ECON 3720

Professor Karim has got to be the best econometrics professor, definitely take this course with him!! Truly is very generous and explains concepts very well!

Much more of a STAT class than an ECON one. Lectures are very heavy on proofs for why variables are related or how equations can be expressed, but they don't always make it easier to understand the thought behind them. Large amounts of the material aren't very relevant unless you're doing postgrad in economics/related fields. Chalak rarely uses STATA and you're much better off just finding a free version online or splitting the cost with friends in the class.

There are problem sets due most weeks, the non-STATA problems can be brutal to stay focused on but grading is extremely lenient. Quizzes were worth 20% of our grade, but we only had 3 the entire semester and the last two were thrown in near the end of the semester. Exams were treated like regular assignments (i.e. open lecture/text, multiple days to work on) and could be submitted at your convenience before the deadline, which was great for scheduling.

3720 is known as something of a train wreck for a reason. That said, I do think Chalak is a decent guy who tries to make the course more bearable -- and generally gets it right.

This class is a trainwreck for most ECON majors, but Chalak does his best to make it bearable, especially in the pandemic. The breakdown was: midterm [30%], 6x problem sets [10%], 3x quizzes (MC) [20%], final [40%]. Everything was open-note and open for much longer than I thought it would be. I feel like I can't fault Chalak too much because he really tries sometimes. The class is a little disorganized and all over the place. There's not much communication between him and the TAs, nor him with the students. The last 3 weeks of the semester felt like he was trying to cram in things like the last few problem sets and quizzes. Although, I can definitely say most of the other comments below are pretty accurate. In addition, exam scores seemed VERY high, averaging a high B. The textbook is your best friend when it comes to exams.

Worst class ever in my college career. I don't know even what the professor looks like after a whole semester. There are only dry video recordings that made me fall asleep. Gradings are arbitrary, while work is elementary school level.