Darren is very friendly and approachable, he is easy to contact by email or by text, which he encourages! Exams are quite easy and predictable. Only downside is that he is a little disorganized and not structured well. Other than that, he is great and I would recommend taking comm298 with him!

this prof is super nice. really helped me a lot and never get bored answering questions. often reply to email very fast. highly recommended! his lecture is quite useful. as long as you go to his lecture and finish all the homework , you will get good marks:)

Responds to your emails right away! Midterm was very similar to assignments! Since the average was so high for the midterm, he made the final exam a bit harder, which is understandable. Go to class, do all assignments and you'll do fine :)

Darren is a great prof, is very engaging during class&uses examples like Teslo &Hardwell. His midterm is easy, make sure you practice the old midterms! But, he was really strict in marking the final exam since a lot of people got a high mark on the midterm & to avoid suspicion by the dean.I dropped more than 20% which i found unreasonable

People who are planning to go into Finance for 3rd year - Do not take Darren! His lectures are the least structured and he spends too much time on qualitative material that you'll never needsee in upper years. He seemed so chill at first but he's a really tough grader. The midterm was only 38 marks but was worth 45% of the course grade.

Darren is a really nice guy in and out of lecture. He had a whatsapp group where students can ask questions and set up study sessions and stuff. HOWEVER, the Midterm Exam had an average of 56% (compared to 80% in Lulu and the other Finance profs). Super unstructured. Mess up one question and expect to lose 30% of your exam grade.

Nice guy but messes with the grading scheme. Says grades are "non changable" , but allows students to defer the midterm to the final essentially making the first 1 month of the course meaningless. Average was in low 50% for exams. Avoid his class if you want to major in Finance (your GPA will be destroyed).

While he's really friendly and reachable via whatsapp, and outside of class, his exams were really poorly designed. Average of mid 50s for the MT, which he let us defer, then the final was almost identical to past exams (given to us). Got a nice grade at the end, but really leaves you worried if you aren't great or too interested about finance.

He is good - especially for CFA

Darren is incredibly helpful both in and out of class. Makes sure to spend whatever time needed to explain topics. Would take again for sure.

He was a great teacher.

Hes the man!

nicest guy ever

Cares about his students and really focuses on making sure the content is understood and not just memorized.

He is great. Very helpful and cares about your understanding of the material. Highly recommend.

GREAT PROFESSOR

Always enjoyed his lectures. Goes the extra mile to make sure we grasp difficult concepts.

Great professor!

Best Professor ever! Smoking hot!

Takes you off roarding on the difficult subject and everything becomes clear!

Great Prof... Really knows his stuff and can effectively teach it.

Begraaf made CFA material very understandable and helped us break down tough sections in the CFA

Great lectures! Easily explains seemingly hard topics. Very passionate, and it shows in his delivery of content.

He's really nice :) He always tells us what would be in/out of the scope and the key points that are likely to be asked in the exam. He provides clear examples and explains the important concept clearly. (He usually repeats what he wants us to remember several times) However I find his slides kinda messy LOL but that's fine.

One of the nicest, most approachable profs ever! I just wrote his final exam for Comm 370 and although it wasn't necessarily a piece of cake, I can confidently say that I learned a lot from this course and enjoyed studying for it!

Darren is THE single best professor I ever had. He always makes dreadful topics very understandable and interesting at the same time. You can tell that he really cares about your understanding of the material, and does a very job explaining the key points on the exam.

Undoubtedly one of the best professors I've had at Sauder. Very interested in you as an individual and extremely helpful/clear in class. Made it easy to show up to class.

Amazing prof and very clear about what he expects you to know. At times there are tangents in class but he keeps them controlled and relevant, then tells you what is testable from that tangent. 10/10 would take again

Best Prof I have had in Sauder! He makes finance easy to understand and makes you see the big picture rather than just crunching numbers! Looked forward to every lecture. You also know exactly what to expect on exams; so if you have been attending lectures there should be no surprises! He is also very inspiring; go to office hours and talk to him.

