For an economics teacher, sure. I'll give him that - his lectures are clear and concise. But when you're going into this class, don't bring your hopes up. UCLA Economics requires you to do a lot of self study and understand the material by yourself.

The "best" teacher I ever had is Ravetch. This guy does not belong in this league of teachers. When you mumble and recite from memory an insurmountable amount of information, I am not impressed. This guy is NOT as good as everyone else says he is.

Do not buy the lecture notes, take your own notes. You need all the help you can get internalizing the theory.

Short answer is not tough, but multiple choice questions (answer choices a-k) are pretty ridiculous sometimes.

Overall, it really doesn't matter what professor you take for any economics class, as it's going to be ridiculous and BS anyway.

Professor Mcdevitt is a very nice and personable individual. He responded quickly to most of my emails, and was very helpful during office hours. He also holds extra office hours around midterms and final, which I heard were pretty helpful, though I did not attend.

As far as his class goes, it is a pretty standard econ class. Lots of graphs and note taking. The class is about an hour and fifteen minutes and professor mcdevitt knows how to use every last minute of it (not sure if that was always a good thing haha). Like most of the econ classes I have taken, the subject matter is kind of boring, but nevertheless, it is not too hard to grasp. I highly recommend buying his course reader as it is cheap ($15 dollars I think), very well organized, and great for using if you decide to miss any classes. I will be honest, I missed a lot of classes because I overslept, but i still felt prepared for his exams because I just memorized what was in the course reader. That being said, don't be one of those people that just stares at the course reader the whole class. It won't do a lot for you. I would highly recommend taking your own notes. It is great practice.

As far as the discussion sections go, like any econ major would know, you really do not have to attend. The TA just repeats what was said in class.

Umm, what else can I add? Oh yah, the important stuff lol! In this class, there are two midterms and a cumulative final. I know people love to complain on bruinwalk how crazy his mc questions are, but they really are not that bad. If you know the answer, you know the answer. If you don't know the answer, you don't know the answer. And his free response questions are pretty standard. I always found those a little bit easier than his mc questions. No curve balls there. As far as the curve goes, its not the most generous curve in the world, but its definitely fair. The bottom line is, just know ALL the notes before the exam and pace yourself and you will do fine. Good luck.

McDevitt is awesome for the fact that he does not use powerpoint slides in his class. He hand writes his notes on the board which makes it much more personable and easier to understand when he demonstrates the concepts/theories directly.

His exams are indeed rather insane. The multiple choice questions have choices a-j !!! He does test on the material he teaches though! memorize your notes/graphs, do the study questions, and you'll be fine.

There are no trick questions on his exams.

very discouraging professor. I give 1/10 overall rating.

I cannot describe just how much I love this guy. Best best best professor at UCLA. Just the fact that I used his notes for at least three other econ classes should say a lot. He will explain the material 20 times in 20 different ways just so the student gets it. Don't be lazy, go to his office hours, and you will be fine. He is not easy, but oh well, econ is not easy, so don't expect to do nothing and get the grade. I worked hard, and I got a good grade. Take him if you can. You're gonna love him. Professor Mcdevitt you're awesome

Great professor. The lectures are clear and he mostly follows the lecture notes so make sure you buy that. No book

Definitely one of the better professor's I've had at UCLA. His lectures were clear, concise, and to the point. Don't worry if you can't follow the math, and don't worry about understanding the derivations, because he'll just give you formulas for everything (although you do have to memorize them for the test). Outside of class he's very nice: always willing to help and ALWAYS holds extra office hours before each exam, which I strongly recommend attending. If you can get Kyle Herkenhoff as your TA, DO IT! You won't regret it. He's an outstanding TA who prepared us well for the exams, and I owe my A+ to him.

I took Econ 102 and 170 with him during Spr Q 2010.
My first impression of his lecture was that it was dry and boring.
Over time, 170 got a little more interesting but 102 was still boring
until the end. I think the boredom came from the lack of challenge.
He spoon feeds you everything you have to know for the test.
You do not need to go to discussions for 102. Your TA's will just repeat
what he said in class. He sells his own lecture notes at $15 per piece for both of the classes.
Lecture notes are very well organized but try to take your own notes. Friends
who were just staring at these notes during the lecture tended to do more poorly than
those who were taking notes. Try to sit in the front. He is hard to hear even with his microphone on. You will
see why I say this once you go to the first lecture.
Overall, I recommend him because his classes are easy A's. But, the class isn't so stimulating.

Earned grades: A+ in 102 and A+ in 170

Rather difficult, but the man does know what he's talking about.

McDevitt is the best Economics Professor I've had at UCLA. He is clear, and holds your attention in his lectures, and I came away feeling like I really understood the concepts. He posts Study Questions and if you can work through them and understand them, you will do well. I would definately take another class from McDevitt.