2.8
Quality4.0
Difficulty47%
Would Retake88
Reviews47%
Would Retake
88
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
25
4
14
3
3
2
7
1
39
What Students Say
“His lectures are meaningless”
PHYS218 - 1.0 rating“it's a "flipped classroom" which means he'll give you a link to an hour long lecture from a professor on YouTube that will vaguely be related to the hw problems and what you do in class the next day”
PHYS218 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
77%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.60 avg changeRatings by Course
PHYS202
5.0
(1)PHYS216
4.0
(1)CLGV001
4.0
(1)PHYS201
3.8
(4)PHYS206
2.7
(37)Difficulty by Course
PHY206
4.3
PHYS206
4.1
PHYS216
4.0
PHYS218
3.4
PHYS202
3.0
Reviews (88)
His lectures are meaningless. In order to pass this class, just do the homework and read the textbook -- and I mean READ. He makes everything difficult and the tests can be your worse nightmare. Other than that, if you've never taken AP Physics or have had a hard time with physics in high school, this will be a difficult class.
I don't even know where to begin with this. He's quite honestly the worst teacher I've ever had. The lectures are pointless, the class and the way it's set up is confusing, he never explains anything in a way that non physics people understand, and it's just been a nightmare. Be prepared to read the book a lot and work hard for maybe a C or D.
His lectures are mandatory but useless, same with the online HW. The tests are all memorization, but the only way to check your answers to the questions is to go to his office hours. Office hours are helpful, but there are always a lot of people there. Absolutely no numbers, all variable based physics.
Theres a quiz almost every week. On top of that, theres always a homework and webassign and online polls. Do the homeworks and understand them . This is a memorization class. If you memorize his homeworks, you will pass and get an A . Go to his office hours when in doubt and he will help. He is actually a decent guy. Good luck y'all
Cannot teach. can only talk about his wife. Expects you to learn everything on your own, meaning class time is used to ask questions over things we haven't learned. quizzes and test questions were exactly from the optional homeworks so I ended up memorizing answers to get the grade (without understanding any of it).
Do not take him if you have another option. We are told to watch 50 min lectures (from another professor) before every class, then do two homework problems. We come to class and he goes over the homework problems and then we do group work. He does ZERO teaching. Incredibly difficult to understand the concepts unless you spend all day studying.
it's a "flipped classroom" which means he'll give you a link to an hour long lecture from a professor on YouTube that will vaguely be related to the hw problems and what you do in class the next day. In class you'll choice a hw problem to go over, which sounds good, until you realize his explanation is more fitting for a level 400 physics major.
Lectures are good. He answers all the questions, with 100% effort, which his students ask. Although this "flipped class" may not be efficient for some students, I personally felt his lecture is worth taking it. Moreover, as a person, this professor is a very nice guy who tires to help you with his 100% always.
Greatest professor on the entire campus. He was really chill and his class was a great learning experience. He would write his own physics problems before class and have us flounder in class trying to find a solution(sometimes not even HE could find an answer. Rantschler is a physics GOD in mortals clothing. Would definitely take again 10/10.
10/10 recommend, Rantschler inspired my mind to look at the world a different way.
He basically shows off to the students that he is smarter than us. Makes us watch 50 min lectures before each class because he does not want to teach the material himself, rather he does equations that no one understands. His homework has material on it that we have not even gone over yet.
Dr. R is a pretty kind guy. He is willing to answer our question always. This class is graded by a lot of things, but it is not hard to gain these grades. Most importantly, he gives us lots of bonus!
Your first week will make you want to quit, but stick with it. He has a ton of bonus opportunities and doesn't like giving people an F. It's a hard class and you need to really focus during lectures/watch the video lectures, but it's certainly possible to get an A.
I took him in the "off season" for Physics 201 and 202 and it was so easy. He lets you use your ENTIRE notebook on the exams. There's WebAssign homework before every test but it's easy because he shows you how to do it the class before it's due. He's a really nice guy and his class is enjoyable. Super easy A if you keep up with your notes. NO FINAL
Dr.R is one of the best professors TAMUG has to offer. The people saying he is not a good professor are either lazy or have very low IQ's. Dr.R is somewhat of a genius who enjoys differential equation practice problems in his free time. He also has a really awesome podcast for anyone with a 130+ IQ. Great professor wish I could take again
A really nice person, but that doesn't mean hes a good teacher. I took physics in his class and I might as well have been taking a math class because that all you learn to do in his class. He loves math so much that he just straight up wont cover theory in class. If you actually want to learn physics, take someone else.