DEFINITELY do take Darren. He's the best prof ever. He is a very experienced lecturer who teaches right from the CFA curriculum, so if you are a finance major and plans on ever taking the CFA, you can save a lot of studying. Very caring of students, "brof," as we call him. Exams are hard but he is definitely willing to scale.

Such a kind instructor! Very accessible outside of class. If you take this class seriously and go over the past exams, you'll do great! Participation matters, and it's an all-or-nothing kind of thing, so make sure you participate (or go to office hours) enough so that he can recognize you by your first name.

As someone who found the idea of finance rather untimidating, Darren made it super relatable and easy to understand (hilarious MC Hammer and Fiddy references guaranteed). He's a prof who is willing to go above and beyond to make sure his classes are a great experience for his students. It's clear he cares about students and their success!

Darren is sweet and caring. Really chill, casual guy and flexible. As a non-commerce student, the content was tough especially over a short period of time so it's important to attend all lectures. Very helpful, understanding and patient. Willing to repeat something you don't understand over and over again until you get it.

Great lectures, makes difficult CFA topics understandable. He really cares about all students and is accessible for every one.

The man makes you work for it, but practices mocks.

He is a very very nice professor!! I took his 370 class. Each class is very important and joining class can learn much good financial knowledge! Good professor !

Degraafe is stellar when it comes to bridging learning objectives to practical real word scenarios. He keeps it simple, yet instills the raw reality of exam grading: hit the answer key. More so, his lectures are direct and uncomplicated. Advice: go to class, listen, and take the odd note -- very insighful class, 10/10 recommend.

One of the most amazing profs in Sauder. Take his finance class, and you will be 80% ready for CFA. I took his class in year 2, yet his guided me through the rest of university career. Not only he is 24/7 available for you thought the what's up, he also can link you up with the professional in the industry for your internships and career.

Darren is the best Sauder has to offer! I never felt like I was waiting for the class to be over. He treats you like his equal (even though one can only dream to be)!

Darren is one of the best prof's you'll have! He does have a different style of teaching (similar to Gateman) but is incredibly knowledgable! He is always willing to help and is able to guide you through the industry!

Darren is the best!

Best and entertaining lecturer ever. Reduce complex concept to simple easy to understand terminology

Very inspiration and motivates you to continue

He's very accessible outside of class given the ridiculous number of students he has, asks for feedback and delivers teaching styles that conform. I would highly recommend Darren for prep courses. He engages his students and has a good temperature read on ones that participate. Very above and beyond kind of teacher; extremely patient.

Darren is able to make the dreaded CFA fun, gives excellent study strategies, and his QA format classes are excellent for testing your knowledge and allowing course material to sink in. He caters to all types of learners (visual, math geeks, last minute crammers... etc). He's also available on WhatsApp outside of class and office hours.

Darren is awesome. Is really helpful and caring! Will make sure you learn on his class. No Doubt he is known as Brof DD

Midterm is tough but final is easy. Exams are pretty theory-heavy. Pay attention to his lecture slides when prepping for exams.

Darren is the most accessible prof I've ever had. I really appreciate it that he is willing to take time outside class and office hours to answer our questions through WhatsApp. Tests are hard to me personally so I worked extra hard compared to how I did for other classes. He tend to speak a bit fast so you really need to focus in class. Great prof

Great teacher for students who like to learn how course concepts actually apply to real life. Does a great job of bringing up relevant examples to everything he teaches. Fantastic guy and fantastic teacher. However, if you're more of a book worm and prefer to learn from a text book this might not be the teacher for you.

Darren is a great teacher because he did not only pass the class knowledge to us but also give more information regarding finance career like CFA program, Bloomberg, etc. And his class is absolutely fun, a lot of real experience and interesting topics, so probably you won't feel bored in his class. highly recommend!!

Darren is one of the amazing profs I've met at ubc. He is very nice and helpful in class, explaining everything clearly. Easy to understand. The content is also closely connected with CFA test, so for those who will attend the test, don't miss Darren. He also introduces internship opportunities and that's so sweet!

Darren is a great prof. No textbook, everything is based on slides and discussion in class. One thing that really stood out to me was his patience and care for students. He loves participation and fosters the classroom environment for discussion. He takes the time to listen to students and cares that they understand concepts. Great guy!

