It is a very easy class. He is kinda goofy and we have a stupid joke contest every day. Also, his granfather failed his finance tests and therefore married a very ugly woman because he wouldn't make it on the cover of GQ. The class is really easy

Awesome teacher, tests are difficult, the concepts are not hard to understand if you pay attention in class. He's every bit from the south as he says he is.

The teacher is funny and makes class interesting. Tests are a little difficult but not impossible if you put a little time and effort into it. Overall a great class that doesn't require too much effort.

The Class is awesome, but the tests are freaking hard!

This professor is awesome. Funny, interesting, makes you love finance.

Makes a difficult class fun, there are still times when you'll get lost in all the mumbo jumbo of finance, just make sure to ask questions for clarity in your labs. you will have to put forth your effort in this class if you want a good grade.

A challenging, but fair class. The teacher is very specific about what you will see on the tests. And allows you to contest any test questions you think were poorly written. Also, don't go to labs and goof off with friends. Ask questions, do you assignments and you'll get a decent grade. The final was A LOT harder than the two midterms!!

He is an awesome and very funny teacher! He made a hard class fun. The test are kind of tough. The only thing I didn't like about the test was that there were too many trick answers.

Great teacher - almost makes me want to change my emphasis to finance. Notecard allowed on the final so that's good - tests are difficult, though. Study and work hard and you'll get a good grade.

The best "Man" at the BYU. Prepare well for the final, it was a lot harder than the two midterms. Midterms are just piece of cakes. Recently, I noticed his ugly grandchild story is kinda true.

Good class - engaging professor, but lectures are not a must. If you read the chapters and review the slides he posts on blackboard, you don't need to go to class. Labs are VERY important.

He is a great professor. You MUST attend the labs or else you will not get a good grade. Also, his final is much harder than his other two tests so be prepared. He makes lectures more entertaining than most professors so it's probably not a bad thing to go to class every day.

Way easier than accounting 210. I really enjoyed this class and this professor -- Holmes genuinely cares about students.

Work hard and the class is easy. You must study HARD for the tests. Lectures are interesting. He's a funny dude and really like his students

The class is very entertaining. He has a personal finance week and a home buying seminar. You learn a lot of useful stuff. Tests aren't easy, but you can do well.

He teaches well. Anything useful you'll learn in Acc 210 is covered in this class. Much more applicable than any accounting class. Lecture attendance non mandatory, but be sure to go to personal finance days. Tests are on par with other Marriott School classes.

I really enjoyed the class! The test were hard, but it was very helpful to do the optional homework assignments. The class is graded on a curve so it doesn't matter how you did on the test; it matters how the whole class did on the exam. The class is entertaining and you will learn a lot.

Holmes presents the most important data that is used today in the financial world. He doesn't bore the class with useless financial equations. Tests are hard, but fair. All in all, a great professor....He keeps things humorous and light

The class wasn't too bad. The material taught is pretty simplified and could be a lot harder. Holmes is a good guy and does his best to teach effectively. Test questions can be a little vague and unpredictable but getting an A is manageable.

He is a great teacher and he really cares about his students. If you study the notes and the book the class is easy.

I really enjoyed this class. Holmes has really practical lectures. It takes a lot of practice to get the material down, so be prepared to study hard. I'd recommend taking ACC 210 before you take this class. The tests can be monsters.

He's an entertaining guy and cares about his students. However, his tests are ridiculous. You may study for hours for the test, feel like you are prepared, and then run into questions you've never seen before. I usually walked out of tests feeling like I must not have learned anything in class even though I put the work into it.

The best teacher at BYU. The tests are hard. If you do not know how to do a multi-step problem, tests will make you suffer. It is a good check if you will do well in Finance or not. This is college and BYU. If are not doing well, it does not mean you are not learning. Don't go and don't whine in his office. Just do the work and homework, you'll be

The other comments are spot on. He is a personable and interesting professor with lots of good information. He expects you to know everything he teaches right away and the tests are very difficult. Overall, this was a hard but very useful class. And yeah, you definitely need the book.