Dr. R's class was very hard, but doable if you put in the work for it. It was a great class for weeding out non-engineers but not too difficult to receive an A with the right amount of work since he has tons of chances for bonus points. His tests are very difficult, but he compensates with the HW weighing as much as the test and with a heavy curve.
This is generally the worst professor i have ever had, also assumed half of the class cheated on the final and handed out tons of zeros because he was paranoid, DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR, WARNING YOU!!!!!!
5 people cheated on the final, so Rantschler decided to give the entire class a zero on the final because he didn't know who to trust. Basically everyone failed or got a C, a few lucky ones got a B. He teases the students and is never helpful when asked questions in office hours and basically never responds to emails. Needs to get the boot.
I wouldve given him two or three stars, however towards the end of the semester, he assumed much of the class was cheating on his final and gave multiple people zeros despite not choosing to proctor the exam himself or make the exam not as easy to cheat on. Overall he seemed lazy throughout the semester and didnt care for his students.
While he may be a caring and knowledgeble person, its not an excuse for being a bad teacher. He is bad at communicating information to students especially during this pandemic. He made physics difficult. In the end he screwed over mamy people with his grading. Be ready to meet new people because its impossible to pass on your own.
Dr. Rantschler is a serious homie. After the final, I had a B, but I ratted out some jerks in the class for cheating on the final in exchange for an A. They were really mean to me all semester so they deserved it. Some other kid worked out the same deal. His class wasn't that hard, I just messed up a lot. But he'll work out a better grade for you.
Take notes on everything in class because you can use your notes on his tests and he usually draws the test questions from your notes and from Webassign. The Webassign is easy because he goes through the problems in class before the test. Not a great communicator but his lectures are usually entertaining. Will definitely take him again for 202.
if you learn through reading this class may be okay. if you learn through lecture and reading avoid. He does not teach and he is very specific on his methodology in completing problems. heavy curve.
Dr. Rantschler is never straight forward in answering srudents questions. He teaches material that does not line up with the homework, and the homework does not line up with the exams. I felt lost the entire semester. The only way you will succeed in this class is to find a good group that works well together. If you want to learn, do not register.
Very hard, hw doesn't help learn the materials for this class. stuff never going to need for next class
Prof. Rantschler is a horrendous professor. Pretty sure he was implementing higher level physics and math then required. He takes forever to respond to emails if he does respond. He told us the book he posted on the syllabus was not going to help at all. His immense curves and our group chat is how I passed the class.
Prof. Rantschler is not a good prof. He is very smart and knows the material but is not good at teaching. The only positive I got from this class was how to teach myself through an entire semester, because he did not. Do not take if you want to learn. You will spend more time doing homework that you aren't tested over than all of you other classes.
I can not stress this enough, DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. PLEASE. He smart and I'm wouldn't be surprised if he makes some genius relevation one day, but god man, he's a terrible teacher. He has not replied to a SINGLE email I've sent him throughout the semester the hw isn't even on the test and is this a math course? Wheres the theories I paid for?
Honeslty if ur here to learn he prob isnt the best prof but if ur here for the grade hes the one. As long as u finish all ur hw and classwork ull be fine, U might need tutoring or chegg for his hw tho. He gives bonus and hes pretty chill.
DO NOT TAKE HIM NO MATTER WHAT. He does not teach you anything, expects you to learn everything outside of class and does not prepare for quizzes. I spent everyday going to tutoring, trying to solve hw and learning about the topics we're learning but I still failed. He doesn't respond to emails and is just overall terrible, this class is torture
You prob wont learn anything but you will get a good grade. There is a lot of homework but they bascially boost your grade and he gives bonus points and is very understanding. Overall he's a pretty chill professor.
