ECON 2020

Professor Coppock's lectures were great - they were always very interesting and I enjoyed listening to him talk about economics especially during the current pandemic. The structure of the class is very similar to Elzinga's, where you just have to read the textbook, attend lecture, and go to discussion once a week (which will have quizzes/hw depending on your TA.) There's really no homework other than reading his textbook. However, sometimes exam questions were either extremely vague or extremely specific, making the exams a bit difficult. Overall, it's an interesting class but you have to REALLY understand the material in order to do well - it also helped me to take Micro the semester before.

I really enjoyed Coppock’s class. I was scared of it being more math-based than Elzinga’s class, but the math is pretty basic. I thought the exams were relatively straight-forward if you read the book and paid attention in lecture. I also recommend having Kevin as your TA. Super cool dude, always made sure we were prepared for the exams, and our class usually scored 5 points above the overall average. I though the topics were pretty interesting, especially applying them during COVID. Coppock was a good lecturer, and I kind of enjoyed reading the book. Great class

I really enjoyed Coppock’s class. I was scared of it being more math-based than Elzinga’s class, but the math is pretty basic. I thought the exams were relatively straight-forward if you read the book and paid attention in lecture. I also recommend having Kevin as your TA. Super cool dude, always made sure we were prepared for the exams, and our class usually scored 5 points above the overall average. I though the topics were pretty interesting, especially applying them during COVID. Coppock was a good lecturer, and I kind of enjoyed reading the book. Great class

Coppock is an awesome professor and I found the content interesting, but it is no secret he curves down which was my one annoyance in the class. Also the discussion sections need a revamp. The TA's each have their own grading system which can make the discussion section grades unfair across the sections. Overall, take this class, prerequisite or not, as Coppock and the content are great, but you have to be ready to work, meaning actually reading/taking notes on the book and studying more than one night for the tests. His exams are no pushovers and require a mastery of the material to get a high grade on them.

For non-econ majors: Definitely take this if you are interested in politics/policy. If you took Micro and are on the fence about Macro, I'd suggest you go ahead and do it. There's a lot of great stuff in this course that helps you understand GDP, unemployment, and monetary and fiscal policies that can be applied to the way you read the news. I liked Coppock's lectures, he keeps them interesting and fun, but his tests were tricky and you need to make sure you are reading his textbook in addition to taking notes on lectures. Do the practice problems at the end of chapters to prepare for tests. Definitely possible to get an A if you take the class seriously.

Professor Coppock was an amazing professor! He made lectures fun, entertaining, and informative. He was able to make the lectures feel personable in a 500-person lecture which is an incredible talent. He contextualized all of his lessons so that they felt relevant to the world both before and during the pandemic. He is also really funny and would make the effort to set up running gags like his "5-year old" son who happens to be an economics genius and happened to walk in on an online lecture as a teenager. The tests were a bit difficult but were nothing crazy. Plus, the class has a curve and dutch knockout. I can't comment on how good the curve is since I did pass/fail. Overall, this class is enjoyable, makes you a much more informed individual, and is a class I recommend everybody take at some point.

Professor Coppock is by far my favorite professor at UVA. Everything you learn in this class will help you understand the world better. Go to office hours and get to know Coppock--he genuinely cares about his students. Know the lectures and reading inside and out and you'll be successful.

Amazing professor! My favorite class I have taken at UVA. I did not take micro before the class and I still suceeded so don't be scared off by the micro recommendation. Super interesting and equips you well to discuss complex issues. Tips to succeed: READ THE TEXTBOOK!!!! Coppock wrote it himself and the material in the textbooks often directly reflects the material on exams. Don't rely on Dutch Knockout (the percentages to get an A were really high last semester). Making flashcards worked really well for me to study for this class. Pay attention during lectures--sometimes an example or case study he discusses in class will be on the exam.

As someone who discovered that they really hated ECON through this class, I will say that Professor Coppock tried his absolute hardest to make me not hate it, but it just wasn't for me. He's a really great guy (except please no more Hayek or Sowell---there's a reason every political theorist or moral philosopher looks down their noses at economists and their ideas on morality) and a really great professor, but my thoughts on economics very much colored my take on this class. All you really have to do to do well in the class is read the textbook and do problems in the back of it; Professor Coppock once literally took questions from the textbook and put it on the exam. I was kicking myself for not asking my TA to check the questions I wasn't sure of my answer on in the textbook with me. Your TA doesn't actually have the answers from Mr. Coppock, but they should still be able to give you the basic principle behind the problem so you can figure out exactly what the methodology is for a problem like that. The lectures do add a little bit of spice and coherence to the textbook material, especially when Professor Coppock gives some more historical context or leads you through an interesting example, but really the bulk of the material (especially that tested) can be found in the textbook, which is probably because Professor Coppock wrote the textbook, so it's really just his ideal economics class packaged into a textbook (but with some rearranging from his pesky editors). The grading is basically: Test 1 100pts, Test 2 100pts, Final 200 pts, Discussion Section (points from your TA) 25 pts, and Clicker Questions 15pts. If you're actually interested in economics and the empirical social sciences, I would highly recommend taking classes with Mr. Coppock, especially if you're interested in classical liberal ideology because he knows a lot about that in particular.

Mr. Coppock is a fabulous lecturer and really cares about connecting with students on an individual level. Show up early to lecture or go to office hours, and you'll get the chance to learn the material and get to know the professor—even though it's a huge class! The content wasn't too difficult, and I personally found it an easier class than microecon with Elzinga.