# Song Gao — Courses & Reviews | UW–Madison

[View on UW Courses](https://uwcourses.com/instructors/SONG_GAO--instructor_96c0f094762666fd6dc4d3d3)

## Dataset

### revision

e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349

### repository

twangodev/uwcourses

### schema version

6

### importer version

7

### projection id

85abe9ff8837c2c5a134368dcc4cfc85eb723524b21ddeb3d2e953887d2f0c8f

### observed at

2026-09-07T15:55:43.033547+00:00

### built at

2026-09-11T07:45:51.576183+00:00

### courses

8951

### current instructors

5754

### limited

false

### terms

* 1272
* 1264
* 1262
* 1254
* 1252
* 1244
* 1242
* 1234
* 1232
* 1224
* 1222
* 1212
* 1204
* 1202
* 1194
* 1192
* 1184
* 1182
* 1174
* 1172
* 1164
* 1162
* 1154
* 1152
* 1144
* 1142
* 1134
* 1132
* 1124
* 1122
* 1114
* 1112
* 1104
* 1102
* 1094
* 1092
* 1084
* 1082
* 1074
* 1072

### term

1272

### departments

| subject   | count |
| --------- | ----- |
| AAE       | 90    |
| ABT       | 20    |
| ACCTIS    | 36    |
| ACTSCI    | 14    |
| AFAERO    | 10    |
| AFRICAN   | 87    |
| AFROAMER  | 71    |
| AGROECOL  | 21    |
| AMERIND   | 53    |
| ANAT\&PHY | 7     |
| ANATOMY   | 2     |
| ANESTHES  | 8     |
| ANSCI     | 57    |
| ANTHRO    | 95    |
| ART       | 125   |
| ARTED     | 10    |
| ARTHIST   | 121   |
| ASIALANG  | 129   |
| ASIAN     | 109   |
| ASIANAM   | 28    |
| ASTRON    | 38    |
| ATMOCN    | 69    |
| BIOCHEM   | 51    |
| BIOCORE   | 10    |
| BIOLOGY   | 14    |
| BIOMDSCI  | 18    |
| BME       | 66    |
| BMI       | 41    |
| BMOLCHEM  | 10    |
| BOTANY    | 69    |
| BSE       | 44    |
| C\&ESOC   | 73    |
| CBE       | 48    |
| CHEM      | 101   |
| CHICLA    | 52    |
| CIVENGR   | 133   |
| CLASSICS  | 47    |
| CNP       | 10    |
| CNSRSCI   | 50    |
| COMARTS   | 137   |
| COMPBIO   | 15    |
| COMPLIT   | 11    |
| COMPSCI   | 138   |
| COUNPSY   | 78    |
| CRB       | 19    |
| CS\&D     | 71    |
| CSCS      | 40    |
| CURRIC    | 193   |
| DANCE     | 93    |
| DERM      | 8     |
| DS        | 88    |
| DYSCI     | 35    |
| ECE       | 155   |
| ECON      | 145   |
| EDPOL     | 114   |
| EDPSYCH   | 97    |
| ELPA      | 70    |
| EMA       | 53    |
| EMERMED   | 17    |
| ENGL      | 206   |
| ENTOM     | 40    |
| ENVIRST   | 148   |
| EP        | 15    |
| EPD       | 67    |
| ESL       | 16    |
| F\&WECOL  | 60    |
| FAMMED    | 22    |
| FINANCE   | 50    |
| FOLKLORE  | 40    |
| FOODSCI   | 43    |
| FRENCH    | 63    |
| GEN\&WS   | 145   |
| GENBUS    | 72    |
| GENECSLR  | 17    |
| GENETICS  | 60    |
| GEOG      | 113   |
| GEOSCI    | 83    |
| GERMAN    | 82    |
| GLE       | 48    |
| GNS       | 38    |
| GREEK     | 27    |
| HDFS      | 41    |
| HEBR-BIB  | 13    |
| HEBR-MOD  | 10    |
| HISTORY   | 233   |
| HISTSCI   | 56    |
| HONCOL    | 13    |
| ILS       | 43    |
| INFOSYS   | 9     |
| INTEGART  | 7     |
| INTEGSCI  | 22    |
| INTER-AG  | 18    |
| INTER-HE  | 11    |
| INTER-LS  | 22    |
| INTEREGR  | 16    |
| INTLBUS   | 21    |
| INTLST    | 50    |
| ISYE      | 83    |
| ITALIAN   | 53    |
| JEWISH    | 56    |
| JOURN     | 88    |
| KINES     | 128   |
| LACIS     | 26    |
| LANDARC   | 61    |
| LATIN     | 24    |
| LAW       | 120   |
| LEGALST   | 48    |
| LINGUIS   | 35    |
| LIS       | 89    |
| LITTRANS  | 78    |
| LSC       | 52    |
| M\&ENVTOX | 7     |
| MARKETNG  | 62    |
| MATH      | 153   |
| MDGENET   | 8     |
| ME        | 130   |
| MEDHIST   | 43    |
| MEDICINE  | 60    |
| MEDIEVAL  | 32    |
| MEDPHYS   | 39    |
| MEDSC-M   | 29    |
| MEDSC-V   | 41    |
| MHR       | 68    |
| MICROBIO  | 45    |
| MILSCI    | 16    |
| MM\&I     | 22    |
| MOLBIOL   | 6     |
| MS\&E     | 59    |
| MUSIC     | 165   |
| MUSPERF   | 126   |
| NAVSCI    | 20    |
| NE        | 44    |
| NEURODPT  | 11    |
| NEUROL    | 7     |
| NEURSURG  | 4     |
| NTP       | 11    |
| NURSING   | 111   |
| NUTRSCI   | 65    |
| OBS\&GYN  | 18    |
| OCCTHER   | 39    |
| ONCOLOGY  | 14    |
| OPHTHALM  | 5     |
| OTM       | 43    |
| PATH      | 34    |
| PATH-BIO  | 29    |
| PEDIAT    | 26    |
| PHARMACY  | 31    |
| PHILOS    | 77    |
| PHMCOL-M  | 11    |
| PHMPRAC   | 45    |
| PHMSCI    | 60    |
| PHYASST   | 37    |
| PHYSICS   | 88    |
| PHYSIOL   | 3     |
| PHYTHER   | 37    |
| PLANTSCI  | 52    |
| PLPATH    | 35    |
| POLISCI   | 192   |
| POPHLTH   | 58    |
| PORTUG    | 33    |
| PSYCH     | 101   |
| PSYCHIAT  | 22    |
| PUBAFFR   | 54    |
| PUBLHLTH  | 23    |
| RADIOL    | 11    |
| REALEST   | 41    |
| RELIGST   | 90    |
| RHABMED   | 9     |
| RMI       | 24    |
| RP\&SE    | 102   |
| S\&APHM   | 17    |
| SCANDST   | 73    |
| SLAVIC    | 89    |
| SOC       | 149   |
| SOCWORK   | 87    |
| SOILSCI   | 46    |
| SPANISH   | 83    |
| SRMED     | 21    |
| STAT      | 94    |
| STDYABRD  | 52    |
| STS       | 8     |
| SURGERY   | 25    |
| SURGSCI   | 33    |
| THEATRE   | 91    |
| URBRPL    | 60    |
| UROLOGY   | 5     |
| ZOOLOGY   | 89    |