Overall not too bad of a class, with a lot of difficult-to-very difficult homework questions that'll take a couple of hours each week. He never responded to a single email I sent him, and his lectures consist of him solving literally one problem without teaching the material prior. Put in some effort to teach yourself, and an A is attainable.
DO NOT TAKE. he does not teach physics at all, rather spends class time teaching you about his "problem-solving method" which is only useful in his class and takes time to learn. I did not learn any physics at all. The homework he assigns is impossible and unrelated to exams, we ended up taking the solutions from the tutor, EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Never take this prof!! he did not upload most of our grades even when the transcript was out he graded the first homework after 3 months!! He has no grading criteria. He dos not bother to explain, he posts 2 min vids and you are supposed to understand. Lots of homework, even sometimes the tutor cant solve or even the prof himself! STAY AWAY!!
I took a mandatory hullabaloo class (One health) with this professor. The class has no homework, no credit hours, and little to no class participation. That being said, having a fun and nice professor made the class actually worth going to. You can tell he cares about his students, and tries to have fun along the way, even if the class is boring.
Great professor, easy if you pay attention and take good notes. Missing lectures definitely hurts. Many extra credit opportunities. HW isn't as related to the Lectures. HW is application of information, Lecture is revolved more around problem solving.
Genuinely do not take this professor. His homework isn't remotely close to what he tests you on. His lectures don't make much sense, and he expects you to master the topics from the 2-minute videos he gives you.
Dr.Rantschler, despite being one of the nicest profs I had, is not a good teacher. Homework was very difficult and not at all correlated to lectures or tests. Lectures are often times hard to follow and not very useful. Much of this class is based on abstract theory and he doesn't do a good job of explaining the concepts. Great guy, bad teacher.
He is chill and super nice. Hw's are difficult but as long as you do them all, you will be fine. You will pass on exams as long as you fill out the paper. He gives a lot of extra credit and curves.
touches complicated topics in less than 5 minutes and expects you to recall it on a test but with extremely obscure circumstances.
Exams are difficult. Homework is difficult. Best way to do well on the hw is with working in groups. Best way to do well on Exams is to fill the exam and try to remember what he wants from you. Don't give up. Lectures can be useful but most learning done outside of class. Curves VERY generously. Definitely passable. Take for a B or higher.
IGNORE THE 3.0 RATING. Petty students must have slammed his rating. He gives quizzes weekly but they are heavily in the students favor if you know how to apply the equations. Often gives requizes and sometimes even retests. If you don't apply yourself you will fail otherwise you will be able to get a high grade in this class. Take him over Chaouki!
So unorganized and discombobulated. He barely teaches you what you need to know. He goes so fast in lecture and the homework is really hard. His teaching is all over the place. I went in knowing nothing about physics, and I still know nothing about physics. Do not take this if you can help it. Don't waste your time and money.
Rantschler's lectures are amazing! He really cares about his job and is passionate about teaching physics. I really enjoyed taking his class because his lectures kept me entertained. His tests are moderate in difficulty and the homework is fairly difficult, but if you have people to do it with, it makes it a whole lot easier.
Lecture are NOT mandatory but will make doing the homework easier as he will work problems similar to homework on the board the day before homework is due. Tests consist of mainly homework problems so going to those homework review days will help alot.
Dr. Ranchy is a great prof but you need to be willing to put in the work. I cannot recommend enough- visit this man outside class. Ask questions about the hw, and overall make sure he knows you. He's very caring about his students and wants you to succeed. Submit the hw by the bonus deadline and write down the questions in your notebook. 10/10
he is good but not the best
The homeworks are going to take you multiple hours a week to complete. Professor Rantschler gives partial credit on exams, and if you complete the homeworks early you get extra credit for them. He is also really helpful so if you have questions, ask. I took this class with both professors. If you want a fair chance at PHYS206, take Rantschler.
Understanding the concepts is key to success in this class. Make sure you have a group to discuss and to do hw with as its extremely challenging. 206 is not an easy class, but Rantschler makes it doable. Make sure to do as much bonus as possible, it will net you an A. His partial grading is insane, it will carry every exam. Understand the pretests!
W professor. Hard homework, easy tests. Open note tests. Funny guy.