I like Andy Holmes, and I really enjoyed this class. He's entertaining and a really good teacher. Yeah, his tests are hard, but if you study and do your homework you'll be fine. He's super reasonable. I would definitely take a class from him again.

I enjoyed this course and Professor Holmes and learned a great deal over the course of the semester. The tests weren't exceptionally difficult, but they did not accurately measure what was actually taught in the course. Professor Holmes is a great man though - the course just needs a little more structure and organization.

He is all right tries to teach in an interesting manner. The packet is too cute, and is too focused on tricking students (like his tests).Tests measure how well you read the question and remember the ways he will try to trip you up. The material is really disorganized and much is covered in other classes or on wikipedia.

Most comments above are from people that are going to have a hard time in the real business world this is a business class that's why the tests aren't exactly the same but it's never anything you don't have the ability to solve with some problems solving ability. If you can't problem solve don't go into business. Great Teacher personable reasonable

Maybe the 'for majors only' version of this class is a lot harder but I didn't think the one for business minors was too difficult. Tests seemed pretty much like the weekly homework quizzes we took and he points out in class the common mistakes made. Grade is composed of reading quizzes, 1 weekly homework quiz, and 3 tests.

Great guy. By far the funniest teacher I've ever had. Makes class more than bearable despite complex financial subjects. You can tell he loves the subjects he's teaching. More than willing to meet with you after class to help. Weekly quizzes are easy points, but tests are difficult. Must know material inside and out to do well on test Q's.

Good guy and decent teacher. Keeps things interesting with real world stories. You have to do the reading to stay afloat. Hard class but very useful. Tests are quite hard but not in a way that you can't do well on them, you just have to know the material really really well. Overall a very good class and you learn a lot.

Great teacher.

He speaks fast, but that is normal for finance professors. His lecture is clear and some TAs are very helpful (at least this year). Wanna do well? On top of the schedule and go and meet with TAs often for help. TA reviews could be helpful for the exam study. Exam is harder side, but at the end he curves the class at the end of semester as needed.

Great teacher even though we had a little bit of confusion due to new style of materials. The exam is a little more difficult that you have experienced, but I think it is a great prep for other college classes. Many people complained his speeds etc. but it is intro class and great way to get expose to the business world, I think.

Professor Holmes is awesome. Really funny, very clear in teaching, cares about the welfare and learning of the students. Monday TA sessions were just review by TAs. One TA was not very good at teaching but all the other TA's were great. Do the software, skim the readings, and pay attention in Wednesday lectures. Do the service and career prep hw.

Holmes is VERY smart and passionate about the subject he teaches. He talks very fast and is sometimes hard to understand, but you can tell he really cares about his students and wants them to do well. Class is really hard and requires a lot of studying, but if you are diligent, an A is definitely possible, even if you haven't taken ACC200!

I heard that he will be teaching for the winter, so decided to put some comments. Honestly, his exams are hard, but it is possible to get an A with curve he sets. TAs are helpful... I should not tell the specific name, but if TOSHI will be your TA for the semester, he emails a lot, but he is the TA and super smart. You will be lucky if he is there.

There's quizzes every week, they are easy if we do the readings, we can do them unlimited times . It's important to come to class because we answer TOP HAT questions. He is fun and it's easy to stay awake. The midterms are HARD! But just as any other finance exam.

He is funny and perhaps a finance god. I think he explains concepts very clearly and lectures are organized enough. His exams are tough, but he gives you a formula sheet. Practice exams are harder, but prepared me well for the exams. I heard that his tests are harder than Brau, but his test averages are higher. so that tells a lot about Dr. Holmes!

I loved his lectures. This was my retake and I took once from Dr. Brau. Dr. Holmes explains materials better and he gives you the formula sheet with the exams as well. He actually taught intuition behind principles instead of just teaching formulas like Dr. Brau did. If you want to learn the materials rather than just get an A, he is the man!

Dr. Holmes is great. He teaches the intuition behind finance. The practice exams are very difficult, but if you can do everything on the practice exam you will be successful on the test. If you don't excel at memorization take Finance from him, he gives you a formula sheet, but requires you know the intuition. I would take Finance from him again.

