3.1
Quality3.2
Difficulty46%
Would Retake145
Reviews46%
Would Retake
145
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
145 total ratings5
37
4
26
3
28
2
21
1
33
What Students Say
“Professor Rapson class is super boring, he just use Mankiw ppt, and don't do anything else”
ECN1A - 2.0 rating“Rapson started off the quarter not so bad”
ECN1A - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
16%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.64 avg changeRatings by Course
ECON121
5.0
(1)ECN121A
4.1
(12)ECN121
4.0
(1)1A
3.5
(2)ECN125
3.5
(11)Difficulty by Course
ECN120
5.0
ECON121A
4.0
ECN01
4.0
ECN125
3.5
ECN001A
3.4
Reviews (144)
New professor, kind of looks like Mark Wahlberg. Lectures are interesting: starts out with power point but then does board lectures only. Material is interesting. Playing a CSG game used in graduate business schools. rade mixes 5 homeworks, CSG, 2 midterms, and final. Weight of midterm and final based on whichever one you do better on.
Best Econ/ARE professor I have had at Davis. His lectures are interesting, clear and fun. He's a young and funny guy. I would take any ECN class that he offered.
I am different person from the last post but he is the best econ/are teacher ive ever had.Has so much fun in the class!! funny, teaches well just a great class!
i totally get the mark wahlberg thing. i want to add a little bit of matt damon and E from Entourage into that too. Great professor. he is a young guy so he is pretty enthusiastic about the material. he makes it fun even if you don't like the stuff. but you do learn some interesting/useful things in class. He was funny,told good stories/jokes
GREAT class! perfectly executed lectures ..he posts ALL his notes on PP which makes everything sOOOo much more helpful to understand. CSG was really useless and a nu sense to have to worry about.. Overall great class great professor and Even the TA was great! BEST ECN class ever!
Class was ok. Dave is a cool guy and the TA Matt was helpful. CSG (game) was a waste of time. Tests were often too long. Not much of a curve. Dave was kind of unresponsive and ditched office hours often. Seemed to try and trick on the tests. Also made very general assumptions that people already were taught game theory. OK class.
If you cannot handle this class, you should not be an Econ major and definitely not a Man Econ major. Very helpful in OH. The tests, while a bit long, were quite straightforward - just study the slides and you really don't need to go to class. CSG game was very cool IMO and was easily graded. I recommend this class.
His class wouldn't be that hard if he could explain the concepts better. The concepts are exactly like ARE100B but Rapson explains things in a more confusing way. Looking at the slides are more helpful than looking at notes he writes down on the board in lecture. It just gives a lot more detail.. The TA Matt is really good though. Go to discussion!
Basically 3 problem sets and 1 case study project. Problem sets are long. For the exam, short answers, caluculation, and one bonus question. The examples he used in lecture were much easier than the actual homework problems. One more thing he doesn't post answer keys for the midterms so you have to go to discussion if you wanna know the answers.
Great class, great professor. Rapson's approach is straightforward and he tries to go over the core concepts in a variety of different ways to make sure you understand everything. The problem sets are intimidating at first, but they're more bark than bite. Exams are fair, and if you actually go over the notes/slides, there are no curve balls.
He is not bad, the tests are tricky though. Overall is a nice class. I did learn something from this instructor.
Great class and not too difficult if you put the time into it. Even though the Wednesday night 3 hour lecture seems off-putting, as long as you are interested in energy economics at all, you won't fall asleep. Like every econ class, it is curved to a B-/C+ average.
Do not take this class!! He gives pop quizes and reading materials are very long. Also midterm and finals are not that easy!
Rapson is clear, engaging and easy on the eyes. Assignments are fair but you need to attend class to do well.
Had a great experience with D Rapson. Really makes the material interesting. Young and approachable, easy to connect with. Tests are fair, class was well organized, no complaints!! Would easily take him again!
Long lecture but the class is structured with breaks, film clips and guest lecturers. Problem sets are challenging but material is super interesting. Rapson is very engaging and relatable. The winners of OPEC game in class are offered a free pizza dinner with him and TA's, making Rapson essentially the easiest professor to approach
I took his 121A class and I liked it, so I thought this one would be okay. He never went over how to do any of the problems we saw on the midterm/ final & the practice test for the final DID NOT prepare you to take it. He's fair & a good professor, but if you work & don't have the time to camp out in office hours, I suggest not taking this class.
