Barry Ma - Baruch College, New York, NY

Professor: Barry Ma

Department: Economics

College: Baruch College, New York, NY

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ECON4000
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I took him over the summer. His tests are difficult. He speaks monotone & with an accent. Do not miss a class because his tests relies heavily on his notes & he doesn't use the textbook. tests are a mixture of t/f multiple choice and hand written. Even for the t/f & multiple choice you need to explain how you got it. Wouldn't recommend!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Overall he is a good choice compared to the other ECO4000 professors at Baruch. He repeats a lot in his lectures but I liked it because it really emphasized the important aspects of the course. Midterm, Final and small project were definitely reasonable.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Me, my roomate and our mutual friend knew the material insideout, testing each other proved this. We were all 1 point away from each other on midterm. On finals day we ended up guessing a lot, my friends thought they had similar answers. I got an A and they both got C. Shows that you can gamble your way through courses like the one Barry Ma teaches

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Extremely volatile class. You may be excelling in your other courses and have well defined methods to prepare yourself for exams. You've practiced and ritualized these methods because doing so resulted in your success thus far, yet the level of minimal effort the Professor puts in himself can lead to a significant downturn for your own grades.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

His grading is midterm and final(55%) with a term project that is easy with answers online. However, the exams god damn, you better pray and study before going into it. You have to take down notes and not only that listen to him(which is ALOT HARDER THAN YOU THINK). Do the exercises that he posts on blackboard like 5 times each before going in exam

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Whatever you do DONT take Barry Ma. He might seem like a nice guy but the midterm and final (55%) are your only grades and its solely based off of what he goes over in class. He writes on paper so you can't get the notes online. His exercise problems are similar to tests but not enough so that you can get through the problems easily. Hardest class

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ECO3200
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He knows what he is talking about and likes to focus on the details. Grades are heavily based on final.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ECO3200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

People who are rating him low either never show up or don't pay attention. If you simply listen in class (admittedly is very difficult), he is a very organized and great professor. Also, gives many exercise questions which help you prepare, but his own tests are a little different with each question having "none of the above"

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ECO3200
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Based on 3 things: quiz (10% -easy), midterm (40%), and final (50%). Tests you on what he teaches in class. Although attendance isn't mandatory he doesn't use a textbook or ppt. Its all lecture based. So attend class, take good notes, do his exercise questions that he posts on blackboard, and you will pass. Highly recommend!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ECO3200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I'm very surprised at how low his rating is. Show up to this class, takes notes, and you will get an A. He explains the material really clearly and will go over it multiple times until you get it. No textbook but his lectures go over everything you need to know for the exam. His exams are very straight forward. Definitely take him.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I took him for 3200 and 4000. He's very clear and explains the concepts really well. Sometimes he can get repetitive but I think that helps reinforce the material. I learned a lot from this class and he made me more interested in the subject. Tests are mostly based on lectures and ungraded practice questions he post on BB. I would highly recommend.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Very repetitive when teaching the material. midterm and final are similar to the exercises that he posts. If you pay attention in class and complete the exercises, you should be able to get a good grade in this class easily.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Barry Ma is undervalued by students. He is one of rare few professors who actually tests on what he teaches. You must pay attention in class(I recommend recording the lectures) and write everything down. I took him for the summer and did bad on the midterm, because I slacked in the beginning. I did better on the final, and survived with a B.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Graded on 3 things: Midterm (45%), Final (50%), and project (5% and easy). Midterm and final are composed of 8-10MC, 2T/F with written explanation, 1 question with calculation, and 1 question with multiple parts. Must attend class for notes. He gives you the tool and you have to apply it on exams. Not the best but not the worst.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ECO3200
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

If you can't get an A in this class, you probably should rethink if college is for you. A boring class but very easy.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ECO3200
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Such an easy class.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ECO3200
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

No HW or E/C, 3 exams (mainly M/C). Prof. Ma is pretty cool as a person. No textbook so you have to take good notes in class. Though attendance is not required, I deeply believe you can benefit from coming to his class. He has a thick Cantonese accent, but you will get used to it. Final is harder than the first 2 exams. Overall, an okay class.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ECO3200
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

GPA killer. avoid at all cost.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Ma is a very intelligent person. He is a Stanford man and has a lot of experience in his field. He is even funny sometimes and good as a person. HOWEVER, he cannot teach. Classes are dry, he just teaches it but does not tell why this is important, how does this relate to the real world. Very poor teaching skills.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ECO4000
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Overall great professor. Does have an accent, but still understandable and clear. Repeats things a lot which is necessary for this class. Midterm and Final are the entire grade. Just take notes every class and print his bb notes and use that to study. Textbook is a good reference but not required.