Dr. Rantschler is a very funny guy. His class is very difficult and tough. But getting in a proper study group helped me survive. Be prepared to spend 5-6 hours on each homework. He gives a tons of extra credit opportunities. I did most of them and even though I pretty bombed the final by a C, I still had an A thanks to those extra credits.
Gives lots of extra credit, but requires more work than other PHYS teachers in Galveston. Highly recommend him over any other professors as you genuinely learn more, as well as get a better grade.
He has great lectures and goes through the points with examples thoroughly. Test and quiz grading is very forgiving and passable, hardest part of class is homeworks. They are complex and take hours upon hours to complete weekly, but he gives bonuses for completing early so it cancels out. Overall he makes a difficult class very passable.
I genuinely do not understand why students praise him and downvote all the reviews with criticism. Dr. Rantschler genuinely will not give you the knowledge of physics you need in order to propel yourself into your engineering career. HW doesn't go over lecture, tests do not go over HW, and quizzes do not go over HW. Take the other prof.
His quizzes,test, and HW are so poorly worded it is nearly impossible to do them. The questions themselves are incredibly easy once you can UNDERSTAND what is BEING ASKED. Open notes are useless bc they wont help u understand what he's asking not to mention the homework is far worse. Buy chegg if you want to pass the homework
Rantschler managed to make physics somewhat enjoyable for me just because of his jokes in class. I had a Tuesday/Thursday class that was scheduled for 1 hr 15 mins, but we never stayed past 45 mins. Really easy class with open note tests. He is open to helping when he can. Overall really good professor that I would recommend.
The class itself is fairly difficult. Rantchler does a good job explaining the concepts in class. The homework problems are 10x harder than the actual test problems. the quizes arent too difficult. He offers a ton of partial credit on the tests too. homework is also weighted a lot so make sure you do it
Dr. Rantschler is the nicest professor I had for my freshman year. His homework is the hardest assignments for his class, but he gives a lot of extra credit. It is pretty easy to get an A in the class if you pay attention to the lectures and do the homework.
The strat is with the HW. Finish it early to get the bonus points and then the rest of the week, learn the HW. Thats what allowed me to get an A and I'm an avg guy. His lectures are sometimes VERY confusing. Weekly quizzes, try to get bonus points too. Youll learn physics by yourself, but the bonus points are so helpful. Kinda hard A, easy B.
Doing the extra credit on the HW is a must (done ~64 hours before actual due date). Tests have substantial partial and extra credit. Weekly quizzes have tons of extra credit and are graded a little weirdly. Lectures will do little for you in terms of the HW. Tests & quizzes are much easier than HW. I strongly suggest tutoring sessions/online chat.
For physics 206 he has this strategy where he makes the weekly homework very difficult, especially the first 3 assignments of the year. But because of this, it makes his average tests feel very easy in comparison, and I was able to score much higher than I thought I would. Overall he's a good prof. with a very different approach to assignments
You need to do his HW since the extra credit is good. It's also 1/3rd of the grade, and if you know the concept well, it's not bad but still hard. Go to his office hours, he will explain HW and concepts. The book isn't required, but it would help to read it, since the lectures are tough. Quizzes vary in difficulty, and test are a joke.
Escape, do not come he is the worst
Be prepared for this class to fill up 80% of your homework time. He gives roughly 1-2 assignments per week, but these take a long time and need precise answers. Strive to complete his homework early as you get an extra 10% (so 110%) for your homework if you finish it before Thursday. Overall, a good teacher who gives good grades.
He gives around 2 homework per week on webassign which will take more than 8+ hour to complete but with a 10 percent bonus on homework if completed by friday/thursday 12 pm. weekly Quiz also have a chance to give 50% bonus (150% on quiz at most). Test are worth 11% each and the final are worth 33% (open note test)
Assigns a lot of homework. Homework questions don't even make sense. Tests are a joke. Take other professor.
The homeworks are very poorly worded so it takes hours to complete each assignment. The tests are also very confusing. Reading the textbook is the best way to study. Definitely take the other professor.
Dr. Rantschler is CLEARLY biased towards his morning class as he gives them easier tests than his other classes. Very unfair. Notes are hard to follow. He goes WAY too fast and still can't finish the lectures sometimes. Better off reading the textbook and praying that the tests are anything like the lectures or homework.
