2.3
Quality3.6
Difficulty67%
Would Retake136
Reviews67%
Would Retake
136
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
136 total ratings5
18
4
14
3
22
2
44
1
38
What Students Say
“I went in with 100% and came out with 80%”
ECON321 - 1.0 rating“Why isn't there a tag that says 'LOVES TO SCREW YOU OVER'”
ECON101 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
61%
Textbook Required
84%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.02 avg changeRatings by Course
ECONOMETRICS421
5.0
(1)ECONOMETRICS
5.0
(1)ECON651
5.0
(1)ECON341
5.0
(1)ECON202
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
421
5.0
ENVS201
5.0
E321
5.0
ECON
5.0
321
4.5
Reviews (135)
midterms ridiculously long, final exam excessively hard. do the homework he assigns and u'll stand a better chance. he'll answer ur emails promptly and help u if u go to his office but classes are sometimes hard to understand and not very clear. don't buy the textbook - NOTHING comes from there.
His lectures are useless when it comes to what we need to know for the midterms and exams. Lectures are not at all clear, all he does is copy his notes from his paper onto the board. Difficult to set up office hours with him, its his time or no time. Tests were difficult, and reflected "homeworks" questions, not the lecture material. Avoid this pro
Despite the sordid comment by the previous individual, Dr. Packalen is one of the finest Economists with a world class status. He is a helping hand during class and midterms that significantly increases your intuitive capacity when it comes to actually understanding applications and theory. His teaching methodology prepares you to be a professional
after 221 and 321 I never wanted to take 421, but i had to. it seems that the (-) comments are silly; people who say (-)'s are those that are lazy and ones (some of the times) plagiarizing a fun summary in an Assgnmt and deffering exams w/ doc's note for chronic laziness. MP is the pillar of Econ for bring'up standards to that of MIT/Berkeley. easy
He's strange! And it's pointless going to this class in particular...I yet have to go to him during his office hours so will update you guys when I do.
No Comments
The upper year classes find him useless, and he is no better in the 201 class. I seemed to walk out of the final exam memorizing the homework questions, but knowing no more economics as when I started ECON 201. Avoid taking this class if you want to learn any economics.
I agree that this prof is bad. He does not understand what he is explaining, does not care about students and treat us bad. He is never around also. Avois his classes
Bad excuse for a prof: doesn't understand what he is teaching and does not care about students at all. It is also funny to read his comments about himself (5th and 6th ones down) because noone else will say anything good about him
Simply a bad prof. I would avoid him if I were you. does not care about students at all.
totally agreed, he or his monkeyboyTA definitely wrote those lame comment, avoid his course at all cost. damn i was think about doing econometrix option, i changed my mind after got in his course, gonna take finace instead. commend: rude, lame, boring, cranky, cantankerous, unhelpful, inexplicit, his opposite, think of John Bribidge
A little rough around the edges, but overall, the man knows what he is doing.
The pleasant comments are too pleasant, and the harsh too harsh. He is a very smart man, and he teaches in a way that is easily understood by the willing mind. However, the homework and midterm material is beyond the bounds of both the text and the lectures and he seems to prefer to bell grades rather than the students' knowledge.
He will ruin your average! His is a horrible prof, unable to teach. All the pleasant comments are written by him trying to deceive you! Don't fall for it.
switching to sociology now, this guy really ruined my average... his tests are hard and his attitude is unbearable
The worst and very dissapointing prof!
No Comments
I ended up with an okay mark from the course, but i didn't feel that i actually learned anything from it. There's something terribly wrong when the prof admits that "the material is boring" during one of his classes.
Each assignment took me at least 10 hours to complete. The concepts were difficult to understands and the prof demands way too much from his students.
Well if you see him teach a course, run away. He is such a bad prof and so unfriendly, rude, unhelpful. Oh yeah, he is never around and when he is, he talks to you while standing at his doorsteps. This guy is THE WORST prof I have ever had at UW. Do yourself a favour and stay away from him.
Please do yourself a favour and NEVER take a class with him. He is so bad, rude, arrogant and has an attitude problem. I had him also for Econ 321 bec I had no choice. He has been horrible in all classes. Oh BTW he is NEVER around and it is true when he is, he talks to you in the corridor. The award for the worst prof goes to him hands down.
I will feel bad if I don't write something here, and see more students register into his course. This prof is THE WORST "person" ever. Here, I use person, because he is not only a bad bad prof, but not a respectable prof either!!!!!!! He told me in person that he doesn't believe in "fairness". So if you respect your self and your gpa, avoid him!
