2.4
Quality3.9
Difficulty22%
Would Retake125
Reviews22%
Would Retake
125
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
17
4
15
3
20
2
27
1
46
What Students Say
“Disorganized, arrogant, terrible at teaching”
ECO100 - 1.0 rating“Very bad at keeping track of time and does not respect the fact that when his class ends at 12, people have other classes”
ECO100 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
21%
Textbook Required
38%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.84 avg changeRatings by Course
ECO220
5.0
(1)ECO335
4.0
(1)ECO200Y
4.0
(1)ECO435
4.0
(4)ECO206
3.5
(13)Difficulty by Course
ECO206Y
5.0
ECO200Y1
4.7
eco101
4.6
ECO206Y1
4.5
ECO335
4.0
Reviews (125)
No Comments
A Navy Seal Vietnam vet, doesn't take crap from anyone. Not for the weak!
No Comments
I had a crush on him all year!
He's the Batman of economics
No Comments
good teacher but arrogant
tough tests, very arrogant, but very clear. I don't like him, some would tho...
No Comments
Indeed, he is the Batman of economics.
tests are impossible under the time constrain
No Comments
Like others say he might be the "Batman of Economics" but that really doesn't help when he is arrogant and unapproachable. Eg. of a test: two questions in 50 minutes... majority did one question in 50 minutes and the average was less than 50%.
He's dramatically difficult when it comes to tests. He is a good teacher, HOWEVER, for the level of difficulty of his tests, he should be TREMENDOUSLY BETTER!
Terribly hard for 2nd year, he should be limited to teach only 4th year! He expects students to go beyond the text and look outside of the box....hello?....this isn't graduate school Brandt!
He's a good teacher, but his tests are not at the same level as his teaching ability, they (the tests) are dramatically difficult)...try to get Slasor
A good lecturer, however tests are difficult (Class Avgs in 50s). Is VERY unapproachable. Was not there for his office hours. Fits the growing trend of some eco profs -- arrogant. For 2004 summer go with Slasor like prev person stated ;)
this guy knows his stuff...but his arrogant air is a bit much at times. Tests are quite long; but in general he "goes ahead" and makes them fair.
bah... what can I say, AMERICANS!!!
an excellent prof, but tests are HARD!
arrogant sob
I don't know what others are saying, the course was not too difficult. He tests what he teaches and is very clear in explaining. Tries to interact with student by asking leading questions. Yes, he does have some arrogant air, but at the same time, he is a smart man. Lecture quality is very good.
I liked Slasor a lot better because Brandt is pretty arrogant and his questions are hard. But he was nice enough to allow anyone to write a make-up test at the end of the year due to the low 3rd test average of 55%.
No Comments
Fantastic prof. Very clear in lectures, fair tests. He is woderful, wish he taught more 200 level courses.
I actually think he's a great prof...his lectures are clear and his points are precise. Having him was great for the second term of ECO200 because Brandt really 'shapes' you up for the final exam. His tests were not that hard during the Winter 2005 semester...that said, he is a lot less friendly than Slasor!
NOT LIKE HIM AT ALL,EVEN MADE MISTAKES IN HIS ANSWERS FOR THE TERM TEST
what's up with him? is he going through some kind of permanent menopause? why's he so annoyed with students and our questions? what does he think he's getting paid to do? he sure seems to hate teaching. however - i wish i didn't feel this way but damn he's hot. too bad though, this isn't a beauty pageant.
distractingly hot. something about that sneer and lopsided smile of his. Also wish I didn't feel this way.
Best professor I have had at U f T so far. Incredibly fair, interesting and does not bore students by following the textbook exactly - which we can do at home! A day and night comparison with F. Shamim who we had second half of the year -- WORST, STAY AWAY.
great prof! nice and fair test
He is the best prof I've had in economics (though I've only 3 profs in eco so far). Crystal clear and a very effective way of teaching the subject. The biggest problem though is that his tests and exams are BRUTAL!!! For the final exam, he doesn't even tell you what to focus on. Forced you to study everything from day 1.
Amazing prof. Really enthusiastic about economics. Tests are marked fairly. Be measure to attend class.