Great prof. Sweet and cares so much about his students. Following the way he thinks during the lecture and this course will be a breeze.

Darren made me like finance. I felt really confident when explaining 370 concepts to my friends. Those concepts are not easy. but he makes them interesting and straightforward. Sometimes I ended up staying for one more lecture!! If you focus on his lectures, you will likely pass the exams easily. However, you need to do lots of practice to get 80+

Amazing professor. Cares a lot about his students, the best attitude I have ever seen on a professor, available on whatsapp, fast-paced lectures, notes are really clear, no textbook needed. Overall top 3 professor I have ever had, you learn a lot and I absolutely recommend taking his courses.

Darren was the instructor for the UBC CFA Prep Course for Level 1. He's one of the best instructors I have ever had. He's very knowledgable of the subject matter, and really cares about his students. He goes above and beyond! I would highly recommend Darren for the Prep Course and the bootcamp, and have enrolled in his level 2 courses as well.

Brofessor DD. The man, the myth, the Legend. Tom Cruise lookin fella. Awesome professor, mentor, and coach. Truly cares for his students, in and out of the class, informative lectures, and is a master at making tough concepts easy. Join his class and you'll join his global network of students, making for a truly unique learning experience.

Brofessor DD.. The Best Mentor I've ever had till date.. He's so generous and always easily available whenever required. Keeps you motivated and makes you achieve your goals.

Damn son one heck of a prof here. I was an exchange student in UBC and even after I returned to my home country, he would meet me up for drinks and gave me tips on how to approach the CFA. Would have failed without him. Plus his classes are great - instead of making us crunch numbers, he actually taught us the useful stuff.

Darren's CFA Level I classes are fun, effective, and got me a smooth passing grade with less effort than I expected. Darren is also great outside the classroom setting. He's accessible for questions and career advice.

CFA Level l Darren portrays a lot of passion and enthusiasm for his career. He also endures effort, i.e., by using various platforms, to assist students. One should give credit where credit is due and he definitely goes the extra mile. We as students can only be grateful for having such a lecturer. Thank you Darren.

Darren goes more than the extra mile to ensure that his students have the best chance to do their best. He has a way of enabling the group to drive each other further. He is always available, and promotes you figuring out the answers, not just giving it away. Brilliant, definitlely using Wiley for level 2 as well

Classes are fun and interactive but require some solid knowledge to get a good grade!

Darren is fantastic and one of the few gems at UBC. He's tremendously caring and is the most down to earth professor. Unbelievably personable, and exams are incredibly fair. Is willing to go above and beyond for his student (ref. letters, etc.) Would not be surprised if he became the head of the faculty down the road, outstanding character overall.

Nice arms and tells you exactly what to study

Make sure you go to class and write down everything he says - he basically tells you exactly what is on the exam. I don't understand the other reviews saying he tests stuff that isn't covered??? He literally told us what was on the test... such an easy prof and lectures were actually engaging.

Such an amazing professor! The best professor I've ever seen in Sauder. So nice and perfect teaching style. I just do the past exams to prepare for the mid and final.

Best prof I've had in Sauder! He simplifies complex topics and makes it really easy to understand. On top of that, he really cares about his students and wants us all to do well in his class. If you attend every lecture and pay attention you'll do great on the midterm and final. Darren is awesome I highly recommend his class.

I'll be honest I tried my best in this class, and I thought he was a wonderful person. Nonetheless, the inconsistency and fast moving topics in his lectures is challenging and is the demise of a lot of students. He is passionate and fascinating but he is not for a student who needs organization and clarity. So it comes down to what you prioritize.

Made an 8am Finance class both fun and so worth attending. He provided so much positive support to the class and I have never had a professor so warmly encourage and accept questions. Darren definitely makes concepts stick with his clear and well crafted lectures, making concepts both interesting and applicable to the real world.

One of the best prof in UBC. If you attend the class, the concepts are very clear and he usually apply the concept to real world example, which make the lecture much more interesting and easier to understand. He was extremely supportive and tried his best to answer any questions. Be ready to learn and you'll pass.