## instructor

### instructor uid

instructor\_96c0f094762666fd6dc4d3d3

### source

legacy

### identity basis

name\_only

### identity status

unresolved

### name

Song Gao

### email

SONG.GAO\@WISC.EDU

### first observed at

2025-07-13 04:59:22.367394+00:00

### last observed at

2025-11-16 05:32:31.273726+00:00

### ratings

#### review count

28

#### quality

4.71

#### difficulty

3.54

#### quality count

28

#### difficulty count

28

#### profile id

rmp:2313819

#### source url

<https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2313819>

#### match basis

exact\_name

#### observed at

2026-09-07 16:05:21.178373+00:00

#### courses

##### course 6b09a761a0eeeecdbbd88dc8

###### review count

13

###### quality

4.38

###### difficulty

3.46

###### quality count

13

###### difficulty count

13

##### course 383500a29b0ac797184420a8

###### review count

7

###### quality

5

###### difficulty

3.57

###### quality count

7

###### difficulty count

7

##### course 1049f8ea4b6f06a27858f913

###### review count

5

###### quality

5

###### difficulty

3.8

###### quality count

5

###### difficulty count

5

#### bayesian quality

4.272369076477748

#### prior mean

3.6596857835465957

#### prior weight

20

### current

false

### courses

None recorded.

### revision

e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349

### instructor url

/instructors/SONG\_GAO--instructor\_96c0f094762666fd6dc4d3d3

## history

None recorded.

## timeline

None recorded.

## term

1272

## courses

None recorded.