After finishing his class in full, i decided that he is most definitely a very smart man but a very bad teacher. His lectures are confusing and irrevelant to the homework and exams. I think when he learns how to teach and developes sympathy for the struggleing student, the difficulty of his classes will be encourageing instead of frustrating.
Very poor teaching skills. He hates answering important questions like where the exam will be taken or what chapters will be covered. Told a guy in class that he was an idiot.
One of the rudest person I have met in my entire life!! He is by far the worst prof ever. Check his ratings, everyone thinks he is bad. I think somebody should stop him from insultng students. He is the idiot not us! Avoid him.
Handsome, cool accent, makes you want to go to class every week (!?!) On a more serious side, textbook not directly helpful, handwritings can be messy, final is easy to prepare for, my year got two chances at writing the final, which is a sweet deal however you look at it
don't bother going to his classes.. they're dumb. he doesn't really teach with the textbook either, so don't bother buying that or reading it. his exams are the same as his assignments, which he posts solutions for. so prepare yourself and learn the course through the assignments. do yourself a favor, stay at home and learn from ace!
I don't understand how everyone thinks this prof. sucks. He isn't the best prof. I'll give you that but econ201 isn't exactly the most fun subject. He does a good job with giving visual examples and explaining things. His tests are pretty easy if you do the assigned homework but his exam is a bit more difficult. The textbook is pretty much useless.
Well everything that is said about this prof is true and he is even worse in Econ 211. He is rude, does not explain well and thinks we are all stupid. I am dropping this course because of him. I can't take insults on a regular basis. Do not take any class with this guy.
He is just an unfair professor who happens not to know how to teach but knows so well how to insult people and treat them like dumb***. I heard there were so many complaints about him in the pass. If he keep this up there will be more.
This guy is absent minded and very cold. Completely unapproachable and calls students stupid in class. I would avoid him if you care about your career or mark.
Excellent Professor. World class, indeed.
Awesome!
do ur hmwk and ull do good in class
Well can you get a worse prof or what? He is useless, arrogant and so unhelpful. The only thing good about his class is that he gives you the questions on the exams before and you can even get the answers from him. You don;t learn anything but you still get a good grade. Otherwise he is a such an ****
I took 421 with him. He lectures are boring and are mostly copied notes from paper. He did not seem to know how to use the computer.He gives you the questions on the final exam and the answers seem to be circulating among students. I got a good mark but I didn't learn much as it was mostly memorization and not true understanding.
Took 421 in the fall. Starting going to class, but the lecture style is very dry and boring so I stopped. I just got some old questions circulating and aced the final. I didn't learn much however. I wish we did more real world learning and less memorization. I never talked to the professor but I have heard horror stories-in any case I did well
An interesting man to say the least, the lectures were sometimes interesting and sometimes boring. Prof Packalen appears to have his own "right" answer in mind when he asks questions and does not want to deviate from it much. He seems to have a thing for people who basically paraphrase the book but nothing else.I can't honestly say I learned much
The class was crazy easy. All the midterms and even the fianl were basically given to you before hand. He would use the same questions just different numbers. He never gave the answers out cause he said he would then make the course harder. Was really helpful in office hours and made you work through your own problems. Some modules over 100 slides
Lectures are boring and written out. Hand writing is hard to read - avoid this man, he'll give you a random mark.
Went to a few classes, but could not understand his style of lecture. He was unsympathetic to me and was a bit condescending. Not recommended at all.
Treat you as if you are a bunch of morons. Told us that we were stupid. This man is terrible and should not allowed to teach at waterloo. Avoid him at all costs or fire him!
A smart man, but has no people skills. Mean spirited, and doesn't answer emails. Talks to you in a weird way. Not a good prof.
A smart man, but has no people skills. Mean spirited, and doesn't answer emails. Talks to you in a weird way. Not a good prof.
Stay away. Believe what other grad students said!
I heard horror stories. The class before did horribly, but in my year, Prof Packalen gave out the answers and sample tests so everyone did well. The average was really high but I didn't learn much.
Mr. Packalen certainly does have in mind what he views is the 'right' answer. He seems to thrive on demeaning his students by calling them stupid or idiots and has really messy hand writing! Stay away -- a complete disaster.
A true genius. Expect Prof. Packalen to revolutionize the field in the days to come, and perhaps even be a Nobel Laureate.
