Good class overall. Need textbook for HWs and exams. Selling book for $80 (new costs $120). Email: *************

A fair class...Contents can be a bit confusing if you don't go to the lectures at all or they are completely new to you because there is more width than depth in this course. But just because of that, once you are able to comprehend the core concepts, it would be an fairly easy course.

Taking this class online, his accent made it REALLY REALLY hard for me to get through the lectures. I felt quite lost in this class as the professor focused only on delivering the material and did not really address anything else in the class? Just read the syllabus. Discussion sections are basically office hours with the TA, so you could use that if you're lost at lecture. This class uses R and they go at a pretty decent pace so just make sure to keep up with it each week.

I feel bad saying this, but it was difficult to understand Zhipeng because of his accent. It made going to lecture pointless, so I exclusively used the slides. That being said, the slides are very comprehensive and give you almost everything you need to know for the class. The workload is decent, but is mostly graded on completion. The labs supplied all the code necessary for assignments, so an understanding of R isn't really needed. Overall, a decent class with a high ceiling, if the subject material really speaks to you and you want to learn more.

I am both a native English and Mandarin speaker yet his accent was so difficult to understand. He does not explain much unless you ask and mostly reads off his slides and answer keys (when going through homework questions). My only saving grace was my TA, HanYan. The mid term was extremely easy, but the final was horrid. I did not know how to even approach at least 7 questions, and towards the end I was just estimating answers because of the time crunch. Do yourself a favour and look for a different class or professor to save yourself the stress.

Professor Liao is a good instructor. He explains concepts from the first principles and is very knowledgeable about the material. However, this course is more theoretical than practical, so avoid this course if you want to get hands-on experience in financial engineering.

Grade-wise, Professor Liao is a lenient grader. It is quite easy to get A/A- but requires a lot more work to get an A+.

Overall, a decent quantitative upper elective. Would take it again.

this class in particular was my kryptonite because even though the material itself is easy, the way Professor Liao teaches is just not great. i ended up not going to his lectures and only his office hours and ta discussions because i would often sleep in his class. the midterm was easy but the final was just a dumpster fire. i suppose it was to balance the class averages from both exams since the midterm's average was pretty high.

overall, i would rather take a different professor than him but if you find ways to self-study, you should be fine.

I would not recommend taking this class with Liao, mainly because of the grade scheme. His lectures are useless to go to, so just focus on the homework, the discussion, and the slides he posts. The final is either 100% of your grade or 70% (if you do better on the final the midterm is dropped) and as mentioned the grading is purely competitive. Our final average was a 63% or so, and an 80% got me an A- (my midterm was dropped). I think if you spend a lot of time on the practice exams you will be fine, but if you want to save yourself the stress try and take someone else.

i would say liao is a pretty good teacher to have for econ 41 compared to the others. he does have a very strong accent so it is difficult to understand him in class or over his recordings. he posts his lecture slides on canvas and the TAs post their discussions as well so i mainly did this class remotely and had no issue. liao creates reasonable, multiple-choice exams, unlike what i experienced in econ 11. the midterm was 30% and the final was 70%. his midterm was very easy and almost exactly like the practice midterm, if easier. it is 30 questions in 1 hour and 15 minutes, and i had time to triple check my answers and still turn it in early. the final was 51 questions and 2 hours, which was a huge time crunch, but still very similar to the practice final. the worst thing about this class is that he follows a grading structure of 25% A’s, 35% B’s, 25% C’s, and 15% fail, so no matter how good you do on the exams, you’re just competing against how well you did against your classmates. as long as you study and know how to do the practice finals you'll be good.