Darren has been easily my favorite prof here at UBC. Super passionate about teaching and really cares that his students not only do well but understand concepts. Provides plenty of resources and is an overall very personable teacher. Would 100% recommend.

Darren is very caring to his students, and gives loads of support. He goes through questions in class to sink the concepts in. Integrates real life scenarios into material but its an intro course so we can't go too far in depth. Gives loads of practice, and exam is very similar to the practice. An excellent lecturer overall, Would recommend 100%

Great Professor, kindness and patience to student. Interesting lectures.

Darren's an amazing teacher! His teaching is completely different, making the syllabus really interesting. Highly recommend taking a class with Darren if possible. He is easily accessible and cares for student learning. This was one of my best classes at UBC, not only due to the grades but also the learning aspect. Good grades, even better teacher.

A great instructor who was always available after class to discuss class content and even content that went beyond the scope of the course if you were interested. He made the 8am lecture something to look forward to by keeping it interesting and relatable to real life.

Great professor who develops relationships with his students! He is very friendly and helpful. Also, created online version of lectures for his students to access and learn outside the classroom. 5 out of 5.

Great professor who develops relationships with his students! He is very friendly and helpful. Also, created online version of lectures for his students to access and learn outside the classroom. 5 out of 5 :)

Great professor who develops relationships with his students! He is very friendly and helpful. Also, created online version of lectures for his students to access and learn outside the classroom. 5 out of 5 :).

One of the best professors in SauderAmazing lectures and caring for students.

Such a great professor that truly cares about student learning. Not only were his lectures extremely interesting and applicable to daily life, but he was also available outside of class to answer any questions or concerns. Highly recommend snagging a spot in his section if you have the chance!

He made an early morning class so worth attending. I have never had a professor so warmly encourage and helpful. Darren makes the concepts both clear and applicable to the real world. He is the best professor at UBC!!!!! Would 100000% recommend!!!!

Nice guy, nice prof, overall nice dude

Darren is an incredible professor. Not only does he know the material that he is teaching, but additionally, he cares for student learning and ensures that everyone understands the material and what is expected of the class. If you ask a question, he always has the answer and is able to teach the concepts in a much simpler way. Overall amazing prof

Explain the concept in details.

Darren is great. He does a very good job of explaining exactly what he expects you to learn from the class. Would highly recommend

Super knowledgeable about whatever he lectures on. Makes difficult concepts easy to understand. Most entertaining and engaging class ever. BEST PROF AT SAUDER!!!!

5 out of 5!

He genuinely cares about his students. He will go out of this way to make sure every single student of his is helped. He as all the tools of a great professor

Darren provided many amazing tips on how to study for the CFA exam. His teaching style is very modern and effective. Looking forward to see him in the next classes.

One of the best professors I've ever had. I believe I passed CFA level I thanks to his lectures:). Highly recommended.

Great teacher, easy to understand and full of good advices. Always available via WhatsApp. A must!

Took DD's CFA Level 1 prep and it was super helpful. Definitely recommend him; his teaching style makes all the material so much easier to understand. He's funny, polite, informative, accessible and makes the overall CFA prep experience a lot easier to handle. I took the classes and the bootcamp. Classes help, but the bootcamp is very effective.

Daren really helped me out on my CFA level 1 resit season. I am grateful for the online platform and his easy to access nature

Darren is a great prof who is truly cares about his students. COMM 298 was quite easy to learn because of his teaching. Going to his office hours helped a lot. You need to go to class because he drops a lot of hints on what will be on the midterm and exam.

Overall Darren is a super nice guy, but he is a bit on the disorganized side. If you go to class and write down everything he says then you basically have all the questions that he is going to ask on the exams. If you don't like taking qualitative tests then avoid Degraaf his exams are about 2/3 qualitative questions and 1/3 simple math problems

I like this guy a lot man. Very caring prof. Knows his stuff, and wants to see you succeed. He knows a lot of people in industry as well. Hands down one of my favourite lecturers at sauder, and I didnt even kill his class. But i'd definately take it again. Real dope dude

Darren is the G.O.A.T. He was very helpful in all aspects of learning this course content and made learning finance interesting. He is unorganized however he makes up for it by providing us with hints of what will be on the exam. He told us about 80% of the exam questions during lectures by dropping hints. You should definitely take his class.

an amazing guy and lecturer. Listen to him carefully in class because the things he says shows up on the exams. Study the lecture slides repeatedly on your own time. The only problem is he can be unorganized. Keep up with the whatsapp chat because he summarizes important concepts and answers questions. Easy A+ If you like more conceptual questions

Piece of advice for an easy A: Go to his office hours (in the lecture halls)... He will tell you 70% of the exam questions and answers.