Very nice prof, very easy. Gives us problem sets and then uses almost the exact questions for the midterms and exams; he just changes the names and values. You don't necessarily need to go to class. May not learn much but you can easily get a good mark. First class I've been in where it is very possible to finish with 100!!!
An interesting man. Very mysterious. It seems sometimes he's hard and sometimes he's easy. Just get some old solutions circulating and you'll be good to go. He marks harder in the upper courses...so be warned!
Stay away. I had this man and I did not learn anything. Make sure you get the solution set that is circulating. He takes it easy on this course...usually.
Just get the old notes from a friend and you'll do fine -- no need to go to class. He sometimes replies to emails, but it can take a while and appears to be random.
don't pay attention to the ratings he has on his website. Notice he excluded 2006 -- that was my year. He completely killed the class and hence did not put that rating on his website....
Very hard to understand. Talks to himself and the white/blackboard.Has large loopy writing and likes to give sarcastic answers to his students. Avoid him and take it with Sen or Burbidge. Mikko will make you regret it otherwise and he'll be happy to do so.
Professor Packalen is unapproachable and does not answer emails. He'll be sure to make a sarcastic remark regarding your intelligence and the worst part is, he is TRYING to put down the struggling student. Believe what all the other students said and STAY AWAY!
Has a harsh attitude -- acts like he's a Nobel Laureate. dont get on his bad side.
Takes an efforts-based approach to teaching. Basically, if you do the assigned homework problems and master the art of memorizing solution steps, you'll ace the course. At the end of it all, it's unlikely you'll learn anything though. The professor does do a decent job of communicating but presents the material in a condescending fashion. Enjoy.
Not bad, not great. Likes to take an approach that re-enforces memorization of steps in his solution. Overall, ok. Didn't really spark my interest in econ, but didn't crush it either.
do the assignments and memorize like crazy. don't get on his bad side...and you'll do ok.
Like others said - takes a 'efforts' based approach. Basically, people end up sharing solutions with each others, or use old solutions from classmates and just memorize. If you want to learn something, take it with a different prof.
If you're willing to take teh insults and demeaning comments, you should be ok. Just don't ask anything "obvious" or else watch out!
Very easy class!! Just make sure you study from the problem questions he gives you and you don't need to go to class. He has a bit of an accent but he wants you to do well, even though he can be patronizing and rude to you and not very helpful. Wasn't helpful when I went for help. Luckily, the material was easy enough to learn on my own.
The easiest teacher I've ever had, easily scored 100%. His notes are the most confusing notes ever, had to google a lot of stuff b/c it just didnt make sense. Didnt buy textbook and theres no need
You can either do really good or really bad. His way of marking is really different from other profs...beware.
Just writes out his lectures notes -- gives assignments and solution sets. I didn't learn a thing but an easy A if you work. Hard to find and sometimes ignores emails...
you won't learn much and he'll pretend he likes teaching when he doesn't...just get some old solutions circulating and you'll do fine -
I got the feeling he thought I was stupid -- and I was being talked down to....very hard to find even @ Office hours. I was disappointed that he keeps getting to teach classes. Stay away if you value your GPA
he's ok...not great but not horrible -- just parrot his answers and repeat what he says to you on the exam and you'll do fine...ignore all teh haters.
vry hard to understand. Likes to assign "homeworks" ...sometimes answers are too "obvious" for him to address them in class. Talks about patents a lot
Took this class recently and it was a nightmare. Just writes down random notes on the white/blackboard and always makes sarcastic remarks. Avoid him like the plague.
i don't get why his comment down there were so bad...i think he is a great prof....sometimes he may make some mistakes but overall is ok. just attend the class, u will understand the concepts. do his problem sets and you will get a really high mark
I have no idea way his rating is so low. as long as you do his "homeworks" you can get 100 (final grade) in his class. Only questions in the homework shows up in midterms/Final. attend class will give you a clear uderstanding of what's going on.
He's ok...not great, but not horrible...just do what he says, and follow along.
An interesting fellow. seems to focus on certain types of problems -- do his 'homeworks' and you should be ok...there are lots of ppl with solutions around
I think he's an ok prof.
a typical prof, neither good nor bad
Easy 100 as long as you do the study question, and study questions are straight forward if you read his notes. Class is useless.
Just do his problems, he's so easy. His exam will be just like his 'homeworks'. Easy A+.
he's a cool dude from Europe. He can come across as cocky, but he means well. Just don't succumb to his insult and you'll be fine. Advice: just get some old problems and practice
just do his homework and you will be fine!
