The worst class i have taken in UT, boring lecture and can't understand what he talks about, tons of homework and extremely difficult tests.

Professor Stinchcombe is no doubt a genius in his field. However he expects that all his students are prodigies just like himself. You understand nothing in class and basically on your own for all the exams. Unfortunately the class is mandatory for economics majors and also its his first time teaching this class. Very hard to pass.

His class is a joke. He did not care about his students at all. Never replies emails. He is too cool to create a submission like a canvas. PLEASE AVOID his class.

Absolutely the worse professor I have ever had. The guy rambles around talking about weird stories that don't make any sense and when he teaches is extremely unclear and uses examples that do not have any numbers. No question he is a smart guy but the way he teaches leaves the students with no understanding of anything. Tests are also impossible.

I have no idea how this class got an average review. Absolutely the worst class ever taken at UT beware. The exams are impossible the lectures arent helpful at all and whoever says you need good math skills to do well, that only works if you understand what the professors talking about. The man is definitely brilliant in his field but cant teach

Worst class ever. Can not describe concepts clearly at all. Have to self teach yourself. Completely on your own stay away at all costs if possible.

Barely any study material, tests and homework are pretty much left for you to figure out. If you go to class dont expect to to understand much unless youre very adept in calculus. Dude has interesting life stories though, if thats what youre into.

one of the worst lecturers I've ever had. Only a single homework has been graded this semester, and the tests and homeworks are so complicated and focus on concepts he's barely explained (if he's even talked about them).

Professor Stinchcombe seems like a well-intentioned guy, but this is probably the hardest class you'll ever take. Didn't really understand his lectures, and I'm on average an A Econ student. If you're a calculus God, and can absorb a textbook like a sponge, you'll be good, maybe...

This is the worst class I've ever taken. Lectures are 100% calculus (but only general cases with variables). Attendance isn't required, nothing is graded promptly, I have no idea if I have an A right now, F or what. I genuinely like his stories and he's not a bad guy, but be ready for IMPOSSIBLE assignments. I got an A in 329 but this is just ;////

Hes a smart dude, but I cannot stress enough how he cant teach. He was the only prof that fit into my schedule, and I regret it. I should have changed my entire schedule to not take him. Its hard material to entirely teach yourself. It literally took him until april 18th to grade my MT1, over five weeks after he said hed have it graded by.

I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT take this professor. You do not want to put yourself through his class. Change your whole schedule if you must. He does not know how to use Canvas well. His lecture style and explanations assume you have a vast knowledge of multivariable calculus and advanced concepts. You'll feel unsupported throughout the class

WORST CLASS EVER! Him and the TA were never on the same page. Went off on wild tangents (ex. a rant about how WWII could have been predicted with economics). Exams were open notes but didn't relate to course materials AT ALL. Apologized for not teaching the basics a few weeks before the end of the semester cause he hadn't taught undergrads in 30 yr

Many elements of this course you must learn entirely on your own as they are not taught in class but are heavily included on homework and exams. The materials provided to help learn the concepts are completely different from those taught in the textbook and other professors, so it is difficult to understand what homework problems are even asking.

Professor Stinchcombe is not a good professor. This is a tough class (regardless of which professor you have), and it is only made more difficult when you have to learn most of the material by yourself. The material "taught" in class is not similar to anything included in the homework.

He's very inconsiderate. Assigns exams even before a homework assignment (that the exam covers) is due. Lectures help 1% of homework problems. Avoid him at all costs.

Never reply e-mails, he and the TAs are never on the same page. Homework and exams hard as hell, not a single bit of usage for your future. Never take his class!!!!

Absolutely the worst professor I've ever had. Do not take him at all costs, he knows how hard his class is but doesn't care to do anything. Only positive is that he grades based on the amount of effort rather than 100% correctness. Current class average is around 50. Not much else except I mean it that you should just change majors if you get him.

Listen: This course is required as an economics major, and I don't think you should change your major bc of this course. Everyone's reviews about him are right, but it's not worth it to change your major esp if you truly care to be an econ major. It's a horrible class but he gives a huge curve at the end. I had close to a C and now have an A.

