Current instructor

Michelle Schwarze

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.15/5 from 39 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

POLISCI 461
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
She was very knowledgeable on each of the course topics but we're required to buy all of our books for class and she was not very accommodating to busy schedules
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POLISCI 160
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
She's knowledgeable about the content and explains it well. The readings are dense, but the exams are easy. Grades are based on two in-class essays and two exams. You can revise the essays, making them easy. And the exams are mostly multiple choice with extra credit. Easy, but be prepared for dense readings.
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PS160 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Schwarze is knowledgeable and makes the lectures fairly engaging, even if the material is dense and can be boring. She allows students to pick which questions they answer on the exams, and the in-class essays are easy if you pay attention and read the material.
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POLISCI 160
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
shes amazing and very knowledgeable but the course is difficult. having a good ta is very important for the class. lots of studying required to do well.
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POLISCI 160
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Not many chances to bring up grade because it is all based off of 2 in class essays, 1 midterm, and the final. No homework, no extra credit.
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POLISCI 160
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Schwarze was a phenomenal lecturer! She was knowledgeable and engaging and she utilized in class discussion, along with TopHat for attendance. Despite the mandatory attendance, I looked forward to lecture every week. In-Class Essays were easy and fairly graded, re-writes were offered, and the midterm was also super easy. LOVE SCHWARZE!
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Michelle Schwarze

POLISCI 400 is an umbrella course for variable credit topic courses, including summer forums and intensive sessions.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2014: 3.50 GPA, 71.4% A/AB (n=7 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026POLISCI 400Topics in Political Science
Fall 2026POLISCI 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2026POLISCI 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2026POLISCI 999Independent Work

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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