Best econ prof @ UW.
straitforward but boring. No tricks with Mikko -- just memorize.
class attendance not required to do well. Just practice a bunch of problems he gave you and you'll do well.
he's not bad, I'd suggested Sen or someone else over him. That way, you'll actually learn something
An interesting, efforts-based approach to Econometrics. Quite the lecturer. Practice the practice problems and u should do ok
If you want get 100, take his course. If you want to learn something useful, avoid him! You learn so little from from his course.
Ok, but a bit pedantic. Uses a lot of sarcasm to 'encourage' his students. Not great, not bad
Not a very inspiring professor, but just known his 'homeworks' and you should do ok.
Doesn't give good answers to questions at office hours.
He gives good examples in class and in his lecture notes and posts full solutions to the homework online. offers plenty of opportunity to do well, do the homework and you will be fine.
Lots and lots of 'homeworks'. Exams are similar -- not bad, but not inspiring either.
Straightforward , but boring. Do his exercises and you should be ok.
Practice makes perfect! Try not to offend him and you'll be ok.
Hard and not friendly. Do not take with him.
He's ok -- just do his homeworks and u should be fine.
A basic class. He's straightforward and a bit boring. Skip class and just do the problems.
Not great or bad...
He realizes the absurdity of modern education, and is not afraid to show it. He wants you to learn for the sake of learning, not to write exams. Distant and strange, but that can be attributed to his Nordic background. Overall, his class was interesting and enjoyable. I question the utility for future classes, but not for life or graduate studies
he's ok. Lacks a lot of enthusiasm to teach an upper year class. Secretly, he doesn't seem interested in his students, but seems to accept his job as a prof and his duty to teach.
A fascinating man with a flare for the wild side in teaching. Unorthodox methods of learning but interesting nevertheless. Watch out for the curve balls he throws. He loves the word 'homeworks'.
A good prof that tries to encourage those who actually want to learn and not memorize. A little rough on the edges but fine otherwise.
He gives lots of problems and expects you to know them. He wants you to learn more than just to pass a test but says things to hurt students' feelings and discourage them from participating. Take 321 with Sen instead if you want to learn Econometrics from a guy who loves to teach.
First of all, I could barely understand what this guy was saying. Secondly, he would give out homework problems, but no solutions! Also, he would TELL you how to arrive at solutions, not TEACH you how to do it which was not helpful at all. Lastly, he tested the same material over and over again, not incorporating new material learned.
I was interested in Microeconomics, but after this class, I need to reconsider. No solutions were provided and his 'hints' were not helpful at all. This prof clearly does not like teaching.
Hands on not just theory
Exams are easy you will be fine as long as you do the problem set, helpful after class, not very inspiring tho
knows his stuff, first half of the course is simple, and he is helpful during office hours too, take his class if you want to do upper years economics ... second midterm and final are killer, especially since all the other profs do multiple choice and he does short/full answer .. do the problem sets as prep, they come with solutions
I LOVE this guy! He doesn't rely on the textbook or do multiple choice, so you actually get to learn stuff and apply it. Always do his "homeworks" because the exams are exactly the same (albeit harder). This guy is one of my favourite profs!
Easy course, do the problem sets. Not very helpful during office hours. Tells you to do a lot of extra work to get a good grade. Hate how the exam questions are at most out of 3, very little potential on getting part marks.
he likes to talk about lots of application questions which i think they are not helpful and I don't get the point why he spends half of his class talking about these questions, instead of teaching the theories and required stuff for exams. and some questions in his exams are confusing.
Very dry lecture style. Too much focus on applications and not enough theory.
Quirky and sporadic, he gives a lecture he knows he must give, but lacks the enthusiasm to inspire his students. Random marking scheme and strong, thick, hard to understand accent. Caveat emptor.
He uses a lot of big picture discussions in class, but fails to cover the things that matter. Much of the theory and mathematical components needed for the course were either skimmed over or not covered at all during lecture. He is usually dismissive and not helpful during office hours. Just a bad teacher in general.
He makes challenging exams, wants students working hard, but sometimes it is not like he wants; in other words, he cannot understand students' minds.
Beware! I went in with 100% and came out with 80%. This man gives a final with 4 questions, and an all-or-nothing marking scheme for each question.
Why isn't there a tag that says 'LOVES TO SCREW YOU OVER'
He post literally EVERYTHING online, including course notes, class slides and suggested problem sets, which means that it is okay to skip a couple of classes (I skipped three in total). He has a Finnish accent and sometimes can be confusing. He gives short answer test, but if you do the problem sets you will be absolutely alright, I got 95 :).
