3.6
Quality2.7
Difficulty63%
Would Retake109
Reviews63%
Would Retake
109
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
47
4
17
3
10
2
22
1
13
What Students Say
“HOWEVER, I feel she is quite awful as a professor”
ECON230 - 2.0 rating“Very sweet lady but not a great teacher at all”
ECON230 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
30%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.07 avg changeRatings by Course
ECON454
5.0
(1)ECON409
5.0
(7)ECON408
4.5
(10)ECON302408
4.5
(2)ECON208
3.8
(20)Difficulty by Course
ECON330
4.0
ECON230D1
3.5
ECON230
3.2
ECON223
3.0
ECON209
2.9
Reviews (109)
Dr. Zhang is very caring. There is a 10% participation mark that is counted if you go to class, but you can shift that weight to your final. She gives out bonus marks for people who attend and participate, and truly cares to see that you do well in her class! She is very approachable and has in class experiments that makes her class fun to attend.
Super helpful. Is genuinely nice and cares that you can apply the information used in class to outside of class. 10% participation. Multiple choice questions. She's funny because she shows awesome videos.
Really helpful and sweet. Explains the material really well, approachable. Her exams are easy and fair.
Had zero complaints about this teacher until the end of the course. Midterms were very easy, but the submitted paper was loosely defined, and she had little time to meet with students to discuss the assignment. Furthermore, the exam was a large step more difficult than the midterms, and we received no final breakdown of marks for the semester.
I thought Zhang was good until the end of the semester when I was blindsided with the final. The final was nothing compared to the midterms. She doesn't explain the material at all. I taught myself through the textbook. She's super friendly but a weak lecturer.
Worst Econ prof Ive ever had. She literally made me go from loving to hating the subject and I got straight As in my freshman year studying economics. Also, Ive emailed her regarding a paper and she never replied. She seems nice at first but doesnt have what it takes to teach. Her English can be hard to understand at times.
She's a really nice person who is always cheerful - and I admire that. HOWEVER, I feel she is quite awful as a professor. 90% of the focus of lectures and the textbook is conceptual and theory, but the exams are quite math-heavy. Hardly any practice problems given, and she really doesn't go over how to solve the questions asked on exams. Avoid.
most of the topics covered in ECON 408 were also taught in ECON230. if you show up to class, and take good notes, youll likely get an A. +
Zhang is a very straightforward professor. The material is easy because most of it is introductory microeconomics. A gem among 400 level econ courses which are usually expected to be hard. The only thing I'd say to watch out for is her strong accent and her tendency to speed up without explaining the material. She is also very vague on the essay.
Zhang is super nice. Really wants everyone to do well and gives really easy midterms. That being said, her final was tricky but she'll probably curve it. She's still by far the easiest econ 230 prof. Everyone here leaving poor reviews is misguided at how hard this course is supposed to be and how poor the other professors are. Take it with her.
Zhang is incredibly bubbly and cheerful however she's not that great a teacher. She speeds up when going over the math and when you ask her to explain the material, she gets flustered and suggests that you "read the textbook" despite having read it. She genuinely does care that you do well so I guess that counts for something.
I took econ 408 and it was a great experience. Her slides are clear and to the point, and the material is straightforward. All you have to know for tests is whats on the slides. My advice would be to do really well on the group project and midterm, because the final is a bit harder. Two questions on the final worth around 25% were entirely new.
I <3 Ling Ling. Takes a while to get used to her lecturing style but once you do it's great. Be warned: she explains the concepts very well, but barely covers the math. The math is a big part of the exams! If you do the myeconlab work and read the textbook, you'll be fine. Ask her questions, go to office hours. She really wants everyone to succeed!
Pros: Ling is caring and willing to help in office hours. She curves generously and her midterms are fair. Cons: Lectures are SLOW and in my opinion a total waste of time. There are like zero resources provided to prepare for long answer portions of exams. Advice? Start looking online for practice problems or the final exam will bite hard.
