ECON 2010

He doesn't really upload his notes anywhere and leaves a lot of material for the TAs to clear up in discussion. The TAs all vary in quality, so much of what you get out of the course depends on the TA. His lectures are funny, but he takes the long way to get to the actual point. The class is huge too, so it was hard for me to focus.

Honestly, I don't get all the hype about Professor Elzinga - he's a funny guy, but his lectures weren't as mindblowing and magical as everyone made them out to be. I didn't like his lecture style because he would take way too long to get to the point and he would never upload notes or material that he went through in his lecture. Since the lecture hall was so big, it was easy to zone out -- one of the only reasons I was able to follow along with the course was because my amazing TA (Gabriela Busche) made her own Powerpoints and uploaded practice questions compiled from other TAs. The second test was harder than the first test, but I found the final pretty easy and I only studied the day before. DON'T rely on Dutch Knockout for your grade, since the curve for the 400 point grade was much better than the curve for the 200 point grade this semester. If you can't focus during lectures, reading the textbook is definitely a must, but I don't think it's necessary to purchase the Connect access card for extra problems if you want a good grade. On a side note, I'd recommend reading The Invisible Hand not just for the test but because it's an interesting book :) Overall, I'd recommend taking this class because Microeconomics is a basic skill, but do not expect Elzinga to be a god.

Elzinga's lectures are decently interesting and help marginally with the textbook material, but you'll learn mainly from the textbook. He's monotoned but has some dry humor to make his lectures manageable. Be sure to stay ahead on readings and make sure you know how to do the problems the TA provides you because they're good indicators of the test questions.

John Fry is a good TA if you can choose. This class is worth taking even though it's kind of hard and not necessarily an easy A because I have found what I learned to be very useful in my other classes (not even econ classes; poly sci and more)

Elzinga is an amazing professor, and that's honestly why I would recommend this class. His method of teaching Econ like a liberal arts class really appealed to me, and my TA was AMAZING, so it was a great experience. The class wasn't necessarily intuitive for me (that's probably why I got a B+), but it was interesting. While the huge lecture size may be intimidating, if you sit near the front, you'll be fine (and maybe meet some new friends).

Ken Elzinga is one of my favorite professors. His lectures are interesting and worth attending. The midterms are tricky but you can do pretty well as long as you study. The final was multiple choice and much harder than the midterms, so I would not rely on dutch knockout.

Elzinga is super cool but sometimes a tad boring. I enjoyed the class but it's not for everyone. He is very knowledgeable in the field and the lectures are interesting. There are two short answer tests with 12 questions each and one 75 question multiple choice test for the final. The tests are a little tricky but he curves the grades at the end of the semester. The clicker questions and TA discussion points count for a little bit, but not a ton. Go to lecture and make sure to get as many TA points as you can because they can be the difference between two grades. I'd also recommend reading the textbook especially if you have no prior knowledge.

Elzinga's lectures are extremely boring and very hard to get through. There is some interesting content but overall a boring course.

I'm not sure if this class is dumb hard or if I'm just plain dumb. I went to every lecture and read the book vigorously and still performed poorly on the finals. Getting a good TA is KEY! Some of my friends in other discussions said their ta's would give them 2 or 3 easy quizzes that they could take home, provide them with lots of practice questions, and do a really good job of summarizing the lecture. I had 5 pretty hard quizzes and you had to be super talkative during discussion to get your participation points. Overall, important class, definitely recommend taking it to have a general knowledge of econ, but I would not count on it being a GPA booster.

This is an intro Econ class that almost everyone has to take here at UVA. I highly recommend taking it with someone that is not Elzinga. His lectures are boring and dry with little content and as the semester progressed, I found that reading the textbook material in lieu of attending class was far more useful, and it only took about half the time. The grading is also completely subjective for the tests are are very poorly graded. They follow a strict answer key despite the fact that both midterms are exclusively short answer questions.