I enjoyed his class. He go off tangent in finance topic, but to me they were interesting enough. He has practice exams which are hard but helpful. To me his teaching was clear and the amount of work I put in was normal. Too bad that he cannot have Toshi for this class, but I still think you should take this class from him if you care learning.

Dr. Holmes is a master lecturer. He constantly reviews the material he previously taught so that it can be applied rather than just memorized. He makes Finance 201 about as easy as it could be and is table to take questions from a classroom of 600 hundred students and still be on schedule! The practice tests are EXCELLENT prep for the real tests.

After helping over 5 professors for Fin 201 as a TA, I truly believe he is the best for Fin 201 at least for me. He teaches and tests you on intuitions rather than memorizations. Even though his exams are a bit harder, in Winter '15 his class did better than Dr. Brau's class on the exams (averages) throughout semester. Formula sheet provided also.

Enthusiastic professor. He knows his stuff but has a hard time teaching clearly. He uses awful analogies that often times are just confusing. Not the worst finance professor, but I would try someone else. Tests are rough but he is merciful when it comes to grading. Not the easy A.

Incredible professor. Really knows and loves the material. Really good at keeping class fun, interesting, and interactive (despite the huge class size). A little difficult but there are a ton of course-help materials available to help.

Professor Holmes is a very good teacher. He's a great lecturer. He's made me seriously consider majoring in Finance. He tells you exactly what undergrads usually trip up on during the exams. The average on the tests was normally pretty good (Mid-High B), but there were also a select few (of 800 people) that got a 16 percent. Don't be them.

Dr. Holmes is hilarious and interactive in class. The tests are difficult and so is the final. You can take the quizzes as many times as you like which is nice. The grading policy is very forgiving.

Dr. Holmes is a great teacher. Great sense of humor. The course is useful and set up well. It will definitely take me a few weeks to forget about that terrible final. Praying for a curve...

I left this class with a passion for Finance! The class uses a program called MyEducator, an online program that has all of the reading, videos, quizzes ect. If you do the practice tests multiple times, the tests are really not hard. I would recommend sitting in the front couple of rows and visiting the TA's for help occasionally.

Taking Fin201 I was worried about the difficulty. Professor Holmes made it as clear as possible and also very interesting. He was also willing to work with students who were struggling. The tests were difficult, but if you do the practice tests in MyEducator you'll be prepared. Take finance from Dr. Holmes if you can.

Definitely the funniest professor I've had in my college career so far. Also one of my hardest classes to date, but you can get a good grade if you put in the work. A huge learning curve and he sometimes may talk finance over your head, but if you do the reading before you go to class, the lectures will help solidify everything.

Professor Holmes is a great professor and his lectures are really interesting! It is definitely a harder class so get ready to put some good hours into studying. His grading criteria is very clear and he really wants each of his students to do well.

Class moves fast which I appreciated - no room for bullcrap just some good humor. You really need to master the content. Practice tests and quizzes will help you for tests. Final is a beast (comprehensive). I got a 92 on all tests (I do well with math - TVM) but a C on the final (didn't finish in time). All text and no long videos like ACC200 :D

Good class, just don't like the way he pronounces FINANCE.

Dr. Holmes is a great professor! The class was not time consuming and I probably spent and an hour and a half to two hours every week on reading through the book and doing the quiz. Reading the book is essential (at least for me) in doing well in this class. It prepped me for the lectures and tests. Do the practice tests and its an easy A.

Doctor Holmes teaches you well, if you've read the textbook before hand. If not, you're gonna be lost. The midterms are fairly simple if you do the practice tests and you understand finance. The final is not as hard as people say, you just need to study well for the midterms, and review those notes. No essays, just numbers and formulas.

I loved Prof. Holmes. Although I didn't end up with an A, I thought he was a very good teacher. He teaches for the test but also for the overall understanding. He knows what he's talking about and seems to like to help students out. Don't be afraid to take his class

Professor Holmes is an entertainer and a great teacher. He talks really quick sometimes. He gives students the benefit of the doubt. Four midterms and an accumulative final was a little much, but it'll all pay off and come full circle by the final.

