This class gave me my first ever B at UCLA. In every class, I go above and beyond when it comes to working hard for the class, especially with stem courses because math doesn’t come naturally to me. I thought I would be fine with this class since econ one doesn’t use any calculus, but I was wrong. My TA consistently gave us the wrong answers for the weekly section quizzes, and on one of the most important questions, the answer key was incorrect and the professor never sent an email to the class making a correction. It wasn’t until I discovered this mistake and emailed both my TA and professor that the professor emailed out the correct answer on THE DAY OF THE FINAL. The final was worth 50% of the final grade, so even though I got a 98% on the midterm, my hard work in the class didn’t matter unless I did really well on the final. Even after giving myself ample time to study, the final was so hard for me, and clearly it was difficult for the rest of the class because the average was a 74%. If this wasn’t an intro course, I’d understand that average, but I felt the final was much too difficult for a class that’s supposed to be “easy”. Overall, I thought I would enjoy this class much more than I did and it’s disappointing because the professor seemed like a really nice lady.

This class was a dumpster fire, made worse by the pretentiousness of the professor. The professor graded harshly because in her mind, we were making errors. In reality, however, it is her that made fundamental errors in the wording of questions and answer choices on the quizzes. Moreover, to add insult to injury, she graded the group projects harshly for lack of thoroughness when she made the decision to enforce a page limit. It is also ironic that she nitpicked so much in her judgement of the group projects when her lack of competency in writing the weekly quizzes was embarrassing.

WORST CLASS EVER.

I am selling my 120 pages typed-up notes for this class for only $15. I received an A. They can be shared right away. Email me at lanasamii19@gmail.com if interested.

This class is one of the best economics classes I've ever taken and would highly recommend. Not only does the variety of assessment formats (quizzes, a group presentation, discussion forum posts) benefit most students in allowing us to demonstrate our understanding of the subject beyond traditional exams, the exams and quizzes are super fair. Practice exercises reflect the kind of math and problem-solving that we see in the exams so it's not one of those classes where the exams are ridiculously harder. And she's really responsive on email, available during office hours as promised, and works hard to make sure that the way she communicates class materials is clear. The class itself covers content that is applicable to real world contexts and is engaging, containing a blend of intuitive principles (e.g. that rent is higher per sqft closer to the city center) and case studies that are less intuitively obvious but are challenging and interesting all the same.

This is one of my favorite classes at UCLA. I always like those professors who have a true passion for what they are teaching, and I think Professor Osei definitely loves what she teaches even in this pandemic period. The topic is development economics so we covered a lot of information about various countries around the world -- even the poorest countries in Africa. It is just so exciting to learn about theories of how to develop a country. Maybe not everyone gets the chance to change the fate of a country, but remember we all are part of some country or organization. The assignments are also meaningful -- you pick a country and research thoroughly about it and write case studies throughout the quarter. This makes me an "expert" at the country I selected lol. I would say the final is easy as long as you study at the same pace as Professor Osei wants you to. If you are considering taking econ upper div, choose Professor Osei and you would not regret it.

Selling the textbook call me at 212-654... haha just kidding she uses a free textbook so not spending 200 dollars for one class like econ 1. This is definetely a good class to take if you are an econ major and want an easy A for your major. Dont read the textbook before she goes over her slides because she skips certain sections (the hard ones) so the best way to study is the slides. It is certainly possible to come into the final with an 100%. The grading was 25% a midterm which I got a 95 on and was super easy, it was also 10% going to discussion and 15% this graph project which was also super easy to get a 100 on if you follow the rubric and took me only 1 hour to do the entire thing. The final also wasnt hard but it requires that you study. Final also wasnt cumulative which was nice. Final and midterm consist of vocab, multiple choice and some short answer which are really easy if you look over the graphs. Going to lecture is important because she explains everything really well but if you were to skip lecture youd be fine teaching yourself. Also she has office hours which usually dont get busy so if youre confused she can try to teach it again. Shes super nice and the most engaging econ professor you will find at UCLA so taking basic econ classes like econ 1 and 2 with her is a good move because you will learn without completely falling asleep.

This class is ridiculous. A significant portion of your grade in the class is completely irrelevant to the lecture material and solely based on outside knowledge. If you are a hardworking, independent student who likes to study material and be evaluated solely on that material I would avoid this class. I don't think background knowledge on the United States and/or another country should weigh so heavily in your performance in a class.

Olivia is the sweetest. If you go to her office hours just a couple of times, she'll get to know you by name and do whatever she can to help you succeed in the course. She's also one of the few Econ professors who gives projects (usually 1-2 per quarter) as part of your grade, which is great if you don't like having all of your grade pinned on a couple of exams and you don't mind putting some effort in outside of class. I would absolutely take this class with her again.

Disclaimer: I took this class over Zoom during the pandemic, so the weight/difficulty of each component might differ if you take the class in-person.

I hated AP Econ in hs, so I was really on the fence about taking this class, but the fact that it takes care of two requirements (Diversity and Social Analysis) sealed the deal for me, and I'm actually really glad I took it. The material was actually really interesting and the prof seemed really chill.

Weekly quizzes were 45%, a group/individual project was 25%, and the final was 30%. The weekly quizzes were pretty straightforward and based solely on her lectures. You can do the project (10-pg paper) on your own or with a group; I'd recommend doing it with others but if that's not your jam it seems pretty doable for a single person, just don't put it off til the last minute. The final was 3 hours (within a 24-hr window) and open-note (again, might not be open-note for an in-person final), mc and short-answer, but honestly you don't even need notes if you payed attention to the lectures, and I finished with an hour to spare.

Lectures were powerpoints w voiceovers, and she uploaded the slides too. There were also required readings every week, but the final didn't have any questions on them, so do with that what you will.

TA Manu was super chill too, and he was always willing to answer any questions.

The class was honestly really straight-forward and actually quite interesting in terms of the material. Prof made what I felt were reasonable accommodations in regards to the pandemic. Wish I could've met her irl bc she seemed chill.