Professor
Randall Rojas
1 of 4
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Like a couple of other posts mentioned, you can definitely feel the disconnect between students and staff in this class. Took this class a pre-req for my major (not an econ major), and I got an A, but I didn't necessarily end the class happily. The grade structure is midterm, midterm, final, and then the weekly homework was 15% I think. I stopped going to lecture after Week 4 because reading the online materials and watching Youtube was much more helpful. I think by the last class, only 20-30 students were still attending lectures. If you have no prior familiarity with Econ, prepare to self-study a lot. Most people don't find his lectures helpful. One of the reviews compared this to a kindergarten class, I do not think it is THAT easy, but you'll probably do well if you've taken econ in high school. I've never seen my TAs face. He sent us videos of him doing a few problems every week, and then he went MIA after week 3. Radio silence when the people in my discussion tried to reach out to him. I was genuinely worried for him for a while. He didn't come back until the end of the quarter. The online final exam crashed when we were taking it. The TAs host a zoom call for students to join while they take the exam in case there are technical issues. When the website crashed some people in my discussion started panicking, and he just sent us all into the waiting room and emailed us the new directions to take the test. Didn't open the Zoom again. The website wasn't working for a good 30minutes, and we only received an additional 15 minutes to submit the exam. That included transferring your answers from the online exam (which was segmented into a different page for every question, so you had to view every question and response independently) to a document or piece of paper and then transferring THOSE answers to an email to send the TA. I know someone who had to cancel a therapy appointment they had already paid for and another classmate who was super late to work because of this. So the lack of understanding was :/ This was one of the first classes I've taken at UCLA--I'm a first-year--and I still feel so sad that I'm paying top dollar for these kinds of classes. Don't know if it's a common feeling since it is only my second quarter now, but I felt like I wasn't perceived as a person who wanted to learn. It is obvious that the TA and the professor wanted to be as impersonal as possible. I guess I get it if the class is 400 students big, but the lack of understanding, empathy, and sincerity still made me really disappointed, especially from the #1 public university in the US.
Fall 2020 - Like a couple of other posts mentioned, you can definitely feel the disconnect between students and staff in this class. Took this class a pre-req for my major (not an econ major), and I got an A, but I didn't necessarily end the class happily. The grade structure is midterm, midterm, final, and then the weekly homework was 15% I think. I stopped going to lecture after Week 4 because reading the online materials and watching Youtube was much more helpful. I think by the last class, only 20-30 students were still attending lectures. If you have no prior familiarity with Econ, prepare to self-study a lot. Most people don't find his lectures helpful. One of the reviews compared this to a kindergarten class, I do not think it is THAT easy, but you'll probably do well if you've taken econ in high school. I've never seen my TAs face. He sent us videos of him doing a few problems every week, and then he went MIA after week 3. Radio silence when the people in my discussion tried to reach out to him. I was genuinely worried for him for a while. He didn't come back until the end of the quarter. The online final exam crashed when we were taking it. The TAs host a zoom call for students to join while they take the exam in case there are technical issues. When the website crashed some people in my discussion started panicking, and he just sent us all into the waiting room and emailed us the new directions to take the test. Didn't open the Zoom again. The website wasn't working for a good 30minutes, and we only received an additional 15 minutes to submit the exam. That included transferring your answers from the online exam (which was segmented into a different page for every question, so you had to view every question and response independently) to a document or piece of paper and then transferring THOSE answers to an email to send the TA. I know someone who had to cancel a therapy appointment they had already paid for and another classmate who was super late to work because of this. So the lack of understanding was :/ This was one of the first classes I've taken at UCLA--I'm a first-year--and I still feel so sad that I'm paying top dollar for these kinds of classes. Don't know if it's a common feeling since it is only my second quarter now, but I felt like I wasn't perceived as a person who wanted to learn. It is obvious that the TA and the professor wanted to be as impersonal as possible. I guess I get it if the class is 400 students big, but the lack of understanding, empathy, and sincerity still made me really disappointed, especially from the #1 public university in the US.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - I took Econ 2 with Professor Rojas Fall 2020, it was a very well organized and well taught course. The material itself is straightforward, and Professor Rojas was always very clear and informative in lecture, providing a solid understanding of the material as pertaining to the problems and tests, while also tying in its relation to macroeconomic issues in the world today. He was always prompt and helpful with emails, the grades were easy to understand and fair, definitely recommend!
Fall 2020 - I took Econ 2 with Professor Rojas Fall 2020, it was a very well organized and well taught course. The material itself is straightforward, and Professor Rojas was always very clear and informative in lecture, providing a solid understanding of the material as pertaining to the problems and tests, while also tying in its relation to macroeconomic issues in the world today. He was always prompt and helpful with emails, the grades were easy to understand and fair, definitely recommend!