Honestly have no clue what we learnt in this class???? Final wasn't hard but to this date am still confused :/
Ling Ling is super sweet and it just cheers me up to listen to her, but I just wish she would change focus a bit. She allocates too much time in covering basic concepts and giving a thousand examples about what they are, and it'd be better if there was more problem solving, something on the lines of what's on the midterms/exams.
Probably one of the easier 230 profs. Does an inadequate job teaching the math. Overall I would say take her, ace the easy midterms, study hard for finals and collect your good grade. If I didnt care about gpa I wouldnt take her... but I do care. Also, where are our final grades? Its been a MONTH!
shes such a lovely person and maybe the only one at econ dept (beside Kmack - he only teaches stats so..) but the grading is unclear and takes quite a long time to get the final result. finals always come with a short / long answer (essay) the MCQ was hard, nothing like mock exams she gave...
This professor is confusing. Her English is not great, and for some reason is far worse when she writes exams. It's hard to tell what she wants, and will write questions with no good answer. Her politics play into the class. Doesn't believe in minimum wage for example. Be careful, her classes aren't easy and it's not possible to prepare.
Very sweet lady but not a great teacher at all. The final was so much harder than expected which would be understandable had she provided practice questions but she had not. She spends too much time on basic concepts and almost none on harder ones. I would not recommend her for ECON230.
Ling Ling is a great prof and very respected in her field as she works for the government of Canada. Take the time to go to her office hours and ask questions, it will help so much. Her multiple choice questions are directly from the textbook and the free response questions on exams are very doable! Just ask questions! She is so helpful.
BRUTAL PROF (keep in mind I got an A): - Barely speaks English - Not helpful at all: had problems with myeconlab - she said go talk to customer service without trying to help - Space cadet: as we're doing the midterm, she announces "oh by the way, the practice bank had a ton of mistakes in them, but I expect the right answers on this test"
A solid prof. A bit disorganized but lectures were quite good and midterm was extremely easy while the final was a bit harder but still fair. It was also quite fun to write a research essay on a related topic.
Undoubtedly the worst prof ever I took at Mcgil in my 4 years. Teaches lectures as if it's an elementary school. She constantly shows up to class late without apology, replies back to emails extremely late, incapable of speaking English at a professional level. Overall, I don't understand how she became a prof.
She's very nice, but her lectures and exam difficulty didn't correlate at all. She covers very basic concepts during class, but her exams are much harder. Make sure to do the myEconLab and do a LOT of math practice. Midterm was fine, but final was hard. Grade has cushion with attendance and practice question credit which is really nice.
Ling Ling is definitely one of the nicest professor out there. Some complains about her English, but except for weird pronunciations now and there, her English is perfectly understandable. Shes extremely caring and give attendance & myeconlab work as bonus marks. Having said that, her final was absolutely monstrous butMidterms arent bad
Love her so much. She is caring and really want to make sure everyone understands the concept. Often have in-class experiments and like to stimulate discussion. Have a short break when it's near "lunch hour" and often end classes a bit earlier. Midterm is much easier than the final, whe turns whatever she taught in words into mathematical questions
Very funny and kind woman but awful prof. She takes attendance in our class of 200 with Twitter and then proceeds to read the tweets in front of the class. She then says she doesnt have time to teach us how to do her long answer question, like, yes you do! Also, no grading criteria for a paper at all, it is basically write about whatever we want
The worst prof I have ever had, no question. We are supposed to write a paper, but she doesnt even tell us what about lmao just about Econ in general I guess? This was before coronavirus, so she cant blame it on that. During our midterms so many people were getting the wrong exam because the booklets were all mixed up. AVOID LIKE COVID 19
Zhang is the worst prof I am yet to come across at McGill. She has absolutely no care for her students, is unorganised, and, quite frankly, has no idea what she is doing. please, avoid her at all costs. Don't make my mistake of attending class during add/drop, thinking she was decent and staying in the class. Although her exams are okay, sheisawful
Prof LingLing is a good choice IMO. She is super caring and really does want her students to do well. She can be a bit disorganized at times, but she does know how to teach the material. Make sure to collect all the points you can from the midterm, quiz, and Econlab cause the final hits HARD. If you want to do well, find math-based problems online.
