I have mixed feelings on this class. First of all, lectures are really boring and it can be hard to stay engaged. Taking lecture notes is very important - there are no recordings or anything like that. In-class participation grades are from iClicker, which are super easy to get as long as you have consistent attendance. Econ minutes are also super important, which are posted online but only stay up for like a week or so, so you really gotta stay on top of that. Discussion sections are a toss up, some of them are good and grade chill, while others are super tough. Watch out for the midterms, you really have to ensure you do well on them because you can't depend on the dutch knockout. Read the textbook, pray you get into a good discussion section. Wouldn't recommend taking this class if you don't need to, and if you have to, take it w/ the other professor #tCFF23

Elzinga is a great guy and clearly very knowledgeable and passionate about economics. That being said, he does have a tendency to ramble and go on tangents during lectures, to the point where my most memorable moment from the semester was when I zoned out for a second only to see a picture of Jesus on the board and hear Elzinga talking about sheep? Most of the useful information in this class can be obtained purely by reading the textbook and paying attention in discussion. I paid fairly little attention during lecture (and took almost no notes) and still wound up with a very high A-. That being said, prior knowledge of economics if definitely very helpful, the first midterm especially is quite easy if you have a base knowledge of supply and demand. Lastly, do not rely on the dutch knockout. I did well on all three exams which really helped me out, as the cumulative curve for the semester is much, much nicer than the curve for the final only.

Lots of people talk about how they hated having Elzinga for micro, but I actually really loved Elzinga's class and would recommend taking micro with him if you can. Elzinga is a really good lecturer and tells stories that provide great context for the economic concepts he is explaining. It is important to go to lecture because he does not record class or post any slides, so if you miss the class you miss the content altogether. Doing the reading is also important, not for the midterms, but for the final exam. Some of the content in the textbook is not taught in class and vice versa. Your grade is made up clicker questions, discussion section, 2 midterms, and a final exam. The two midterms are free response style questions. Many people complained about how hard these exams were, but if you really study they are not bad at all. Very fair questions. The final exam is VERY difficult, despite being all multiple choice. Since the econ department offers dutch knockout (final exam grade only), the final exam is ridiculously hard and really brings down your average. Do not bank on dutch knockout for your grade.

I don't know what people are on with their Elzinga reviews. Professor Elzinga is genuinely one of the most engaging professors you could get. For students who want to be spoon-fed names, terms, and graphs to memorize, the lectures might seem unhelpful. But for students who want to understand economics long-term, Elzinga wastes little time explaining key concepts in a memorable and easy to follow manner. As Elzinga says, the course is really just organized common sense. Use your brain and nothing will be a challenge.

Elzinga is definitely one of the most caring and genuine professors I have had at UVA, however I think he started rambling too much in class and I could often tell during certain lectures that the class completely lost their train of thought on what he was saying. One aspect about this class was how dependent it is on your TA. The TA's basically make their own decisions when grading the mid terms, with mine not even following the rubric given half the time, so I would have to go to office hours with the Head TA to get it sorted out. I ended up getting an A-, not to the help of my poor midterm grades, which is the most common grade in the class. DO NOT listen to other reviews about the final. It is very easy to skim the textbook and pick up the facts needed to do well on the final. I think people are just upset because he asked 2 questions that maybe required more in depth reading, but even whilst skimming the textbook I was able to gather and answer to these questions. Take the course, with knowledge knowing that you could get screwed by your TA grading and that you are going to have to teach yourself some material that Elzinga glosses over. #tCFfall22

I loved this class. I would strongly recommend going to every lecture and actually reading the textbook and taking notes. The midterms will be more based on the lectures, but the final definitely had many concepts from the textbook that you needed to know to do well. Elzinga is a legend at UVA, and taught when my mom went here, that's how you know he's a great professor! I really enjoyed his lectures and liked the structure of the class. Grading is based on a 400 point scale accumulating clicker points, discussion section participation, and the exams, but a Dutch Knockout is used, so that if you do better on your final exam than your average, that grade will be taken as your final grade. The final grade is also curved, so I wouldn't sweat it if the first midterm doesn't go so well, because you could be looking at a good 7 point bump in the end. #tCFfall22

Kenneth Elzinga is a senile jerk who literally just wants to confuse people. You can know the material so well you can feel like you can teach the course, but NO, Elzinga makes his final exam epically impossible with the worst wording. He is NOT a legend. DO NOT TAKE CLASS WITH HIM!!!!

Do not take this class with Elzinga. I've never studied so much for a class before and still ended up with a C in the class. I read the textbook and went to every lecture to still fail every exam, not worth it. My TA also sucked and did not explain anything well. Basically had to teach myself all the material the entire semester and obviously that didn't work out.

Elzinga is a great man and a great teacher; however, there's no need to both read the textbook AND go to lecture. Yes, there is a lot that he doesn't go over in lectures that's covered in the textbook. But whatever he doesn't mention in lecture that's in the textbook can be found on Quizlet study guides made by previous students (which I recommend you look at while studying).

Both midterms will only feature material that's covered in the lecture, but the final might have 3-5 questions that could only be answered if you read the textbook (or looked at Quizlet).

I'd say you either do one or the other, both are overkill and a waste of time. For me, I went to the lectures cause Elzinga actually makes them really interesting and enjoyable to listen to. If you want to read the textbook, then there's no need to go to lecture at all.

All in all, Elzinga's class might be harder than other professors, but going to the lectures and hearing his jokes/examples are worth the struggle. However, if your priority is to get the best grade possible, enroll with a different professor.

I'll start off by saying that I had the pleasure to meet Elzinga in office hours and he really is the nicest man with really cool stories to tell! He is a pretty good lecturer, but I found his class to be really difficult. As someone who had never taken any sort of economics in high school, it was hard for me to absorb all the information so quickly. I also very much dislike the grading system. I'm personally not the best test taker, so hearing that the final would be worth 50% or possibly 100% (dutch knockout) of my grade was very unnerving.