Professor was interesting to listen to but does not go over how to do problems that will be on the midterm/final. Most lecture is concept/theory and is not really covered in exams. Hard to know what to expect on exams. bought the book but was useless. Final exam covered something we never really went over which dropped my grade.
Surprisingly very interesting. The class was pretty easy because a lot of it is common sense; however, Rapson made it very interesting. The class material and problems were very fun to solve.
The reading is interesting and doesn't take too long (about 2 to 3 hours per week). Don't expect any help during office hours, and even less help over email. If you ask him a question in office hours if you're doing a problem correctly, he'll shrug. The HW is graded on effort.
Professor Rapson is the kind of professor who would be LOVED by some students but judged by others. I personally love his lecture because it's interesting, smart&inspirational. DEFINITELY take him if you like this style of teaching because you get insights and new ways of thinking. (He is NOT accessible after class, and I think he DOES shrug. )
Professor Rapson class is super boring, he just use Mankiw ppt, and don't do anything else. If you just read the books is more than enough, the value add of going to class is zero. He is also really strict with people that come to class late and he never reply emails.
Pr. Rapson class is ok when he actually tries to teach, ie, write the material instead of using ppt. Read the book and you will have an A for sure. He never let anyone enter to class late, so sometime I miss class, because it was at 9am. The TA were super helpful thought, she was super clear and really try to make the material easy to understand.
I was surprised when I saw the negative comments by other students who are in the same class as me right now. This professor is probably the best professor I ever had in UCD. Although ECN1A is a bit easy, he teaches it in such an inspirational and interesting way. Those who leaves negative reviews just because his tiny mistakes should be ashamed.
Wonderful professor! He brings both clarity and compassion to his lectures! I hope to have him again.
Really cool guy who cares about students!! May not be helpful outside of class but discussions and TAs should cover it. Funny guy who is passionate. Only graded on basically 2 midterms and final so study and do the homework for practice. Would have gotten a better grade on midterms if I studied more so put time aside to read book !!!
Pros: - Straight from book, read that and you'll be set - Don't need to go to lec/discussion - Tries to be funny - Clear/wellspoken Cons: - Lacks creativity in bringing about material - Pretty pretentious, doesn't let you in the class once it has officially started All in all: Easy class, just read, he can be a petty and funny at times
His class are pretty boring, if you just read the book you will be fine. Exams are almost identical to the exercises in the books and homeworks. The bad part about him is that he never reply emails or is available after class. He is also quite strict about being late (you cant!!!). I recommend to take it, little effort for an A.
Pretty Standard. 2 Midterms, 1 Final with weekly hw assignments. Average lectures. They're not boring or too dry, just a rehash of the book material. In other words, the professor does not add too much. The book and homework is really good. Both teach you a lot, especially the HW. If you do the HW and understand your mistakes, tests are easy
Dr. Rapson did his best to cover the massive amount of material that this class required while still trying to teach in ways that benefited students. When he had the time, he would write on lecture slides instead of just presenting them, which a lot of students found helpful. We had an average of 2 online homeworks per week (not very hard).
Is a nice professor and has fairly straight forward lectures. Grade is almost entirely based on three exams, and he curves at the end of class rather than for each individual test. Locks the doors at the beginning of class so don't be late! Lots of Canada jokes, but they were entertaining for an early morning class.
Let's clarify- Professor Rapson is EXTREMELY understanding. Those complaining about his locked out policy never spoke to him about it. I was locked out once, spoke to him about it, and he changed it. He is extremely open to student feedback. Loves to help in any way he can in office hours. Lectures are very helpful. It is what you make of it!
He's okay. There's no partial credit, which was different for me. Most of test was multiple choice, one short answer question. I could definitely tell he's more focused on teaching upper division. Almost seemed like he just blew off 1A, but still taught well. HW weekly, reading is a must. Class curved at end, so you have to do really well on exams
His lectures are helpful, but you can also find them Canvas. Make sure to review them and do Adaptive Test Prep to do well on tests. He and his TAs are very helpful, and the class is curved.
tbh boring class, spent most of my time reading on my own. His voice is very soothing though.
Fifth time that I write a review and they keep erasing it. Professor Rapson is awful, he normally just use the ppt from Mankiw, not even his own. He dont let anyone enter to class late (not even 1 minute), never replies email, and he curved down when he grades. Dont take with him!