The hardest class I've ever taken. Stinchcombe is a cool guy and really intelligent. However, he's not a good lecturer and doesn't understand how to teach effectively. Most of the class dropped at the beginning or after our midterm. It seemed like he was out of touch with the class. I made poor grades the whole time but got an A- due to the curve

The worst professor you could possibly get. The material is not as complicated as he makes it out to be. Answer keys are often incomplete, and where there is an answer, it is often incorrect. Many hours have been spent attempting to make sense of his answer keys, to no avail. My friend changed his major because of this guy and was correct to do so.

One of the most inspiring professors that I have ever taken. I changed my entire major because of him. I even changed my religion after he destroyed my faith in god. Through his challenging answer keys, I have gained insight into the difficulty of learning a foreign language. Maxwell Stinchecombe has irreversibly altered the trajectory of my life.

Writing this the night before the first midterm, but can confidently say I have no idea what is going on in this class. Lectures have little to no correlation to the homework and the homeworks take a decent chunk of time to scramble to do, at least a few hours. I would say avoid taking him but he is the only one teaching this course.

The only thing that keeps me going in this class is our SI Zach because he literally does more for us than the prof. During lectures, the prof will just write and write while covering the board so its hard to catch up. Some days he just comes in with his coffee with no notes or anything to keep him on track so that should tell you about his class.

Don't take this class. The class is hard because he uses a lot of multivariable calculus when the prereqs are calc 2 and eco stats. Stinchcombe is a cool guy, but the homeworks are insanely hard, answer keys have "done in class as an explanation, and sometimes the TA doesn't even know how. The midterm average was 35/120, not counting the take-home.

midterm avg was a 35, textbook is not at all helpful. class is calc heavy but I don't think it's a prereq, lectures are hard to follow and answer keys for the very long homeworks (takes eons to do) are vague and confusing. the si zach is the only reason I understand even some of the concepts. he's a cool guy but I fear lecturing is not his calling

Absolutely terrible class, homework assigned every week and takes at least a few hours to do. Attendance is not mandatory and lectures don't really cover what is on the homework. You will have to rely on the textbook and online resources to teach yourself in order to do any of the homework. Just hoping for a C-

Just take 420k. Lectures in his ECO 420S class are not structured. Answer key to homework comes out after homework is due, answer key does not make any sense. Textbook barely helps with homework. Homeworks are long and take many hours to complete. If you take 420S, be prepared for uncertainty and stress.

Stinchcombe was a great professor in making me feel adrenaline by just walking into the room. This class had little to no enforced in-class communication, lectures were all over the place, and homework was very vague. The answer keys sometimes were incorrect. If you want to live, wait for another professor :(

Do not take this professor. If you do, drop the class the first chance you get. Nothing will ever be the same after a semester with Stinchcombe. I don't understand how a school like UT would allow someone like him to teach such an important course in economics. The midterm average was 20something / 130 something. DO NOT TAKE HIM.

This class has beaten me to the point where I don't want to do anything anymore. Never in my life have I ever felt so defeated, the unorganized structure and heavy work have defeated me to the point where God's grace couldn't even save me. If you care for your mental wellbeing, DO NOT take this class. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I lost.

The lectures make so much sense especially if you have 10 PhDs in economics from each of the Ivy Leagues. The homework is so short and the exams are so easy especially if this is the only class you are taking and can devote 10 hours a day to studying and worshipping economics!!

I have never struggled in a class more than this class with Stinchcombe. The exam is impossible to do well on with how he teaches and his handwriting is hard to follow in class. I would recommend self teaching outside of class to try to do well on exams.

He is indeed smart, but a tough professor. Don't wait until the last minute for homework; it takes 8-10 hours to complete. The dense reading and workload from other courses will have you working on homework last minute anyways. If you're considering working a job, don't. You'll need to dedicate hours to pass this class.

Average Grades on different stuffs: HW - C, Quiz - F, Exam - F

I've never experienced such stress in my life. :(

TAs for this course are definitely underpaid. They are paid same $ as other courses but suffer from overwork and spiritual dmg. A wage

I couldn't muster up the energy for this class. There is a large gap in most students' math knowledge and what Stinchcombe expects us to know. We received 4 remediation homeworks that still had no benefits. Beware of random quizzes. Assigned homework on the last day of class...I'm dead.

