3.0
Quality2.8
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake121
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
121
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
30
4
22
3
29
2
22
1
18
What Students Say
“i HIGHLY suggest that you avoid this professor as much as possible”
ECON102 - 1.0 rating“take this class if you have extremely good hearing, vision, and speak italian”
EC102 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
0%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.07 avg changeRatings by Course
ENG101
5.0
(1)COS126
5.0
(1)EC101
4.7
(3)EC502
4.5
(2)102
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ECON102
4.0
ENG101
4.0
EC102EC202
4.0
EC502
4.0
EC202
3.7
Reviews (121)
take this class if you have extremely good hearing, vision, and speak italian. His slides are impossible to see no matter where you sit, he does not speak clearly or loud enough despite numerous students attempts to get him to do so, and sometimes his thick italian accent is difficult to understand.
hes a very bad teacher, he confuses himself, he pretends that the reason you could think hes a bad teacher is cz of his accent, but hes just a bad teacher. he just reads off of his impossible to see slides.
Honestly, the worst professor I've ever had at BU. Thick Italian accent, stumbles through explanations, unhelpful and overpriced textbook. Threatens students with possibility of removing lecture slides online and unprofessionally curses in lecture. Terrible professor; don't waste your time!
I don't find him hard to understand, but I can see where others would. What bothers me is that he spends way too much time cover the introductory ideas and if you are interested in learning economics you should find another professor.
Great professor ! The secret is participate in his class, so you learn, he is really interest to teach the students.
He tries hard to explain but ends up confusing us sometimes . Although his accent might make his lecture unclear, it is understandable. Tests are not hard if you go to his class.
Italian whine
While his accent may be hard to understand, his concepts are even harder. He often confuses himself, and puts the wrong information on the slides.Go to the discussion sections. Although the TA's dont know what he's saying either, they make the class much clearer.
I love him. He's so cute. I had never taken econ before, and he helped me to understand concepts really well. He really tries hard to make his students understand. Probably that's why so many people do well on his tests. His slides say everything, TFs not good, takes material from the book.
This guy needs to go. I became dumber after taking his class. He's new so I'll cut him some slack when it comes to his lecturing, but when you don't proofread your slides and make major mistakes on them, that's a problem. Don't they teach you to do that when giving a presentation ... in undergrad?
He is understandable,but he made serious mistakes on HW solution,lecture slides, midterms and final, which are very confusing and annoying.The TF is more helpful than him.HW are helpful for the exams. Because of his Italian accent,he sometimes stick his tongue out when he talks.And Over-priced book
Ironically, his Italian accent may be the most interesting thing in class...lectures are dull, makes many mistakes on slides, problem sets, exams, etc. He will correct them, but we watched him click "Discard changes" on his powerpoints way too many times.
I agree with the previous posts; he earnestly tries hard to teach us, but he makes MANY confusing mistakes. TF was much clearer. Tests were easy; content was introductory. Take another prof if you plan to major in econ
Worst professor I've had at BU. Avoid at ALL costs! Expensive, poorly written book used. You're suppose to supplement the book with the embarassments he tries to pass off as lecture slides. TF wasn't helpful either.
HE IS HORRIBLE- contrary to what some raving lunatic said on this page, people do horribly on his tests. There are errors on every midterm he has given and on the final. He copies his slides from the textbook, yet he still manages to get things wrong, confuses himself regularly and his TF's are even worse than he is. Will result in your GPA falling
Soffritti is a horrible professor. This class is an easy A if you can teach yourself from the books and lecture notes, but if you need help to understand concepts in lecture don't take this class. I recommend going to discussions and taking the exams, lectures are pointless.
lectures are terribly boring, tests are pretty easy; however, sometimes they are not grammatically correct and questions are hard to understand, my TA happened to be really good, so the only thing worth while was going to discussion...oh yeah, and sometimes he did not know the answer to students questions...that's questionable
Not too bad for an intro to Macro class. Just read through the chapters the night before and you'll be fine! He does have a thick accent, and amkes grammatical mistakes, but you don't really have to go or you can just do other homework during his class!
Contrary to many of these reviews, his accent isn't so bad and he really does try to help students understand. The exams were fairly easy if you read the book and go to discussion. Not the best professor I've had, but certainly not the worst. I think the grading in this class was very fair, considering only 50 out of 300 students came to lecture
Soffretti is a difficult character to review, because he excels in some areas while lacking in others. If you bother to go to lectures, read the book, and do what youre expected to do, the class is easy. If you had trouble understanding the basic concepts of economics, however, you will not do well. Ultimately, you are resposible for your own grade
he was awful
I don't doubt he's a smart guy, it's just that Soffritti CANNOT teach. His lectures are a mess and the book doesn't help at all. Relys on calculus WAY too much for a class that doesn't require any calc. After pointing this out, he changed the problem set, but the next one had 3 CALC PROBLEMS! Had to drop and take 202 with a better prof next sem
Poor guy... I liked him. He's pretty funny.
