ECON 11
Microeconomic Theory
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisites: courses 1, 2, Mathematics 31A, 31B, with grades of C or better. Laws of demand, supply, returns, and costs; price and output determination in different market situations. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - Despite all the negative reviews, I think Mazzocco is a decent professor. I don't know what all the a**hole reviews are about because he genuinely wanted us to learn and would always answer questions we had about the material. The only negative thing about him is probably his refusal to accommodate students who had legitimate reasons, often concerning their health, for missing original exam windows. He does have a policy that allows you to drop the lowest of two midterms in the situation that you can't take one, or if you failed one, so that's helpful, but it's still somewhat unfair to students who absolutely couldn't make it. So if you know you can't make the midterm or final exams, I wouldn't take the class. The workload is pretty light, it's just a weekly problem set of 1-3 questions with 1-5 parts that you have a week to do. There's a total of 8 problem sets and they account for 10% of your final grade. The TA's will pick one question from each problem set and your grade for it is based on that one problem. I found them pretty manageable and easy to complete, and I got 100% for all. There are two midterms and one final, and the exams were all on CCLE for this quarter. Because they were held online, they were all MCQ, with two "essay" questions that were more heavily weighted with multiple parts. If you scored lower on the final than on the two midterms, then each exam is worth 30% of your overall grade. If your final is higher than your midterm grade(s), then the lowest midterm is dropped. The final would be worth 50% of your grade in this situation and the higher scoring midterm would account for 40%. You have an hour and fifteen minutes for each midterm and three hours for the final. The only one I didn't have extra time for was the final, but I did answer every question. The average grade for every exam was a low C (~71-73%), but I always scored above the average. He posts past exams for you to use as study guides, and I completed about 5-10 of those in preparation for each exam. I didn't read the textbook and it isn't really required, so I just followed his slides. I got a 91.5 on the first midterm, 89 on the second, and 84 on the final. I had a raw score of 89.4, but after the class was curved, I had an A (not sure what the actual percentage is). If it helps, my friend had an 84 and got an A- after the curve. The TA sections aren't mandatory, they just go over questions similar to ones you'd find on the problem sets. I only attended the first section and the review sessions they held prior to an exam. Overall, I think this course was decent, you just have to put a little time and effort in to get a decent grade. I'd definitely take a class with Mazzacco again. I am a decent test-taker though, which is how I think I managed to get an A. If you usually do poorly on tests, I wouldn't recommend him since 90% of your grade is based on the exams.
Fall 2021 - Despite all the negative reviews, I think Mazzocco is a decent professor. I don't know what all the a**hole reviews are about because he genuinely wanted us to learn and would always answer questions we had about the material. The only negative thing about him is probably his refusal to accommodate students who had legitimate reasons, often concerning their health, for missing original exam windows. He does have a policy that allows you to drop the lowest of two midterms in the situation that you can't take one, or if you failed one, so that's helpful, but it's still somewhat unfair to students who absolutely couldn't make it. So if you know you can't make the midterm or final exams, I wouldn't take the class. The workload is pretty light, it's just a weekly problem set of 1-3 questions with 1-5 parts that you have a week to do. There's a total of 8 problem sets and they account for 10% of your final grade. The TA's will pick one question from each problem set and your grade for it is based on that one problem. I found them pretty manageable and easy to complete, and I got 100% for all. There are two midterms and one final, and the exams were all on CCLE for this quarter. Because they were held online, they were all MCQ, with two "essay" questions that were more heavily weighted with multiple parts. If you scored lower on the final than on the two midterms, then each exam is worth 30% of your overall grade. If your final is higher than your midterm grade(s), then the lowest midterm is dropped. The final would be worth 50% of your grade in this situation and the higher scoring midterm would account for 40%. You have an hour and fifteen minutes for each midterm and three hours for the final. The only one I didn't have extra time for was the final, but I did answer every question. The average grade for every exam was a low C (~71-73%), but I always scored above the average. He posts past exams for you to use as study guides, and I completed about 5-10 of those in preparation for each exam. I didn't read the textbook and it isn't really required, so I just followed his slides. I got a 91.5 on the first midterm, 89 on the second, and 84 on the final. I had a raw score of 89.4, but after the class was curved, I had an A (not sure what the actual percentage is). If it helps, my friend had an 84 and got an A- after the curve. The TA sections aren't mandatory, they just go over questions similar to ones you'd find on the problem sets. I only attended the first section and the review sessions they held prior to an exam. Overall, I think this course was decent, you just have to put a little time and effort in to get a decent grade. I'd definitely take a class with Mazzacco again. I am a decent test-taker though, which is how I think I managed to get an A. If you usually do poorly on tests, I wouldn't recommend him since 90% of your grade is based on the exams.