Rapson is an awesome dude, there are quite easy online assignments every week or so. Easy midterms/final if you study at all. I don't even recall studying that much at all. I stopped going to discussions because it was easy. If you understand basic math and you're of average intelligence, it's a really easy A.
Lecture is all ppt. Basically needs to study on your own if you want to pass. Midterm 2 and final are both difficult. He grades the class based on your ranking in class. What a great professor. Please take him if you want to boost your gpa to death.
Not good. His final came out of no where. Doesn't let you use electronics for Amy purpose. Does his own thing. Goes super fast. Can be super sarcastic. There are better teachers for Econ here.
Skip discussion you won't pass. Rapson did not give his students the resources necessary to pass. No assigned readings and lectures weren't relevant for the test. TA taught us how to solve exams. Doesn't allow electronics, pace is fast, and he spits info than you can write. he is condescending & annoyed in his office hours and isn't approachable
Pr. Rapson is probably one of the worst teachers at UC Davis. He start the quarter not that bad, he uses to actually write and explain the material. Then he got lazy and start using just the slides of Mankiw's book, he didn't even tried to do his own class. There were some days that I actually think he didn't even check the slides before class.
Rapson is a good professor that is good at lecturing and explaining concepts. His class went at a good pace and he was reasonable with how much he taught each week. My only concern with his class however is the tests as they weren't difficult in terms of content but the questions seemed to trick you. He's a solid professor.
Never again. I missed so many lectures because he blocks students from entering the room and my other class was across campus, changed his policy to 5 mins but it was still a strange thing to do. Had to self teach a lot. Failed my midterm because I forgot to bubble in my ID #. No thanks.
Most of these "awful" reviews are ridiculous. He's is an incredible and engaging public speaker and a very interesting guy in his own right. His class is the only one I never miss because I enjoy the lectures so much. The homeworks are really easy and his explanations are straightforward and interesting.
Midterms are way harder then the practice midterms and Adaptive test Prep he tells us to study off of. DO NOT TAKE
He lectures following the Mankiw power points but the actual material he covers offers little help to the tests themselves. You could read every chapter, do every homework problem well and study your ass off yet be stumped during the exams. The ATP questions are less confusing than the ones in the exams. I wish he created his own test questions.
Ok so I thought all was well until the second exam. It covered 5 chapters & it was ONLY 10 multiple choice questions(all took time to do,claculations etc), and u had 30 minutes to take it. And its 20% of your overall grade. He reads right from the textbook slides verbatim, homework is simple but a small Chunk of grade. Class is graded on a curve
Rapson started off the quarter not so bad. After the second midterm he became lazy and just read off the pre made textbook ppt. On top of that he made the next midterm much more difficult. It was only 30 mins long (unlike the usual 50 mins) covered 5 chapter and had 10 difficult mc and a word difficult to understand short answer DO NOT TAKE HIM
Although I am failing his class, he's not all that bad. I mean, I believe he can do a better job at translating concepts to his students. I think econ is so natural to him that he's not that great at explaining concepts. I should have utilized the book more often, as I found towards the last few weeks, it helped me a lot more than his explanations.
Lectures were entertaining, and he talked about policy applications so the course was less theoretical. Auto enrolls in online book, homeworks are graded, two midterms and a final are 80% of your grade. All ecn classes are curved, so which prof you take probably wont change your grade much. Cool hair.
Dr. Rapson is not as bad as many people here claim. Yea sure his midterms and final were harder than the practice tests, but last time I checked that's how college/university works. In my 4 years of college, he is by far one of the best professors/instructors I have ever had. Class is not easy A. Read the book, do HW, and do the ATP.
He is really a good professor
Rapson is probably one of the worst professors I've had at Davis so far. He's condescending and never answers any questions in class and doesn't teach the material. He just spends lecture ranting about his own opinions and majority of the course has to be self taught.
This professor is unbelievable. He relates absolutely nothing of what we will be tested on to the test, so of you want to pass, dont go to lecture once read the book like crazy and do 100s of Adaptive test prep. Absolutely the worst professor i have had at Davis, stressed about failing the class the whole quarter. DO NO TAKE HIM Or GET a C or D
Before the curve I had an A+, ended the class with a B+. Thought he was an okay professor initially but he literally told us about his stupid grade system like 2 weeks before the quarter's end, thought this class would help my GPA, but I was wrong. Avoid if possible because I'm telling you your grade will probably drop immensely at the end. AVOID
Lectures are super fast paced. The one thing I did appreciate from his class was that there was homework and participation points; which helped my grade. Other than that, exams are hard. I would not recommend him to a friend.
