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Randall Rojas
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economics 41, not statistics
I had to switch out. This guy was pretty bad, and the textbook is even worse. Rarely available and hardly ever in his office, grades are on a harsh curve and can drop your primary score if you're trying to get into a certain major. I would wait till Hahn teaches this course.
ECON 106V
Hands down, Rojas is the worst economics professor at UCLA. He communicates terribly with the TAs, his slides are filled with typos, and his lectures add no value to learning.
This guy literally can care less about student learning. He reuses other professors' homework and lab assignments and he doesn't even take the time to proof read what he posts. More often than not, homework assignments are filled with typos because he copy-pastes assignments from different sources without looking at the problems to make sure that they make sense.
My advice: don't go to class, buy a book that teaches investments. He didn't even choose a valuable textbook to use. He resorted to some free online textbook that he didn't even teach from; it was useless. It seems like teaching is just his side gig and he could careless about it.
***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 1*
Rojas is a very engaging teaching. I took Econ 1 at 9:30 in the morning so everyone around was very tired but throughout his lecture he pauses to make sure everyone understands. Rojas also is constantly asking questions for everyone to participate in the lecture. His class goes significantly slower than Sproul but unlike Sproul he gives homeworks that are factored into the grade. All of his tests so far have been 25 multiple choice so depending on who you are this could be good or bad. I definitely recommend for whoever takes this class to buy the book bundle from UCLA because I haven't seen a cheaper option. To buy the code on its own is $120 but the website offers the code and the physical book for $140.
Economics 41 fall 2013:
Some misconceptions I need to address:
The problems on the practice exams are nearly identical to his actual midterms:
This was NOT true in my class. His midterms are pretty straight forward but if you come into the midterm with just memorizing the answers on the practice exams and don't know how to do the actual problems, you're in for a surprise. If he did this in the past, then he no longer does it.
There is no curve:
It depends. He ended up curving the final grade. I had a C- after the final and before the curve. My final grade after the curve was a B.
-
Rojas is a pretty good professor in my opinion. Definitely attend the lectures because notes are not posted online. Students who never took stats before may struggle though.
Midterms are straightforward although some of the grading by the TAs can be really harsh. The final was extremely hard (class average was 55%). The integrals on the final were complex so you will need to review your calculus. I recommend Rojas if there are no better professors available.
!!!!!!!!ECON 1, Fall'12!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(not stats 10)
I'll just c&p what I wrote for my friend. Very informal, I'm afraid but it will give you the gist of this class.
I like him. Its not a difficult class to pass
To ace is another story, but I was able to pass the class just by reading the book. Going to lecture is a good idea though, it will help a lot. I put in very minimal effort and that's my fault, but still manage to pass. The final review session was aggravating but it help a lot for someone who did not do anything except skim the last few chapters needed for the final.
He explains thing pretty well and gives good examples and other information that is not in the book.
i never went to discussion or lectures for the second half of the class
no homework
he does assign stuff but you don't have to turn it in
the stuff he assigns will be discussed by the TAs
if anything try to get a good TA or go to tutoring
but like I said, passable just by reading the books
the first exam was a little easy because the pacing was a little slow
it was supposed to be like five chapters, but i think we cut it down to two or three, or not. I don't remember.
but the thing is, for the second half it picks up pretty damn quickly.
the book discusses concepts and only gives a few general examples. but what the proff lectures about is completely relevant and helpful. Nothing on the exam is something he hasn't taught in class
the second exam was like above six or seven chapters but the thing was, he glossed over like two chapters
also, make sure to get the most recent edition of the book, the previous one is crap and deviates from the original after the second chapter.
but it wasn't too bad, I just returned the old book and spent my time in the library studying and photocopying.
I did alright with just the reading. no discussion and hardly any lectures. but what I learned from the first half of lectures really helped me and build my base
oh another thing. learn the bases completely, reading and lectures. i.e supply and demand stuff is a must.
I do regret not attending all the lectures. As for discussions? I had two crappy TAs in a row, so I gave up on them.
I think the lectures who have been a tremendous help because some of it is looking at graphs and he explains them a lot better in the lectures and perhaps the discussion.
I took Professor Rojas for econ 41. He explains things very clearly during lecture and provides practice midterms. There are no surprises on any of the tests. My one complaint is the textbook is horrible. He is a fair and effective professor. Just show up to lecture, study his examples and practice midterms, and you will do great.
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 :)
***I TOOK ECON 41 w/ ROJAS***
Honestly, he speaks in exclusively statistics vocabulary and makes the material much more difficult to understand than it ought to be. However, the midterms and final were very fair (not too difficult) and if you put in the work and have some knowledge of math you should do fine.
During the course, I felt confused and still do now. I also do not understand the practical applications of our coursework. However, I think I received a B+, maybe even an A-.