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Most Helpful Review
ECON 41 I had Professor Rojas in the Spring 12. The grade consisted of two midterms, each 30%, and a final, worth 40%. The exams were fair; no curve balls and he distributes formula sheets for each test. The orange book was not useful, but Professor Rojas was thorough enough during lecture so that the book was not really necessary. Go to lecture and take good notes... you should be fine :)
ECON 41 I had Professor Rojas in the Spring 12. The grade consisted of two midterms, each 30%, and a final, worth 40%. The exams were fair; no curve balls and he distributes formula sheets for each test. The orange book was not useful, but Professor Rojas was thorough enough during lecture so that the book was not really necessary. Go to lecture and take good notes... you should be fine :)
Most Helpful Review
ECON103 Rojas is very clear and organized. His lectures are super organized, and he also color-codes the notes, which makes everything easy to read. Econometrics can get really confusing at times, so it's important that you ask him questions either during the lecture or office hours. He is highly knowledgeable in the fields of statistics as well as econometrics, and is always willing to help!
ECON103 Rojas is very clear and organized. His lectures are super organized, and he also color-codes the notes, which makes everything easy to read. Econometrics can get really confusing at times, so it's important that you ask him questions either during the lecture or office hours. He is highly knowledgeable in the fields of statistics as well as econometrics, and is always willing to help!
Most Helpful Review
ECON 41, STATS 11. SUPER EASY PROFESSOR. actually, top ten easiest at UCLA. You don't ever have to go to class, trust me you are wasting your time in class. just study his practice midterms, and memorise the answers!!!! they are exactly the same, word for word. I went to class first week, and got an A+. MY ONLY A+ AT UCLA. Go Rojas!!
ECON 41, STATS 11. SUPER EASY PROFESSOR. actually, top ten easiest at UCLA. You don't ever have to go to class, trust me you are wasting your time in class. just study his practice midterms, and memorise the answers!!!! they are exactly the same, word for word. I went to class first week, and got an A+. MY ONLY A+ AT UCLA. Go Rojas!!
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Most Helpful Review
***ECON 41*** I want to take the time to warn everyone who takes ECON 41 with this professor in the future that there is practically NO CURVE WHATSOEVER, and, therefore, you MUST pull 80s or higher on the exams if you want anything higher than a C. Definitely a hardcore weeder class. You have been warned.
***ECON 41*** I want to take the time to warn everyone who takes ECON 41 with this professor in the future that there is practically NO CURVE WHATSOEVER, and, therefore, you MUST pull 80s or higher on the exams if you want anything higher than a C. Definitely a hardcore weeder class. You have been warned.
Most Helpful Review
I took Rojas for Econ 1 He went through the material relatively slow in order to ensure everyone understood the material and constantly asked if anyone had questions. He does post his power points online so going to lecture is not mandatory. He sincerely cares about the success of his students and did not curve the class to hurt anybody. There is weekly homework assignments on Mindtap which is really helpful in preparing for his exams which were all multiple choice. If you can also get your hands on past exams that is also very helpful. The final was supposed to be cumulative but heavily emphasized the chapter after the last midterm so study those well. Section is not mandatory and was not very helpful. Overall I would recommend Rojas for Econ 1.
I took Rojas for Econ 1 He went through the material relatively slow in order to ensure everyone understood the material and constantly asked if anyone had questions. He does post his power points online so going to lecture is not mandatory. He sincerely cares about the success of his students and did not curve the class to hurt anybody. There is weekly homework assignments on Mindtap which is really helpful in preparing for his exams which were all multiple choice. If you can also get your hands on past exams that is also very helpful. The final was supposed to be cumulative but heavily emphasized the chapter after the last midterm so study those well. Section is not mandatory and was not very helpful. Overall I would recommend Rojas for Econ 1.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Absolutely trash professor for a relatively easy class. 1. Didn't even clarify or provide resources for what would be on the final until three days before, with the excuse that he was "prepping practice problems to make sure they were only on the subjects covered." Spoiler alert: half the problems he ended up posting were still not on the subjects we covered. 2. Made mistakes on variable usage for a question in the final and is refusing to give points back. 3. Countless errors in provided notes, solutions & other resources. (He calculated all of the CLT questions in one section of the notes incorrectly, and some of the answer keys to past midterms that he provided for review also had incorrect solutions. Every class, students would find errors in notation/calculation in his lecture notes--it was honestly so frustrating to follow.) 4. Doesn't reply to emails, saying that there were too many to reply to. 5. Bad at explaining things: he spent 45 minutes describing a basic theorem that boiled down to common sense, and then skims over fundamental stats concepts that it seems like he expects people to already know. Is this guy supposed to be the best Econ professor? Honestly confused; he turned what should have been a relatively straightforward class into an absolute nightmare.
Winter 2021 - Absolutely trash professor for a relatively easy class. 1. Didn't even clarify or provide resources for what would be on the final until three days before, with the excuse that he was "prepping practice problems to make sure they were only on the subjects covered." Spoiler alert: half the problems he ended up posting were still not on the subjects we covered. 2. Made mistakes on variable usage for a question in the final and is refusing to give points back. 3. Countless errors in provided notes, solutions & other resources. (He calculated all of the CLT questions in one section of the notes incorrectly, and some of the answer keys to past midterms that he provided for review also had incorrect solutions. Every class, students would find errors in notation/calculation in his lecture notes--it was honestly so frustrating to follow.) 4. Doesn't reply to emails, saying that there were too many to reply to. 5. Bad at explaining things: he spent 45 minutes describing a basic theorem that boiled down to common sense, and then skims over fundamental stats concepts that it seems like he expects people to already know. Is this guy supposed to be the best Econ professor? Honestly confused; he turned what should have been a relatively straightforward class into an absolute nightmare.
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