He is mean and unfair

He's lecture is actually fun. There are two way to count grade, 45% final 35% in-class activity and 20%problem sets or 100% final depends on whatever grant you higher total grade. Problem sets is graded on completion but in-class activity is kinda annoying since group work every time. The final is easy. He avoided 75% of thing that I don't know.

Closest you can get to MIT / Harvard at UCSB. Best Professor I've had in the econ dept. Low stress class with high reward. Highly highly recommend!

Professor Esponda is one of the best professor in the Econ department. You literally play games and learn about strategies in class. About half of the class pts are freebies if you show up and do the homework problems. Accessible and incredibly helpful outside of class. Class has a long waitlist but if you have an opportunity 100% take his class!

I love this man so much, great professor.

This class was really interesting, and you can tell that Professor Oprea is passionate about economics. If you follow the lectures or textbook, you should be able to get an A- or A. Do be warned though, you have to put in the effort and study hard for his tests and final.

Honestly one of the best professors at UCSB. Really nice guy who doesn't try to push his own opinions on you but rather values what students have to think. Really straightforward. Utilize office hours for projects.

Professor Oprea did a great job of teaching this class and you can tell he cares a lot about his students. He genuinely loves economics, and it shows through his lectures. 3 online midterms, which managed to be somewhat difficult despite being online. The final was the most difficult. Definitely do the practice tests, as the tests are very similar.

Very informative lectures with lots of content. Felt pretty prepared for exams. Very understanding guy, almost every aspect of the grade gives points for leeway. Took 3 midterms but best 2 counted. Explains the material pretty well but not amazingly. Make sure to really study for exams, sometimes very weird wording for questions. Overall nice guy.

If you are taking Econ classes, try to get a class with Professor Oprea. Ryan does a great job of explaining concepts in lectures. The organization of the course was excellent. If you complete the required assignments, go to lectures, read the textbook, and complete the practice tests, you will do well in this class and also learn a lot.

Class was straightforward and the grading/assignments were all communicated on the first day. Oprea's lectures were basically the same as the textbook, but he was an engaging lecturer and was inspiring/funny too. Seemed like he really cared about his students. It's def not an easy A, but pay attention and do practice problems and ull be fine

Professor Oprea is fantastic! He has an easy humor about him, his lectures have great flow and follow a logical structure, he teaches the material in a concise way that makes it easy to understand, and he is the most inspiring professor I've had to date. Take him!

The class is pretty easy since the brutal curve no longer exists. I didn't attend any lectures and all the midterms, lectures, and sections were online. People kept saying this guy is the best for econ 1 but he just reads off of the slides. At least the information he gives is good enough to learn from by just reading it.

Professor Esponda is great, and there's a reason that his courses fill up fast, and have huge waitlists. Cares that you are engaged and interested, grading is fair for how much effort you put in. Final was 100% based upon the assignments and discussions. Got a B because I didn't do an assignment that ended up on the final. 10/10 class.

He made game theory a really easy class with very little computational requirements and simple concepts. The grading system is very lenient where you have the ability to just take the final and your final exam grade will be the grade you get in the final. Though, attending the lectures and solving the problem sets would be more beneficial.

Esponda is one of the best professors in his department, and consistently displays his kindness and eagerness to teach to his students. Do yourself a favor and sign up for his class.

He's a solid teacher who is very knowledgeable about the material. His class isn't to difficult and you know what you are getting when you take the quizes

You can't find anyone better than him in the Economics department. When you take classes with him, you are home.

funny guy, one of the best econ profs in ucsb. got to clas, do hw, practice (I mean really practice) practice exams and you will be okay. willpower is key. only complaint is the curve, but what can you do? this might sound hard but do ur absolute best in econ 1, cause u might have to take rupert econ 2 and he is a grade tanker. I was a chem major.

Professor Ignacio Esponda is the best teacher I have ever had. He is an amazing lecturer and the content in this class is so interesting. This class really changed my career and academic trajectory. Esponda is such a caring person and understands that this class can be difficult; he is very accessible and helpful. If you can take this class, DO IT!

Oprea is a god, literally best professor i've ever had. I would do anything to hear one of his beautifully awful jokes again. Literally like him more than i like my dad

His lectures were really HARD to follow since he went through all the materials so quickly in class. Quiz is totally off script and super hard. Not recommended as a GE.

My favorite econ professor!!! Super fair and seems to really care about his students. Class is very interactive (you literally play games) so its not boring. No midterms, 4 problem sets, and a final. Final is completely open notes because the problems require applying logic not an exact formula. A pretty easy class if you put in some effort.

Prof. Esponda's Game Theory class is the best Econ class I have ever taken. If you like logic problems, you will love this class. Grading policy is very friendly and clear. His lectures are a ton of fun and you will not have to pick up a textbook once - just go to lecture, play the games and understand the concepts and logic. Highly recommend!