His accent is not that bad at all, but I didn't find lecture very helpful. I read the book and went to discussion. Lecture materials were way more confusing than just reading the book. He's a nice guy though.
his accent and grammar can be understood most of the time. the course is easy if you've studied micro before. tests are easy and studying from the text is enough...going to class is not! only real irritant is that sometimes test questions are confusing and vague!
i had no problem, you have to be an idiot not too understand his subject material
You get bad grades not because the material is hard, but because he asks ambiguous questions since he can't write in english. He's an idiot, don't waste your time. If this guy was dying of thirst in the desert, I wouldn't give him water.
HE sucks
it isn't his accent that throws you but the way he tries to EXPLAIN the concepts. discussion was the only helpful part of this course. he has no idea what he's doing though he has his PhD in Econ from BC. he makes so many inappropriate comments. read the book, go to class because he gives you hints on exams but bring a crossword puzzle with you.
Really funny guy.Unfortunately I only went to class to do the DFP crossword puzzle but he's a decent teacher if you pay attention and read the textbook.Otherwise you may be really lost.His grading system is pretty good, he drops the midterms if you do better on the final.
I was really interested in this class at the beginning, but his accent turned me off from it. He's impossible to understand. Read the book, his lectures just confuse you more.
HORRIBLE!
quite crappy. taught material that could not be found in the book and tests weren't even really focused on that. i thought the accent was interesting at first...but no. other professors please.
His tests are ambiguous and sometimes he doesn't even include the right answer as one of the choices...Find another prof. at all costs!
As long as you read the book, the problem sets and the slides online, you don't even need to go to class or discussion to get a good grade. The only thing you'll miss in lecture is when he tells a joke and he's the only one laughing.
Wow. Do NOT take this teacher. You get bad grades because of his english; the questions are so ambiguous and the right answer isn't even included in the choices sometimes.
Ok, those comments about his lack of clarity is not true. I thought he was very clear during the lecture, and also helpful with further questions. Considering there were many students not coming to the class, his lectures and exams are more than fair.
everyone i run into has failed and had 2 retake , he needs to learn english so that he can word his tests correctly. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS
Horrible professor, unclear, not helpful. He makes simple material ambiguous.
He is a great teacher, his accent is not an obstacle at all because he knows what his talking about.
really unreasonable and impossible to get in touch with... good luck if you have him... his grading is ridiculous
I have to say that this class was awful. The professor sends mixed messages and does not even have a full grasp on the subject he is supposed to be teaching. He is an awful lecturer and all his notes and informatino that should be brought away from class can be accessed from the coursepage, completely negating a need to attend lectures.
Terrible Professor. Don't even think of taking him under any circumstances. Problem Sets are ridiculously long and test questions make no sense. His lectures make no sense and he is not helpful for anything.
excellent professor very good
His lectures were pretty unclear, and I never understood the points he was trying to make. I did terrible on the first two tests, but if you do better on the final than on the midterms, the final counts for your full grade. Basically I memorized all his lectures/problem sets and managed to pull off a B on the final. But I still don't understand.
Pretty good teacher, very easy class if you took micro first, tests are straight from lecture notes which are posted online, however i would still reccomend going to lecture anyway.
He doesn't know how to get points across in lecture. He is a bit aloof.
I study Italian before and I know that sometime are difficult to understand. But you have no excuses in this class. He lives in that hugly office. If is not in class as office hours. It's the second time I take ec 102, and this time I learned something. nice dude!
the worst class i have taken so far. he is hard to understand, doesnt present information fairly enough..ie moves quickly. i read the bad comments and thought it wouldn't be problem BUT IT IS people with other professors do much better in EC102 avoid him at all cost. he helped me when i was failing but is still weird. says inappropriate things
the worst class i have taken so far. he is hard to understand, doesnt present information fairly enough..ie moves quickly. i read the bad comments and thought it wouldn't be problem BUT IT IS people with other professors do much better in EC102 avoid him at all cost. he helped me when i was failing but is still weird. says inappropriate things
i like how in the comment 2 below this one the person who likes him can't speak english either. i transferred out of CAS because of this man.