Good class, as long as you show up you should do fine as pretty much all of the material is covered in the lectures. Genuinely wants her students to do well and it shows. Group projects are pretty open ended though, so if you're not good with/fond of self direction might not be the teacher for you.
Not only is this one of the easiest econ classes I've taken, but it is probably one of the easiest I've taken at McGill. Maybe that's bc the final grading scheme got changed to be entirely written work due to the coronavirus, but still. The midterm was chill and the content felt like 200 level stuff. Ling Ling is a nice prof, would recommend.
Attendance is only useful for the participation mark. Otherwise, she doesn't dive deep in the course content during class, so I taught myself the whole thing with the textbook. She also gives us no practice exercises for midterms and finals, which are pretty hard and math-heavy. The ECON230 D1 final exam was way too long for three hours.
This needs a disclaimer: the dirty secret about Econ intro courses is most profs shoved into them are very... not good. LLZ's a VERY welcome exception here. If you can get through her THICK accent, she is the best, direct-est explainer I've encountered. Also, her grading scheme beats all other 208/9 profs. Her tests are a BIT more difficult, though
No grading criteria, lectures useless -> textbook and khan academy is all you've got to save your ass. She basically flies over the material doesn't explain the math tho includes A LOT of it in exams. Spends 20' of each lecture lecturing you bout how bad of a student you are. Very little value added as professor. Maybe office hours are useful idk
I took 209 with Ling Ling in the winter of 2020, and she was an amazing professor. Back when classes were in person, she made sure that people were engaged, but never forced anyone to speak. While she mostly elaborated off the slides, she still made class entertaining with examples given of this imaginary island she created.
She is not made to be a prof. Ask someone who took her class before signing up with her. She only reads her slides, even that she cannot do properly. I learned nothing from her. Despite all these issues, her exams are something else. You will cry if you don't get prepared by reading the textbook and some extra online reading/videos. GoodLuck
Would avoid! Exams are much more difficult than the material in the lecture recordings. Final exam was way too long. Sometimes would not answer my emails or only after so many days. Hard to reach for help or questions.
Some classes are hard because they make you work for the grade. That is totally fair. Prof. Zhang's class is hard because it tricks you. What you learn from readings and lectures is only a small part of what is covered on the exams. Avoid ECON 230 with this professor at all costs.
She's a easy grader but the content of her lectures are very different from what we're expected to write in exams. Lectures are not at all math-heavy but the exams were. Other than that she's quite caring and will help you whenever you ask for it.
Ling Ling is the gem of the Econ department. Take any class you can take with her.
Ling Ling is the most caring econ prof at McGill. Would take again!
One of the best profs at McGill, I am currently taking her for the third time. She cares so much about her students and wants you to do well. Doesn't mean her classes are super easy, but if you put in the work the exams are really fair and you will do well. One of the best to do it in the ECON department.
Really exaggerated the math involved in the course on the first day and that scared some people away. But the math actually required is really basic. Lenient grader. You'll get a good grade. Only downsides in my opinion are that the book and myeconlab access cost a lot, and both class attendance and class participation are mandatory.
The class was 40% midterm 60% final. There were two midterms, and she dropped the lower of the two. Some people did not like that her tests were short/long answer instead of multiple choice (I think this was because all tests were open book) but I appreciated that this gave the opportunity to get extra credit. Professor Zhang was always accessible!
Lingling really cares for her students and it shows. I didn't really watch her lectures, only read the textbook and passed with an A. Her exams, although are with short/long answers and not multiple choices, are easy and straight-forward. If you understand the basics of it, then you good.