If you are >10min late to class, will not let you in. Lectures are often off-topic and barely deviate from the required inclusive access. Class obviously in the dark 50/50 split on true/false questions. Uses students as guinea pigs for new test types and grading schemes. Undercurves, claims it's "department policy." Grading not transparent
I took him Fall16 it was his 1st time teaching ECN1A. He said MT2 would be harder after the high avg on the 1st MT but it wasnt &then for the final he said we would finish with time to spare & to relax but many people including myself didnt even finish it. I thought the curve would hurt my grade but it surprisingly didnt. I ended up with a 92% raw
Rapson is the man. He's funny, gets through the material in class with time to spare, and does a great job at covering the material. Lombardi, covered for him during a lecture, and I vastly prefer Rapson over Lombardi. YES, he is a hound about phones. YES, he doesn't let you in if you are late. Come in on time, pay attention to lecture, easy A/B.
good professor
He is funny but did not deeply explain the materials. The class is very easy, I finished all his homework in a week and then opt out Inclusive Access to avoid payment.
TAs teach better than him. he would curve down the grade. Reading the book and notes is enough. His class is useless. He write down the example from the book and read it, but he is a funny guy and answer students' question patiently.
his classes are chats.
A very kind professor!
Professor Rapson is a cool guy, but his lecture always off-topic. If you want to pass his class, go to discussion and TA may help u more. AND don't be late, even one minutes. He won't let you get in to the lecture.
everything good . except one time that i was sent off for being late in front of hundreds of students.
He was absolutely wonderful and a great lecturer-er. At some points in the quarter I kind of wanted to go to the lecture just to see it since they were fun to be in.
Apparently he changed his entire grading curriculum this year to make it more difficult and educational BUT he was very reasonable about it. His lectures went over the homework so you don't really have to go but they are super interesting and fun for the most part so I suggest going. He's definitely worth taking if you are going to take this class
His lectures were very clear and to the point, although they were almost structured identical to the power points provided on canvas. That being said, he was a fair grader and really cared about the success of each of his students. He's a total stickler about being late, so try to get to his class early if you choose to take it.
The lecture is funny, and it is important to go to the review session before the exam. For people who first learn economics, you must be ready to read a lot. The attendance is not mandatory. The homework need you to really know the principles and texts.
His lectures are informative but the tests are way harder than his lectures. Lots of homework. The homework ruined the class for me. Tests way harder than the practice tests. Read and do ATPs if you want to do well.
His lectures are basically from the textbook. Do not be late for class! After 5+ minutes late, you will not be let in the class at all. For clearer explanations, I think TAs do a better job. Grading is okay; he drops the lowest hw and lecture prep scores. Curves on midterms and final do not happen until end of quarter. So your grade is a surprise.
Lectures were straight out of the textbook. Just make sure to read the textbook and practice the hw and lecture prep and you should be fine.
If you dont go to the lecture, you wont get a good grade. The homework is too much.
He's not as bad as people make him out to be. I was taken aback by the many negative reviews and feel like they were written by people who were salty they received a horrible grade. Professor Rapson isn't the best or anything amazing but he has decent lectures and as long as you are studying consistently, earning an A should not be difficult.
Homework was pretty heavy, and lecture was straight out of the textbook so they weren't all that helpful. However, he is a very clear lecturer, although sometimes a bit dry at times during certain topics. As long as you read and do the homework assignments, the class will be pretty easy. Grades are curved, I averaged 83% on the exams and got an A.
Lectures were very easy to understand and we didn't fall behind. Lots of homework on the Cengage interactive textbook but it helps you learn and study. Skipping lectures is not a big deal because the information is very well laid out chapter by chapter in the textbook
Worst professor ever in Davis. The exam has nothing to do with what you learn in class.
Great Professor. He provided some useful hints to study for midterm and final exams. The lectures are relevant to the exams.
Loved him as a professor and person. I really learned a lot and actually understood economics, in comparison to when I took 001B with Modjtahedi. Great at lecturing and very engaging, just hates tardiness and phones!I worked so hard for the grade I got and received a B+ after the curve. Did not try as hard in 001B and got A+. So hard but good prof
Professor Rapson is clearly knowledgeable in his field of economic study. However, there was a lot of homework for this intro class (lecture prep due before and homework due after every lecture). His exams were also pretty difficult and there was no way to fully prepare for them. Wasn't exactly the nicest during office hours either, go to the TA.
