Daniel Richards - Tufts University, Medford, MA

Professor: Daniel Richards

Department: Economics

College: Tufts University, Medford, MA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: EC005
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I'd heard many bad things about Dan Richards prior to taking the class, mostly centered on how hard his class was. My fears were unfounded. Lecture can get a tad tedious but his slides are very clear, he moves through the material fairly slowly, and he has extra review sessions before exams, which themselves are only moderately hard.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: EC005
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

GREAT

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: EC005
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Clearly very smart, but his lectures are hard to follow. The tests aren't too bad but I'd have rather taken it with another professor.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ECON01
• 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:

Smart man, but he repeats a lot.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ECON5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's passionate about the subject, but his teaching style is confusing and he can be disorganized - hurt me particularly when he suddenly changed the due date of a problem set to an earlier time without any notice, and I hadn't planned for it. I asked for accommodation and he simply acknowledged my request and did nothing. My grade was screwed.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: EC005
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Richards is an intelligent person, but shouldn't teach an intro class. He had difficulty simplifying concepts, and his powerpoints were often incomprehensible. He also included material from EC 11 or higher and was not in our textbook. The exams were take home, but still hard. I did well in the class but had to teach myself from the textbook.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ECON005
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

His heart is in the right place. Seems totally unused to teaching Intro: made the topics far more complicated than they should be, and used math (i.e. calculus) beyond the prerecs for the course. Also, his exams (and to a lesser extent the psets) were at a much higher level than anything we learned in class. Very disappointing.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ECFIVA
• 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:

very dry jokes. I completely agree that he asks questions that require math well above the level that is a prerec for this course. There were group finals and midterms that were very difficult because they are all take homes and to be done in groups. Take the class with norman in the fall, he has a more normal system and he's helpful

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: EC18
• 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:

Absolute must-have for Quant Macro. He has his own bizarre brand of humor that keeps dry course material interesting. He's also just a talented Economist; he'll teach you how to think like one if you let him.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ECON05
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Freshmen who have not taken Economics in high school beware, he teaches what should be simple concepts at a very difficult level. If you need or want to take this class, take it second semester with Norman.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ECN1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Terrible Professor and barely teachers

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: EC018
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took Quant Macro with him. The class was kind of crazy, no work, no textbook, open notes test, the final was a group take home. The class was very difficult still. He kept EXTREMELY dry topics interesting. The only problem was that he used a lot of math that wasn't part of any prequesite classes

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: GMAE230
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

People with no prior exposure to economics had a lot of trouble in this class. But he's a pretty fair (i.e., easy) grader. He really knows his stuff and is an enjoyable professor. Great sense of humor.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ECON18
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He does a fantastic job of teaching very difficult material. Grade is completely based on 3 exams, which are open book and open note, but are very difficult. Interesting subject matter and taught pretty well

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ECON05
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Overall he is a decent professor. The book isn't great but the material is not overly complicated. The biggest problem is that he doesn't teach all of the information needed to complete the problem sets until the last day or two before it is due! Argh! Other than that, not a bad class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: EC5
• 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:

Richards lectures become extremely confusing towards the end of the year when more difficult concepts are introduced. He does a poor job of explaining theory and instead throws up abstract notes with no indication of how to use them. His problems sets are much more difficult than the tests and you never even use the book. Find another prof...

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: EC18
• 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:

Richards is a wonderful and entertaining teacher. He can get slightly confusing at times, but generally won't mind talking to you just after class. THe only problem is that his exams are really hard... BUt he makes the subject so interesting, and you really feel like you learn sth. Def worth having as a teacher

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: EC5
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor Richards teaches a very entertaining class. I think most students who have trouble in the class skip the recitations (which is very tempting) and therefore don't see or do the practice problems. The TAs go over pretty much anything you'll face in the recitations. Since I started going to recitations, everything is clear.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ECON0018
• 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:

Richards is mediocre. In EC5, he was OK. In EC18, he is unacceptable. The problem sets are riddled with mistakes which seriously impede comprehension of the material. Exams are hard and not really fair; you can study for a week straight and not do any better on the exam than somebody who studies the night before. Richards is unhelpful.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ECON005
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Entertaining and educational class. Richards is thorough and helpful if you seek it out. I saw him during office hours and he responded to a question i had via email in less than 5 min. This class made me choose econ as my major. Be ready to work, prob sets are not easy but very applicable to real life.Find extra help like ARC tutor or TAs.