I actually really enjoyed his course. This is the first Econ class I got an A in, so I'm definitely not one of those genius econ students who are always setting the curve. I came into this class expecting it to be hard (my older friends warned me) so I only took 3 courses this quarter and spent a LOT of time on the homework. Yes, it took a lot of time but I think it was doable as I had never coded before in my life and managed to keep up, I just had to ask my TAs a lot of questions. Also I think the homework actually helped my understanding because I would never do my optional homeworks in previous econ classes....so I guess that was a learning moment for me lol.

I had the opportunity to schedule an office hours with him and he gave a lot of nice advice to me in terms of career and research. He was really nice and accommodating and even made our homeworks shorter after the class complained, BUT I did not love that he didn't give a final exam practice which kind of stressed me out.

I genuinely don't understand why Econ students think Rojas is a good professor, because this class was dogshit. Rojas isn't good at explaining concepts, his lectures are unengaging, and the lectures do hardly anything to prepare you for the homework and group projects. The single shining upside for this class is that it is, hands-down, the most practical Econ class you will ever take if you want to get a job. Learning how to forecast in R is very useful, I just wish Rojas wasn't so shit at teaching it.

The homework/group projects are assigned roughly weekly (except for the first week and the midterm week) and require several hours to complete. They're all focused around coding in R, and you have to figure out a lot of it yourself. Rojas tries to demonstrate some R coding in lecture, but it's completely unhelpful. This is the only class where I've ever actually wished for a discussion section, and it doesn't have one. The feedback on homework/projects is generally unhelpful, and gives you little chance to improve.

Rojas assigns three (yes, three!) textbooks for the class, with hours of optional weekly reading for each of them. I don't think it's possible to read everything he suggests and still take other classes, so I ignored textbook B and focused mainly on C (Forecasting Principles and Practices 3rd edition, by Hyndman and Athanasopoulos) and some of textbook A. If you only read one of the textbooks, I recommend FPP 3rd edition, as it's the clearest and the best resource for doing the homework. I wouldn't recommend skipping the reading entirely, as Rojas can't lecture for shit.

The midterm was online, and involved doing coding analysis questions live, which was a time crunch. The final was in-person, and was the worst final I've had in any Econ class (worse than anything in the 11/101/102 series). Rojas asked questions on every single concept ever mentioned in lecture, no matter how briefly (like models that never appeared on the slides, and which he never demonstrated in R, but only spoke about for 20 minutes). He also asked inane questions about the specifics of model implementations in R, which shouldn't really be relevant to the final (you can look those up easily in the R documentation if you ever forgot). At least we got 4 pages of "cheat sheets" for the final, but God help you if you didn't take excruciatingly detailed notes in lecture.

Rojas seems to focus the lectures as if you took 104 with him the quarter right before. He constantly referenced his 104 slides, and the class as a whole felt more like an extension of 104 (which I hadn't taken). 104 isn't listed as a prerequisite for this class, but maybe it should be. Then it would be less of a shitshow.

I took Econ 147 at the same time as this class, and that was a good pairing. The second half of 147 covers introductory time series concepts, and some of the same models (like ARMA, ARCH/GARCH) and concepts (covariance stationarity, white noise processes) covered in 144. It also has a very small amount of coding in R. If you can take 104 and 147 before 144, I highly recommend it, even though they're not prerequisites. The class is doable without them (I still got an A), but it could probably be made much easier if you prepare for it. The Econ department ought to update the prerequisites so students don't make the same mistake I did.

Horrible. Teaches like a robot. Makes you code -- I'm tryna be a business major and work in finance, I don't need to code. Literally need two devices to proctor yourself, including respondus. Studying for the final right now and I'm gonna fail for sure

I had Rojas for Econ 1 last spring and, like last time, the one word that I could best use to describe him is lazy. Although his class is easy, his lack of organization and sheer lack of sincerity will likely drive you insane.

