<p>Hey all! I'm a prospective econ major! I was wondering how the economics courses are at Umich. Specifically the intermediate micro and macro classes! Thank for your help!!</p>
<p>Haha in short not too great. The 300 level courses (most of them save a few) have very poor structure and are taught by professors who do not really think much about how they plan exams. 401 is ridiculously hard, and the average is a C in the class. Talking to an econ major who took these classes, he told me that he probably self studied more than he learned from his classes. I think that sums up the upper level courses pretty well.</p>
<p>“401 is ridiculously hard, and the average is a C in the class.”</p>
<p>This is not true at all. I have the exact grade breakdown from last semester:</p>
<p>A+ 24
A 68
A- 16
B+ 31
B 76
B- 10
C+ 24
C 38
C- 10
Less than C- or W 52</p>
<p>Median grade was the middle of a B.</p>
<p>Actually, Michigan’s undergraduate Economics curriculum and program is recognised by graduate Econ programs as being an excellent training ground. My sub 3.5 GPA was sufficient to get me into a couple of top graduate Economics programs. Like any popular major (Econ, Political Science, Psych etc…), Econ at Michigan (and at most top universities) is going to be overcrowded and at times “mechanical” and impersonal. However, the quality of the faculty and program is among the very best. My friends who took Econ classes at Harvard, Northwestern and Stanford seemed to have faced virtually identical class sizes and curricula.</p>
<p>The scores are skewed right. The median will be higher than the mean, so it would be B- or C+ at the very least. Either way I just told what I’ve heard from other econ majors, I personally haven’t taken any econ classes at U of M, so you guys might have a better idea than I do.</p>
<p>Would you say it’s worth using AP Econ credit to skip intro micro & macro econ or no?</p>
<p>401 is definitely over-hyped, much like the orgo series.</p>
<p>is staying in LSA studying economics nearly as good as transferring to Ross as a sophomore? or are they on a completely different tier?</p>
<p>Academically and reputationally, they are the same, but the LSA career office is nowhere nearly as effective as the Ross career office. So, if you aim is to get an excellent education, I would stick with LSA Econo, but if your primary goal is getting a high-paying job, Ross is a significantly better option.</p>
<p>So if we can skip Econ 401, should we? Would it cause a big hindrance in the future?
How is 402??</p>
<p>You cannot skip 401 and major or minor in Econ. If you are going to take a single Econ class that’s the one you are supposed to take. </p>
<p>Trust me, it is not near as hard as nikeboy is trying to make it seem. The average is a full letter grade above what he claimed. </p>
<p>402 is a slightly different format than 401, but still similar. 401 is a big lecture (~350) for 2 hrs a week, and a small discussion (~20) for 2 hrs a week. 402 is a big lecture 3hrs a week and a small discussion for 1 hr a week. I have only taken 401 but I’ve asked people to compare/contrast the two for me (I’m considering taking 402) and this is what I’ve been told is that 402 is more concepts and trivia and 401 is more math.</p>
<p>Sorry! I meant like if we’ve already taken that class from another
college. We can transfer the credits, correct? Or do we
have to take that class at Umich?</p>
<p>401 is a joke. </p>
<p>First of all, people always complain about curve. Guess what? Get over it. It’s curved to a B. That’s at worst equivalent to and most likely better than the typical engineering curve that we face in EVERY CLASS.</p>
<p>Second, the concepts are ridiculously trivial. The only reason why some people do bad is because they can’t do a lick of math. Funny how I see so many econ majors struggle in that class and math/engineering majors do well.</p>
<p>Last, the class is graded on a curve and you are competing against the econ majors. A fair number of econ majors stayed in econ because they are ross rejects. You aren’t even competing against the most competent/competitive bunch. So if you don’t get an A, you only have yourself to blame. You can either work harder or be more intelligent (well, since the latter is impossible based on the current technology, I suggest going for the former)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call 401 a joke at all. For what it’s worth, I missed 2 points in econ 401 and got an A+. I did all the homework, made sure I understood everything written on the lecture slides, and read the book when I felt that the lecture covered a topic only superficially. I joined the honors discussion section and went to all of the discussions. For math background, I finished math up to linear algebra/diff eq in high school and retook calc 3 here. Some of the exam problems were definitely tricky, but I found the exams to be generally trivial compared to the depth in which (grammar?) I learned the material. The first time I saw an Edgeworth box I thought it was weird because I had never thought to superimpose coordinate systems on each other like that so you might want to look at those ahead of time. My favorite unit was the introduction to game theory at the end. Although I got a good grade, I did not treat it as a blowoff class and therefore would not call the class a joke. I did like the class a lot though, and found it very interesting.</p>
<p>In econ 402, I missed far more points but still got an A. The math in 402 is literally insultingly easy as the professor I had dumbed it down significantly. Since I felt like the professor didn’t respect the capabilities of the class, I devoted considerably less time to the class, hence the smaller grade. But if you review the lecture slides, homework problems, and practice problems you should be fine. Dr. House also gave extra credit on exams such that you could get a score of 110/100. There was no curve for this class. 90-92 was an A- and 93+ was an A.</p>
<p>I took 402 this semester and 401 last semester. I got an A in 402 and A+ in 401. Math in 401 is mostly trivial, and in 402 it’s a joke. I found 402 to be harder though because the GSIs know the material is easier so they nitpick you to death on the exams. Example would be saying delta is depreciation rather than depreciation rate, stupid stuff like that. I’m also in 409 (game theory), that class unlike 401 or 402 has some real math in it, though it’s less the math and more the intense logic that’s difficult. And that class is curved to an A- lol.</p>
<p>^Are you an Econ Major?</p>
<p>Yes, I’m a sophomore.</p>
<p>is honors worth doing in econ? or is regular econ degree very good</p>
<p>There isn’t a specific Economics honors sequence as far as I know…at least not back in my day, which was, admittedly, 15 years ago. As such, the Economics curriculum for honors students will not be significantly different than that of regular students.</p>
<p>For Econ, it’s really about the honor thesis. So I guess if you enjoy doing research you should give it a shot.</p>