Lectures were hard to follow in the beginning of the semester but gradually got better and rarely, if ever, cover the content on the homework. The average on the tests were a 27%, if you walk into class a minute late he starts tweaking. Good luck to future classes, you're gonna need it.

Absolutely horrible professor; the lectures were filled with long tangents and were very surface-level relative to the time-consuming weekly assignments. The averages on these assignments were 50-60%, the average on the midterm was 27%, and the final was insanely difficult. Even with the adjusted grading scale, 1/3 of the class was still failing.

I could have just failed this class. I'm actually going to crash out.

He could just let me fail but instead give tons of HWs and tests. I'm touched.

In my years on this Earth, I never saw Jesus more until I attended this class. I fell to my knees, begging every night, hoping he could bring Salvation. Coming out of this class, barely on my last leg, I've concluded that I had to collect all of the religions on my side like it was an Infinity Stone to see the light. As the younglings say it: GGEZ

Not a good lecturer. Average on the Midterm was a 27. Didn't send us our final grades unless we emailed and asked. Expects you to read long chapters. Long HW assignments with insufficient answer keys. Class average before the Final was a 47. Hard to reach. Little/not very helpful review material. Seems like a sweet guy but would not recommend.

The class was very unorganized and the teacher admitted that he is known as disorganized by his peers. The readings and lectures were often loosely related to the homework questions, and it was rare that I left class with an understanding of what was lectured on. This was the first class I took in college that I did not receive an A in.

The fact that the university continues to let him fail this many students while being only professor offered for a required course for the major is beyond me

I can't imagine how he can continue to teach the class, from the second week of school there is a exam not a single multiple choice question is very difficult, even if you are very good at math, you must be the last to turn in the exam because he has a lot of difficult questions.

BE PREPARED TO FAIL. This is my second time taking the class. He should've stuck to torturing swimmers instead of students. Class average on Exam 1 last semester was like a 21. No amount of preparation will help you in this class. Since this class is required, I suggest changing your major before ever signing up for this class.

Evil, diabolical, dastardly, even (not him but this class). Like Sisyphus rolling his boulder up a double black diamond in oiled up slides on legos. Lectures and hw hard to follow, unforgiving grading. The A is possible if you go to class, take notes, beware pop quizzes, talk to the TAs, ABSOLUTELY LOCK IN. Miserable but doable, 441k is way easier.

This class was frustrating because I thought I had a decent understanding of the material and then failed every assignment. He explains things partially and never does practice problems that model what will be on the test. Concepts are relatively interesting.

Dr. Stinchcombe enjoys the sight of students suffering. Every day, I came into class mentally preparing myself for the worst. If you want to have a happy life, do not take.

I wouldn't wish this course on my worst enemy

I was one of the only students to go to class, spent 15+ hours on the homeworks, generally did better on the midterms than my friends and still only got a C (I am usually an A, A- student). He is a genius and unless you are too you wont be able to understand him. Go to SI it is the only way to survive this class and pray for a good TA.

The reviews aren't lying. This class is awful. The HW takes 9-12 hrs/week, the exam averages at a 30%, and there is no curve. Stinchcombe doesn't care about his students, his lectures are just pathetic and so disorganized, and the TAs are the only people holding the class together. An absolute nightmare. Made me change my major/trajectory. AVOID.

Absolutely terrible. I don't know how he has any ratings higher than 1. Doesn't care much for his students, which is obvious from the

He needs to be fired. Cusses at his students for being late to class, rambles on for 30 mins during lectures, writes too fast, and writes everything wrong (he will mistake formulas and symbols and write < instead of > and say the opposite of everything). Stinchcombe is the worst professor I've ever had.

I have never, in all my years of taking college courses, taken a class so particularly difficult. It is as if the life has been drained from my bones...and I am now a husk of who I once was. Calculus 2 is NOT at all sufficient for those taking this course. For the love of all that is holy, take a proofwriting class before this one May god help us

This class has taken every ounce of joy I had in my life. I have nothing left to give. To say that I am a shadow of my former self is a gross understatement. To say that I did not think about the sweet embrace of a bitter end would be an equally bitter lie. I am sorry for any who must take this course. Please, find happiness. Find joy. Live free.