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!!
economics 41, not statistics
I had to switch out. This guy was pretty bad, and the textbook is even worse. Rarely available and hardly ever in his office, grades are on a harsh curve and can drop your primary score if you're trying to get into a certain major. I would wait till Hahn teaches this course.
ECON 106V
Hands down, Rojas is the worst economics professor at UCLA. He communicates terribly with the TAs, his slides are filled with typos, and his lectures add no value to learning.
This guy literally can care less about student learning. He reuses other professors' homework and lab assignments and he doesn't even take the time to proof read what he posts. More often than not, homework assignments are filled with typos because he copy-pastes assignments from different sources without looking at the problems to make sure that they make sense.
My advice: don't go to class, buy a book that teaches investments. He didn't even choose a valuable textbook to use. He resorted to some free online textbook that he didn't even teach from; it was useless. It seems like teaching is just his side gig and he could careless about it.
***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 1*
Rojas is a very engaging teaching. I took Econ 1 at 9:30 in the morning so everyone around was very tired but throughout his lecture he pauses to make sure everyone understands. Rojas also is constantly asking questions for everyone to participate in the lecture. His class goes significantly slower than Sproul but unlike Sproul he gives homeworks that are factored into the grade. All of his tests so far have been 25 multiple choice so depending on who you are this could be good or bad. I definitely recommend for whoever takes this class to buy the book bundle from UCLA because I haven't seen a cheaper option. To buy the code on its own is $120 but the website offers the code and the physical book for $140.
Economics 41 fall 2013:
Some misconceptions I need to address:
The problems on the practice exams are nearly identical to his actual midterms:
This was NOT true in my class. His midterms are pretty straight forward but if you come into the midterm with just memorizing the answers on the practice exams and don't know how to do the actual problems, you're in for a surprise. If he did this in the past, then he no longer does it.
There is no curve:
It depends. He ended up curving the final grade. I had a C- after the final and before the curve. My final grade after the curve was a B.
-
Rojas is a pretty good professor in my opinion. Definitely attend the lectures because notes are not posted online. Students who never took stats before may struggle though.
Midterms are straightforward although some of the grading by the TAs can be really harsh. The final was extremely hard (class average was 55%). The integrals on the final were complex so you will need to review your calculus. I recommend Rojas if there are no better professors available.
!!!!!!!!ECON 1, Fall'12!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(not stats 10)
I'll just c&p what I wrote for my friend. Very informal, I'm afraid but it will give you the gist of this class.
I like him. Its not a difficult class to pass
To ace is another story, but I was able to pass the class just by reading the book. Going to lecture is a good idea though, it will help a lot. I put in very minimal effort and that's my fault, but still manage to pass. The final review session was aggravating but it help a lot for someone who did not do anything except skim the last few chapters needed for the final.
He explains thing pretty well and gives good examples and other information that is not in the book.
i never went to discussion or lectures for the second half of the class
no homework
he does assign stuff but you don't have to turn it in
the stuff he assigns will be discussed by the TAs
if anything try to get a good TA or go to tutoring
but like I said, passable just by reading the books
the first exam was a little easy because the pacing was a little slow
it was supposed to be like five chapters, but i think we cut it down to two or three, or not. I don't remember.
but the thing is, for the second half it picks up pretty damn quickly.
the book discusses concepts and only gives a few general examples. but what the proff lectures about is completely relevant and helpful. Nothing on the exam is something he hasn't taught in class
the second exam was like above six or seven chapters but the thing was, he glossed over like two chapters
also, make sure to get the most recent edition of the book, the previous one is crap and deviates from the original after the second chapter.
but it wasn't too bad, I just returned the old book and spent my time in the library studying and photocopying.
I did alright with just the reading. no discussion and hardly any lectures. but what I learned from the first half of lectures really helped me and build my base
oh another thing. learn the bases completely, reading and lectures. i.e supply and demand stuff is a must.
I do regret not attending all the lectures. As for discussions? I had two crappy TAs in a row, so I gave up on them.
I think the lectures who have been a tremendous help because some of it is looking at graphs and he explains them a lot better in the lectures and perhaps the discussion.
I took Professor Rojas for econ 41. He explains things very clearly during lecture and provides practice midterms. There are no surprises on any of the tests. My one complaint is the textbook is horrible. He is a fair and effective professor. Just show up to lecture, study his examples and practice midterms, and you will do great.
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 :)
***I TOOK ECON 41 w/ ROJAS***
Honestly, he speaks in exclusively statistics vocabulary and makes the material much more difficult to understand than it ought to be. However, the midterms and final were very fair (not too difficult) and if you put in the work and have some knowledge of math you should do fine.
During the course, I felt confused and still do now. I also do not understand the practical applications of our coursework. However, I think I received a B+, maybe even an A-.
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!!