Worst professor of all time.
Do the HW before he even gives the lecture. With the 10% curve, you will artificially raise your grade to at least a B and an A with a bit more effort. Then write all the formulas you used on the HW on your notebook for the test. Its a hard class, but it is more than possible to succeed You just have to work really hard and teach yourself!
Take Gard instead.
I could write a book on why not to take this guy, but RateMyProfessor has a character limit. Homework takes a ridiculous amount of time and is incredibly difficult. If you are willing to cheat and use AI, no problem, but for honest students this class takes an obscene amount of time. Lectures often make absolutely no sense. Don't take him.
1) He gets good ratings because he gives a lot of extra credit and people can cheat. If you want to learn the material, don't take him. 2) He doesn't give good lectures. 3) He gives difficult problems that he sometimes can't solve, and there are often mistakes in the problems and the solutions. 4) Homework takes 16+ hours per week.
Absolute joke of a professor. He can't even proofread the questions he assigns on tests or honework. Half of the time I thought I was dyslexic because I had no idea what the question was asking. Take literally ANY OTHER PROFESSOR.
This professor is just as bad as Aronson but at least Aronson's curves would make up for how terrible his class was. If you take this class then you prepare to spend 16+ hours on homework weekly and also for the worst tests of your academic career.
This professor never responds to his emails so don't even bother asking for help. He wants you to fail. His lectures are also terrible and you would be better off skipping and studying on your own.
He's a good professor. He is a goofy guy during lectures, making frequent jokes in class. But, PLEASE WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING ON THE BOARD INTO YOUR NOTEBOOK. The tests are open notes, even the final. The tests can be hard sometimes, but he gives a good amount of partial credit for each question on tests. Quiz + HW = extracredit Carries. DO maximum!!
HW takes way too long. Just get through it, 95% those HW questions WILL NOT BE ON THE TEST OR QUIZZES. You can just AI it if you want, but sometimes, they are worded so weirdly, the AI can get them wrong. There were mistakes on the HW sometimes. Hint: ask others for "____ Method" Quizzes easy - I got all of them above 100%. Extra credit carries.
Cant teach to save his life
Dont let the extra credit fool you this class is not for the meek. Seriously you will have SO MUCH HOMEWORK. Ppl say the test are easy but Id say they are PASSABLE not ACEABLE the last 2 questions on every test are impossible without extremely specific knowledge. Study the quizlets he gives and previous tests, the homework was useless for studying
All of the "good" reviews are being copy and pasted. And the fact that they all talk about how much AI helped them pass the class should tell you everything that you need to know about this class. Take any other professor if you care about your grades.
I loved this professor when I took them in Fall 2024! His course was so
I loved the Rantschler! He gave lots of homework that followed through the steps needed to solve every question one at a time. We worked hard with study groups outside of class but if you understand the homework and quizzes, you could ace every exam! This class you do have to work hard! He is very welcoming to helping students during office hours!
I love Rantschler, he has a dad humor and makes the lectures interesting. The homework is very long but harder than the actual tests so you are more than prepared for them. He makes it quite easy to earn an A in the class without risking your learning and gives out A LOT of extra credit like A LOT. Definitely would take him again.
Horrible teacher. His lectures are hard to follow and notes don't help at all on the tests. He also barely curves. The final being a third of your grade is absolutely ridiculous. Literally didn't learn a single thing. I learned more from youtube than his lectures. Take ANYONE else.
Heres the deal: Automatic pass at a minimum if you do the homework extra credit. DO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Yes its a lot but it 100% is the difference between letter grades.For someone ETAM'ing into College Station, this class was brutal and there was quite literally no downtime in this. He also writes at mach speed so don't fall behind writing.
Search up the Charlie Day meme. He's basically like that.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
77%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.60 avg changeRatings by Course
PHYS202
5.0
(1)PHYS216
4.0
(1)CLGV001
4.0
(1)PHYS201
3.8
(4)PHYS206
2.7
(37)Difficulty by Course
PHY206
4.3
PHYS206
4.1
PHYS216
4.0
PHYS218
3.4
PHYS202
3.0