I hate my life after this class. Please don't take it if you can help it. Change majors.

Please don't take it if you can help it. Change majors.

Absolutely evil class. People are begging to just pass and the TAs refuse to host review sessions, they take off points for no reason, and Stinchcombe shows bias on the final giving a curve only to the exams he likes the work on. Horrendous

By FAR the worst professor I have ever been victim to. Stinchcombe has an unrealistic expectation of the level of math his students know, all while refusing to properly prepare his students for the midterm and the god awful readiness check. He enjoys their suffering. Be prepared to suffer as this class is a massive speed bump for economics majors.

Dont even attempt this course. Wasted a whole semester to only end up dropping the course because Stinchcombe just wants to see his students fail. Multiple days on one homework and no partial credit on exams. Doesn't care about students success. Switch to BA now.

I just can't anymore. The class is hard unless you have a background in proofs. I would take calc 3 minimum. Take real analysis and maybe you'll understand his questions/symbols a bit better. Most of the struggle is reading and understanding the question. If you can understand the question, you'll know what proof to use. Praying to pass.

I came into class thinking that all of the reviews were over exaggerating it. I was so wrong, while innately Stinchcombe himself is a genuine person, he is the worst professor I have ever taken in my life. I have maintained my 4.0 up to this class but, as of right now a day before the final, I am just hoping to do well enough on the final to pass.

Terrible professor. Lectures consist of him yapping about random stories instead of actually teaching, hw and test questions are nothing like examples in class, hw answers posted consist of a sentence explaining how to solve it instead of actually showing how to solve it, and the half the practice tests posted r from 420K when this class is 420S.

Everything you've heard is true

The worst professor in the history of education!! Just please wait for them to get a different professor for the class, or just switch to BA economics please. You will thank me later!

Fails >50% the class, cusses out students for showing up 2 min late, rants about random stuff during lecture, assigns homework that take 20hrs to do, almost all assignments (including exams and cheat sheets) have typos/wrong info, some TAs grade harder than others

Stinchcombe is an awful professor & will drive you insane. He does not teach, he throws everything at you and says "figure it out, and if you can't, not my problem". The prerequisite math for this course is not enough to understand the material. Do not attempt this class. You will get nothing out of it and feel horrible about yourself by the end.

He discouraged student to the level that you will keep on doubting yourself and your value. He lied on the content to be covered on pop quizzes, lectures aren't helping your weekly heavy hw, tests are really hard especially when he took all credits off of a question where u got the right answer but you only got a notation mistake on exams.

Is the math really that hard? No, but Stinchcombe is such an incompetent lecturer that he forgets to actually explain topics that are integral to doing the assignments. The TAs are some of the most negative, pessimistic, defeatist individuals I have ever met, but they are why I passed. GO TO OFFICE HOURS OR YOU'RE COOKED

Don't expect to get an A unl

Cooked in all aspects. The hardest class I've ever taken. If you want to live a life, don't take this class.

This was by far the hardest class I have ever taken. I hope that our grades are curved by the department in retrospect after a few more years of this class existing. Insane amounts of homework and pop quizzes. Lectures go on tangents often. He encourages students to drop and the TAs are super depressed...killed any passion for Microtheory I had.

I would recommend avoiding taking Professor Stinchcombe. His lectures have very little to do with the textbook chapter and homework assigned. He claims to have dysgraphia, which unfortunately makes his lectures difficult to understand. I had issues with both him and his TAs responding to emails or Canvas messages.

Easily the worst class and professor I've ever had - avoid this class at all costs.

I passed the "readiness test" but this course is extremely challenging and most of it is due to the professor, on the first day he prided himself on being disorganized at his collogues (and students) expense. Lectures were convoluted and hard to learn from. This course made me reconsider a lot of things and I ended up having to switch my major.

I ranked in the top 0.1% of China's college entrance exam. I taught myself this lesson because the professor's lecture was a complete mess. I put in the effort and ended up with an A-.

I feel bad writing this review because I know Stinchcombe is a nice person, but this class is nearly impossible. I don't even have advice in retrospect. His head TA is extremely rude and it is beyond me that the department is allowing this.