Learned far more in this class than any others in economics. His style is very engaging and much of the class is spent on him presenting an interesting or peculiar economic case and asking the class to think of "why". Heavy readings. Practically no math but a lot of writing.
hard test, no replies on any email, unorganized notes, but speaks clear and loud in class.
Extremely unorganized in class, gives really tough midterms.
His tests are brutal, explains concepts well, notes are very unorganized
Averages for tests are so low - around 48. Very unorganized, jumps from one thing to the other so it's confusing.
his teaching method is very inefficient. this involves him talking for 70% of the time and writing little to none on the board (he doesn't even put a title, so we have no idea what he's talking about). Avoid him at all cost (if you care about your gpa).
Sitting through his lecture is very frustrating. He should really learn how to write properly on the board, instead of rambling unorganized sentences and messy diagrams all over the place. Tests are brutal, with only 80 min given. If he even dared to give such difficult tests, then he should be doing a MUCH better job at teaching.
very intelligent guy, but obviously doesn't know how to teach..no matter how hard you study, you will never do well on his tests
He teaches 2 hours non-stop. Tests require deeper thinking than what he teaches, but they are doable if one fully understands the material. Doing the problem sets, and going through those more difficult problems help.
so far the worst econ course in u of t. Textbook is horrible, and he is very unorganized during class, which often leaves students doing poorly on the midterms. he makes lots of mistakes on his notes too!
Just one word of advice: AVOID this arrogant guy at all cost. When the class average is constantly a fail, that tells something about the teaching ability of the instructor, but Brandt just doesn't care (nor is he willing to make any changes to his teaching methods). Take it with Freitas instead.
A very good prof. Very nice personality, crystal clear and very interactive lecture. He adopted a way of guiding students into the right track of thinking and discovering rather than just putting the notes on the blackboard. Notes are useful, tho maybe a mess for students crazy about copying everything on blackboard. Strongly recommend
I absolutely loved his class. His lectures were like TED talks to me. Many students did not like it since his teaching style made you think for yourself instead of just feeding you everything. Tests aren't hard if you understood the concept and the intuition he tries hard to pass on during lectures. Good luck!
Worst prof! He doesn't have proper lecture notes- randomly writes things on blackboard. Don't follow the syllabus/ textbook so if you skip one class there's no way you can catch up. He rambles on something out of syllabus. Tests are heavily math based. Very arrogant in office hours and not approachable. And he NEVER answers emails. AVOID HIM!!!
Avoid him at all costs. Arrogant, class average is always 50%, time for his tests is unreasonable, and is just overall very unpleasant and horrible teacher.
Taking him for macro after Pesando was like trading in a McLaren for a Honda Civic. Disorganized, arrogant, terrible at teaching. Fails to hit all the key points and just throws fancy words to seem smart. Then hes surprised when the test averages are horrible. His slides weren't even his own, he copied last year's profs slides.
Horrible professor. Used the phrases "again" and "go ahead" too much to sound fancy. Stretches the most unnecessary things out and then rushes through the lecture at the end of class every time not explaining anything. Very bad at keeping track of time and does not respect the fact that when his class ends at 12, people have other classes.
much worse compared to Pesando, always fails to point out the key points and the test is wired and horrible. 1% time costing assignments
Brandt is not an incredible prof and I would recommend not taking him if possible. Time management is his greatest weakness: he will get further and further behind as the course progresses Testing is also very challenging: be prepared for questions that are completely out of the scope of the lectures
Brandt gives his students the materials you need to succeed. Tutorial questions, textbook homework and sapling questions are very useful for tests and quizzes. Assignments were a little useless, but some were easy marks! His tests were very fair and straight forward compared to other professors.
as of now he seems like a good prof but sometimes he goes over the time limit and pushes information in like 2 minutes after class ends
All the stuffs he taught us is not related to the final. He let us think he is very nice. But actually, he always taught us the most simplest things and his final exam was like you are doing an exam for a new course you have never never learnt before. If you choose his course without another option.... good luck guys.
hes aight
skip if you are taking eco102 or 101 get another prof trust me
Do not take this course with Brandt. You learn very few things about Macroeconomics and in lectures, he reads off of his slides, making going to lectures pointless. Not approachable at all and will run class late often. He once berated a student for asking a question on a test.
