I took Surro for 11 and 102. He is consistently clear and helpful. He is THE best econ professor at UCLA. Tests are tough but there is more than enough opportunity for extra credit. I recommend doing ALL of the extra credit he offers. Campuswire is also a helpful tool he uses to quickly respond to questions/concerns. The Solow Excel Assignment is rather tedious, but if you start early and do the bare minimum, you are guaranteed at least a B. Would recommend!

Took Econ 2 with Chris and boy, he's a good teacher. There's no need to buy the textbook at all, everything he tests on are within the slides he uploads and teaches with each class. He's pretty young I think a phd student and without a doubt I would sign up for any class he teaches tbh.
There were weekly quizzes that were extra credit (if I'm remembering correctly) on the final grade/test. He's super clear in the concepts and easy to talk to if you want more help after class. I'd say going over his slides and using mind tap practice questions are the best way to ace this class.

Honestly I really enjoyed having Chris at my professor. His lecture slides are super clear, but he pretty much reads off of them the whole class period. The only time when he didn't do this is when we learned about graphs or did math problems, and then he would do work on the black board. Personally, I went to every lecture so I could ask questions, but half the class didnt come to lecture and they still did well on tests lol. The best way to describe his midterms are finals are as fair. If you really understand the material, you will do well. His office hours are really helpful and when you go he shows more of his personality and you get to see that he's just a really nice, chill guy. Overall, I really enjoyed this class because I learned a lot and Chris was super chill. I would take it again, but just know that you really have to put in work.

This class was definitely a tough one for me. The concepts are extremely difficult to grasp, especially over zoom, and so I definitely struggled with it. The coursework throughout the quarter was definitely manageable, but, the exams were something else. The time constraints and difficulty of the questions made it super difficult for almost everyone I know.

Chris was the best Professor for Econ 2. I'm very glad I chose to take his class over Rojas' class (I had Rojas for Econ 1) because Chris' tests are much more fair and straightforward. For the most part, he asks questions that we have gone over in class. He doesn't use the textbook much but it is there for reference if you want to read it. I would definitely take this class if you have the option!!! He is a clear lecturer and is such a nice guy. Definitely go to his office hours if you don't understand something because he is so helpful.

This class is very computation based, and while the math itself is not hard, knowing how to apply it to the many types of questions you face is. The exams themselves are incredibly long and a significant level up from the questions you encounter in problem sets and quizzes. The final had a higher average than the midterm, but unfortunately I screwed it up big time. As an instructor, I found Chris's lecture delivery to be pretty dry - at times he seemed borderline uninterested. However, he is straightforward in his explanations and genuinely wanted students to understand the material. Bottom line, the class wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to take Chris again.

This was an overall alright class as the class itself was not too difficult and I think that Surro was quite a fair teacher. However, having professor Rojas last quarter for econ 1, I think that Rojas is the better professor to go with. But, Surro is a relatively new professor and I think that he has the potential to become a better professor.

This class at its very core is not difficult. The concepts are all intuitive and if you do enough practice, you will begin to see the patterns on how certain problems should be solved and the basic intuition on why it works (at the very least enough to do well on the tests). Surro is pretty nice and funny at times, however, i found him to be a very boring lecturer and almost fell asleep during most in-person lectures. He also didn't organize lectures the best, sometimes spreading one concept over 2 lectures which created a disconnect when trying to learn that concept. I learned the most when doing the practice midterm and final, redoing the practice problems, and reading the typed notes, thus this class is very taught yourself IMO.

From a grading standpoint, this class has a midterm (worth 150 points and a final worth 300 points) however your midterm grade is dropped and replaced by your final grade if you do better on the final. There is also another 150 points you can add to your grade by doing optional quizzes and problem sets which can only help your grade as wrong answers don't count against you. MAKE SURE to do these quizzes and problem sets as the class is graded on a curve and you don't want to drop ranking just cause you didn't do some participation practice.

TLDR: attend lectures or at least watch the recordings, DO the practice problems before every lecture, DO the quizzes and problem sets, show up to disc if you want (depending on whether u think it's helpful or not, mine was p trash), DO the practice midterms and finals and you should be fine

Being my first econ class, I can come out and easily say that if Surro is ever teaching another class i need to take, I WILL take his class. He is a very good proffessor. Lectures are straight forward but the concepts are not. This is not an easy class because it takes a lot of time and practice. The concepts are not necesarily hard but they do require a full understanding and mastery. That means a lot of self-teaching, but Surro's lectures made it easy to do that.

The midterm is hard but if you study a decent amount, you should be fine. However, prepare yourself to work quickly. Most students did not finish the midterm in time. For me, the final was harder but still manageable - time is less of an issue with the final.

Please do the problem sets and quizes, they help your grade a lot and are good practice.

If you were good at econ in the past, you should get a good grade given you put a lot of time into studying and practicing. The entire grade is based on the midterm, final, and some participation. Also, he gives a cheat sheet for each exam (front and back of printer paper).

I love Chris and his lectures, but I didn’t get good grade because this class is totally dependent on final and midterm, which are very very very hard and are basically speed tests. Furthermore, it is really hard for students in middle.