EVSC 2800

This course was great! I am a chem major, but I took this class as an elective. This course was fairly easy and Prof Limaye is great. The class is set up very well, and there are optional office hours which can give you a 5% grade boost. Definitely go to office hours at least to meet Prof Limaye. Friday discussions are very laid back. Focus on the lectures and what he says in discussions for the exams. Read the textbook for deeper understanding, but don't focus on it for the exams. Exams are relatively strictly timed (only 50 min), but you get one sheet of notes for the exam, so that makes it more doable. Overall easy class, but definitely pay attention to small details on the exams and weekly assignments because they will take off points for VERY minor issues...I ended up getting an A- and not an A because of this.

I found that the pacing of the first 1/2 was perfect. A fair amount of memorization is needed for exams. There were three easy but a little tedious assignments throughout the semester. Attendance is not counted, but there are many in class activities, and 10 have to be completed for credit. I didn't really read the textbook but I did well without much extra effort. By the second exam (2/3 way through the course) the class lost a lot of structure and went into a geologic take on climate change and other human-made topics that more tenuously connected to the subject.
The class is 1-2 hours a week max and I recommend it if you need an easy science credit. If you are interested in geology or environmental science, look for a higher-level course that skips the filler or take your chances with a different professor. I was disappointed that the course only gave an elementary explanation of how the landscape of America/Virginia was formed, but I understand that may be beyond the scope of an intro course. The professor is a nice guy, very passionate; no shade to him, there just wasn't enough content to justify about 1/2-1/3 of the course's length.

This is a great course. Limaye makes the class very enjoyable and lectures are usually worth going to. There isn't any recorded attendance, but there are random assignments in-class that are graded (you don't know when they are and you get a 0 if you aren't there). So, it's a bit of a gamble. There's assigned textbook readings and things. Personally, I never did these but it wouldn't hurt. The exams aren't bad and are similar to the practice questions provided. Going to lecture and some brief studying was good enough for me. You get a cheat sheet on the later exams too. There were 3 take home assignments across the year which took about 2 hours to complete. Everything's graded pretty easily. Go to office hours for an extra point. Overall, the class is pretty light but also very interesting. I took the lab with it, which was useful and interesting at first, but starts to drop off later. It doesn't go the full 4 hours, only 2.5-3 usually.

I would strongly suggest taking this course with any other professor. The material itself is not necessarily challenging and there isn’t much work but the course felt very opinionated. It also felt as if the professor wanted students to fail which is never a good sign. If you do take this course with Ajay Limaye, be prepared to receive some harsh grading if you don’t describe contents of the class exactly how he wants it. Overall, I felt that the class would’ve been way more enjoyable and enriching if it was taught by someone else.

This class is great and professor Limaye is an amazing lecturer. The readings are very manageable and the textbook is written in a very approachable way. The readings are not mandatory but highly valuable to getting a better understanding of the content.

The course material itself is very enjoyable for both EVSC majors as well as anyone taking this for gen-eds. It is not too heavy on math and quantitative methods, so it is approachable to non-STEM majors, while also being highly intriguing for prospective EVSC majors and serves as a good introduction to higher level geoscience courses.

There were 3 mid-terms throughout the semester. The mid-terms were very straightforward and and approachable. There are no curveballs or trick questions. If you take good notes in lecture and review them, you will be fine on the exam.

The lab course is a 1 credit course that parallels a lot of what is learned in lecture. It is very helpful for applying material learned in lecture to further solidify it and I would highly recommend it if you have the time and credits. It is greatly beneficial for the exams.

In all, Limaye is a great professor and makes the class fun and approachable for all students. Whether you are taking this class for major requirements or as a gen-ed, you will enjoy it. Highly recommend.