Not very accessible outside of class, lectures always go overtime and important slides in the middle are skipped over to cram the end. Required to purchase an online version of homework but the website is not secure and keeps crashing and sometimes you can't log in.
Prof Loren was actually a great prof, he's the kind of guy who puts those who don't work to misery and those who do to glory. In other words, if you're one of those who don't read your textbooks and handouts, you'll be having a great time trying to figure out whats being tested. He has some easy marks for projects too, ask an upper year for them!
All you need to get an A in this class is the textbook and half a brain. If you can understand the world around you, then just use the textbook to understand the concepts and get 90+ with his clear questions. He doesn't try to trick you or anything, just understand and apply. I didn't understand anything he said in lecture but textbook is best.
when I took this course online, the slope was sloppily handled. Typos in quizzes, assignment with 0 instructions, TAs with no idea on whats happening, and the most uncaring prof in the world. Do yourself the world and skip this guy. All the tests in online no one has ever finished and an overall inconsiderate guy
talks slow in recorded lectures. the assignments really help boost your mark. exams are WAY too long to be fair.
If I ever hear the words "insofar," "again," or "suppose, then" one more time, I swear I'm going to break something.
The tests are ridiculously long. Thats not a problem if you can get marks as long as your answer reflects understanding of concepts and correct reasoning. The problem is that every single one of your 16 or so short answers has to hit every point in their paragraph of a template answer. Any deviation from that will give you wild mark deductions.
Decent Prof. Tries to explain core concepts through the real-world so that makes classes interesting. However don't depend on him in order to pass. This is definitely an independent type of class that requires you to do your own studying to cover concepts not mentioned. You have to work hard given the wide ranging material that can be tested on.
He is a very strong scholar. But He speak the word"again" too many times. On day, we counted and it was 270 times per hour. It is so interrupting. As English is not my first language(BUT I scored 110+ in TOEFL. this should not happen in normal case, and his accent is very different with Canadian professors, his delivering is not good for many ppl.
There's no room to slip if you take this class. Be consistent, do not fall behind, or you'll have to pay for it. Prof Bryant is decent I'd say, but the lectures were a bit messy and a lot of the time you couldn't really connect the dots. The delivery wasn't the best, and the lectures weren't too well explained.
He is horrible. The tas are horrible. The course is horrible.
Completely disorganized and has no concept of time management. He would often push material into the next week or just teach it during office hours???? His lecturers were drier than Northern China in 1876 and it would be a pain to sit through them and take notes. Guy was more lost than waldo and would lose train of thought multiple times!
It's only been 1 week and I have a headache from him saying 'again' 50 times a minute. So far, good prof in general though.
Not a good professor. Rushes over lecture material, goes overtime and does not respond to student inquiries. Says again an UNNECESSARY amount of times for no reason. Only helpful thing is that he goes over calculations. Anytime a student asks a question, he shuts them down. Ends meeting abruptly and honestly seems unengaged with the teaching team.
Again again again... Horrible prof, doesn't read the chat and does not answer questions. Boring lectures that do not add any value. Uoft really does have a thing for choosing the worst professors in economics.
Speechless. You all know it: "again, again, again, again". I have a few footages of him saying 7 agains in one sentence. I don't know how he does it. I don't want to be mean about how someone talks, but us students need to understand what the prof is talking about. I almost thought I couldn't speak the language just hearing him talk.
I took the course in Summer 2020. He was an ok prof. Course was interesting and assignments helped get a better understanding of concepts.
Could be worse, could be better. The lectures are hard to pay attention to, but if you really try and re-watch parts you miss, no big deal. Worried about returning in person. The supplemental and textbook readings help clarify lectures, and he goes over calculation examples which are very helpful.
You have to teach yourself a lot outside of class, but he truly cares for his students and wants us to understand the material.
Very informative lectures. yes he does say again and go ahead a lot, but once you past that he is a very good lecture
You'll have to read the textbook and attend lectures, as his lecture covers content beyond the textbook while not fully covering the textbook (both testable). He also reorganizes the structure of how content is taught in the textbook and uses different wording for the same concepts so that your experience of studying this course becomes miserable.
