Susan Watson

Physics 108 with Professor Watson was a very challenging course. This was my first time ever taking a physics course, and I found it way too difficult to be an intro stem course at Middlebury. Professor Watson herself is very kind, organized, and enthusiastic. She offers a lot of outside help which I highly appreciated. That being said, I struggled with her expectations and grading style. Almost all of your grade for the course is determined by hard exams. There are two problem sets per week, that you also have to correct, and even those are graded like exams. I spent hours on problem sets for them to be a tiny portion of my final grade. Watson is a very harsh grader. You need to show all of your work, and if you don't solve a problem her specific way, include all units, etc. you will lose points. It doesn't matter if your final answer is correct. I did enjoy the lab section for this course. It was also with Professor Watson. There is little to no outside work for the lab. Overall, I worked extremely hard in this course, but sadly I did not see pay off in the way that I wanted. I really like Watson as a person; however, I would not take this course again. This was the hardest course that I have taken as Middlebury so far.

Physics 108 with Professor Watson was a very challenging course. This was my first time ever taking a physics course, and I found it way too difficult to be an intro stem course at Middlebury. Professor Watson herself is very kind, organized, and enthusiastic. She offers a lot of outside help which I highly appreciated. That being sa …Read more

Professor Watson is a great professor. She was very clear about her expectations of the students from the start of the semester. She has a pretty specific way that you have to solve the problems and requires that you show all of your work on problem sets and exams. But she shows you how to do everything in lecture. I thought the lectures were very helpful and textbook readings were great supplements.

Professor Watson is a great professor. She was very clear about her expectations of the students from the start of the semester. She has a pretty specific way that you have to solve the problems and requires that you show all of your work on problem sets and exams. But she shows you how to do everything in lecture. I thought the lect …Read more

The class material is difficult. However, exams are challenging and graded harshly; there is a curve, but remember to show ALL your work. Prof Watson is strict on her time, so she will typically not answer questions before or after the lecture, but she is flexible with office hours.