Robert Pollin - University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Professor: Robert Pollin

Department: Economics

College: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

1 paper every 2 weeks in discussion, go to your TA's office hours for help. Big paper at the end too, but I dod mine like 4 hours the night before and still got an A. Exams seemed hard when I took them, but I still got a good grade. Material is super understandable and def go to the review session, he covers everything. Easy A with a little work

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Pollin's class can be intimidating at first, but he knows what he is talking about and is passionate about his students understanding the material in a way that pertains to real life. You will get a concrete understanding of economics in the US and globally if you go to all the lectures. If you give it your all, it will be the best course you take.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

didn't have to go to lecture much. do the short writing and study for mid term and final and you can get an A easily.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

liberal professor who knows his stuff but you have no chance of passing any assignments if you disagree with any of his points. just write essay's agreeing with him and you'll pass the class for sure. definitely full of himself and promotes his books/multiple articles a little too much

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very liberal professor who often downgrades the other view and many class readings are very one sided.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great professor, makes the material more interesting. Focus on going to each class, getting papers in on time, and going to the review sessions. He gives you the answer to all the test questions at the review. 10/10 would recommend.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I was not fond of this class at all and I recommend that you pick a different macro economics professor if you can. The lectures were not really helpful and the 6 1-2pg papers assigned over the course of the semester didnt really help me out in regards to reinforcing the course material. Tests were pretty easy though. I just didnt learn alot.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Pollin's class is not a traditional econ class. It deals a lot with the social and environmental aspects of econ which I really liked. He gives a review session for the mid-term and final and it is everything needed on the tests. Overall it was a great class and I would highly recommend.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

1. assigns 6 short papers that are worth 20 percent of your grade ... a lot of essay topics can be found online from interviews with Pollin HIMSELF, super easy never took me longer than an hour ... assign ONE paper every other week 2. Theres one long paper .. worst bit of the class 3. GO TO HIS REVIEW SESSIONS, gives every single answer there

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Bob Pollin is kind of a bore in lecture and he put me to sleep plenty of times. I barely listen during lecture and you could get away with not going because he puts the notes online. There are plenty of short mini-papers for this class, which were a bit annoying but they were easy. Definitely go to discussion. I think I learned more from my TA.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

One of the better classes I've taken here. Pollin really explains the material well and provides a lot of real-world information which made the class that much more interesting. Gives you a study guide that is practically the test and gives bi-weekly 4-600 word papers, no other hw 30% final and 25% term paper though. Great teacher, highly recommend

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

He always struck me as kind of full of himself. That said, great teacher. Knew his stuff, grading was straightforward and if you made the effort, you'll be fine.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: 104
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Pollin told you what you had to do and learn and there were no surprises. The review sessions are "not structured" where you have to ask the questions but I went to both the midterm and final review session and got A+ on both tests from simply reviewing the answers he gave in the session to his study guide. The university is lucky to have him.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Your grade really depends on your TA. My TA was a wicked tough grader on the 6 passrevise papers and we all had to revise them frequently, and though we were basically given the test on a study guide, and went to the review sessions with Pollin, we still got unnecessarily low scores on the exams. Choose wisely, and leave if they seem rough.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ECON204
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Although your grade is based on 2 tests and a paper, it is very easy to get an A in this class. Pollin's lectures are incredibly helpful and in general he's a very good lecturer. The tests are easy because they are based completely off a very detailed study guide that Pollin provides. If you pay attention and study getting an A should be no problem

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

70% of your grade is determined by the last day of the semester. Think about that. His system is egregonious and the TA's aren't helpful. Pollin is kind and clear, but boring and his PowerPoints are useless. All you have to do is go to his exam review sessions for the midterm and final and you'll be okay. Class structure is just all over the place.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I took pollin because he had good reviews, however as the semester comes to an end i regret it. He assigns short papers every other week that can't help your grade, only hurt it. Two tests and a paper are your ONLY grades and heavily weighted. Lectures are boring and the powerpoint notes are not always helpful. Go to class and do the study guides!!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

This class is a pretty easy class. As long as you go to class, you will do fine. He is probably the most clear economic professor you will ever have and his lessons are very interesting. You don't have to be an economics major do to well in the class. You do have papers to write but they're only 400-600 words.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are extremely boringuseless to go to. Short papers are easy but don't do anything good for your grade, they only bring it down if you don't do them. Also, 70% of the grade is made up from the final and term paper which is ridiculous. Overall wouldn't recommend this class.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ECON104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

So, here's my problem with this class. It's not that Robert Pollin is a horrible teacher, it's the fact that he assigns a ridiculous amount of papers that cannot bring your paper up-- they can only lower it. Also, he makes you buy 4 textbooks (one of them is his own) and assigns around 100 pages of reading a night. DO NOT TAKE.