Such a good teacher with a passion for the topic. Exams are tough and not multiple choice at all, but if you show up youll do well. The discussions were also really helpful and mandatory.

Honestly the class in itself is useless. I didn't even bother attending lecture once I got my clicker points and I also never read a single chapter of the textbook. Elzinga yapped about soup for about half the lectures I did go to. But i mess with him heavy fr. Hes so old and frail. Like a sleepy bird. But yeah i recommend doing practice problems. If you do the practice problems in the textbook, you'll literally see exactly that on the actual final. I think the class is super light courseload and it's more of a "lock in for two days before the exam and all you're going to do and think about is econ but after the test you don't have to worry about it for like 4 weeks straight" kind of class. No active effort required in between tests, but a lot of effort right before the tests. I would recommend getting a good TA though, because I did actually use my mousy, kind of submissive TA for the first midterm. Also btw first midterm is super easy, second is hardest, final is easiest if you actually do the text book problems.

Elzinga is an amazing professor! I loved this class and would recommend to anyone, Econ major or not. It changes how you think about pretty much everything. Occasionally, lectures will be boring, but are engaging for the most part and there is not that much work outside of class (~1-2 hours a week of reading). The only challenging part is the curve, only around 11% of students will get an A or higher, so you have to be better than your peers, but if you can do that, then you will do well and gain a better understanding of how the world works.

I took this during the fall of 2024, so it was co-taught by Elzinga and MacKay. The lectures were pretty boring, but they covered important material, and keeping up with the readings made it a lot easier to understand what Elzinga and MacKay were talking about. Mackay would tend to rush through the important material and ramble on about other things. Definitely get the textbook - that was really how I learned most of the material, especially since in one of the more confusing sections the professors just told us to use the textbook to learn the material. There's a required discussion section and I lucked out and ended up with the head TA, Collin Williams. He really helped clarify the information and answer any questions that we had. The questions that he gave us for homework mimicked the exams which was really helpful. I know some people who ended up with TA's that taught them incorrect information. I would say that your success in this class really depends on what TA you end up with, especially if you aren't much of an econ person like I am. The first exam was pretty simple, but the second one and also the final were really tough.

I wasn't particularly impressed with Elzinga's teaching. His in-class lectures were dull and uninformative, most of my learning was done in my discussion section with my TA. If you don't get a good TA, you're out of luck with this class. Elzinga's exams are more based on riddles and quick thinking than microeconomics principles. I highly recommend reading the textbook, it's got a lot of little details that Elzinga will include on exams. Studying for and taking the final exam made me question my sanity. I got an A, but the final literally made me question my mental wellbeing. Elzinga needs to retire and hand off the class to a more capable professor.

This class was a decent introduction to microeconomics. I personally did not really like Professor Elzinga's teaching style, as he uses a lot of analogies / stories and I felt like that didn't leave us a lot of time to go really in depth on the topics. The final is worth A LOT, so I would recommend diligently reading the textbook every week and reviewing the content thoroughly to do well.

TAKE DOYLE TAKE DOYLE TAKE DOYLE. This guy is too old to be teaching and this is not a joke. The midterms are formatted in the most bizarre way even though they are simple he will have a question that has something you have never gone through worth a lot of points to tank your grade. The midterms aren't even the problem it's the final. How does one person sit down and make that with a straight face like honestly who does that? I studied for so long just to stare at the paper and have no clue what was going on. PICK YOUR TA WISELY. Chill curve tho-saved my life

If you're gonna take Econ201, do it with Elzinga. Knowledgeable, lovable guy who you'll learn a lot about econ from. Pray for a good TA, it really makes a difference. Tons of textbook readings which you just have to grind through. Lectures get boring but material isn't that difficult. Going to office hours & working with others really helps.

This is a class you most likely will have to take and cannot get out of. The concepts are simple enough. Elzinga just has a very monotone voice. The class is structured such that the midterms and the final are what really matters. The grade in this class is based on how many points you are able to earn over time via midterms, clicker questions, and discussion sections. You will be required to buy a subscription to iClicker. I would recommend going on Reddit to get a cheaper subscription and save yourself a few bucks. The class isn't necessarily difficult, but the final is designed to produce a normal curve, so beware. If you pay attention in lectures and in discussions, you will pass. Elzinga has many office hours and is a chatterbox when you go but he seems to genuinely care about his students. His lectures contain some rambling, but there is essential information in them that you don't want to miss.

The lectures are super boring but the micro content is fascinating. Try to keep up with the readings so that the lecture actually makes sense, as Elzinga mostly shows real-world applications and doesn't teach much micro specifically. Exams aren't too bad if you study and understand implications of many things; don't only study what moves on graphs; study the reasoning and rationale. I really liked this class because of the content but never really went to lecture. I had an awesome TA so was able to learn really well but many of my friends had bad ones and struggled. You can get a good grade if you have a good TA and read the book, it is essentially self-taught. The final exam was impossible though so don't rly on dutch knockout...