ECON 3010

THIS IS A HARD CLASS. There's a reason why it's known as the econ weeder class. You can't go into it expecting to put in minimal effort and pass. However, Kripalani is definitely the best prof to take this class with. She explains things in class and is really really helpful in office hours too. You can email her or message her over Teams and she responds to questions very quickly. She encourages students to submit regrade requests after exams and is very generous with them. Make sure you go to every single lecture, take notes, and do all the practice problems and extra credit. #tCFS25

I think Professor Kripalani has improved and refined her course compared to some of the more dated comments on this forum.

Before diving into the pros and cons of taking Intermediate Micro with Kripalani versus Troyan or Westerfield, I want to emphasize that you should not take this course if you aren’t extremely comfortable with long and elaborate algebra. The issue with this course isn’t that the material is inherently difficult—it's that if you haven’t taken a course beyond Calc II, a physics class, or you generally don’t consider yourself a “math person,” the pace at which she expects you to manipulate variables can feel overwhelming.

Many people confuse the difficulty of the class with the reality that some students are simply more prepared and have much stronger math backgrounds. That said, Kripalani consistently has a higher A rate and average GPA than every other Intermediate Micro professor, with a surprisingly high A+ rate as well

Due to the wide variation in students' math backgrounds and abilities, the exam scores have a notably large spread and standard deviation. If I recall correctly, around 30% of students get an A, while another 30% fail altogether.

To summarize: if you’re comfortable with math, this course will feel incredibly easy. If you’re not, you’ll likely be very stressed throughout the semester, but with some hard work, you’ll probably still end up with at least a B+, thanks to the generous grading curve and extra credit opportunities.

One misconception I'd like to clear up that other reviews haven't mentioned is that the actual math background needed for this class isn't expansive - everyone has it as long as they've taken Calc I. The real issue is that her exams contain more questions than can comfortably be completed in the given time. I vividly remember the first exam where time ran out, and almost no one had finished. Exams typically consist of about seven multi-part problems (a through d), which can feel like completing 10-12 lecture quizzes in just 75 minutes. On the first exam, I struggled but quickly adapted my pace and performed well on subsequent exams. My primarily and only complaint for this course remains the overly fast pace and unnecessarily extensive algebra required on the exams.

In one sentence, I can summarize everything you learn in this course: you have a mathematical function representing a firm's total cost or total profit, and to maximize profit or minimize cost, you simply take a partial derivative and set it equal to zero. There are a few algebraic setup steps afterward, but often there's so much math it fills more than a page. This makes algebraic mistakes common when you have to solve 8-10 problems plus several bizarre graphing questions in one exam. The entire course involves nothing but simple differentiation and complex algebra. It'd honestly be more appropriate to rename this class as "Partial Derivatives and Algebraic Manipulation for Profit-Maximizing Firms." I genuinely learned nothing about economics.

With this context, it's easier to understand why the course is controversial. It's not inherently hard, but some students aren’t comfortable enough with math to properly pace themselves during exams. Those who move quickly find it easy. It's definitely a questionable way to weed students out of an econ degree.

Dr. Kripalani is fully aware of the pacing issue she creates. And as such, you get to drop an exam (you take 4 exams, but only 3 count if you sit for the final). Many students secure their A early and skip the final. The final is tough only b/c there are so many scenarios and math setups to memorize. However, I heard you get double time on the final, which should alleviate pacing concerns for many. Exams count for 25% each (75% total), and there are numerous extra credit opportunities. If you complete most extra credit assignments and miss just a few lecture quizzes, homework assignments, and PACE assignments, your homework category could exceed 25%, adding an extra 1-2 points to your final grade. If diligent, missing nothing and completing all homework accurately, you could gain up to 3-4 percentage point boost on your final grade. Additionally, she applies about a 3.5-point curve at the end of the course and around 3-3.5% curves to some midterms, so even with high 70s to low 80s on all exams, you could still earn you an A.

Overall, Dr. Kripalani’s section is likely the easiest to get an A in. She’s an engaging lecturer, highly responsive, and supportive. Still, you'll feel stressed knowing her exams are dense and algebraically intensive. There's no textbook, and everything runs through Teams and Gradescope, which is inconvenient, but there's plenty of practice material closely aligned with the exams.