Just an evil class. The midterm that I spent weeks studying for has ruined my entire academic trajectory. The TA held a review session and lied to everyone about what to study. They want you to fail. UT could be the top Econ program if it wasn't for this class.

This is a class that you have to take in a semester by itself if you want to have any kind of life whatsoever. You must spend at least 25 hours a week on the content and homeworks in order to pass. The expectation in this class is for complete mastery of extremely heavy and in depth PhD-level economic theory and proofs (according to GPT 5.0).

I used to be happy before this class. Homeworks take so long and the material is extremely confusing, and the lectures are so hard to understand. I studied for like 20 hours in the days leading up to the midterm and got a 6. This class has made me feel like a failure. It doesn't matter how bad you want it, so people just don't have it. Switch to BA

Exams average in the 20s, homework takes forever even with help, lectures are unclear, and TAs can be unhelpful. This class is required, but it's incredibly difficult and discouraging; you may feel like a failure. Wouldn't recommend unless you have no choice. Switch to BA or make this class your entire life for a few months.

Evil class, beware

Unfathomably evil class. Stinchcombe makes the exams ridiculously hard. TAs are difficult. His lead TA is notorious for making students feel stupid for asking questions. Everyone involved should be fired.

I cannot believe I pay thousands of dollars for this disaster. I have no issues taking a challenging course, that's what I pay tuition for. I do have a problem with a terrible professor who doesn't teach, makes exams nothing like the content covered in class, and fails so many competent people. UT should forget about money & tenure and fire him.

I write this review while I am pulling an all-nighter for his HW. HW's take hours and when I say hours, I mean HOURS. I get that this is a challenging course, but his HW's are ridiculously long and hard. TA's grading is harsh, and for WHAT. I thought I was smart, NOPE. I thought I worked hard, NOT ENOUGH. I question my sanity every. single. day.

The only reason I'm doing ok is because of gpafactory and SI sessions. Stinchcombe loves to fear monger over using gpafactory, but just do it. The TAs, lectures, and office hours are so unhelpful.

This class has ruined my mental health beyond belief. Praying to sweet jesus I end up passing because I cannot ever go through this again.

This is just the worst class you will ever take straight-up. As a 4.0 student and someone who got an A in this class, just swap to a BA to avoid this at all costs. At no point did I have even a moderate understanding of the material thanks to his ridiculous overload of homework (14 pages and double digit hours every week). Please trust me, avoid...

Do not take this class....

A joke of a class. The professor has no idea how to teach and makes even simple topics convoluted for his own enjoyment. Terrible teacher, way too much work, and no learning at all. Don't take this class, switch your major unless you want a full time job as a single class. Needs to be fired or retire for everyone's sake

Single handedly ruined my semester and killed any and all of my academic motivation

Worst professor I have ever had. He will make you hate economics 100%.

Terrible Professor. Single-handedly bringing down the entire economics department with this class. He will make you suffer for his own pleasure.

Smart and interesting dude, but completely detached from what an undergraduate economics student is capable of doing. Homeworks is incredibly hard to the point that even ChatGPT messes up. Moreover, it's as if every question is different from the last. The TAs are also just as bad, having no structure to their OH. Switch to BA, employers don't care

To the people who are taking it next semester and think they are different and will do good on this class you are so wrong. I have met some of the smartest most dedicated people in this class and many are currently failing. Do yourself a favor and do not take this class. VERY HARD exams, RIDICULOUS HWs and lectures are a joke.

Genuinely disappointed in this class. The material is actually very interesting if you are math inclined and like econ, but the professor makes it miserable. Extremely time consuming and discourages learning any material which is a shame because it has potential to be a great class. Good luck if you have to take him, it will drain the life from you

THE WORST CLASS EVER. DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS UNLESS YOU ARE GOOD AT MATH

I went to all the lectures but it just seemed like the lecture material wasn't ever on homework or tests, especially after the first midterm. Went to half of the SI sessions and both the SI test review sessions (super helpful). Stinchcombe isn't a terrible person, but he's a terrible professor. I know y'all gotta take this cuz BS requirement /:

I broke up with my bf and had to start taking beta blockers bc of this class. I got an A but at what cost. I'm traumatized.

May God help you all.