Ling Ling Zhang is a terrible professor. Her lectures are unhelpful, she basically reads her slides and hardly explains the maths. The final exam contained multiple questions we never covered in class. We basically had to teach ourselves with the textbook.
Honestly the sweetest professor in the entire university. Took 230 with her as well, the final was insanely hard but 300s/400s with her were absolute breeze!!
Although she is not the best prof in terms of explaining concepts, the respect and undestanding she showed towards the students motivated me. I have definitely learned a lot of useful things. She adjusted the time and difficulty of her exams taking pandemic and its effects on students into consideration. She is full of positive energy.
The content follows the textbook and slides, she will provide Pearson for you to practice the questions which are similar to the exam content, the first and second midterm exams are very easy, the final exam is slightly harder but I can accept it. This is a class that can get high marks as long as you put in the effort.
She was very kind and patient and extended the deadline on the group project. The practice of the topic is a little less.
She is not a very good professor. Didn't give our tests back, didn't answer emails, and our final grade was given to us a few days into the winter semester. However, if you want an easy A and don't like interesting/challenging courses, take her class. Also, all of the test answers (assuming online) are available online if you look them up.
Excellent Prof! Genuinely cares about her students and doesn't overly complicate the material. I took her course in the fall of 2021, and she tried to make the course as interactive as possible. The material was also interesting with manageable expectations.
Had her for a fully online class. Class was easy and tests were very fair. As a prof., made herself available even though she stated she had over 800 students. Not the best teacher but had nice efficient lectures.
Ling Ling is a great, encouraging professor who wants her students to do well. However, she is absolutely helpless in technology, leaving half of our online uploaded lectures without sound, missing bits and pieces and in general- frustrating to watch. It is an in person class, but students who are unable to attend should still be accommodated to.
Needless to say, I soooooooo much love her!
Dr. Lingling is an awesome professor, her lectures are clear and attractive, they are something you actually enjoy.
Prof. Zhang is WONDERFUL. Her class had Prof OHs, TA OHs, and excellently planned conferences. She provided handpicked MyLab exercises to prepare us for exams, had a forgiving grading scheme (lower midterm dropped) for economics, and adjusted content as she saw necessary (she never lectured for too long). So kind, caring, and interesting. LOVE her.
Nice and funny. Really wants students to do well. Explanations are sometimes unclear, but she goes slowly enough with the material that you understand it eventually. She also provides clear guidance on what to study and how.
Professor is super nice and cares a lot about her students. Material is not difficult and she goes over it many times until it's clear. Exams are very straightforward and taken right from lecture content/slides. Highly recommend all of Zhang's classes!
Awesome prof. Her exams are quite hard, but of the two midterms she takes your best grade, which makes the whole experience much less stressful. Her lectures are interesting and she always seems super happy to teach, which makes the course even more engaging. Highly recommend.
It's because of Prof. Zhang that I am changing my major to economics. Her exams were not too difficult, similar to the practice problems, though they were a bit long (but she gave you a ton of time to do them). Only problem was that she was a bit inaccessible outside of class (but she had like 800 students this semester, so that's reasonable).
Super easy going professor, I have to say that she's probably one of the most caring professors in my three years of study in McGill, really hope she could teach more econ classes. I love her soooo much!!!
Super caring professor, definitely would take any courses with her again!!! Final exam was easy and she is very flexible about the deadline of your paper. LOVE HER!
Makes the class way too easy you don't learn anything. Supposed to be a 400lvl course, but its a watered down version of 230/208, the micro class you take in your first year.
Professor Zhang is the best Economics professor at McGill by a mile. She is bright, funny, and forms a bond with students. She makes material engaging and comes up with easy-to-understand examples. Her classes are easy to succeed in. This was a simple 400-level course but I'll take that over the other Econ profs who root for your failure any day.
very caring!! always tries to help students understand her class. not the most challenging but awesome if you're trying out econ as a potential major/minor! go to class because the lecture recordings arent very high quality, and know this class is graded only on 2 things! pro tip: most exam questions will be found in the optional textbook
The professor is disorganized and did not follow the syllabus schedule. She did not cover some entire sections of the syllabus. She is a caring and empathetic person, but she does not teach the material clearly, though had some shining moments of excellent teaching. Nevertheless: There is too much skipping around and off-topic discussion in class.
