ECON 103
Introduction to Econometrics
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisites: courses 11, and 41 or Mathematics 170A and 170B or 170E and 170S or Statistics 100A and 100B. Enforced corequisite: 103L. Introduction to theory and practice of univariate regression analysis with emphasis on its use in economics. Introduction to method of least squares, Gauss-Markov theorem, confidence intervals and hypothesis tests in univariate regression context, and standard errors in case of heteroscedasticity and serial correlation. Emphasis on applications with real data and computer software (R programming language) to implement discussed methods. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
3 of 4
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - Some of these comments about Professor Pinto are just outright DISRESPECTFUL & INACURATE. I'll directly counter the points made by the review post that starts with "I disagree with the posts here claiming that negative reviews of Pinto..." I. Professor Pinto is NOT an "average-to-low" professor (sooo out of pocket)! I didn't feel all confident going into 103, given that it is well known to be difficult. However, Professor Pinto EXTREMELY SIMPLIFIED the class content through his WELL DETAILED slides and literally OVEREXPLAINING during lectures. This class heavily stems from 41 content, and there were people who seemed to struggle, given that they had taken 41 a couple quarters before 103. They would ask 41 based questions, and Professor Pinto always explained in the most basic manner, not once complaining as other Econ professors would! While I do agree that the R portion of the class wasn't really mandatory, Professor Pinto still put a great deal of effort in explaining content during lab sessions. P.S, you don't need to have any coding background prior to taking his class to be successful. He literally took baby steps in introducing us to R and thoroughly explained the applied class content in R, while always saying that he genuinely wants us to enjoy and appreciate learning econometrics II. Yes, the exams in this class were fairly EASY. All you had to do was understand the intuition behind all the topics, do the problem sets and DO HIS PRACTICE EXAMS. That said, he is the most straightforward Econ Professor I've had at UCLA thus far. The fairness of his exams by no means downgraded my learning experience. Regardless of the difficult level of exams, I believe that students who truly care and are unbiased towards certain professors should be responsible for their own learning especially when given ALL RESOURCES as Pinto did. III. Professor Pinto is NOT LAZY. The man LOVES Econometrics. He literally went overtime every lecture trying to cover as much content as possible. We also covered Heteroskedasticity which other professors don't usually make it to. Emails- I was in a study group with friends for this class, and Professor Pinto ALWAYS responded to each of our emails, in a timely manner too, and I can't say the same for Rojas when I took his 41 class in Winter 2021. OH- People would go to OH expecting the Professor to just review the entire course content prior to the final, which is UNREALISTIC. I attended Pinto' s OHs primarily to know what questions other people were asking, and 90% of the time, everyone would just be quiet. So yes, it was only fair that he answered whatever questions students had, even beyond the scope of 103; as long as it was about Econometrics (again, the man LOVES talking about econometrics in any given context). Thus, he did not indulge curious ("kiss ass") students, and did his best in attending to all questions. IV. PROFESSOR PINTO IS KNOWLEDGEABLE! I don't think he would be a professor at UCLA with an EXCEPTIONAL educational background if he wasn't knowledgeable. He indeed had to teach econometrics at the most simplified level to enhance clear understanding of course content; the man is INTELLIGENT. Given that he is being compared with Rojas; will you learn a great deal from both of them? YES. Will Rojas make life more difficult for you while learning the SAME thing and MORE? YES. It is common for most UCLA ECON MAJORS to equate a great professor with the capability to succeed in a very difficult class. But the reality is, the content of Econ classes aren't extremely difficult if you genuinely care about what you are learning. However, some Professors make it their mission to give out as little good grades as possible and PINTO IS NOT ONE OF THEM. HE TRULY CARES, and I suggest taking his class if you're someone who wants to enjoy an econometrics class (never thought I would associate enjoyment with 103 lol), but of course, at your own discretion. THANK YOU FOR AN AMAZING QUARTER PROFESSOR PINTO!
