If you have to take Econ 102, please try your best to take Surro. He's one of the best professor at UCLA Econ department. The content of the class itself is not easy, so as the exams (but to a reasonable extent). But Surro provided A LOT of materials for people to study and master the concepts. There's weeky problem sets and quizzes graded on completion, practice questions for each section that he would go over at the beginning of each lectures, practice midterms and finals, and he even posted practice exams questions & solutions for each section of the concept covered. The reading he assigned for each problem sets are also super helpful for us to better understand the economic concepts behind math.

Again, the class is not easy. But Surro genuinely cares about his students and you will do well if you study hard for this class. The concept is so much more interesting than microeconomics too.

Surro is a great guy and great teacher with the resources he gives in homework, quizzes, practice problems, and other materials. HOWEVER, his lectures were somewhat awful, he would go over practice problems in a very rushed way for 40 minutes every class not truly explaining why he was doing what he was doing. This would leave 35 minutes to teach a whole new topic, which he rushed very fast. If you fell behind it feels like you almost can't catch up with how fast and nondescriptive he is. And with how fast he goes you will fall behind at some point. Aside from that the topic is somewhat interesting, class jumps from of topics/models frequently and tests are pretty challenging and give little time for how much there is. Still think he is the best teacher available for 102, but still doesn't mean he's perfect.

The class content is easy, extremely straight forward, however, there is a lot of work to review (weekly hw, slides, quizzes, practice problems and practice exam questions, and a whole 200-300 row excel project that takes too long for how repetitive it is). His lectures are also extremely fast paced, he doesn't clarify certain steps, relationships, or parameters, and the midterm had an average of 60+% because no one was able to finish in time. It had barely any multiple choice and even those required scratch paper to solve. But he is very giving with extra credit, hw grading, participation. This class was like the Lebron of Kelly olynyks. Better, but still Kelly olynyk-esque

Surro is such a wonderful lecturer and he definitely teaches well. We are allowed cheatsheets on both midterm and final, and we also have problem sets as a cushion for our grades. I was taking ECON 41 with Hahn along with this class and they both turned out fine. As long as you follow Surro's advice on when and how to study, an A- is guaranteed. Always do the practice problems before the lecture and use the problem set and practice problems to practice for exams.

Prof Surro is the best. Definitely take his classes if you can. Just make sure to follow his suggested study methods and you'll be fine.

Chris Surro is easily the best professor at UCLA. He has a unique talent of breaking down complex concepts into easy to understand intuitions and uses those intuitions to guide the entirety of the course. He never strays too far into the math/abstract and keeps his lectures laser focused on the core concepts he wants to get across. He provides a lot of specific guidance beyond classroom learning on how to succeed in his class which was very useful for me.

The midterm will likely be harder than expected. The questions are kind of like SAT questions with relatively easy concepts but somewhat involved problem solving. Its usually just basic algebra/recognition of different concepts.

Definitely do the problem sets; the process of solving problems should be like clockwork before the exams. The more important part is making sure you understand everything in complete detail.

Surro definitely gives you all the resources you need to do well in this class but damn this class is HARD. 33% midterm 66% final grading scheme or you can go 100% final. There's quizzes and problem sets and attendance that can all add extra credit to your grade. You can miss 3 quizzes 2 problem sets and 5 classes to still get max points. Use your bypass on problem set4 fs, however it will help you study for the midterm but it literally takes so long. If you don't put in the work you won't do well. You need to prepare for this class. You legit need to do all the practice problems for each concept to study for the midterm and final. The midterm is meh but that final is wayyyyy harder than the midterm and no one finished early for the final. Honestly if you're not super mathy like me, you'll die in this class.

Professor Surro is great. The way he articulates the lecture material is very useful, and he sets you up with a fool proof way to get the most out of class. That being said, the actual material is challenging, and the exams are no joke.

The midterm was manageable, but the final was difficult. The material is commulative, and he problems are structured such that if you get the first step wrong, you will get the entire problem wrong. He does allow for partial credit, so on a few questions where I noticed my numbers weren't adding up, I shot for partial credit but demonstrating I knew how to solve it without having the correct values.

I am a parent of a baby, and prior to the final and midterm I got 4 hours of sleep and still managed a B.

This course can get challenging, but Professor Surro makes the learning process smooth and engaging. There is an extensive amount of material provided, including quizzes, practice problems, problem sets, and plenty of past exam questions to study from. In addition, Professor Surro is very active on Campuswire and makes sure to answer every question asked.
Both the midterm and final were free-response, with a one-page cheat sheet allowed. The midterm consisted of 3 short-answer and 2 long-answer questions, and the final consisted of 6 short-answer and 3 long-answer questions. From what I could tell, the graders were pretty lenient with partial credit when applicable.
To succeed in this class, I would recommend having a very solid understanding of the intuition behind everything. The math is pretty simple (only goes up to Lagrangian/partial derivatives), but understanding the WHY for each question and scenario will help a lot.
I would definitely recommend Surro for ECON 11, he is a great professor in general!

I feel this class is overrated. It’s a decent elective—great if you enjoy writing and dislike tests. I did well, but it might be hard to earn an A, though an A- is relatively easy to get. I’d sort of recommend it.

My review of other professors: https://www.reddit.com/r/ucla/comments/1gmshzu/review_of_econ_professors_as_a_transfer_student/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button