COMM 4710

Alright, this might be a hot take, but 4710 this past spring with Chapman was my favorite class. It is certainly challenging but I feel like it was useful and rewarding to complete. I got a B and he curves heavy so do not stress too much, if you do the work and study well, you will be fine. I personally enjoyed that Chapman is so passionate about the topics and keeps lectures engaging. A couple tips, though:

#1. Brush up on Stats (simply know how to interpret/make regressions in Excel, know what a t-stat is, etc.). He does like the heavy stat theory and while he does not test on the theory stuff, he will test you on reading a regression output and being able to discuss it. He doesn't use lots of Stats to bore you or make you drop the class, just to make sure you know the basics when they show up later in the course because they will, especially in the equities topics.

#2. Come to his coffee hours each week or whenever you can! He is genuinely a super kind, funny dude and is always available to help. I personally sometimes asked about content, but also sometimes about the news, current issues, or just sports. He's a quirky, funny dude and he so far has been my favorite prof at McIntire to learn from. Sometimes he does like to talk and talk but try to jot down some notes on his responses to your questions and you will be fine.

#3. Course structure: the class started for us with a basic stat review, then a good amount on Fixed Income (bonds, Treasuries, yield curve, that stuff). Remembering some basic macro concepts will help and I personally really liked the bond market stuff, it was surprisingly interesting to me at least. Then, you do more equities stuff (unpacking the CAPM and expanding on it). This is where knowing about regressions will really help!! We had a final optional lecture on options pricing but I am certain this will be more covered post-COVID in person.

#4. The course for us was 4 group assignments (sometimes confusing questions but if you ask him for clarification, you will do fine, and make sure to start them earlier vs later), then 2 exams, one midterm and a final (non-cumulative final). The exams are tough but study his lecture slides and review your group work and you will be fine (he curved the course for us so I did not stress the grades too much)

Hope this helps. I personally love Chapman and the content in the class is a good blend of real financial economic theory and actually doing the actual practical stuff with Excel, regressions, etc.

Professor Chapman is a really good instructor for this course. He is very responsive to questions both in person and over email. Chapman is also highly knowledgeable about the subject area and fully capable of answering questions above and beyond the scope of the course. Your grade is composed of 3 problem sets that you work on in groups, a midterm exam, and a final exam. The course covers the basics of fixed income markets/securities, derivative securities (options, forwards, swaps), and finally equity markets/market efficiency/factor models. This class was really interesting and highly quantitative at times. The book is helpful as a reference, but you only really need to focus on his posted slides to do well.

Chapman needs to take a step back and explain stuff as if he were explaining it to a middle schooler. He is verbose and constantly throws out huge words instead of simply breaking down a concept. The material shouldn't be THAT hard but Chapman makes it more confusing.