Would not recommend this class if you want to learn from Elzinga/McKay. They don't answer questions in class and hold office hours but discourage attendance at them if you have a question related to course material which seems kinda absurd. I learned everything in my discussion and from the colander. They make new tests every year but for the final I took a ton of practice exams from various TA sections and no joke saw some of the EXACT same questions on the final exam so there's that. If you can, take this class in the Spring with Doyle. Smaller lecture section and I've heard much better things about his class. I would highly emphasize attending discussion, asking questions and going to TA office hours because thats the only way you will effectively learn in that class. Elzinga really only talks about examples and indefinite concepts in lecture so that was not helpful for preparing for exams. They're both very cool and nice professors but if you are not a good exam taker, this class is not for you as majority of our grade came from exams. Dutch knockout was an option which was nice but the midterms genuinely felt like war.

A great choice if you’re genuinely interested in economics and want to build a strong foundation in economic thinking. Professor Elzinga is passionate and very experienced. He's taught ECON 201 for decades. The material itself isn’t overly difficult, but the exams draw on everything from both the textbook and lectures and are intentionally challenging. If earning an A is your main goal, you may want to reconsider.

It can really vary depending on your TA. Otherwise, the lectures are entertaining and the work is manageable. Grading wise you only really need to worry about exams, so can do a little work every week or you could not gaf until a week before a midterms and cram.

The class itself is not bad. But the TA support is really what makes or breaks you and wow I was broken. My TA gave us absolutely nothing to study from, and I had to go to my friend's TA office hours and beg them for their practice materials because mine gave me none. The lectures were insanely pointless because all they did was talk about their past students and make some stupid story that vaguely tied to what we were learning. The class itself was fine; there was very little work, but that's because my TA never gave us any practice to prepare us for the actual midterms or exam.

This class is great if you are new to Econ and want to learn more. It is a great intro class and serves as a stepping stone to the next classes in econ or commerce. The only issue I have with the class is the lectures, as many times they can be unclear, and the slides don't exactly help you when taking notes. Both Mackay and Elzinga taught this class, which made it challenging to follow one teacher's teaching style.

The professor is great and enjoyable to listen to, but the lectures themselves were not very helpful. I found that much of the material covered in class wasn’t particularly relevant. I read the textbook before attending, hoping the lecture would go over the more challenging concepts or at least highlight them, but instead the class often focused on random or very basic topics. Overall, going to lecture wasn’t very beneficial.

I would not recommend taking this class unless required. I took it out of curiosity to see if I might minor in Econ, and it wasn’t worth it.

My TA was also disappointing. Many TAs made review packets with practice questions similar to those on the final, which is very helpful, but my TA did not. About 10 questions on the final were similar to those packets, so I missed out on that extra preparation. I felt this was unfair, though it’s too late to do anything now that grades are posted.

If you’re taking this course to explore the subject, I’d recommend choosing a different professor, especially if you’re new to Economics.

This is course was rly interesting for sure. I got taught by both elzinga and mackay. This was my first time in a 500+ lecture hall. One thing is that the tests are super tricky and to not rely on Dutch knock out. Either way you have to do good as it’s either 50% of your grade or 100%. Although the professors are lovely, this class made me tweak out for the entire semester. So much stress and studying that rly didn’t end up being reflected in the tests. To be honest, I could have studied nothing and probably do the same amount of worse. Take this if you want the experience of elzinga but if you want ur GPA first, take the other two profs.

2x lectures + 1x discussion a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, attendance optional but recommended for clicker questions. Exams are worth 80 points, final 200 points, 15 points max for clicker questions, and 25 points from your discussion section. Dutch Knockout exists where if your final exam grade is higher than the breakdown listed above, your final exam grade becomes your final grade. Try not to allow yourself to get to the point where you'll rely on it.

Professor Elzinga or MacKay will lecture for 55mins (starting five minutes past the listed class start time and finish 15 minutes early) about a general topic. They go over very little substantive content in their presentation, but spend most of their time explaining examples or offering occasionally chuckle-worthy anecdotes to aid your understanding. My TA spent our discussion sections rushing to explain all of the material that was supposedly covered in the week's lectures. What each TA does in their discussion sections is up to them, but be sure to stick with a good one. I fear that watching videos, reading the textbook, and doing example problems are all musts to do well in this course, especially for the exams. Swallow your pride, pretend you're dumb, and study well in advance for the exams. I'm sure you'll end up doing better than me. It is a difficult course and it does suck that it is a prerequisite for many majors/minors so take at your own risk. My non-serious gripe with the professors is that they both read from scripts for the lectures which made their speaking more impersonal than it already was.

Lectures are incredibly boring and also quite difficult to follow. Elzinga and Mackay both tend to veer away from the initial topic and spend a lot of time explaining in-depth examples, but don't really show much relevant information on the slides. As a result, if you're not 100% locked in, you're going to end up missing lots of the material. Textbook reading is basically required if you want an A. Also, your TA matters SOOO much in this class, so make sure to switch into a good one early in the semester if you can. The Dutch Knockout is decent, but you have to tryhard the class nonetheless. Take the other Professor if you have the chance!

I'd say it's worth it to take this class just to experience having Elzinga as a professor, but I don't love the way this course is structured. The textbook is far more efficient at teaching actual content than the lectures are, and I didn't find my discussion to be that helpful either. Your grade for this class is pretty much entirely based on 2 midterms and a final exam, and while they're not impossible, they're definitely written to trick you. Especially if you're new to economics as a subject, STUDY HARD. The content is super interesting but you definitely need to put the work in to get a good grade.