I can see why people might not like her, but she is brilliant. She never confuses herself or her students in any tricky topic she explains, unlike other professors. Her course feels easy because of the way she presents it and it's wonderful to sit in a light hearted, funny class.
She made learning economics fun. Her class was organized, always posted lecture slides. Optional to use mylab to practice. Optional textbook. 10/10
Fair
I took Ling Lings class during the summer and she did an amazing job at teaching the course. You can tell she cares about her students and she made economics very digestible.
I really love Zhang Ling Ling!!! She is an amazing and perfect professor! She cares about our lives and our future careers. She provides many ways for us to improve our abilities to enhance ourselves. She really is very fancy and she loves all her students! She is the best professor I ever met in Mcgill!!!!! I love her!!! She teachs excellent!
Her lectures are amazing! I used to hate economics but after taking her lectures, I found it somehow interesting and I would even love to practice after class. She is really caring and warm, and you can tell that she is an intelligent woman. Talking to her was like feeling the spring breeze.
She's the reason I switched to ECON. Cares about students' future, very kind in and out of class. Midterm 40%, final 60%. 302 is very useful to understand financial markets and news. Math: solve ax^2 + bx + c = 0 and you're good. Essay question in the final, she likes to see what you understood in your own words. Take all her courses if you can :)
Energetic queen
This professor is the best! She is so caring and really wants her students to do well. Her lectures are fun and engaging. The course content was very interesting and she went at a very reasonable pace making it easy to keep up. One of my favourite teachers at McGill and I highly recommend taking a class with her.
She's awesome, actually cares and explains things clearly. Goes through each example and prepares her students well for her exams. Top notch prof 10/10
Favorite professor. Cares about her students and making sure they really understand the material. Gives all the tools needed to excel in her courses, and tries to keep lectures interesting even with dense material.
Very energetic and dynamic prof. She teaches at a reasonable pace and ensures that everyone understands what shes teaching. She makes the class fun and interesting with her energy. I gotta admit tho, her chinese accent can be a bit distracting and im chinese too. But overall a great prof. Class aint hard and not at all math heavy.
Lingling was one of the best professors at McGill. She explained concepts thoroughly and with great clarity.She is exceptionally kind and care for her students.She is an absolute angel!!!
Not accessible by email, disorganized. Midterm and Final are exactly as she says. Pretty easy but can be made more difficult by a lack of clarity in her explanations.
She is kind but disorganized. I had no idea what my grade was until late Nov. She also would give us 1 practice question for a topic and then be unable to explain the answer, she posted students' answers instead but they weren't 100% correct. Final was mostly the same as practice but she also gave us questions that we had never worked on in class.
The lectures are not really organized but at least all she expects on the test is in the textbook. Conference slides are useful (exam questions are similar sometimes) and do the maths questions she gives, it always ends up being on the test. Nice professor overall, really caring and accessible to ask questions (which I recommend).
Really engaging prof! I've heard great things about her others classes too.
Shes a wonderful professor who keeps the class engaged with funny jokes. Actually intelligent and helps out a lot in office hours. If you show you care she cares back. 10/10 would take again. Has the scary Chinese mom aura but it doesn't matter in the end
Ling Ling is a gem of the econ department. If you participate in class, she will get to know you and will have your back throughout the semester. If you have questions or concerns, go to her office hours and she will be there to help.
she's the goat
Yes, very sweet and caring. But, says it's ok if you don't have an economics/mathematics background, yet doesn't really emphasize the graphical analysis steps. General concepts are covered well, but wrongly assumes everyone understands the mathematical process. Vague
This course is a joy. Our professor keeps class lively with witty slang and playful jabs—teasing campus quirks and rankings—and runs activities that draw us in. Behind the humor is rigor: clear, step-by-step explanations. Need help? Email or stop by office hours. I now hate to miss a class. LingLing is the Angel in Economics world.
