectures are fairly straight forward, and the professor takes the time to work through examples in class. Easily approachable & always willing to help! iClicker extra credit!!
Rate My Professors ↗

Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Mark Rzchowski

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 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 990Research
Fall 2026PHYSICS 990Research

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
{
  "instructor_uid": "instructor_2199d97ca671db7d83109e4d",
  "source": "enrollment",
  "source_instructor_id": "msrzchow",
  "identity_basis": "netid",
  "identity_status": "source_identified",
  "name": "Mark Rzchowski",
  "email": "RZCHOWSKI@PHYSICS.WISC.EDU",
  "first_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
  "last_observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
  "ratings": {
    "review_count": 36,
    "quality": 4.19,
    "difficulty": 3.17,
    "quality_count": 36,
    "difficulty_count": 36,
    "profile_id": "rmp:549770",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/549770",
    "match_basis": "exact_name",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 18:55:09.688265+00:00",
    "courses": {
      "course_d1341e0b9824e63e21c5b17b": {
        "review_count": 1,
        "quality": 5,
        "difficulty": 4,
        "quality_count": 1,
        "difficulty_count": 1
      },
      "course_f927cf89d32d2a8a10f47b03": {
        "review_count": 1,
        "quality": 5,
        "difficulty": 3,
        "quality_count": 1,
        "difficulty_count": 1
      },
      "course_97eb7bb938ff9affa3643b19": {
        "review_count": 10,
        "quality": 3.5,
        "difficulty": 3.7,
        "quality_count": 10,
        "difficulty_count": 10
      },
      "course_670b7c6260e3596c7f89904c": {
        "review_count": 1,
        "quality": 3,
        "difficulty": 3,
        "quality_count": 1,
        "difficulty_count": 1
      },
      "course_0a6dafcdaeb7c047d94f694f": {
        "review_count": 1,
        "quality": 5,
        "difficulty": 5,
        "quality_count": 1,
        "difficulty_count": 1
      }
    },
    "bayesian_quality": 4.00042627874874,
    "prior_mean": 3.65919358049647,
    "prior_weight": 20
  },
  "current": true,
  "courses": [
    {
      "course_uid": "course_11ca6b2588608c9b32506d53",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 692",
      "title": "SENIOR THESIS",
      "credits_min": 2,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 4
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_478c9473f982809f4cde8cec",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 499",
      "title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 4
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_543dcc107458b8f7cacca29d",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 691",
      "title": "SENIOR THESIS",
      "credits_min": 2,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": null
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_6bdb43fa4ad7d835066b602c",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 990",
      "title": "RESEARCH",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 12,
      "gpa": null
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_bf60eeaf8405d6fec7ab9391",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 681",
      "title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
      "credits_min": 3,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": null
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_e7408088ce846157e10e35b1",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 299",
      "title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
      "credits_min": 1,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 4
    },
    {
      "course_uid": "course_ef30c98738891e8e37379887",
      "course_id": "PHYSICS 682",
      "title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
      "credits_min": 3,
      "credits_max": 3,
      "gpa": 3.5
    }
  ],
  "revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "instructor_url": "/instructors/MARK_RZCHOWSKI"
}