<p>how is the program at uVa? sorry couldn't be more spercific.</p>
<p>to add to this question, how is the recruiting coming out of the school of commerce?</p>
<p>well - econ isn't part of the comm school; i'm an econ major in the CLAS so i can't really comment on comm school recruiting. </p>
<p>but the econ program at UVa is definitely good. Its a large major in the College, but definitely a solid one. The experimental econ department is the area that is really growing and expanding in the best ways. The intro econ courses are blah, but intro courses in any subject are like that anywhere. </p>
<p>I'm an instater and knew I wanted to econ. UVa has probably the strongest econ program in the state (well... GMU has two noble laurate professors in Econ and has a good program too...) The department gets a decent amount of funding and has research opportunities (less opportunities for undergrad than grad students) but it really is a strong program. There are good professors and good courses - UVa tries to keep the program top notch.</p>
<p>Banedon, my S is a third year in the e-school. He's also majoring in economics. He finds his econ courses are his favorite. In fact, his mathematical micro prof last semester was the prof he liked the most of all in the University (so far). </p>
<p>What, specifically, are you asking about for the econ program? My S finds the courses challenging but do-able. Generally, the professors are good teachers, which is what you really want. Nobel prize winners are for grad school.</p>
<p>If you want a good sense of the econ profs at UVa, go to ratemyprofessors.com. Choose UVa and browse the profs who are listed as econ. The comments by students will give you a good cross-section of opinions.</p>
<p>RB</p>
<p>As a third year Politics/Econ double I have mixed feelings about the program. No doubt, the majority of my favorite classes are in the econ department, but that's mostly because of the subject matter - econ is fun and interesting. The professors are great, if you pick the right ones.</p>
<p>Some class/professor recommendations, for those interested.
201 - Intro to Micro - Elzinga (no brainer)
311 - Mathmateical Micro - David Mills (also for 419 - industrial organization)
302 - Intermediate Macro - Young (stay away from James, though I hear he's good for 440 - topics in econ history)
333 - Public Choice - Coppock (wouldn't recommend him for 202 though)
420 - Antitrust - also Elzinga
443 - Environmental Econ - Shobe
482 - Experimental Econ - Charlie Holt
I also hear Burton is good for those interested in careers in finance.</p>
<p>My main complaint about the department (and this complaint can be found at any major research institution) is with the TAs and graders. Most of the graders for the intro and intermediate classes (the core classes you have to take for the major) are foreign. This is necessarily so, as most of the best qualified candidates in the field of economics (that is, those with the strongest backgrounds in mathematics) are not from the U.S. Unfortunately, the econ department is not harsh on those TAs without strong English abilities, which makes discussion section anything from irritating to infuriating. On the other hand, out of the 4 econ classes I had that required TAs or graders (out of a total of 8), 2 were impossible to communicate with, but 2 were extraordinary.</p>
<p>The second complaint is that UVAs econ program isn't <em>necessarily</em> math intensive. You can get an econ degree fairly easily with just a little bit of calc. UVA is one of the only schools in the top 25 that does not require econometrics to receive a degree in econ. But if you WANT to take the classes then they ARE available.</p>
<p>wow, that's a very helpful info, thanks alot. can you actually pick your professors in college? (im international, so this may sound like a dumb question)</p>
<p>wow</p>
<p>Elzinga for Econ 201? i'm all for Prof. MIRMAN!!!!!!!!!! he's way cooler than Elzinga, whose tests are hard as crap...</p>
<p>Haha Mirman is a character. If you like you exams straightforward and mathematical, go ahead and take 201 with him. Elzinga's tests are harder but his lectures are also far more entertaining and enlightening. Just about everyone loves Elzinga, but I've heard 50-50 reviews on Mirman.</p>
<p>And as for choosing your professors, banedon17, you can usually see who is teaching a particular section of a course before you sign up for it.</p>