Truly explains things well and is very knowledgable on his subject. He puts time into making clear slides
the best prof ever! again, I can't stress this enough, he's so good at teaching! truly cares about his students. again, I learned a lot from this class. again, his tests were fairly marked and his lectures were so interesting. again, would take this again. again, an amazing experience. love professor brandt. would take this class again
horrible prof. Doesn't care about what he's teaching and is very stuck up. Hard to follow during lectures because you end up counting how many times he says "again".
DO practice exams and midterms, watch YT and uni vids, he makes it more complicated than it is.
Tests = fair game, some old test questions appear, which is a bonus if you have worked on some past tests. Slides are clearly labeled in terms of important concepts. Professor speaks clearly and thoroughly on topics. The overall course should be a flow IF you have spent at least some time reviewing notes, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, DOING a PAST TEST!
Horrible Professor, teaches the material in the worst way possible. If you want to hate econ and engage in zero critical thinking this is the class for you.
I took his course in winter 2021 and it was a huge mess.
Really good professor for ECO435. His class was like a seminar and were really engaging even if you missed some of the weekly readings. Advised to attend all the lectures as the prof summarizes and goes through the weekly readings/ the main idea the readings present.
Just so bad at explaining things, do not take his class.
this was his first year teaching 101, it should be his last. assignments were zero help other than boosting my final grade a bit. lectures were about the most simple version of each concept while problem sets and exams were not remotely close to that, textbook is absolutely useless. the least engaged prof ever... u can tell he hates his job
Being fair, it was his first year teaching the course. However, he drones on and on in class, repeating word for word some textbook material. However, if you pay attention he is fairly helpful. Not the worst, not the best.
Not very helpful. Lectures are kind of useful. Barely gives any practice questions, and test questions are often not related at all to practice questions. Look to use Gazzale's practice questions if you take his class.
His first year teaching 101, it should also be his last. Assignments are not even closely related to any midterm or final exam. Lectures overlook the depth of each topic, no calculations no nothing. Thus the content of problem sets or exams will be something you'll see for the very first time.
Marginal cost of attending lecture is greater than the marginal benefit
Prof. Brandt's lecture style is dull and unengaging. I found it a better use of my time to just stay at home and read the textbook. Also, we were given only a different prof (Gazzale)'s practice tests, so it was hard to prepare for Brandt's particular style of test writing. I ended up reconsidering my choice of econ as a double major.
First thing you should know: Loren does not care about you. His lectures are dull and boring, and the only thing you can do to improve your grade is switch profs. His lecture slides are helpful, but he clearly does not enjoy teaching students and only wants to discuss his weird obsession with China and Chinese students. Do not take a class with him
This professor struggles to effectively use the English language to articulate exam questions and deliver lectures. Practice questions were not indicative of the extreme difficulty of the midterm, and we all walked out of the exam hall in low spirit while other students from other professors had their heads up high. Simply unfair.
bro says too much "again" (literally) lil bro explains the theory in class(just read textbook bruhhhhh) tests are easier than other profs, get ready for curveball questions first test i got 80, but avg was like 55
Hey >:( It's his second year teaching this course and he's NOT EVALUATING. 👺👺👺 The first midterm average was 47 PERCENT. WITH A MEDIAN OF 47 PERCENT????? HELLO????? DOES HE WANT US TO FAIL. HE ONLY CURVED IT BY 13 PERCENT WHICH ONLY MAKES THE CLASS AVERAGE A 60 PERCENT... DO NOT TAKE THIS PROF AT ALL COSTS. I WOULD RATHER BE HELD BACK A YEAR.
Take this course!
Horrible prof, the questions and problems in the tutorials or his past papers are all useless. His exams are extremely unfair since half of it you haven't encountered. The material isn't that hard he's just a horrible test maker. Studying feels useless since most of his questions are curveballs.