two midterm exams with 25 multiple choice questions. one final with 50 multiple choice questions. ALL material is from the book and is on course info.. don't need to go to lecture, read the book and look at slides online. plus he gives sample midterms and helpful problem sets.. oh and his accent isn't bad at all
I took EC102 and EC202 with him. I thought he was awful in the first one, but it was the big class lecture setting. You can't learn anything with 450 other kids in an auditorium. Then I took 202 in a smaller classroom setting. Way better. He tries hard and will explain stuff until you get it. =D
One of the nicest teachers ever,u shoulddisregard the negative comments made,they are just angry students with bad grades,this is an easy course,only 25 multiple choice on mid 1 and 25 on mid2 ,50 on the final,and if u did better on the final than the mids,he deletes Midsterms( if you got 100 on your final an 2 zeros on mids,your grade would be 100
I don't understand all these bad comments. Maybe he's just awful teaching a large class? Soffritti is one of the nicest profs I've had. He's clear, helpful, funny, just what a prof should be. The problem sets are difficult but if you do slave over them, you'll learn a lot and midterms will not be a problem. Challenging class, but I loved it.
The material covered in this class is very fundamental. Lectures and problem sets are unnecessary. Read the book and lecture notes. The book's authors contradict themselves, so it may be helpful to talk over some of the points with Soffritti during his office hour to truly understand them v. memorization. there is no curve.
Very clear. Provides ample sample test questions, goes over them in class, and posts them online. Really cares about his students understanding the material.
hes probably one of the worst professors at bu. hes a nice guy offers lots of help during office hours but he can't explain the concepts clearly without creating extra confusion. hes also unsympathetic and apathetic about his students. also he has a very thick italian accent. not recommended
some people get him, most don't. Let your first test grade be the deciding factor on whether you should withdraw from the course or not. He makes simple material much harder than in should be
Not a good professor. Makes things more complicated then they are. Do Not Take! Plenty of other great professors in the Economics Department.
i hated the class until i started taking interest n talking to him. he was really helpful. i got 84 on both midterms, and a 94 on the final coz i went to him for help. overall grade: A. basically, if you show him you're interested, he'll go out of his way to help you.
I missed half of the lectures and pulled off a 100 on all the exams (there are bonus questions). But, the book and the lectures cover the fundamentals and only brush the surface (there is not a lot of explanation); you just have to believe and take what is given (not much offered to understand why it is). Nothing special about Soffritti.
1 of the worst professors at BU, has no idea how to teach. hes unsympathetic & apathetic about his students. make students wait for hours during office hours,has thick italian accent which u won't understand. exams are multiple choice requiring u to explain ur choices. if u get the multiple choice rite but explaination wrong gets no credit at all!
Although Soffritti is not popular among students, I found his class very easy. If you attend his lectures and take notes and follow along his examples, you will have no trouble on his exams. Do NOT buy the textbook because everything you need from it will be covered in his lectures. The book is more of a supplement to Soffritti's lecture slides
He seems like a nice guy, but I can't stand his lectures...the way he speaks nauseates me because the tone of his voice goes up and down. I never went to lecture and did fine reading the book, so it's a pretty easy class.
very hard to understand because of the thick accent, the final has some trick questions, and lectures have very little connectivity.
Professor Soffritti is not given enough credit in the majority of these comments. Yes, he has an accent. Get over it. I don't find it difficult to understand at all. You can tell that he really want his students to learn and cares about economics, and his lectures are very organized. I think he is AWESOME!
Professor Soffritti is GREAT! He's got a funny accent but it's not hard to undestand at ALL! He's got funny jokes and tries to provide students with a lot of intersting extrainfo on his lectures. BTW, I like his style=)
teaches right from the book, which is good becuase you always know what to study for the test. seems like a nice guy. the class is pretty boring though.
He is very organized in presenting the material and his lectures are geared toward test preparation. The accent is not hard to understand at all. The class does require a lot of time and effort though.
i become more confused by going to class than just reading the book
hes a cool guy wid funny jokes about shakira and michael jackson...gotta study hard for his tests, but its a class worth taking...he drops ur worst midterm grade too
Even though he doesn't speak english well, I think he's a pretty good teacher
Soffritti isn't very clear when lecturing and the class is pretty boring, but he is very helpful in office hours. Problem sets were unbelievably long and supposedly graded on effort, but the TF definitely graded on accuracy. Exams were easy in comparison, though. Overall a nice guy who tries hard but just not the best professor.
Excellent Professor. Sometimes he tries to over-simplify problems which creates discrepancies b/t him and the TFs. Overall, great professor, always clarifies, all notes are on slides, no use of book. Its a must go to class, unless you want to read the book and put your own time into the class. If you go to class, no studying is necessary.