Amazing teacher, very engaging and wants people to participate and really really cares. definitely take her class if i didn't i would have failed econ 208. she has a pop quiz and midterm and final she cares alot and is willing to help
Sweet and caring. Makes effort to support students and help, but found her explanations of concepts vague and not very helpful. The midterm was hard and didn't match very well with the examples/problems she worked through in class. I've found it hard to understand and apply a lot of it. If you have prior econ knowledge, you'll be fine, though.
the best professor i have ever taken. i hate learning but she makes it enjoyable. definitely take her class
Prof Zhang is super nice and frequently makes anecdotes that connect economics to fun and relatable concepts. She frequently makes the class laugh, and it's a fun class to go to. Lectures are not enough to do well on exams - do the textbook readings and practice questions multiple times over, and you will do well on the exams.
she's sweet, but her lectures are frequently unclear and definitely not enough to do well on exams. you'll learn better and faster by using the textbook, youtube videos, and practice questions. if you have no prior economics experience, this class will be hard, so be prepared for lots of outside work.
A kind professor who always creates a good ambience within the class. However, the lectures can become unclear at times, especially in the second half of the semester. Content also occasionally ends up being rushed or cut. The grading is ok (midterm and final are MCQ), you just have to put in more work on your end (textbook practice, yt videos,...)
She really is one of the nicest profs and McGill. Also super funny person
Despite the caring, kind character of prof Zhang, as a student in econ 208, what matters is learning the material, not the ambiance of the class. You'll need to do a lot of learning yourself, especially graphical analysis. She doesn't explain things well in class, often jumping around making it confusing to follow. Requires some self-teaching.
She may be a fun and caring prof, but eventually you'll realize that her explanations are very surface-level and that if you want to do well in this class, you have to spend time learning the material in depth at home. I think the Pearson textbook and practice problems, combined with YouTube videos, taught me more (and in a more efficient way...).
All exams are MCQ, which is ok but class is not enough to succeed.
Did not teach for the exam at all, gave basically no instructions for the paper that was 40% of the grade, but the class was fun, I guess. I attended all the classes and many of the TA conferences. The TA conferences were much more useful and informative than the actual class.
She brought enthusiasm and energy to the classroom, but that was largely it. Grades were based on an economic critique and a final, yet the critique's expectations changed each lecture. The final was poorly aligned with class content, with major topics taught only in the last class. I attended all the classes, but her teaching was unproductive.
She is very kind & wants students to succeed, but classes focused on participation & games rather than core math concepts, which are 60% of the exam. Many felt misled by class content. The 3hour exam was very long many didn't finish. Practice questions were only 2, & TA sessions were far more helpful even tho I attended all her lectures.
She is basically teaching nothing in the class and expecting you to know everything in the exam
Final is far too long, hoped she will curve that
Nobody can understand what she teaches after midterm, she totally doesn't know what she's saying. The content isn't even hard, but her confusing teaching makes it feel like impossible to understand.
Despite prof Zhang being an adorable human being, her class was a total nightmare. I attended all the classes and read the textbook and yet felt really unprepared for the final, some questions having been barely taught in class. If you take the course, definitely attend the conferences as they are the only time where you will practice the maths.
She's super sweet and caring but her exams were a bit on the harder side... Her final had questions that were never seen in class but enough to figure out during the exam...
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
30%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.07 avg changeRatings by Course
ECON454
5.0
(1)ECON409
5.0
(7)ECON408
4.5
(10)ECON302408
4.5
(2)ECON208
3.8
(20)Difficulty by Course
ECON330
4.0
ECON230D1
3.5
ECON230
3.2
ECON223
3.0
ECON209
2.9