Professor
Tommaso Treu
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - TW: The midterms for this class are HARD. I think the averages were like a 78% and a 64% on the two midterms. The prof. even made practice midterms that were not very helpful because they were MUCH easier than the actual thing. The midterms are very math heavy and we don't do any math practice problems in class. With that said, the final made up for it and boosted everyone's grades. The textbook readings are helpful but VERY time consuming. I got Bs on both midterms but got an A on the final and got A's on all the labs, so I ended with an A in the class. Some of the lab problems can be tricky but your TA is super available during lab to answer any questions and I never had to finish any of the labs outside of the designated lab time (even though they give you two extra days to finish if you need to). The lectures are super confusing bc prof. goes through extremely conceptual stuff super fast. By week 5 only like 30-40 people started showing up to lecture because tbh reading the slides yourself on your own time is probably easier. Finally, Treu is super sweet and understanding, and offers a 5% extra credit boost for answering people's questions on Campuswire (that's how I ended with an "A+". The material is super dense but really interesting if you're into space and stars. I recommend the class, but it's not an "easy GE". Grade breakdown: 20% midterm 1, 20% midterm 2, 20% lab, 20% homework, 20% final.
Winter 2021 - TW: The midterms for this class are HARD. I think the averages were like a 78% and a 64% on the two midterms. The prof. even made practice midterms that were not very helpful because they were MUCH easier than the actual thing. The midterms are very math heavy and we don't do any math practice problems in class. With that said, the final made up for it and boosted everyone's grades. The textbook readings are helpful but VERY time consuming. I got Bs on both midterms but got an A on the final and got A's on all the labs, so I ended with an A in the class. Some of the lab problems can be tricky but your TA is super available during lab to answer any questions and I never had to finish any of the labs outside of the designated lab time (even though they give you two extra days to finish if you need to). The lectures are super confusing bc prof. goes through extremely conceptual stuff super fast. By week 5 only like 30-40 people started showing up to lecture because tbh reading the slides yourself on your own time is probably easier. Finally, Treu is super sweet and understanding, and offers a 5% extra credit boost for answering people's questions on Campuswire (that's how I ended with an "A+". The material is super dense but really interesting if you're into space and stars. I recommend the class, but it's not an "easy GE". Grade breakdown: 20% midterm 1, 20% midterm 2, 20% lab, 20% homework, 20% final.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - As a GE, it's a perfectly fine, easy class, but I was not a fan, mostly because I wasn't interested. Treu is a cute prof, in that old guy passionate-about-astronomy type of way. However, he has the tendency to be really wishy-washy during lecture, so it's a little hard to stay engaged, particularly if you aren't already into the material. His slides were pretty disorganized and it's hard to really know what's the most important stuff to know for exams. He is very passionate about the material and open to student questions, so if you're really into astronomy, unlike me, he's a fun prof to have. Exams are open note and therefore, weren't too bad in terms of difficulty. The questions were sometimes confusingly worded and it wasn't always clear what they were asking. Final was actually trickier than anticipated because the questions weren't clear and I ended up using the entire 3 hours LOL. The most helpful materials were definitely worksheets that were done during TA discussions that covered much of the mathematical computations that would be on the exams. As long as you have some prior understanding of the topics (especially the math!) and where everything is at in your notes, you'll be fine. I will say, however, that I HATED Kudu, the online textbook we were required to pay for. If you're familiar with the LS7 series and Launchpad, it's pretty much a budget version of it. Super buggy, often changes answers to your quizzes, and a lot of the texts and videos are available for free online so I wasn't sure why I was required to pay 50 dollars just to watch Crashcourse Astronomy and have my quizzes graded wrong because the program changed my responses post submission. It was easy to get your credit back, though, by emailing the Kudu administrators to get it corrected. But still, if you're paying for a service, you'd think that it would work properly. Most people didn't go to lecture from what I saw, so that's up to you, but I do recommend attending discussions! He also had an extra credit opportunity that was fairly easy and only took like two hours of my time. Overall, fairly easy GE if you don't totally drop the ball on it.
Fall 2019 - As a GE, it's a perfectly fine, easy class, but I was not a fan, mostly because I wasn't interested. Treu is a cute prof, in that old guy passionate-about-astronomy type of way. However, he has the tendency to be really wishy-washy during lecture, so it's a little hard to stay engaged, particularly if you aren't already into the material. His slides were pretty disorganized and it's hard to really know what's the most important stuff to know for exams. He is very passionate about the material and open to student questions, so if you're really into astronomy, unlike me, he's a fun prof to have. Exams are open note and therefore, weren't too bad in terms of difficulty. The questions were sometimes confusingly worded and it wasn't always clear what they were asking. Final was actually trickier than anticipated because the questions weren't clear and I ended up using the entire 3 hours LOL. The most helpful materials were definitely worksheets that were done during TA discussions that covered much of the mathematical computations that would be on the exams. As long as you have some prior understanding of the topics (especially the math!) and where everything is at in your notes, you'll be fine. I will say, however, that I HATED Kudu, the online textbook we were required to pay for. If you're familiar with the LS7 series and Launchpad, it's pretty much a budget version of it. Super buggy, often changes answers to your quizzes, and a lot of the texts and videos are available for free online so I wasn't sure why I was required to pay 50 dollars just to watch Crashcourse Astronomy and have my quizzes graded wrong because the program changed my responses post submission. It was easy to get your credit back, though, by emailing the Kudu administrators to get it corrected. But still, if you're paying for a service, you'd think that it would work properly. Most people didn't go to lecture from what I saw, so that's up to you, but I do recommend attending discussions! He also had an extra credit opportunity that was fairly easy and only took like two hours of my time. Overall, fairly easy GE if you don't totally drop the ball on it.
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