Absolute beauty of a guy. I did pretty well in both classes but didn't go to lecture a lot. From what I have seen, he teaches the course material really well and doesn't try to trick you in the exams. He is also very accessible outside of class and I have heard he helps you a lot in his office hours. He definitely your best choice for 298 and 370.

I never leave reviews but he was the best prof Ive had in my 5 years at UBC, definitely top 5. The only prof I had in my online semester who would respond to ALL emails, troubleshoot technical issues. He is so patient and loves to give CFA advise 10/10 recommend. I think Ill actually miss this prof

He's an amazing professor. So long as you attend lectures and more so, solve the problem sets and ask questions, there's not a snowball's chance in hell you're gonna fail. The course structure is not as intense as I thought it would be. Also, although the recorded lectures are long, they are worth it and totally entertaining.

One of my favourite professors at Sauder. don't know what the comments below are about! He was extremely helpful, and really cared about explaining concepts to you! Great real life examples, amazing prof!!

Brofessor Darren is the greatest of all time. He is humourous and genuinely cares about his students. His lectures focus on the content most important for the exams, however, if you are into the technicalities, Professor Freedman might be a more suitable option. He is accessible outside of class and is truly the world's best bro!

dudes hilarious and cares about his students and loves edm

I am not a qualitative person at all but prof. Degraaf changed my perspective. Amazing prof, very helpful, will walk you through the examples. He talks about a tradeoff between curious students and students who just want to pass, which can be seen why who goes into detail sometimes. love the guy. most imp, very clear exam criteria.

Amazing. Fantastic. Hilarious. You know those "learning objective" slides with all the pointless stuff on them? Yeah, he skips those. Straight to the math baby - the actually important part. Midterm was more than fair, haven't taken the final yet. I hate finance but he made me like it. Looking forward to taking him for COMM 370 next year!

Darren is an awesome guy. They don't call him Brofessor without good reason. Loves electronic dance music. Sauder is fortunate to have Darren as an instructor. Wish he taught higher level Finance courses as well.

Darren was one of the best professors in my university life. He showed he cares about his students, and provided many supports inside and outside the lectures, not only lectured materials but even career supports

best finance prof.

Easily one of my favorite profs! While I do agree that the lectures were a bit hard to follow at times, he gave you tons of resources to make up for confusion, like class recordings, extra videos, and questions. He is also available 24/7 and encourages students to reach out for help. The exams were also very fair, nothing unexpected. Very funny too

Darren is one of the few profs at Sauder that has real accounting/banking experience. The class is tough because Darren teaches in a way were the students are already treated like they have industry knowledge. He is excellent to talk to answers any questions. The class isn't that hard if you study by yourself and learn from other resources.

Excellent prof, and super chill dude as well. I found he did a good job explaining the course concepts and was helpful in clarifying problems both in class and during office hours. Hosts lots of office hours and is willing to talk about class or careers!

best teacher ever

Darren is my favourite Prof I have had at Sauder. He could be confused with class content at times, but he would easily clear it up after and during office hours. He was straightforward in grading and gave us practice, which was reflected in the exam. He cares for his students, and you can see through his engaging lectures. Best Prof MUST TAKE

All my homies love Darren, we fw him heavy

Darren is a great prof - engaging lectures, fair exams, and always available to help. Though the content can be tricky, using Unstuck AI and the free textbook resources made it manageable. Definitely recommend this class.

Supportive and friendly prof.

What a guy. Darren's great, super approachable and personable. Definitely go chat with him if you have the chance. Really knowledgeable and passionate. Lectures were really fast paced and he'd just skip past some slides, wish he'd take more time to explain. Needs more examples in class and for the exams.

Pretty chill