Spring 2021 - Some of these comments about Professor Pinto are just outright DISRESPECTFUL & INACURATE. I'll directly counter the points made by the review post that starts with "I disagree with the posts here claiming that negative reviews of Pinto..." I. Professor Pinto is NOT an "average-to-low" professor (sooo out of pocket)! I didn't feel all confident going into 103, given that it is well known to be difficult. However, Professor Pinto EXTREMELY SIMPLIFIED the class content through his WELL DETAILED slides and literally OVEREXPLAINING during lectures. This class heavily stems from 41 content, and there were people who seemed to struggle, given that they had taken 41 a couple quarters before 103. They would ask 41 based questions, and Professor Pinto always explained in the most basic manner, not once complaining as other Econ professors would! While I do agree that the R portion of the class wasn't really mandatory, Professor Pinto still put a great deal of effort in explaining content during lab sessions. P.S, you don't need to have any coding background prior to taking his class to be successful. He literally took baby steps in introducing us to R and thoroughly explained the applied class content in R, while always saying that he genuinely wants us to enjoy and appreciate learning econometrics II. Yes, the exams in this class were fairly EASY. All you had to do was understand the intuition behind all the topics, do the problem sets and DO HIS PRACTICE EXAMS. That said, he is the most straightforward Econ Professor I've had at UCLA thus far. The fairness of his exams by no means downgraded my learning experience. Regardless of the difficult level of exams, I believe that students who truly care and are unbiased towards certain professors should be responsible for their own learning especially when given ALL RESOURCES as Pinto did. III. Professor Pinto is NOT LAZY. The man LOVES Econometrics. He literally went overtime every lecture trying to cover as much content as possible. We also covered Heteroskedasticity which other professors don't usually make it to. Emails- I was in a study group with friends for this class, and Professor Pinto ALWAYS responded to each of our emails, in a timely manner too, and I can't say the same for Rojas when I took his 41 class in Winter 2021. OH- People would go to OH expecting the Professor to just review the entire course content prior to the final, which is UNREALISTIC. I attended Pinto' s OHs primarily to know what questions other people were asking, and 90% of the time, everyone would just be quiet. So yes, it was only fair that he answered whatever questions students had, even beyond the scope of 103; as long as it was about Econometrics (again, the man LOVES talking about econometrics in any given context). Thus, he did not indulge curious ("kiss ass") students, and did his best in attending to all questions. IV. PROFESSOR PINTO IS KNOWLEDGEABLE! I don't think he would be a professor at UCLA with an EXCEPTIONAL educational background if he wasn't knowledgeable. He indeed had to teach econometrics at the most simplified level to enhance clear understanding of course content; the man is INTELLIGENT. Given that he is being compared with Rojas; will you learn a great deal from both of them? YES. Will Rojas make life more difficult for you while learning the SAME thing and MORE? YES. It is common for most UCLA ECON MAJORS to equate a great professor with the capability to succeed in a very difficult class. But the reality is, the content of Econ classes aren't extremely difficult if you genuinely care about what you are learning. However, some Professors make it their mission to give out as little good grades as possible and PINTO IS NOT ONE OF THEM. HE TRULY CARES, and I suggest taking his class if you're someone who wants to enjoy an econometrics class (never thought I would associate enjoyment with 103 lol), but of course, at your own discretion. THANK YOU FOR AN AMAZING QUARTER PROFESSOR PINTO!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - I came into this class expecting something great because of the reviews from past quarters. However, this class is quite simply the worst I've ever been in. Homeworks took 30+ hours for me since I had no previous coding experience and the basics weren't taught during class. The homeworks did eventually get shorter, but only after essentially the entire class complained to Rojas and the department. The tests were nothing like the homeworks. The homeworks all involved coding everything while the tests required knowledge of how econometrics worked and how to calculate everything by hand. As for the lectures, they were essentially useless. Rojas just read off a pdf that was riddled with errors. Moreover, he ignored questions half the time and when he did respond to questions, he answered with "You should know this from Econ 41" or "Hang in there, it's the learning curve." He also did not respond to emails and was not very accommodating in my experience. If you can take this class with literally any other professor, do it!!! This class is near impossible if you have no prior coding experience and I'm, quite frankly, shocked that I even got a B (I was expecting a C). If you get stuck with this guy, good luck
Winter 2021 - I came into this class expecting something great because of the reviews from past quarters. However, this class is quite simply the worst I've ever been in. Homeworks took 30+ hours for me since I had no previous coding experience and the basics weren't taught during class. The homeworks did eventually get shorter, but only after essentially the entire class complained to Rojas and the department. The tests were nothing like the homeworks. The homeworks all involved coding everything while the tests required knowledge of how econometrics worked and how to calculate everything by hand. As for the lectures, they were essentially useless. Rojas just read off a pdf that was riddled with errors. Moreover, he ignored questions half the time and when he did respond to questions, he answered with "You should know this from Econ 41" or "Hang in there, it's the learning curve." He also did not respond to emails and was not very accommodating in my experience. If you can take this class with literally any other professor, do it!!! This class is near impossible if you have no prior coding experience and I'm, quite frankly, shocked that I even got a B (I was expecting a C). If you get stuck with this guy, good luck
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Professor Santos is awesome. I was really afraid going into Econ 103 because I hate statistics and didn't do super well in Econ 41, but Santos was extremely clear when explaining concepts and truly wanted his students to do well. He always responded to emails about content or homework with detailed replies. There are 5 problem sets throughout the quarter (two that are R coding) that aren't that bad and a good way to get points and make sure you understand the basic material. He also provides lots of practice problems before the midterm and final, which was a pretty good indicator of what was on the exam. He is so friendly and always willing to help. I would take this class with Santos again!
Fall 2020 - Professor Santos is awesome. I was really afraid going into Econ 103 because I hate statistics and didn't do super well in Econ 41, but Santos was extremely clear when explaining concepts and truly wanted his students to do well. He always responded to emails about content or homework with detailed replies. There are 5 problem sets throughout the quarter (two that are R coding) that aren't that bad and a good way to get points and make sure you understand the basic material. He also provides lots of practice problems before the midterm and final, which was a pretty good indicator of what was on the exam. He is so friendly and always willing to help. I would take this class with Santos again!
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Most Helpful Review
taking 103 with thomas was a lot of work, but quite rewarding too. If you want to skate, dont take this class. But if you put in the work, get to know all of the TA's and Thomas, who is a great guy, this class can really turn your head. Oh and be ready to answer questions in class, cuz he will find you and call on you and he will get to know you whether you like it or not. HAHA. I would definitely recommend this class with Thomas.
taking 103 with thomas was a lot of work, but quite rewarding too. If you want to skate, dont take this class. But if you put in the work, get to know all of the TA's and Thomas, who is a great guy, this class can really turn your head. Oh and be ready to answer questions in class, cuz he will find you and call on you and he will get to know you whether you like it or not. HAHA. I would definitely recommend this class with Thomas.
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