I highly recommend this professor. He is very consistent with lectures, homework, and exams, all of which closely follow the textbook. He explains concepts well, answers questions clearly, and keeps lectures enjoyable. His exams are fair, and he is also very generous with grading curves, which makes his classes much more manageable.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Paul Terry
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
I hope Prof Terry teach every my physics course, I take both 311 and 322 with him, both course themselves are difficult, but Prof Terry try his best to illustrate every concept and mathematical tricks by tidy handwritting. Well organized and coherent lecture, the grading policy is not easy but I would choose his course 100 times.Rate My Professors ↗
EXAMS ARE VERY DIFFICULT. He is not a bad lecturer, and the textbook wasn't bad, but after asking for more learning resources that was all he could come up with. Conceptually not super difficult but the math went past anything I had done in math 320, and added extra work for me having to learn new math almost weekly.Rate My Professors ↗
Great professor, very rigorous, basically just deriving every conclusion manually on huge whiteboard during the lecture. You need to keep his pace and always focused on the whiteboard, and point out his mistakes sometimes. Also very helpful outside the class, exam is difficult, no curve or little curve, low A rate.Rate My Professors ↗
Good lecturer, teaches almost word-for-word from the textbook. Class is very fast-paced and math-heavy. Exams were incredibly difficult, the average grade on both midterms was about 50%. Homework wasn't really representative of exams.Rate My Professors ↗
Extremely organized lecturer. Really helpful and pleasant to speak to. Exams average around 50% which is fine but the curve is pretty bad. Homework was accepted a week late, but at a 50% point deduction. This was not mentioned in syllabus. His HW problems were generally good but the book problems can be frustrating and tedious.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Paul Terry
Directed Study
1–3 creditsDirected Study is an intermediate-level mentored research project in physics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Directed Study
1–3 creditsAdvanced-level mentored research project in physics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Senior Honors Thesis
3 creditsMentored individual research and study for students completing Physics Honors in the Major, leading to a senior honors thesis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Senior Honors Thesis
3 creditsSenior Honors Thesis course providing mentored individual research and study for students completing Physics Honors in the Major.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Senior Thesis
2–3 creditsMentored individual research and study for students completing a thesis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Senior Thesis
2–3 creditsSenior Thesis in Physics involves mentored individual research and study for students completing a thesis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Research
1–12 creditsResearch 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
No recorded grade history
Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 298 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 499 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 691 | Senior Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 692 | Senior Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | PHYSICS 990 | Research |
| Fall 2026 | PHYSICS 499 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | PHYSICS 721 | Theoretical Physics-electrodynamics |
| Fall 2026 | PHYSICS 990 | Research |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_86042dfe6a80c1991500d5a1",
"source": "enrollment",
"source_instructor_id": "pwterry",
"identity_basis": "netid",
"identity_status": "source_identified",
"name": "Paul Terry",
"email": "PWTERRY@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": 26,
"quality": 3.31,
"difficulty": 3.88,
"quality_count": 26,
"difficulty_count": 26,
"profile_id": "rmp:549771",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/549771",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 18:45:54.402165+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_aa45660f057a2b2997243229": {
"review_count": 6,
"quality": 2.67,
"difficulty": 4.83,
"quality_count": 6,
"difficulty_count": 6
},
"course_0a6dafcdaeb7c047d94f694f": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 3,
"difficulty": 2,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 3.46182329586803,
"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_6528d1eec2197178c69b45b0",
"course_id": "PHYSICS 298",
"title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
"credits_min": 1,
"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_ef30c98738891e8e37379887",
"course_id": "PHYSICS 682",
"title": "SENIOR HONORS THESIS",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": 3.5
}
],
"revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/PAUL_TERRY"
}