Professor Rapsons slides and hws have everything u need to know for exam. Hws are super tough but as long as you use the answer key and solve them after due dates and then study them then youre set for quantitative questions on exams. Kinda stickler for classroom etiquette(no entering late) but rapson is a fair prof, nothing ever too difficult.
Clear explanation to every concepts and very accessible outside the classroom. As many people said, he assigns a lot of homework each week in Cengage but the homework help me well prepare for the exam.
I still think its funny that people will boost his rating up on here with fake accounts. Without the fake accounts, this professor gets a 2/5 or 1.5/5 rating easily. Notice even the real people who got A's rated him low. Imagine doing algebra exam and seeing geometry problems. Afwul. Just awful. Worst professor in the history of history.
Most disgusting class I have ever been in. The midterms are totally random with questions that he won't even cover. I mean, if a professor explains a concept in Calculus, the concept extends to harder problems and professors are supposed to help teach you how to do those harder problems. "Professor" Rapson does none of that. You can try but fail.
Tests have nothing to do with the book or lecture. LITERALLY no resources for you to get help. Doesn't respond to emails. A lot of homework that doesnt help you with the midterms,and they don't factor in your grading so you will have no idea how to solve the concepts. The TA's were staring us in the eyes feeling sorry like we were being executed
Compared to other econ professors I've had, he is pretty good at giving lectures that are interesting and don't drag. No attendance needed, posts prerecorded lectures and recorded live optional lectures. I like how he posts a few short videos divided by topic rather than one long one. Homework is very manageable. Tests are a lot harder than lecture
most awful class most horrific class that i have ever laid my life on. the worst instructor in the history of history. doesnt respond to emails. rude at office hours. always salty. his class is not fair at all on his policies and grading. lecture are lazy and boring. doesnt care about his students. TESTS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CLASS. AVOID!!!!
In my opinion, Professor Rapson is incredibly fair. The resources he gives to you via Cengage are amazing and as long as you use them, you will do well on the tests. The tests are essentially revolved around the Cengage practice tests. There is very little homework and he drops the lowest midterm score.
Terrible professor. What he prepares you for and shows you in class is nothing like what you get tested on. Neither the homework, lectures, nor the book give you an actual depiction of what the exams will be like. You have no resource other than the 1 practice midterm he gives you to understand the types of questions on an exam. He's careless.
The only thing horrific as this wannabe professor are the fake ratings on here to make him look good. Hes an atrocious professor and person as well I would say. He doesn't care about this students although he acts like he does. EXAMS LITERALLY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT HE TEACH. He everything wrong with the system. He's ruining lives. FIRE HIM!
I have to admit although the materials were interesting, the professor was pretty tough on his students. The midterms were super challenging since the homework did not help. He only gave a practice midterm as a review for the real one but honestly it's not enough.
Have to admit that although the materials were interesting, the professor was pretty tough. Homework and practice problems on Cengage were relatively easy compared to the midterms so the exams were really challenging. He only gave a practice midterm as a "review" for the real one and you can't go back to the questions you already answered! :(
Not transparent about grading; didn't let us know how we were being graded or what our grades were until after the final.
Practise tests were easier than the actual ones. No transparent curving.
What an embarrassingly fragile ego. Curves down, no access to grades & no warning on his "ranked" system until after he submitted grades. He only talks about himself. He thinks he's so cool for being a centrist. I almost feel bad, he needs therapy I think. What a weirdo. Don't let your grade suffer for him Also, his tests don't match what he teach
Professor Rapson as a person was nice enough and his lectures weren't too hard to follow, but the midterms really did not cover what we were prepared for. The practice midterms would be significantly easier than the actual ones (he did drop our lowest midterm). The homework also didn't really help prepare us for the midterms.
The content of his lecture has nothing to do with the content of his exam. Even if you listen carefully in class and read every page of his lecture slides, the exam may still be difficult for you.
Tests were slightly harder than material covered in class and are worth 75%. The homework was a little much but very beneficial. He also wasn't the most generous or understanding/clear when it came to grading. Make sure to take many adaptive test prep tests on cengage as many exam questions are fairly similar.