Easy Class. Tests are reworded versions of the problems he assigns for hw& the practice test questions at the end of the slides. He posts the answers to the hw& all the slides, so you don't need to read the book. Sometimes slides are missing info, but that stopped when he started giving quizzes, which only count as bonus pts to your FINAL grade!
He was very degrading towards women, especially blondes. He's a euro that likes to wear tight jeans. Tests are hard, I went to see him a lot and he still gave me a horrible grade. His grading mechanisms are stupid. He's worthless.
Horrible proffessor, can't speak english very well. Its like he almost trys to confuse students. The grammar on his exams is horrible, you can't even figure out what he is asking sometimes.
His accent isn't that bad!! I don't know whats wrong with you people... He's really nice. And he is so willing to help students if they ask. He's not degrading to women haha he's just funny. If you get a better grade on the Final, it could replace one or both of your midterms!! Thats so accomodating. He was a good guy.
Enjoyable class, very funny, and always tries to help out students. Certainly made this required course as painless as possible. Lectures are mandatory for your benefit, but they usually are worthwhile and half the time we got out early.
I really liked this class and Soffritti. He does everything to keep the lectures interesting. I was in 1.5 hour class, and they rarely went over an hour. Exams are tricky, but if you practice on Discoverecon.com you will find many of the questions from the test.
Bumbling instructor who is very smart and silly, but can't explain concepts effectively. If he had Professor Idson's clarity, he would be a great teacher. I like him as a person, but not as a teacher. He's nice, and when I was confused, he did what he could to help me out even though he's not a great lecturer.
Not always easy to understand, passionate about the subject, encourages class participation, not easy
This class if really easy if you keep up with the work. Exams are simple and directly relate to powerpoints from class. Discussion is worthless but unfortunately mandatory. Pop quizzes are a good way to raise your grade. He's fairly entertaining and lectures can even be enjoyable sometimes
I took the class in Fall '07. It is very easy to get a grade A in this class. You don't even need to go to the lectures, going there can give you (+% bonuses) but there's no penalty if you don't go. Downloading the slides is more than enough. He tries to trick you in his tests by questioning on some weird details, but he also gives bonus questions.
A wonderful professor. He's very patient in lectures and willing to repeat anything he says if you don't understand. He has a good sense of humor, lightens up the mood at lectures, makes us all chuckle. You can tell how knowledgeable this professor is by how well he teaches; you must see how well he teaches!
He is an amazing professor. Willing to explain everything over and over if you don't understand. Passionate about teaching new concepts, understanding and helpful. His tests are not normal, not hard, and if you go to lectures or study his slides, there's no reason for you to get a bad grade. He is also very funny and entertaining.
Soffritti is very funny, and pretty easy to understand, but the coursework was very boring, and he did little to make it more appealing. I suppose for somebody really into Econ, it might be a good course, but I found myself sleeping through almost the entire course.
Soffriti's lectures are pretty straight-forward, but his tests are surprisingly tricky. I did really well in micro, but not in his class even though I studied and went to lectures. He's ok, but I wish I took macro with a different professor.
He was the best professor of my freshman year. The lectures and readings are all relevant and helpful, and he provides plenty of practice problems to clear up confusion. Do not take this class if you dislike economics and/or using your brain, however, as both will frequently happen in his classes.
might be one of the worst professors at BU. he will screw you over with his grade.
Agreed!! I took honors econ in high school & micro during the summer and he managed to do nothing but confuse me...lectures are worthless and the book makes more sense than he ever does, aplia's a nice waste of time too - i highly recommend taking this with another professor unless you'd like to ruin your gpa
horrible. the worst professor i've ever had.
so hard to understand!
hardest final ever
Everyone's lying. Mirco is great. He's really funny and he's only angry if you consistently sleep through the class. Just come to lecture once in a while and read the book if you're still confused about something, and you'll be fine.
The class itself was easy, but the Professor was an absolutely horrible teacher. It wasn't his accent that made concepts hard to understand, but his disorganized way of teaching and unclarity in concepts. He made horrible class slides, yelled at students, came every class 5 min. late and ended lectures 20 min early and would not show up at times.
Easy material but can be ambiguous just read the book and get those random points for attendence. Final counts forty percent and aplia wasnt too bad. Final dragged me down because I had to study for a calc final instead. Hello -A ;)
to all the negative comments about prof soffritti: yes, the class was hard. it was suppose to be.this isn't high school, you have to actually work to get a good grade. it isn't just given to you because you think you deserve it. Prof soffritti is actually a nice professor and only has problems with rude slackers who don't pay attention in class.