This class is a joke if you've taken AP Stats; I'm unsure how anyone else is expected to gain an understanding of all the material otherwise. A TI-84 is your ticket to freedom in this class. You won't be taught how to use it, but being able to do all the confidence intervals with the press of a button and quickly calculate distributions will make most of the exams free. The final was, shall I say, strange in comparison to the midterms, which were all quite straight-forward, but it wasn't as bad as everyone else made it seem. It's not like we don't have a textbook and a bunch of homework problems for extra practice, if you need it. Especially if you know how to use your calculator, it isn't that hard to do reasonably well in this class.

Easiest class I took at UCLA. Found out econ majors don't know any math.

I'm a double major in FAM and Econ and was forced to take this class. Easiest A I have gotten at UCLA. Not sure how everyone did so poorly on the tests. If you aren't doing well here is a thought...try to open the book and actually read it. It's amazing. Really incredible.

I studied with several econ majors who were having a hard time when they just actually refused to open the book and read it.

First midterm is the easiest, second is a bit harder, and final is a bit harder than that, but everything is very doable.

!!!!!!!!ECON 1, Fall'12!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(not stats 10)

I'll just c&p what I wrote for my friend. Very informal, I'm afraid but it will give you the gist of this class.

I like him. Its not a difficult class to pass
To ace is another story, but I was able to pass the class just by reading the book. Going to lecture is a good idea though, it will help a lot. I put in very minimal effort and that's my fault, but still manage to pass. The final review session was aggravating but it help a lot for someone who did not do anything except skim the last few chapters needed for the final.

He explains thing pretty well and gives good examples and other information that is not in the book.

i never went to discussion or lectures for the second half of the class
no homework
he does assign stuff but you don't have to turn it in
the stuff he assigns will be discussed by the TAs
if anything try to get a good TA or go to tutoring
but like I said, passable just by reading the books

the first exam was a little easy because the pacing was a little slow
it was supposed to be like five chapters, but i think we cut it down to two or three, or not. I don't remember.
but the thing is, for the second half it picks up pretty damn quickly.

the book discusses concepts and only gives a few general examples. but what the proff lectures about is completely relevant and helpful. Nothing on the exam is something he hasn't taught in class

the second exam was like above six or seven chapters but the thing was, he glossed over like two chapters
also, make sure to get the most recent edition of the book, the previous one is crap and deviates from the original after the second chapter.
but it wasn't too bad, I just returned the old book and spent my time in the library studying and photocopying.

I did alright with just the reading. no discussion and hardly any lectures. but what I learned from the first half of lectures really helped me and build my base
oh another thing. learn the bases completely, reading and lectures. i.e supply and demand stuff is a must.

I do regret not attending all the lectures. As for discussions? I had two crappy TAs in a row, so I gave up on them.

I think the lectures who have been a tremendous help because some of it is looking at graphs and he explains them a lot better in the lectures and perhaps the discussion.

I took Professor Rojas for econ 41. He explains things very clearly during lecture and provides practice midterms. There are no surprises on any of the tests. My one complaint is the textbook is horrible. He is a fair and effective professor. Just show up to lecture, study his examples and practice midterms, and you will do great.

ECON 41

I had Professor Rojas in the Spring 12. The grade consisted of two midterms, each 30%, and a final, worth 40%. The exams were fair; no curve balls and he distributes formula sheets for each test. The orange book was not useful, but Professor Rojas was thorough enough during lecture so that the book was not really necessary. Go to lecture and take good notes... you should be fine :)

***I TOOK ECON 41 w/ ROJAS***

Honestly, he speaks in exclusively statistics vocabulary and makes the material much more difficult to understand than it ought to be. However, the midterms and final were very fair (not too difficult) and if you put in the work and have some knowledge of math you should do fine.

During the course, I felt confused and still do now. I also do not understand the practical applications of our coursework. However, I think I received a B+, maybe even an A-.