For context, I came into this class as a freshly declared economics major with a rudimentary level of knowledge on finance.

This class was on the easier side because of my econ background. Professor Chapman heavily used economic and financial vocabulary to explain his slides, so students who had already taken basic finance and intro econ courses could pick up on what he was trying to say. For those who don’t have the same background, I can imagine it to be a struggle to understand what’s going on with all the technical jargon being tossed around. I suggest asking AI to dumb down the concepts if they really aren’t clicking.

This class was graded based on the following: problem sets (10%), three quizzes (first was 15%, the other two 20% each), and the final exam (35%). The first quiz was predicted to be and actually was the poorest in terms of average scores. The final exam focused on concepts covered in quizzes 2 and 3 with emphasis on content yet to be tested from after quiz 3. There were sample quizzes with question that mimicked the actual quiz, which was helpful to an extent. Chapman allowed a one-sided note sheet on the exams. He also curves grades based on average class performance, but the curve is never revealed to the class; you will only know your grade once Chapman posts on SIS.

Some of my tips to do well in this class:
1) Use AI to create mock questions; they’re super helpful when it comes to mastering steps to solving specific problems.
2) No need to buy the textbook; Chapman sprinkles the important bits of the book in the slides, so unless you really want to read ahead or don’t understand Chapman’s explanations, don’t spend the $100+.
3) Participate in the cold call discussions; I assumed I was in the B+ range because of my exam performance, but because I participated a bit in class, Chapman probably boosted my final grade to an A-.

I'll start by saying David Chapman is a wonderful guy and great lecturer, but not for novice students. I'm sure that he is an amazing professor for COMM students and ones who have understanding of the material, but not in an entry level course. Unless you intend on pursuing the Real Estate Minor, I would not recommend this class to ANYONE! Do not take this unless you have a prior understanding of finance and LOVE math. This class is all math... but you won't see any example problems during lectures except for talking about previously (already graded) assignments. The Exams are relatively impossible if you don't understand how all of the equations and math work. You won't see anything like the exam questions prior to taking it. Not in class or in the books. The exam questions are 5 times harder than anything I did during studying for it. Even if you get all of the concepts and how everything works, that's not what the exams assess. 15 people in the class got under a 40% on the first exam. The average for the exam was around a 60, with scores north of that being from students who had previous knowledge of the topics. The homework assignments get harder and harder and end up being to the point where I don't even know where to begin. I thought about dropping the class and forgetting about the minor, but I'm stuck with it now. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS.

This is not a class you should take unless you are absolutely sure you want to do the real estate minor. This class has almost nothing to do with real estate (as of right now a month in) and has fully been a finance course. Chapman moves through the lectures incredibly fast so take notes on your computer or you'll be stuck catching up and only able to pay half attention the entire class. Get ahead early and do the problems in the textbook well. Also get a chegg account because all the answers and explanations are there if you need them before the homework is due.