Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory · BC
10 weekly p-sets or quizzes (one or the other, varies by week) - 30%, one midterm - 30%, one final - 40% Super reasonable and the TA office hours were helpful.
Long psets, 7 of them, but graded very leniently. The exams were very fair if you study what was covered in the lecture, I got above 90 on both studying relatively normal amounts for a 4 credit class. If you study and stay up to date with the class, you will do well.
Psets every week-ish, two midterms (30% each), and a final. HW is graded very generously.
Pretty light, especially for a 4-credit class, easy weekly MyEconLab, consistent midterms (2) and final.
Professor Jasova was amazing!! Definitely one of the best courses I've taken at Barnard. As someone who wasn't super confident in the material going in, Professor Jasova's teaching style worked extremely well. She's super organized, explains all content thoroughly, answers questions well, and is very approachable and impressive. She makes the content interesting and relevant. The course itself was very well-structured and you know what to expect on homework/exams. 100% recommend this course for anyone interested in economics.
Okay people are going to love him or hate him; easily. If you enjoy personality and theory, you'll like him; he's very obviously knowledgable and teaches in a very funny and unique way. He, as a person, is hilarious; his personality carried lectures for me. This was the only class I went to every lecture in. That being said he is very disorganized, and the class topics are split super weirdly in that most of the semester is covering one specific topic (which he admits, is the only topic he thinks is important) and thus cramming the rest at the end of the semester. I did not need the TAs, like most people said they did, I went to all lectures took notes and got a really high A, but not all TAs are good. The one I regularly went to was amazing, but I heard others are quite bad; but you have 10 TAs to pick from, so keep looking till you find one you like. Overall I'd say register for the class, go to the first three lectures to see if you fuck with him; if you don't, drop the class and go next semester, but if you do I think he's worth taking. I personally adore this guy, I think he's hilarious and I love his outfits, but it's very very personality dependent. He's an acquired taste.
JUSTICE FOR DR. GERTLER! She's actually great. I think she has probably improved between her first and second semester, but it's clear that she's really passionate and just wants her students to do well. She gives you so much material to help you prep for exams and is always willing to answer questions. I would say to make sure you are asking questions, because there are some things that I think she could break down further (and will, if you ask). Content is nothing crazy, no calculus involved (although imo there should be). Micro was way more difficult.
Why am I gagged by all the bad reviews??? I feel like this is the fairest class I have EVER been in. The textbook is SOO useful, so if you do the readings then show up to class you should be fine. The tests are exactly like the practice exams. The weekly Psets can be difficult...(chat). Only issue is that she says a lot in class that's not included on the slides...so missing class hurts
I found lectures dry and by-the-book; most of the class ended up skipping them. She covered the material, but I usually got lost - not sure if it was the early time of the class, me, or her. When people asked questions, her answers didn't usually demonstrate understanding of what it was that students were confused about, so answers were generally not helpful (and re-asking often felt redundant, since students gave up trying to clarify at some point). The weekly MyEconLab assignments were incredibly easy, especially since the system gives you so much help and so many chances to get it right. The fact that perfect/near-perfect scores were trivial to get without having completed any reading and without any understanding of the material heeded learning for my lazy ass but they were a nice grade boost. I was always woefully underprepared for the tests, but even so I pulled through; I found them consistent, understandable, relatively easy, and pretty well-written. From the grades the class received, others agreed. There are probably better ways to learn the topic, if you're way too lazy like me you should probably go with someone who will push you a little harder. However, I think if I put more effort into readings/attendance/attention I could have learned a lot, she certainly seems knowledgable. Second midterm was only just before the end of classes, but I liked that system because…
He is too good looking to be allowed to teach at a women's college. I spent half the class paying attention and half checking him out. That aside, he is a great, energetic, charismatic professor who gets students engaged in the subject matter and goes at a reasonable pace. It is a workload but it is tolerable. Only complaint was accessibility outside the classroom. He seems to just wanna teach the class and go home and not make his office hours too plentiful. But if you pay attention and take notes, you won't really need the office hours.