## reviews

### items

```json
[
  {
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:05:21.178373+00:00",
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "source_review_id": "UmF0aW5nLTM3MjU0OTQ1",
    "source_instructor_id": "rmp:2313819",
    "instructor_name": "Song Gao",
    "course_label": "GEOG378",
    "course_id": "GEOG 378",
    "course_uid": "course_6b09a761a0eeeecdbbd88dc8",
    "review_date": "2022-12-28 15:57:46 +0000 UTC",
    "comment": "Class is well organized and labs are successful tools to challenge students and learn the material. I appreciated the specificity of this course to geography, particularly the real-life examples in labs and connections to previous GIS knowledge.",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2313819",
    "quality_rating": 5,
    "difficulty_rating": 3
  },
  {
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:05:21.178373+00:00",
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "source_review_id": "UmF0aW5nLTM2ODg3MDky",
    "source_instructor_id": "rmp:2313819",
    "instructor_name": "Song Gao",
    "course_label": "GEOG378",
    "course_id": "GEOG 378",
    "course_uid": "course_6b09a761a0eeeecdbbd88dc8",
    "review_date": "2022-11-23 23:21:28 +0000 UTC",
    "comment": "Professor Gao is a genuinely compassionate teacher. For some similar 'esoteric' courses in the past I've had professors get annoyed by more fundamental questions/when students are struggling to grasp a concept, but Professor Gao seriously valued every question I heard asked and gave encouraging and comprehensive answers.",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2313819",
    "quality_rating": 5,
    "difficulty_rating": 4
  },
  {
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:05:21.178373+00:00",
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "source_review_id": "UmF0aW5nLTM2ODg0MDc2",
    "source_instructor_id": "rmp:2313819",
    "instructor_name": "Song Gao",
    "course_label": "GEOG378",
    "course_id": "GEOG 378",
    "course_uid": "course_6b09a761a0eeeecdbbd88dc8",
    "review_date": "2022-11-23 02:59:57 +0000 UTC",
    "comment": "Song is very knowledgeable and talented, with strong geospatial industry experience. I enjoyed his lectures a lot. It is not easy to get A in his class as it requires programming and heavy labs. You need to make great efforts and practice more to achieve the best grade. ",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2313819",
    "quality_rating": 5,
    "difficulty_rating": 4
  },
  {
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:05:21.178373+00:00",
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "source_review_id": "UmF0aW5nLTM2ODQ4MjMz",
    "source_instructor_id": "rmp:2313819",
    "instructor_name": "Song Gao",
    "course_label": "GEOG378",
    "course_id": "GEOG 378",
    "course_uid": "course_6b09a761a0eeeecdbbd88dc8",
    "review_date": "2022-11-16 21:21:26 +0000 UTC",
    "comment": "This class is absolutely awful if you do not have prior CS experience. Having taken GEOG 377, I thought I would be prepared and I was dead wrong.  The labs are astoundingly difficult (and I'm not dumb by any means, I literally had a 4.0, which this class ruined).  Song is a terrible lecturer and I learned absolutely nothing in class. ",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2313819",
    "quality_rating": 1,
    "difficulty_rating": 5
  },
  {
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:05:21.178373+00:00",
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "source_review_id": "UmF0aW5nLTM2MzgyODY0",
    "source_instructor_id": "rmp:2313819",
    "instructor_name": "Song Gao",
    "course_label": "GEOG573",
    "course_id": "GEOG 573",
    "course_uid": "course_383500a29b0ac797184420a8",
    "review_date": "2022-05-20 18:31:47 +0000 UTC",
    "comment": "This was a good class; I enjoyed it and felt like I learned a lot. I was thankful that the course was taught using Python3 and Jupyter Notebooks. these are great tools to use for spatial analysis and this course improved my abilities to use them for geospatial analysis, particularly Pandas and GeoPandas. ",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2313819",
    "quality_rating": 5,
    "difficulty_rating": 4
  },
  {
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:05:21.178373+00:00",
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "source_review_id": "UmF0aW5nLTM2MzgyODQz",
    "source_instructor_id": "rmp:2313819",
    "instructor_name": "Song Gao",
    "course_label": "GEOG573",
    "course_id": "GEOG 573",
    "course_uid": "course_383500a29b0ac797184420a8",
    "review_date": "2022-05-20 18:28:48 +0000 UTC",
    "comment": "This was one of the most challenging classes I have taken but I feel more confident in my code writing and more prepared for my future career now because of it.",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2313819",
    "quality_rating": 5,
    "difficulty_rating": 4
  }
]
```

### total

28

### page

1

### courses

| course\_uid                      | course\_id |
| -------------------------------- | ---------- |
| course\_6b09a761a0eeeecdbbd88dc8 | GEOG 378   |
| course\_1049f8ea4b6f06a27858f913 | GEOG 560   |
| course\_383500a29b0ac797184420a8 | GEOG 573   |

### matched

true

## social Image

false