I took his ECN1A class in Fall of 2019. Too much homework, exams were hard and do not relate to the lectures, no useful way of studying for exams, and he's just not that great of the lecturer. He also disallowed students to come in class when they're more than 5 minutes late. Wouldn't recommend
engagement mentality
a good professor
I feel like he's a nice and caring professor. He cares about the stuff he teaches and is clearly passionate. The material is interesting and the textbook is somewhat of an easy read. Some things I would critique on is the test material. Make sure to read the problem carefully! And go through every resource you can when studying.
Hes so good really!!! Recommended!
Interesting material taught by a nice professor who is clearly interested in the topic. Lectures barely related to homework, which hardly related to exams either.
Easy enough class but lectures weren't always on topic and I had to teach myself from the textbook more than learning from lectures. Clearly a smart guy and an easy prereq but if you didn't take econ in high school it might be difficult.
I just can not believe why he curves down the grade90.8% i only get b. terrible lectures everhe would spends lots of time talking irrelevant stuff. just try not to take his class in sake of your gpa
Be prepared to get curved down. I had an average of 90% on midterms yet only got a B. Going to class is recommended but you can definitely get a B in this class without going to a single class. As a prof hes fine, not bad but not great. Finals and midterms are harder than practice ones. Jus t read the book and do lots of practice problems.
Homework and exams were easy. I didn't attend lectures because as others said they were irrelevant though they did sound interesting. Textbook+HW software were >$120 without EA I believe. Most importantly, grades are curved down. I got >93% calculated according to the syllabus but ended up with an A- and didn't know until grades were finalized.
He curves down!!!!!!!!!!! 92is B+ 90.5 is B 85 is c+ it just doesnt make any sense. You need to get almost everything right to make this course A. I couldnt understand at all.
I never showed up to this class or watched online lectures, and only read the book, and didnt do too bad. That being said he is a pretty entertaining professor to listen to, so going to class wasnt awful. One thing I would say is opt out of EA because I still had access to the book even without paying/EA. Not too bad of a GE
If you are not a math person do not take his ECN 001 class. His lectures are on topics he is passionate about, and while interesting, they have nothing to do with the math heavy homework assignments and tests. Both he and his TAs are very accessible, and are encouraging and helpful, but a VERY difficult class for people not as comfortable with math
You don't need to go to his classes cus he doesn't talk about anything related to the course. The tests and homework were easy so I think it's a great course if you don't care about economics and just want a good grade. However, don't take him if you actually want to learn econ.
You don't have to go to his lectures since they generally don't relate to the test material. The material itself is generally easy though. The most upsetting part about this professor and class is that he curves your grade down. I averaged 90 on exams throughout the whole quarter and got a B and he was not transparent about this in the syllabus.
This class was not super challenging, but it is manageable. However, the lectures were more like office hours and review and less of the material. He did well answering people's questions on the material. Didn't like that he curved down when test averages were high. Definitely read the textbook, go to tutoring services, and discussion sections.
Three midterms and one final. Grades are curved.
lectures are moreso lifeskills, not exam content: he had async lectures that covered the textbook topics. tests were MC- pretty difficult, but his practice tests give a good idea of what 2 expect. very organized class, but apparently he curves down (he didn't for my class) prof was quite passionate- he rly does seem knowledgeable in his subject
Pretty good! He teaches his concepts very well, and sometimes he just talks about interesting topics during lectures such as the market of illegal drugs. His only flaw tho is that he grades purely on curve. This means that if the entire class does too good, he will down curve your grade. Only those with near perfect scores will get an A.
As long as you study, you will do great in this class
Rapson is generally monotone in lectures, so it will be mostly up to you to study the material if you can't listen to monotone lecturing. The material in this specific class was interesting and Rapson did put every effort to try to make this class have a collaborative element, which had moderate success; overall a pretty good class.
All exams online and applies real life circumstances in his lectures. All participation optional.
I personally found lectures a little tedious, but tests are graded on a curve and he drops the lower midterm score. There is homework from the textbook every week, but it's generally pretty easy to get through. He is definitely knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, so talking about real-world examples was interesting.
Do not show responsibility to their students
Most students skip lectures, all information can be found in textbook and canvas. Exams has a lot of weird hypothetical questions, average is usually b-. Take him if you are not able to attend classes, but I would't take him if you want to enjoy lectures and grow passion to economics.
