Simon Gilchrist - Boston University, Boston, MA

Professor: Simon Gilchrist

Department: Economics

College: Boston University, Boston, MA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: EC502
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

First thing I want to mention is the exams are super hard. Also I think I did not learn everything about macro at this course.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I second that teaching EC102 seemed like a chore for professor Gilchrist. He routinely showed up 5-10 minutes late for class and is not very helpful during lecture or outside of class. I learned most of the course material from my TF & by doing practice problems on Aplia. However, its possible to do well in this class, just study really hard.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

One of the worst econ professors at BU for sure. He does not explain concepts well at all and you can tell he hates teaching such an introductory class because he tries to make it much harder than it needs to be. Didn't even sign up to have him as professor but he switched with my other prof mid semester. That's when everything went down hill.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This guy does not care about his students at all. You can tell that teaching 102 is a chore and a bore to him. He makes it a terrible experience for everyone else involved as well. He is ineffective at explaining concepts and just reads his notes.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is the worst professor i've ever met!!!!!He is so horrible!!!! His class is useless, i'd rather reading the text book instead of taking his class!!!! in addition, his ppt is helpless, he just copy the content from the text book!!!OMG!!! He gives plenty of homework i am freaking out!!! dot take his class!! he will ruin ur interest in Marco Econ

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This guy is a horrid professor. He is totally uninterested in the class...he doesn't take the time to go through slides thoroughly, he just reads his brief bullet points assuming the 256 kids in the lecture hall understand it...WE DIDN'T. Do not take this class. Even for someone who took ap macro last year, this was really hard to do well in.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very uninterested in teaching. Only in it for his personal research

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Absolutely terrible teacher. Seemed to barely understand the subject material or care at all about teaching. The book was the only thing of use in the entire course. Even after noticing that a majority of students did not understand a concept, he would refuse to clarify his point. If you have the chance, DON'T TAKE THIS COURSE! YOU WILL REGRET IT!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Gilchrist came in midway through the course to replace Olivetti as is custom in the fall class. He threw everything off, is disorganized, slow, reads straight off the slides, and struggles to explain even the simplest concepts. It's frustrating. Teach yourself. Read. Find a good TF and go to their office hours.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor Gilchrist was exceptionally good at relating the textbook to real world concerns. With his own twist as well. This made for interesting and thought provoking lectures. As an economics major, I especially enjoyed this because what I am concerned with is the real world and not the mumbo jumbo of a textbook. Great guy, great talker. A+

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HIST101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Please remove my previous comments and rating 10/15/10 HIST101, together with the present one, as the misunderstanding between me and Mr. Gilchrist has been solved, thank you.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: GRSECA1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

he is realy good!!!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: EC502
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Great professor. Lectures are good and he posts fantastic notes of everything gone over in class online. Will make you work for your grade. Tests and problem sets require you to think and apply what you know to solve a problem you've never seen. HW/PSets graded harshly but everything is curved at the end.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: EC502
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I don't know why everyone has a problem with him. His notes are great, he explains everything well, and the problem sets are great preparation for the exam.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: EC502
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

avoid.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: EC501
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Nice guy. Provides really good notes. Helpful in class, but not always as helpful by email. Homewors are graded somewhat arbitrarily - check, check plus, or check minus. Exams are very close to the homeworks.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: EC502
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

too arrogant for people learning intro macroeconomics.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: EC704
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

No interest at all in teaching. He explains as if we should already know the material. Helpless.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

he's hot!!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: EC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I took this class during the fall semester in 2004. He was really helpful - If I had any questions after class, he would answer them. I never went to a discussion section but if you just do all of the problem sets before the exam, you're sure to do well.