Great Prof. I dont know why people give him a bad rep. He's not hard to understand. Has an italian accent but nothing that got in the way. Highly recommended. Aplia was a pain but helped bc some questions were directly from practices/quizes.
Soffritti did a great job teaching this class. His powerpoints, which were always posted online, were very clear and easy to understand. If you actually come to class and pay attention, you can easily do well. He forwarned us when something would be complicated and made sure to explain it slowly and clearly. And he's really funny.
No Comments
Professor Soffriti is an excellent teacher. He's witty, smart, and very thorough. He often makes jokes to keep lectures running smoothly. You have to work a little to understand the concepts, but certainly an easy B+ or better. I would recommend his class 100%
the guy's italian accent keeps me paying attention since it makes economics more amusing. he is a very good teacher, goes over many problems in class and if someone doesn't understand he tries to explain it to the fullest. lecture is not mandatory, but discussion is. also, he drops the lowest midterm grade! (drops both if u do better on the final!)
Great teacher - funny and very good at explaining concepts. Takes some work, but an A is very feasible.
Fun class. His accent is the hardest thing to understand in the course. If you go to lecture, you'll do fine. Just know that if you do go, he will kick you out for talking, sleeping, or doing non-course related work.
I can't believe anyone would ever complain about Soffritti. He has the best powerpoints that clearly explain everything and then goes over examples. Nothing in the class is very difficult. I can't usually understand people with accents but I have no problem with him. GO TO CLASS! I never used my book at all, except for online assignments.
Soffritti was really into American pop culture which was funny, but he definitely cares about Italian culture more. He goes really fast when you're trying to write stuff down in lecture, even though you print out his slides beforehand. I hate econ so I hated the class, but if you understand it you might not have to go to lecture.
The lectures were very clear and Soffritti was helpful, but the class was very easy overall.
Not only is Soffritti a horrible professor (who can barely speak english in the first place), he is inappropriate in the lectures and doesn't really care if you want to talk with him about something regarding his class. i HIGHLY suggest that you avoid this professor as much as possible. he's awful! all of his tests have mistakes and typos in them.
Overall, Prof. Soffritti is a nice guy. He can be funny in lectures and he wants you to pay attention in class. He encourages class participation by letting you answer questions in lecture. The lectures can be boring and he does not seem to go over all the information. The tests can be VERY hard! Discussion saved me in the class.
I don't know how people can say Soffriti's exams as hard - they either did not attend lecture/review the slides, go to discussion, or ever read their textbook. All the exams are almost exactly like sample problems given in lecture, and are curved. Final grade is even weighted to your maximum benefit. Easy A if you put in SOME effort. Recommended.
I love Soffriti. He's really enthusiastic and if you pay attention in class and do some preparations for the test (practice questions, etc) he's not impossible. The tests aren't the easiest, but I just studied my ass off for the final and it cancelled out my midterm grades.
I don't know how or why would student say a bad thing about soffriti. He is funny, interacts with students, and curves exams. He practices a lot and exams are fair- exactly what he taught. His Italian accent is not bad at all, and I am a foreign student, so if I dealt with it you can all easily do the same. I think he is done with BU this year...
Frankly, I like the guy. He's funny, nice, and makes the class interesting. From a class standpoint, if you pay attention in lecture and read the book you'll do well, simple as that. He's a good teacher, and the complaints about his accent are pretty immature... his english is fluent. Some people are just ethnocentric snobs, I guess.
I don't understand why everyone is complaining; I thought he was easy and VERY easy to understand.
take this class. i had absolutely no experience with econ, studied for about an hour for each test, and got an easy A. the test questions come directly from practice questions in class and posted online.
The person who posted below me is a clown. The midterms are fairly easy, and the questions are mostly repeated or slightly tweaked from practice problems in class, but you have to study to do well. His mannerisms are hilarious, he creates awkward situations in class w/ flirting w/ girls haha. Def. a cool guy, too bad he's leaving BU next semester
It probably doesn't make much sense commenting on Soffritti since he's leaving for Europe next semester anyway. He's a fairly good professor, and it's a generally easy class, but you do have to study to get a good grade.
He is the best! Although he is not as famous and taught it at a much higher level as the other professor teaching the course, I have definitely learned A LOT in his class! It's because of your class that I really became a devoted student of Macroeconomics! Thank you!
He's sassy but nice.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
0%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.07 avg changeRatings by Course
ENG101
5.0
(1)COS126
5.0
(1)EC101
4.7
(3)EC502
4.5
(2)102
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ECON102
4.0
ENG101
4.0
EC102EC202
4.0
EC502
4.0
EC202
3.7