Rapson's exams are so so difficult. The things he taught in class are really different in the exam
Lectures and homework assignments were very easy, just one set a week. Lectures aren't mandatory, but he doesn't record and his slides are mostly graphs. Rapson expects more of his students than what is appropriate for an intro class. Tests were much harder than lecture and hw assignments. I recommend this class if you like econ, but not for GE.
Super low maintenance class. I didn't really go to lectures, but discussions were helpful. There is usually one homework assignment a week which is pretty easy, and three tests total. He's super nice and what he teaches can be interesting, but the test questions can be really difficult. I would say it's easy to have a B, and hard to have an A.
There have been multiple occasions where he's gone on weird rants that excuse bigotry, with no correlation to economics at all. Why start off a lecture that's supposed to be about environmental policy off with explaining why you think universities should allow racism to exist on campus?
boring lectures that dont prepare you for the test at all, says to do adaptive test prep to study, still ended up failing the midterms after getting an a on adaptive test prep, read the textbook from front to back still no use
You're better off reading the textbook and skipping class than attending his lectures. His lecture slides are all copy and pasted from the actual textbook, and he goes on irrelevant rants. The tests are really hard and make up the vast majority of your grade. I wish someone would've warned me, so here I am to warn you, please don't do it.
He says he will give Letter based on Curve, but doesn't specify a clear percentage of different letter. Also, the exams for this class aren't that hard, although you could get 90+ on the exams, whether it's an A or a B or not, you'll still have to wait until you're at the end of the semester to find out.
I found his lectures to be useless and boring because he would just go off and talk about something else that more than likely wasn't going to be on the test or homework. Didn't go to discussions either and just watched youtube videos explaining concepts instead. Curve is unclear and doesn't reveal final scores. He won't round your grade, avoid him
He doesn't record lectures anymore but it doesn't matter since often the TAs and textbook teach better since he just reads off the textbook lecture slides. Midterms and final were decently challenging and open note, but final grade is based on a curve with little to no explanation on the grading scale. I'd take it if you can self study.
Lectures are boring and useless in understanding course material. Midterms and final are open note, but are not easy. He grades on a curve and doesn't reveal how grades are calculated. Pretty sure he curves down. Also he does not round grades. You'll do well if you can self study.
This class was super easy, ONLY because I took an online Micro course in the summer. Econ is very hard to understand at first, so I really recommend taking it online beforehand. But I went to zero lectures, read over the slides two hours before the exams and passed with an A+. I genuinely hated having to do econ this summer, but it helped me a lot.
What you learn in lectures is very loosely related to martial on the homework and tests. There are two midterms but he drops your lowest score. Overall I learned way more during discussion sections than in lecture. He has trouble staying on topic and just reads from textbook slides he has posted on canvas. Tests are open note but difficult.
Okay professor, easy/straightforward class. ~1 online homework assignment due per week, 2 lowest HW & lower midterm score dropped. Attendance at discussions not mandatory (mostly repeated lecture content). Midterms & final are all online, open note & open textbook. I never really paid attention to lectures and did fine, but I did take econ in HS.
condescending to talk to, does not tell you how he grades (ie you don't know your grade until final grades are posted), final is 50% of your grade, weird curve, reads off textbook slides that are out of order, off-topic in class, does not record lectures, very unengaging lectures, and just overall not a good professor.
ECN1A is an easy class if you've taken any micro Econ at any level. Prof. Rapson's lecture slides make learning the material much easier compared to using the textbook to learn. 75% of your class grade is based on your highest midterm score and final score. The class is not demanding at all. Weekly hw takes ~30min-1hr, +2 midterms and a final.
2 midterms- lower one is dropped. My discussion section was optional. His lectures were sometimes 'meh' but other times very interesting. Weekly homework was not difficult but the exams were. I think he wants the average to be a C, and he makes the exams difficult. 50% of grade is final exam, 25% one of your midterms.
The class is very easy. No need to go to lectures, just read the slides.
Amazing lecturer, and very interesting. If you follow his instructions, study, and have a flexible understanding of concepts you will do very well in the class
HE WILL CURVE DOWN THE SOCRE!!!!
His lectures feel very rushed and quick paced, which meant I had to put extra work into keep up. Eventually, I just stopped going to lectures and taught myself, which worked as his online resources are amazing. The open-note/at-home exams are great. The B- curve is stupid, especially as he never says whether this helps or hurts our eventual grade.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
16%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
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