Arik Levinson - Georgetown University

Professor: Arik Levinson

Department: Economics

College: Georgetown University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I'm not that good at economics, but the class didn't really inspire me. Arik is an okay professor. He does contextualize what we learn into current events well but otherwise is sort of boring. He explains concepts well but not very well. Tests are difficult, but if you study, they're so-so. The curve basically saved me. Go to discussion section.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor Levinson is brilliantbut too brilliant to teach this class on an introductory level. As someone with no Econ background, the lectures were incredibly difficult to understand. The exams also dont really relate to what is discussed in lecture and are more math-based. Curve saved my grade, as did my TA. Discussion sections do help!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Most of your grade depends on the midterms and finals, so attendance isn't mandatory (although recommended if you have no econ background and need to learn the topics). Levinson is a solid lecturer, especially for micro. He teaches the concepts in a way that is easy to understand, but most of the tests are just based on practice problems/past exams

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• 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:

Arik does okay for a 300+ person lecture. He taught a lot of interesting content, but what he taught in the lectures didn't really translate to what was on the tests. If you go to the TA recitations and do the practice exams, you'll be fine. The curve helps. He can also be funny.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are extremely topic/idea heavy but discussion sections w/ TA are much more focused on math. Tests are 95% math. Arik is a nice guy and good lecturer but his lectures don't have anything to do with the tests. The only reason you need to go to lecture is to get the 1 point for logging in on the app (that everyone has to pay $20 for...)

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Clearly a brilliant guy. His resume is impressive, and his teaching skills are not bad. More often than not he is engaging and conveys a topic well, but students may find themselves supplementing their own knowledge for midterms and finals. As long as you listen, stay awake, attend recitations, and take notes you will succeed.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• 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:

Arik Levinson was a pretty solid choice for Microeconomics. Lecture material is interesting, though sometimes he was pretty confusing and he gets sidetracked sometimes with random videos. He's funny too. Tests weren't too bad, as long as you take the practice exams and look over the problem sets. He reuses a TON of problems.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Arik's an amazing professor! First course in econ and he made the concepts easy to understand. Don't get the textbook if you're going to show up to class. The midterms were harder than the practice, but you'll get a better grasp later in the semester. Ignore the bad reviews about the math difficulty, it's just basic algebra and geometry.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Has a good sense of humor, especially about his resemblance to Megamind. Smart guy, clearly very knowledgeable about economics but can't convey that at all to his students. Lectures consist more of sharing his opinions on economic trends in politics than of actually teaching the concepts covered in exams.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Levinson is clearly very knowledgable in his field, but often presents his knowledge in ways that aren't very easily understandable for those of us who came into this class with absolutely no context on economics. He provides very helpful examples but sometimes strays from the course material.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Show up to class, definitely covers more then what's just in the textbook. Very knowledgeable about the subject, helped advise Obama. Sometimes lectures go on for a bit too long, but its the best he can do in a class of 300.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Levinson is a solid pick for intro Econ. He's not going to change your life or anything but he does his best. The class has at least 300 kids in it, so he conveys the information as well as possible given the circumstances. Taking notes in the lectures (even if it's boring) helps a lot. The curve is a lifesaver. He gives old exams for practice.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Genius at econ (he literally advised Obama), but would not recommend for an intro class as he is not good at dumbing down the material for people who aren't too familiar with it. Class is very boring and gets hard to follow. He tends to just talk about his own research. All graded on the exams

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Levinson is too fast in the way he teaches. Hes a smart guy but he just rambles on without even knowing if his students are understanding the material(which they arent) but he will keep going. Hes teaching this class as if it was more for himself than first year undergraduates. Highly suggest finding someone else

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Arik presents interesting lectures with many case studies that impart real life knowledge. He assigns weekly homeworks that count for 10% and are an easy grade booster (you can collaborate). You do have to put in outside work, though, and the TA recitations are really helpful in making sense of the material. The whole class is on a curve.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The class was generally fairly straightforward and the exams closely reflected the practice exams and homework problems. The second midterm deviated a bit, but he curved the score to make up for that difference. Highly recommend him for Principles!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

So here's the thing... you don't need to go to class. He teaches concepts, not problems that will be on exams. Teach yourself!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He was the worst Econ professor I had in my life. His lectures are indigestible, and most of it doesn't even come up on the test. Beware, because his class is math-heavy while his lectures are concept-heavy.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Arik made econ digestible, which was good for a first time econ student. the tests were almost identical to homework and lectures, not a lot of curveballs with him.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ECON001
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Super cool guy that made economics a lot more interesting. Sometimes expects students to know as much as he does because he'll go over new material fast and not explain it thoroughly. Practice problems on Aplia due every Sunday night. 2 midterms with lowest one dropped and a final. Curve helps a lot.