-100/100 do not recommend. tests are tough af and his reading assignments are such a waste of time. spend all my time on econ and still getting low grade i guess its not my problem
If you want to waste your time and have a good laugh, take this class. He just repeats himself and flails his hands around pretending to be Bill Gates (when he's the furthest thing from it)
I don't think this class was too horrible as someone with no economics background but I mostly learned from the textbook as the lectures were kind of iffy. Prof. Brandt's tests are far more difficult compared to the other ECO101 profs so I would recommend a different prof but don't despair if you have him.
Lectures were kinda hard to follow and were not very comprehensive, so I basically just learned everything from the textbook the entire semester. Midterms were super hard, class average of 47 for the first on and 42 for the second, I think the lowest out of all the eco101 profs. Kinda crazy
Avoid this prof at all costs, especially if you're taking ECO 101. I thought maybe I was dumb but lo and behold the class average was awful as well. The course itself was poorly coordinated and nearly every test needed to be curved due to poor performances. His tests are nothing like the problem sets he gives.
avoid all costs for eco101, take one of the other 3 profs instead
Awful unrelated assignments worth 10% of our grade, the other 90% was for midterms/final. Never gave us any practice questions in class or outside of class. Never uploads annotated slides and slides always had mistakes.
Loren's lectures can be dry, but the textbook and resources like unstuck ai help fill in the gaps. Stay engaged, do the work, and you can get a solid grade despite his teaching style.
Prof Brandt teaching style is not great and it's difficult to stay concentrated because the lectures are very dull. You definitely need to seek out outside sources for help (like youtube videos, textbooks, etc). The midterms are extremely hard and students aren't given enough resources to prepare for the style of tests that Prof Brandt gives.
Very interesting and inspiring lectures. He is a renown expert on Chinese economic history. Lectures reflect that.
he shouldn't be a prof, he does not know how to teach and his lectures leave you with more questions than answers. Everyone failed in his class, even with the curve
He can't teach. His lectures are boring and nothing remain in my brain after class. Tests are difficult and long. He didn't give enough practice for students to prepare for the hard test. The average of this class is likely 60% of what other classes have. But the big curve saved me from drowning. Terrible experience.
Awful. He is clearly there for research funds and upper level/graduate students. Loren does not care about you or your success-- don't think you can magically change that. I think the only reason I even got a B+ was my epic TA, the textbook and the econ help centre-- NOT Loren. His lectures are very dry and he says 'again' SO much.
If you want to be confused about economics, this is the class for you. The professor shows no empathy in grading and often claims he has no time for questions. ECON101 here is taught as pure memorization of assumptions, with no real reasoning, leaving students more frustrated than informed.
I love him so much! He genuinely tries to make class engaging even in a 400 person lecture.
Boring lectures and incomplete lecture notes lol
we barely didnt get any material to study with and so u get screwed by the midterms
Harsh grader, if you want to graduate, don't take this course.
incomplete slides, boring lectures, little to no resources for study material, tough midterms. he made eco101 by far the hardest course ive taken this year
He's the final boss of economics. i bet he could even humble a mountain with his midterms but if u can survive, you will survive the nuclear war. He's good if u want to do major/specialist in econ but if you're taking eco101 as a prerequisite I'd probably opt for some other prof though the course is hard (huge understatement) across the board.
We only learn the most basic things in lectures, and he expects us to be experts and just know stuff, very hard midterms. His lectures were boring... 44 avg on midterm btw
Doesn't post anywhere near as much helpful studying material as Freitas, doesn't give out practice test answers until hours before exams and expects us to use ChatGPT to check our answers even though it is incorrect pretty frequently, and tests include terms that are never seen or explained in class. If you need to do Econ, go Freitas.
Big snooze fest and GPA drain. Nothing special.
Take it with anyone else but him!!!
The lectures weren't super helpful and the slides didn't have a lot of info. I only did well because I read the textbook/did a lot of problems.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
21%
Textbook Required
38%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.84 avg changeRatings by Course
ECO220
5.0
(1)ECO335
4.0
(1)ECO200Y
4.0
(1)ECO435
4.0
(4)ECO206
3.5
(13)Difficulty by Course
ECO206Y
5.0
ECO200Y1
4.7
eco101
4.6
ECO206Y1
4.5
ECO335
4.0