Current instructor

Padma Gopalan

/5Adjusted rating

/5RMP difficulty

captured reviews

About this rating

Raw average: 3.14/5 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

MSE421 · course not matched2025-03-13

Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5

No proper sync between lectures. Giving random information expecting that everyone knows. Slides are unorganized most of the time. Every lecture presentation looks causal and unorganized

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MSE421 · course not matched2022-08-23

Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5

Padma is a fantastic lecturer, she had very clear lectures and tried her best to explain complicated stuff through examples. Loved the class in general and it was not super tough.

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MSE541 · course not matched2020-12-13

Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5

My roommate cried due to taking this class. Dr. Padma Gopalan: 1) Never replies to emails from her students 2) Ignores students feedback from in-class polls 3) Gives unkind, unconstructive, and belated comments on students presentation 4) in general does not seem to care and is unreachable

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MSE421 · course not matched2020-04-29

Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5

Lectures were difficult to follow

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MSE330 · course not matched2009-10-19

Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5

Really nice prof. She a master of what she teaches!!

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MSE330 · course not matched2008-03-20

Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5

I really liked her class. She's smart. Takes interest in students and took the time to answer my questions even after office hours. I hope I can take some of her other classes too in future. As for accent, I didn't find it to be a big problem (who doesn't have an accent in US of A!!)

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

Classes with Padma Gopalan

CBE 790

Master's Research or Thesis

1–9 credits

CBE 790 is a Master's research or thesis course involving directed study projects arranged with an instructor.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Sean Palecek Brian Pfleger+20 more

No recorded grade history

CBE 890

Pre-dissertator's Research

1–9 credits

CBE 890 is a directed study course for pre-dissertator research projects arranged with an instructor.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

AJ Boydston Reid Van Lehn+32 more

No recorded grade history

CBE 990

Thesis-research

1–12 credits

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

AJ Boydston Reid Van Lehn+28 more

No recorded grade history

CHEM 299

Directed Study

1–4 credits

CHEM 299 is a directed study course involving a mentored research project arranged with a faculty member.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Tehshik Yoon Thomas Brunold+45 more

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

CHEM 699

Directed Study

1–6 credits

CHEM 699 is a directed study course involving an advanced mentored research project arranged with a faculty member.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=2 letter grades).

Matt Bowman Tehshik Yoon+103 more

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

CHEM 990

Research

1–15 credits

CHEM 990 is a research course where students conduct supervised research projects with individual faculty members.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Tehshik Yoon Pupa Gilbert+81 more

No recorded grade history

CHEM/MS&E 421

Polymeric Materials

3 credits

CHEM/MS&E 421 covers polymeric materials, focusing on polymer chemistry, physics, structure-property relationships, and synthesis for optoelectronic applications.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.39 GPA, 68.2% A/AB (n=44 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.10 GPA, 41.0% A/AB (n=39 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.02 GPA, 38.7% A/AB (n=31 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Padma Gopalan Leonardo Lizardi Rodriguez+1 more

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Fall 2025

MS&E 299

Independent Study

1–3 credits

MS&E 299 is an independent study course conducted under faculty supervision.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Michael Arnold Sebastian Kube+6 more

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Fall 2022 · limited sample

MS&E 699

Independent Study

1–4 credits

MS&E 699 is an independent study course in Metallurgical Engineering requiring consent of the instructor.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).

AJ Boydston Irena Knezevic+38 more

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Fall 2022 · limited sample

MS&E 790

Master's Research or Thesis

1–9 credits

MS&E 790 is a master's research or thesis course conducted under faculty supervision.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Irena Knezevic Michael Arnold+33 more

No recorded grade history

MS&E 890

Pre-dissertator's Research

1–9 credits

MS&E 890 is a supervised research course for pre-dissertator students.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Irena Knezevic Michael Arnold+35 more

No recorded grade history

MS&E 900

Materials Research Seminar

1 credits

MS&E 900 introduces graduate students to the breadth and practices of materials research at UW and in the professional community.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Padma Gopalan Katherine Su

No recorded grade history

MS&E 990

Research and Thesis

1–9 credits

MS&E 990 is a research and thesis course for Ph.D. students under faculty supervision.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Irena Knezevic Michael Arnold+34 more

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →

Browse recorded courses

Term	Course	Title
Fall 2026	CBE 790	Master's Research or Thesis
Fall 2026	CBE 890	Pre-dissertator's Research
Fall 2026	CBE 990	Thesis-research
Fall 2026	CHEM 299	Directed Study
Fall 2026	CHEM 699	Directed Study
Fall 2026	CHEM 990	Research
Fall 2026	CHEM/MS&E 421	Polymeric Materials
Fall 2026	MS&E 299	Independent Study
Fall 2026	MS&E 699	Independent Study
Fall 2026	MS&E 790	Master's Research or Thesis
Fall 2026	MS&E 890	Pre-dissertator's Research
Fall 2026	MS&E 900	Materials Research Seminar
Fall 2026	MS&E 990	Research and Thesis

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

Instructor identity & provenance

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