Holmes was awesome! He's a super funny/smart guy. I found the class to be the usual--you read the book, take notes, come to class, prepare for the midterms, study for the final, and get an A. Read, and practice the Qs at the end of the book. Final wasn't bad--I studied for around 2x the time I spent studying for the midterms and scored similarly.

Great teacher. His tests are pretty straightforward, and he lets you know what is going to be on them Just study well fo rthe midterms and you'll be fine.

Great professor. Super reasonable and understanding if you talk to him, and his tests are very fair. You get a formula sheet on every exam, one quiz due every week, and he's a pretty funny guy. Definitely would recommend taking the class from him.

Dr. Holmes is a really nice guy, he knows so much about finance you will learn lots from him. His tests will melt your head if you over think. I feel like he tries to trip you up. I could imagine him and his TA's writing tests in that way and then joking about it. TA's are very helpful it's a shame the lab is only open for 2 hours a day.

Professor Holmes is an amazing finance professor. I fell in love with finance taking this class from him. He is so funny and super engaging in his lecture. I will take this class from him over and over again. Also he was so willing to work with me when I traveled to Africa for a family emergency. Never a dull moment in class! Knows his stuff.

Best thing about Dr. Holmes is that he doesn't make you memorize financial ratios like the other teachers do! This a huge saver on grades! Also, he has 2 ways of grading--either the "normal" way, or your final exam can count as a big portion of your grade. You get whichever gives you a higher grade! Also, take ACC 200 before this class will help.

Professor Holmes is hilarious and gives great lectures! This course requires that you do a lot of practice problems and you read thoroughly, but the hard work pays off.

I loved his good humor, and I liked how personable he was. He sincerely cares for and loves his students. A tough class, but he puts it in simple terms. You go out of order from the textbook, but it makes more sense the way he does it. Really liked his personal finance section at the end. He clearly does all he can to help students do well.

I loved professor Holmes. Finance can be kind of boring, but he is so personable and funny that I actually really enjoyed the lectures. Not a lot of homework, and he prepares you very well for the tests. If you're willing to work hard it's perfectly possible to get an A.

Dr. Holmes' teaching style is clear, succinct, and engaging. The course material is much easier than ACC and ECON. As long as you study hard for the exams, you'll get an A. Weekly quizzes, with attendance taken through online questions during class. Great option for FIN 201

Professor Holmes has such an engaging, fantastic way of teaching finance. This is a difficult class in terms of content, but he teaches very clearly and sets you up for success. Really make sure you do and understand the practice exam questions on MyEducator; that helped me out a ton. Great experience overall, he's the man!

Dr. Holmes does a great job preparing his students for exam content. He tells you in class what type of problems most students miss and why, so that you don't miss them on the exam. The practice exams are key to understanding the material for the tests, which he also tells you. He trys to make class entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience

Prof Holmes is a great and very funny guy. All of his lectures are a review of the textbook reading, which can make the lectures boring at times, but overall an enjoyable class.

Good guy. Class wasnt bad. Midterm and final are huge

Holmes definitely grew on me to become one of the best professors I have had in my 3 semesters at BYU. He knows his stuff & has a witty sense of humor. I loved how he occasionally took a break from lecture to give a "thought of the day" & took the time each class to let a few kids talk about their weekends. this class is not hard if you PRACTICE!

Don't be deceived by all the people who appear to get A's on this site-- the class was pretty difficult and mostly graded on tests, with like a 1.5-2.0 percent curve at the end. Taking ACC 310 at the same time as this made life easier. Tests are essentially practice test problems only they change the numbers. PRACTICE EXAMS are your key to success.

Professor Holmes is a great teacher! Finance is a fairly difficult business prereq but if you study it won't be awful. He uses BungeeLink each class to do participation quizzes. Good class all around!

A lot of people prefer Brother Brough's Fin201 class (taught in the winter). This class is very tough, but doable if you learn the material as you go, study the practice tests and know the ways he could try and trick you, and go to the TA lab with any questions you have. The tests are the hardest part of the class, prepare well for them.

I had the pleasure of learning from Dr. Holmes through the Kaplan-Schweser CFA exam preparation material (for years 1 and two). He has a gift for making technical material understandable and relateable. I would recommend his teaching without hesitation to anyone.

