ECON 4340

Had the worst TAs possible

Burton thinks highly of himself, and is justified in many ways. Not a good lecturer but if you study hard for the midterm and final you're in the clear.

This was one of the worst classes I have taken at UVA. The design of the class as well as Prof. Burton's teaching style (disorganized, indirect, and unclear) make it difficult to learn than. Add to that the fact there is an awful curve and the TA's grade ridiculously (no partial credit), and I would not recommend this class to anyone. Not worth my time or money.

Burton is a pretty scattered lecturer. He doesn't even have TA's, which is unfortunate because he picks random ones to grade the exams. They're given a rubric and just look for specific words. I agree with most that say that the grading is arbitrary, because some will get points and lose points for putting the same exact thing down.

Vahid is the man though, he's a grader but he was fair.

Low time commitment for this class, though I put a good couple hours in each week.

Going to office hours helps you only if Burton likes you.

Not a difficult course. Tests you based on the powerpoint slides and terms. As long as you can memorize it, it isn't a hard course. His rants and lectures before the powerpoint in class are always very interesting, and worth going to hear. As long as you know the material, it isn't a hard or tricky class by any means. Don't let it deceive you though, if you don't attend class or pay attention during the lecture somewhat at least, you can easily fall behind and get confused with the material.

The worst professor I've ever had at UVA. Disorganized at all and never made clear of his points. But he thinks highly of himself.

This class was not great. Burton is ok: not my favorite professor, but not the best either. Maybe only half of what he says in lecture is relevant, which means paying attention can be absolutely brutal because he rambles a lot.
That being said, this is one of those classes where there is very little outside work required. You just show up to lecture, take notes half-heartedly, and then study your ass off for the exams. The only outside work is reading, and it's just two books over the course of the semester.
Grading breakdown is 30/30/40 (two midterms and a final), and the grading itself was subjective. The graders are just looking for a specific word or phrase in each of the short answer questions, which sucks because it means that your grade doesn't accurately reflect what you know.
Overall, not a bad choice if you can't get in to any other ECON class, but by no means would it be my first choice.

Stay away from this class unless you like exams that remotely relate to lectures.

Really enjoyed the class.It's really interesting if you want to learn more about financial markets (and the crisis). I recommend going to lectures and paying attention because he doesn't always have readings and the slides aren't exactly what's on the exam. Nevertheless, it's a very easy and straight-froward class. Barely involves maths or stats, so don't worry about that.

One of the easier econ electives. I actually found the class interesting--yes, Professor Burton does frequently go off topic and tell stories about his own time in the finance field but sometimes they are interesting and he does have a lot of expertise in this area. The lectures are definitely a little random but the tests are fair-isn. Just study the powerpoints and you'll be fine; also, he really emphasizes students going to lunch with him so definitely do that. I went a couple times and actually really enjoyed the conversation.