Go into this class expecting to be challenged and occasionally tricked. The Econ department has begun to aggressively weed out people in the major starting in the intro courses and it shows as the class average was a 70% before the curve. This class is not the walk in the park it once was. 90% exam weighting and difficult exams.

Spent so many hours studying, doing the practice tests, and still receiving c's on my tests. These test were made to trick you. During Lecture, the professor got the practice questions wrong about 80% of time. Told us there was going to be a heavy curve, then last lecture said the avg in the class was a 69% and there would be little to no curve.

90% of your grade is from exams, which is super unnecessary. Attendance not reuiqred I didnt go to a single lecture. The exams are made to trip you up

found CLAS to be more useful than his lectures as all the prof did was read off slides posted on canvas. 85-90% of your grade is dictated by 3 exams and the questions are deliberately written/worded to trick you. you won't really know what you're final grade will be until after the last exam due to not knowing how low or high the curve will be.

Lectures aren't too helpful because he just reads the slides, if you want to do well in the class study the slides and review the past exams section(!!!). The material isn't too difficult but the tests are formatted in a way where its hard to get a good grade. If you learn the style of questions you will do well. Ended up being a 7 or 8% curve.

This dude is ahh. I took this class because everyone said it was an easy A online, but he decided to randomly change the grading structure and system this quarter, making it 90% exams and 10% hw. I feel for everyone who suffered his class this quarter as well. also something he did which pmo was always complaining abt ppl talking like chill brodie.

I went through the trenches and back throughout this course. It single-handedly shifted my demand for this major to ZERO. This class was 90% tests grades, the averages were around 65% per test, and the curve barely impacted my grade. This professor does not teach what is on the exams. Instead, he verbally attacks your GPA and calls it a lecture.

If you wake up and think "life's going too well, I need some suffering" then take this class. Tests were nothing like practice exams. Taking this class is a great way to understand opportunity costs, because every hour I spent studying was an hour I could've spent learning literally anything else.

This class is pretty difficult just because you're grade is 90% tests. The test questions were a lot harder than the practice questions given online but as long as you closely study the lecture slides and do a lot of practice problems the tests are fine. Section isn't mandatory which is nice.

Benzarti is an awesome professor. The class structure is very straightforward, but it is test heavy which can be a little intimidating. What worked for me was closely reviewing the slides and doing a lot of practice problems before each exam.

This class was very difficult. Your grade is made up of 90% 3 midterms and 10% homework. The weekly PQs are not the most helpful for the exams, as they are way easier. My best advice is to do the past exams and/or beg someone who has already taken the class for their past midterms. The curve should have been way higher considering the 65-70 average

This course was heavily exam-based, with the majority of the final grade determined by test performance. I found that the practice materials did not closely reflect the format or difficulty of the actual exams, which made preparation challenging. Homework contributed about 5% of the overall grade, so doing well on tests was especially important.

There is absolutely no way to contact the professors or TA's. I had a family emergency and wanted to ask for an extension on one of the assignments, but I couldn't reach them. They don't want you to reach out to them, nor give valuable feedback. The tests are graded so brutally and unnecessarily difficult for a winter quarter class. Don't take

took this class in the winter quarter as I'm an econ major. You get 10 points of homework the whole quarter that affect your grade a max of 5 percent, if I had to guess. Your whole grade is dependent on the tests, which are 1000x harder than the practice exams we are given to use to study.

I took AP Macro in high school, so I already had some knowledge of basic concepts before. The class is very easy tbh, my tip would be to go watch come AP Micro videos on the unit you're on to really grasp the concept, and master the graphs. Grade depends on 3 tests and weekly quizzes, not hard imo. My advice: stop overthinking questions.

I was lied to. UCSB plat showed an amazing A rate, above 65%. "Wow awesome, won't have to worry about this class!". Wrong. Apparently the department changed some things and now the course is 90% tests and 10% homework. Thats it. No projects, no extra credit, nothing. There is lots of past material to study, all way easier than the actual tests tho.

The tests are too unfair considering they're 90% of your grade. The practice exams are not really helpful because exam questions are hardly similar. Averages on exams were C- to D+. He is a good professor and I liked his class the tests are just difficult and unfair. He must have been a lot easier in previous quarters.

I'm got an A in ECON 1 and this class is ridiculous. 90% of grade is three exams featuring super convoluted questions with subjective interpretations. You can understand every topic and still get shafted by wordplay questions. Average exam grade is a C. Class doesn't reward intelligence or effort, just luck and predicting what prof wants.

Took him winter quarter, literally worst experience of my life. Gave us lots of practice material which was nothing like the actual exams, and the class average was a D on every test. I heard this class was very easy in the past, but at least for this quarter, it was way too difficult. Take this class with a different professor.

Easy class, sections not mandatory, funny prof

Great professor, makes lecture material very understandable. Would recommend for first quarter of freshman year.

I had a particularly terrible experience with this professor. I had to miss a test due to playing in the D1 NCAA soccer tournament and he simply gave me a 0. He used the excuse that the lowest test grade was dropped and therefore it did not matter. It took weeks for him to respond to my emails and he simply does not care about his students.

Laid back personality, grading set up is student friendly as he drops 1 of 4 quizzes that make up 60% of your grade. The other 40% is essentially free points as long as you complete them.

Once i showed up to one of the exams 6 minutes late and Prof Benzarti wouldn't let me in lol I was about to get on my knees and start begging him before i remembered theres an exam drop and left with my dignity intact. This class was hella easy though but I'll be honest the lectures were so boring I was about to fall asleep every time