ECON 3030

Excellent Professor and really interesting class

really interesting. loved the professor. relevant material for understanding the current state of our economy and financial markets. Study hard for midterms or just dutch knockout. get to know professor because he's really nice and knowledgable

This was a big class, but Professor Doyle wrote notes on the tiny chalkboard in small, messy handwriting. The one time he surprised us all with a PowerPoint, he went so quickly that no one could even take notes. Not only that, but most of the time he speaks pretty quietly, even with the mic, and then ends up trailing off and mumbling to himself. So if you take this class, sit close. Also he has a couple quirks that drove me insane. When he gives tests, it's definitely an ordeal. Both weeks that we had a test consisted of a take home quiz due Monday, a take home part of the exam due Wednesday (that was long enough to be a full exam), and then the in class portion also on Wednesday (which was too long to finish in the 50 minute class period, for almost everyone). I found this to be a pretty dull class. It could be the material, but I feel like it would have been better with a different professor.

Awesome course. Doyle is far and away the best professor for this course. The material can be dry if this subject isn't of interest to you. As a former economist for an investment bank, Doyle knows what he is talking. He puts economics into practice. Less theory than the other economics classes.

Carter Doyle is great. He's very smart and has lots of experience in this field. This class is less theoretical and quantitative than other econ classes. Lectures are fairly straightforward but tests are not. Tests are also made up of a take home part, in class part, and a quiz the week before, all on the same material. The TAs all operate independently from each other and from Doyle, which is frustrating. He allows dutch knockout, which is nice because I'll probably have to use it. #tcf2016

Amazing professor, Doyle really knows his stuff. This is definitely one of those classes though that it pays to go to lecture for, as he explains the concepts differently than in the book

Don't take this class! Lots of work and exams are really really hard. It is very time-consuming. btw, TA for this class are bad. They are bad at grading. The grading for midterms are confusing.

Deceivingly difficult class. Doyle is nice and very likable as a person (super nice in office hours), but he is not a very good professor. If you read the book and memorize everything from the get go, it's doable. But you have to do this way in advance because it's a LOT of material. Don't expect to get anything out of lecture unless you do the reading first. The class did not have good TAs and the practice questions (which are dense packets ranging from 30-40 pages) have long, winded answers that do not really help you solve the numerical questions on the exam. The exams are intentionally written so that you are pressed for time. This would be fine if Doyle gave similar practice questions, but he asks questions you have no experience in solving. Afterwards, the exam keys are not posted to help you study for the final, and Doyle/the TAs rush through the exam reviews. The TAs are not on the same page as the professor or each other and make no attempt to teach you the material. Oftentimes, discussion would last for 20 minutes and then we would be dismissed. Honestly, if Doyle just gave students a formula sheet/more numerical practice questions, the class would be better. My problem is he makes the material more difficult to learn than it has to be. I really wanted to like this class because it's important information that could be interesting, but Professor Doyle does not know how to structure a class. Save yourself from the biggest pain of my fourth year and do not take this class unless you enjoy memorizing entire textbooks on your own.

I cannot stress enough what the person below me said. The class is of about 200 students, and while Doyle is typically an effective -albeit somewhat boring- teacher, he does not meet general expectations. Going to lecture is essentially useless if you haven't read the textbook to understand the weekly material, and if you sit close to the back you can barely hear anything Doyle says, let alone read what he puts on the board. Reading each week is not necessarily difficult (it's usually somewhere between 20-80 pages a week), but it was incredibly tedious for me, as I could never truly take it in unless I wrote extensive notes. My final total of class notes and readings notes was over 80 pages, and more than 60 of those were just the readings. While friendly and approachable, Doyle never seems to direct students towards a tangible framework for the class that leads to a greater understanding of the US banking system. Overall, each unit feel disjointed and often unrelated, making exams nothing more than pure memorization of ALL the course material covered, as Doyle never delivers a much-needed study guide (those 30-40 page "guides" he posts on collab are simply questions from the textbook). Grading is convoluted, as the TAs are not in constant contact with the professor and are out of touch with the class material in general. Criteria for grading is also fairly sloppy, with two midterm exams, clicker questions, TA quizzes, and take home quizzes to supplement a cumulative final exam. While dispersing the value of points would usually be beneficial in a class, it actually hurt me in the end, as my TA was unsympathetic when it came to turning in a quiz a day late (I was sick for handing it in during lecture, and they ask you not to email them the quiz); as a result, I went from having a B+/A- to having to dutch knockout to get the grade I wanted (the final was no pushover, either).

This class will be easy if you have some background on the financial markets. BUT it can be painfully difficult if you go in with no background knowledge at all. Even though the material can be interesting, Doyle is a very boring lecturer and lectures can be very confusing as he expects you to know all the terms going in. For midterms and finals, you basically have to read the textbook on your own as class notes are not organized and practice questions are useless most of the time, and TAs basically have no idea what Doyle is teaching in class. It is definitely very difficult to get an A as grading can be arbitrary and you never really know what will be on the exams, but not so difficult to pass by with at least a B. I think the class average was a C+ to a B- with no curve and an A was a 95%.