Professor
Moshe Buchinsky
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Most Helpful Review
This class is tricky to rate. I got an A-, so it's hard to be that negative. Midterm was super easy. Homeworks, while time consuming, were pretty straightforward. The final was hard. Like really hard (read the other comments). As a professor Buchinsky is moderately entertaining and tends to keep class from being that boring. He doesn't cover half of what's on the syllabus and did an extremely poor job of preparing us for Econ 103.
This class is tricky to rate. I got an A-, so it's hard to be that negative. Midterm was super easy. Homeworks, while time consuming, were pretty straightforward. The final was hard. Like really hard (read the other comments). As a professor Buchinsky is moderately entertaining and tends to keep class from being that boring. He doesn't cover half of what's on the syllabus and did an extremely poor job of preparing us for Econ 103.
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Most Helpful Review
This review is about econ 103 as much as it is about the prof. It is a seriously hard course. Everyone I know who has taken it (w/ other teachers as well) has told me the same. So whoever you get, it's going to be really hard. Unless you are required to take this course, DO NOT TAKE IT! If you think you might be interested in the subject, check out a book on it beforehand before you jump into it. That being said, Buchinsky is easily one of the worst professors I've ever had. I don't know why I went to all of his lectures, they were a complete waste of time, and they absolutely will not help you for the homework or the tests. He just goes on and on about mathematical proofs on how to derive the formulas, but doesn't show you how to use them, or how they are used. One time I went into his office hours for some extra help b/c I wasn't understanding ANYTHING in class. (Literally, nothing, they're that bad). But then he, in classic Buchinsky style, doesn't want to explain anything to me nor answer any of my questions. So basically there are no redeeming qualities about him. In the sad event that you do end up having to take econ 103, and even sadder, get stuck w/ Buchinsky, here's my advice. Forget the lectures (avoid as much contact w/ Buchinsky as you can, you'll only get more frustrated), go to a good discussion section (ask around, I really liked Kevin Caves, he would walk you through the problems and really cared if you got it or not), and pick up a book on econometrics from the library, that will help you on his open-book tests, the one he assigns is far too bulky to really get into and gain anything from. I somehow (miraculously) walked away w/ a B+ in the class, and I was thinking of going back to look at my final, but then I realized that I wouldn't even understand the problems that I got right. Bottom line: no one gains anything from this course and it's a shame that UCLA is starting to enforce this entirely useless course as a requirement.
This review is about econ 103 as much as it is about the prof. It is a seriously hard course. Everyone I know who has taken it (w/ other teachers as well) has told me the same. So whoever you get, it's going to be really hard. Unless you are required to take this course, DO NOT TAKE IT! If you think you might be interested in the subject, check out a book on it beforehand before you jump into it. That being said, Buchinsky is easily one of the worst professors I've ever had. I don't know why I went to all of his lectures, they were a complete waste of time, and they absolutely will not help you for the homework or the tests. He just goes on and on about mathematical proofs on how to derive the formulas, but doesn't show you how to use them, or how they are used. One time I went into his office hours for some extra help b/c I wasn't understanding ANYTHING in class. (Literally, nothing, they're that bad). But then he, in classic Buchinsky style, doesn't want to explain anything to me nor answer any of my questions. So basically there are no redeeming qualities about him. In the sad event that you do end up having to take econ 103, and even sadder, get stuck w/ Buchinsky, here's my advice. Forget the lectures (avoid as much contact w/ Buchinsky as you can, you'll only get more frustrated), go to a good discussion section (ask around, I really liked Kevin Caves, he would walk you through the problems and really cared if you got it or not), and pick up a book on econometrics from the library, that will help you on his open-book tests, the one he assigns is far too bulky to really get into and gain anything from. I somehow (miraculously) walked away w/ a B+ in the class, and I was thinking of going back to look at my final, but then I realized that I wouldn't even understand the problems that I got right. Bottom line: no one gains anything from this course and it's a shame that UCLA is starting to enforce this entirely useless course as a requirement.
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