ECON 3720

Just blazes through material: he'll ask if anybody understands, but when he gets negative answers, he'll just continue with the material. I don't understand why he bothers asking. Furthermore, he doesn't give a lot of examples and instead keeps saying "we have to get to the fun stuff" so we don't have time. Yet he gives us ridiculous proofs that aren't really required and we never got to the 'fun' stuff.

He is a very smart guy, and I don't agree with the person saying he doesn't explain much. I very much enjoy his lectures. Mid term was hard but the materials are very useful.

It is understandable that the material taught in this class is very technical. However, it is very useful out there in the real world and Professor Reshef did a nice job explaining the material. Treat the textbook as a supplement to his lecture notes. It helps to have come to the lectures having read the material for that day. That way you will not get lost when he goes over those complicated models. Although there were not many examples, Mr. Reshef made an earnest effort in ensuring that his students left with a good theoretical understanding of the material. His tests were heavily theoretical, although you could end up doing well on them if you reviewed your lecture notes. The professor is also very lenient and he is a nice guy. The class structure was well organized and you could print out the notes that he prepares for each topic. This is a class where you have to put in the effort to do well.

I enjoyed the class. Reshef is a really good teacher, sometimes is a bit awkward but I think it keeps it interesting and keeps me on my toes. He does a good job explaining stuff and is good at responding to questions (and always does).

I'm torn about this class. On one hand, you can see Reshef tries to throw in jokes into undoubtedly boring material, and approaches each class period with an outline. However, maybe because it was his first time teaching the class, I absorbed little from his lectures in the first half of the semester, and had to read the book. I never thought I'd say this but I wish we'd had more problem sets; he provided no practice questions so you didn't know how to study for the tests. I don't know about the final, but the midterm's average was a 64%. Overall, the material is important to learn, and maybe Reshef will be clearer his second time around.

He made the tests extremely difficult and it was a lot of proofing. If you don't need this class or aren't really into statistics, I wouldn't advise you to take it. It's not really the professor's fault, it's just bad material.

Major: Economics (concentration in Public Policy)

Reshef is a very cool guy, and he has an accent that somehow makes him easier to understand. He's very animated during lectures and it's easy to stay awake. Unfortunately the material is difficult, so the homeworks and tests are pretty hard but he provides excellent lecture notes online and if you put in the time you will do well in this class. I recommend it... especially because your alternative is 472, which is supposed to be much worse.

Reshef is a great professor to talk to. He is very nice and friendly if you take the time to get to know him. I completely failed the midterm but he was very helpful and kind about it, and I ended up with a B in the class. The material is very useful and shows real applications of economics. Take this class if the rest of your schedule isnt too bad, because you will need to devote a lot of time.

Don't take this class unless you absolutely have to or have a strong interest in statistics. Prof. Reshef is slightly more helpful than the book, but not by much. Problem sets are time-consuming and sometimes difficult. Tests are almost impossible to ace.

It was a hard class. Some of the homework questions can be seen on the test but majority is based on lecture notes. The prof. is quite boring but knows his material well. Do not take the class unless you absolutely have to.