I like him very much! He does not follow the textbook and has his own materials posted online. His materials are much funnier and easier than the textbook. Tests are like the homework. Though he has a Finnish accent, he clarified everything clearly on the powerpoint. Also, he is hot in every possible way. Take his ECON101, you won't regret.
it was tough at the first place to understand the concepts. textbook is useless. prof is very guiding. different test compare to other sections do problem sets and attend lectures, you will be fine! very good guiding of econ content! vey inspirational and useful foundation for economic majors!
His classes are totally different from all other sections. Long answer mid-terms and final. Questions go 1 (ABCD) and if you don't get A right you can't get BCD right. Slides are boring, no colour. Not very good at explaining problems. No textbook use at all. Seriously don't even know what I learned ... Nothing related to ECON forsure.... AVOID!
Make sure you do the problem sets before midterms. Do the past final exam carefully before the final. Then you will get a good mark.
only take this class if you have a strong calculus background, and you do not need any extra help. He does not use a textbook, or have a TA, and there is no student learning group for his section, and he is cold and distant in person. BEWARE. its hard to get help. questions are confusing, and full of spelling, math, and grammatical errors.
Mikko is the best. His "homeworks" or problem sets will prepare you well for the midterms and final. Most ECON 101 classes have multiple-choice exams; Mikko only does short answer. Especially if you're in math or engineering, you won't regret taking Mikko's class. And he doesn't use the textbook at all. Score.
I hope my idea could help you decide whether taking this course or not. Prof. Packalen is one of the hardest professor in Econ department. If you do not need dive too deep, there are many 101 section available. If you need to take more Econ course in future, he will help you build a decent background.
do the problem sets as long as you understand them inside out you're guaranteed an 80
The lectures were based off of what he wanted to teach (the coordination between ECON 101 sections is not very good.) He taught us stuff that no other ECON 101 class was learning. This is a lot easier if you're in math or engineering, but if you're in Environment (like me) then you will most likely be screwed. Make sure your math skills are fresh.
For all the negative reviews, Packalen put a lot of effort into making the class compelling, and I got more out of his class than my peers did with other profs. He can be a bit confusing at times, mostly with the examples he provides, but there aren't many that fall into that category. Has bellcurve, and TA's mark fair. Helped a lot for ECON211.
Great prof if your a math student! Mikko focuses on formulas, graphs and understanding the content, while the other sections focus on memorization. His exams are short answer but are mostly calculations. No textbook or readings assigned. I'm a math student and I'm finding this course vey easy, but if you aren't good at math take another section
I think Mikko is just great. I found his lectures interesting and the assignments helped us prepare for the midterms. Very generous marking scheme. He's also very good to go over any questions during office hours. You'll get out what you put in with Mikko.
Packalen is great, but you MUST attend his classes. Consistently doing, and perfecting the problem sets is what will decide your grade in this course. You will most likely get a really good mark on his first midterm. BUT dont let that fool you, the exams only get harder. DONT STUDY THE NIGHT BEFORE OR YOU WILL FAIL!
Ok as a CS major who's in all 3 advanced, I'm saying this is the most cancer prof I've taken ever. Literally, doesn't follow textbook, doesn't give you useful notes, extremely weird order of teaching, no question bank, and literally a 20-mark exam :) So if you want to take Econ101 as a bird course, DO NOT FREAKING TAKE THIS PROF. YOU WILL THANK ME.
Totally killed my average. He really needs to put what he teaches into the exam. He also needs to start giving partial marks. Taking whole marks off for a small math mistake doesn't mean I lack knowledge of economics. His exams (out of 20) and marking style ruin his appeal as a professor.
nice professor! Always giving a good mark
No textbook use, so don't buy one. Lectures are incredibly boring (maybe because they were 6:30-9:30 at night: YMMV), but midterms and exams are pulled directly off of problem sets. All short-answer exams, but exactly the same material as examples in class and problem sets.
Terrible, tests have questions that are not taught or on practice sets, he himself is rude and cannot take any critique. Lectures are very rough as well, non-informative and provides you with little to nothing. I have done 3 tests so far and know nothing about the course. We receive our tests back on the floor which is where he lays it for taking.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
61%
Textbook Required
84%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.02 avg changeRatings by Course
ECONOMETRICS421
5.0
(1)ECONOMETRICS
5.0
(1)ECON651
5.0
(1)ECON341
5.0
(1)ECON202
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
421
5.0
ENVS201
5.0
E321
5.0
ECON
5.0
321
4.5