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Most Helpful Review
What most people say about McDevitt is true: he's not too interesting, but he's a darn good professor. He explains things clearly and concisely. All you need is the lecture (take good notes, don't miss them) and don't bother with the book. Somehow he memorizes his lectures perfectly--he knows it backwards and forwards. Get old lecture notes and follow along. Try to get old midterms and finals, also. McDevitt also makes it easy for you to ask questions to him. He makes extra office hours, so if you need them, take them. Section isn't mandatory, so shop around for a good TA that will supplement his material. He's a nice guy, but even if he weren't, it'd be okay. He's frank and no-nonsense, which is refreshing because you get what you ask for. Tests aren't easy, but the key is understanding. Study questions help significantly, but again, know the concepts. Memorizing questions isn't that helpful. Time is a factor, so know your material and work fast. His multiple choice is tricky, but spend time on it. Free response isn't too terrible either. The curve is relatively generous, but don't expect this to be an easy A. Overall, I recommend him because he'll teach you what you'll need to know without too much pain. It is supposedly a weeder class, so don't freak out. At all means, take him before thinking about anyone else!
What most people say about McDevitt is true: he's not too interesting, but he's a darn good professor. He explains things clearly and concisely. All you need is the lecture (take good notes, don't miss them) and don't bother with the book. Somehow he memorizes his lectures perfectly--he knows it backwards and forwards. Get old lecture notes and follow along. Try to get old midterms and finals, also. McDevitt also makes it easy for you to ask questions to him. He makes extra office hours, so if you need them, take them. Section isn't mandatory, so shop around for a good TA that will supplement his material. He's a nice guy, but even if he weren't, it'd be okay. He's frank and no-nonsense, which is refreshing because you get what you ask for. Tests aren't easy, but the key is understanding. Study questions help significantly, but again, know the concepts. Memorizing questions isn't that helpful. Time is a factor, so know your material and work fast. His multiple choice is tricky, but spend time on it. Free response isn't too terrible either. The curve is relatively generous, but don't expect this to be an easy A. Overall, I recommend him because he'll teach you what you'll need to know without too much pain. It is supposedly a weeder class, so don't freak out. At all means, take him before thinking about anyone else!
Most Helpful Review
She's a great professor who really cares about her students. I'm a math econ major so econ 11 was pretty easy for me, so you should probably disregard my assessment of the course difficulty. I still think that there is no reason for everybody to not get an A in this class McGarry and her team of TA's are the most accessible I know at UCLA. I would definitely recommend taking Econ 11 with her
She's a great professor who really cares about her students. I'm a math econ major so econ 11 was pretty easy for me, so you should probably disregard my assessment of the course difficulty. I still think that there is no reason for everybody to not get an A in this class McGarry and her team of TA's are the most accessible I know at UCLA. I would definitely recommend taking Econ 11 with her
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2019 - I've heard from a lot of people that econ 11 was ridiculously hard, and while it was difficult, it truly wasn't that bad to take with Rojas. He's one of the better lecturers in the econ department and if you understand his examples you'll understand the tests. Also he's really nice about regrades and helping you if you fuck up on a midterm (which I did). Go to his office hours if you have questions, he explains things better there, which I think has to do with the fact that he gets nervous in front of big crowds. Can't stress enough that he's a nice guy and genuinely cares about students because that's a big plus in my book.
Summer 2019 - I've heard from a lot of people that econ 11 was ridiculously hard, and while it was difficult, it truly wasn't that bad to take with Rojas. He's one of the better lecturers in the econ department and if you understand his examples you'll understand the tests. Also he's really nice about regrades and helping you if you fuck up on a midterm (which I did). Go to his office hours if you have questions, he explains things better there, which I think has to do with the fact that he gets nervous in front of big crowds. Can't stress enough that he's a nice guy and genuinely cares about students because that's a big plus in my book.
Most Helpful Review
this professor is terrible!! It is absolutely pointless attending lectures, you will only learn by teaching yourself and by attending the T.A. sections. He misleads the students on preperation for the midterm. I would not recomend anyone on taking this professor. A good way to harm your GPA.
this professor is terrible!! It is absolutely pointless attending lectures, you will only learn by teaching yourself and by attending the T.A. sections. He misleads the students on preperation for the midterm. I would not recomend anyone on taking this professor. A good way to harm your GPA.
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Most Helpful Review
since he's visiting im not sure if he'll be teaching again, but here it is: he seems to know what he's talking about and his lectures are pretty thorough, as he hates wasting time. be ready for 1 hour and 15 minutes of intense econ. he hates wasting time so much that during one lecture, he yelled at all the students coming in late because they were "distracting" his tests are a bit tricky so you have to understand the concepts pretty well. and for the calculation problems, just go to TA sessions and do practice problems in the textbook or the examples that the prof or TA gives you. he doesn't have a distribution for grading, but rather he gives a few points for everybody (like 86 would be lowest A- instead of 90) so it's not easy, but if you studied, not that hard to pull off an A- or even an A
since he's visiting im not sure if he'll be teaching again, but here it is: he seems to know what he's talking about and his lectures are pretty thorough, as he hates wasting time. be ready for 1 hour and 15 minutes of intense econ. he hates wasting time so much that during one lecture, he yelled at all the students coming in late because they were "distracting" his tests are a bit tricky so you have to understand the concepts pretty well. and for the calculation problems, just go to TA sessions and do practice problems in the textbook or the examples that the prof or TA gives you. he doesn't have a distribution for grading, but rather he gives a few points for everybody (like 86 would be lowest A- instead of 90) so it's not easy, but if you studied, not that hard to pull off an A- or even an A
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