He was a decent teacher but DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS IF YOU HAVEN'T TAKEN ACCOUNTING. not worth it. also heard brau is easier.

Holmes is amazing. Anyone who is willing to put in work can get an A. The secret to success here is taking the practice tests AND understanding them comprehensively. If you bomb any tests, the final will supersede the midterms. Holmes gives you a formula sheet for the most important equations, so there's less pressure than taking it from Brau.

He's awesome! You read and quiz before your first class of the week, then spend the two class periods going over the material- I was not a fan. It makes the homework seem useless (I would stumble through it, not understanding what I did until class). He thoroughly goes over concepts in class and works through problems. Pretty funny guy

Professor Holmes did a great job explaining the concepts needed to know for the tests. He provided tons of previous exam questions and test review videos so you know exactly what to expect on the exams. If you study the exam prep questions and have a good understanding of them, this class won't be a problem.

FIN 201 with Holmes was much more challenging than I expected it to be. For the first test, I studied solely using the textbook & its practice problems and totally bombed the exam. I later found that the TA Exam Reviews and Holmes' exam reviews are SO helpful. WATCH THESE BEFORE THE TESTS. Be sure to watch all of Holmes' lectures as well.

This class wasn't too bad. There's not a lot of coursework throughout the semester but the exams are important. The TAs are super helpful so I would recommend going to the lab often.

He's a solid teacher, but nothing special. I can't say I'd recommend him nor turn anyone away from him. The material is complex, but most people can get it down with good study. The course itself though is so expansive that by the time you've finished one of the 13 chapters you feel like you've taken an entire class. All of the tests are very hard.

Professor Holmes is a super nice guy and a great teacher. He prepares you well for the exams and gives you the resources you need to succeed. If you take the time to watch the lectures, do the practice problems, and watch the reviews, youll do fine.

Dr. Holmes did a great job of teaching the material. I love math so I didn't find the material too difficult, but it was all at your own pace even though I signed up for live remote learning. It also was difficult to access the TA's when I had a question, but Dr. Holmes was super understanding and helps to make sure you get th best grade you can.

Solid teacher. Does lots of practice problems, the reading isn't bad at all. As long as you go over the quizzes and keep the formula sheet on hand, you will do great. He also shows lots of personal application. By far one of the best professors I've ever had.

I really enjoyed taking from Professor Holmes. I took this class online as a live remote delivery class but it ended up being more of an on-demand class because there were no Zoom classes. I think the biggest key to success is doing the practice tests in the MyEducator textbook! Watching his lectures to reinforce what you're reading in the textbook

This class was surprisingly easy for a finance class. He was a very helpful professor with interesting lectures that did a good job of teaching us just what we needed to know to do well in the class. Also really cares about his students and includes thoughts in each lecture about how to find a career and or happiness

I took this class in the Fall of 2019 from Holmes. I enjoyed it and would recommend his class. If you want to do well on the exams, know the practice tests forwards and backward and go to the TA reviews. The quizzes weren't bad because you got multiple tries. Participation is easy because you just show up to class and answer bungeelink questions.

Professor Holmes gave a lot of corny dad jokes but every once in a while he'd crack an awesome joke that gets everyone laughing. Quite enjoyable. Most of the information in lectures is already covered in the text book so not a huge deal if you miss class. If you do the practice exams once or twice before the exam you should do well.

Best professor. Finance just sucks so its not easy, but he's tenured and gives you every chance to prove you know the stuff on his tests. Final test is a fatty tho and it's not easy. Probably should go to all the lectures since the homework makes you think you know everything but theres so much stuff you probably don't.

FIN201 is a pretty standard class, but Professor Holmes does a good job lecturing. He is funny and shows that he actually cares about his students. However, I didn't find attendance completely mandatory, as I missed a lot of classes and was able to learn the content from the textbook enough to do well in the class.

Dr. Holmes is great. I took FIN 200 online, so most of the learning was on my own. It's very important to do the reading for the quizzes, and he also posts lectures, which are very engaging and very helpful. Great class, even if you're not studying finance!