Professor

Edward McDevitt

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4.0
Overall Ratings
Based on 239 Users
Easiness 2.5 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.0 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.2 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.0 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (239)

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1 of 26
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Dec. 17, 2010
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

For an economics teacher, sure. I'll give him that - his lectures are clear and concise. But when you're going into this class, don't bring your hopes up. UCLA Economics requires you to do a lot of self study and understand the material by yourself.

The "best" teacher I ever had is Ravetch. This guy does not belong in this league of teachers. When you mumble and recite from memory an insurmountable amount of information, I am not impressed. This guy is NOT as good as everyone else says he is.

Do not buy the lecture notes, take your own notes. You need all the help you can get internalizing the theory.

Short answer is not tough, but multiple choice questions (answer choices a-k) are pretty ridiculous sometimes.

Overall, it really doesn't matter what professor you take for any economics class, as it's going to be ridiculous and BS anyway.

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2 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 101
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 22, 2020
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A

Professor McDevitt is one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. He is extremely receptive to feedback and understanding of students struggles. He really wants to make sure his students understand the concept. He was by far the best at accommodating to the change in learning environment due to COVID19. He would prerecord lectures and then do them again live. He is very clear on what is on each test and gives lots of very similar and helpful practice problems. His teaching is clear and easy to follow. The only thing I had a slight problem adjusting to at first is that his multiple choice questions can have up to 10 choices including choices like "two are correct" and "none are correct" and there is no partial credit so if you get one wrong you've already lost 10 points. However, if you do the practice problems they should be pretty manageable. I would highly recommend taking this class with Prof McDevitt!

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1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 121
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 27, 2022
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A+

This is a very doable classes. The key to success is to make sure you show up everyclass, and complete all his study questions before his exams.
There are not too many workload, and all exams are open books which means that you can even print his study questions out since many exams questions are taken directly from the practice questions(maybe changing some number or some wording, but same idea).
Professor is very clear and as an international student with weak English skills, I am able to follow his lecture without any confusion. Gradings are 25% midterm1, 25% midterm 2 and 50% finals. His office hour is helpful as well.
The content is interesting for me, I would absolutely want to take his class again.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 101
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 17, 2020
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A

McDevitt is by FAR the best econ professor i've encountered at UCLA. His tests are hard and his tests make up your entire grade (45% midterms, 55% final) but he never tries to trick you and the tests are fair (nothing he doesn't cover in class are on exams). He gives practice exams which are incredibly helpful in studying for the tests, and provides detailed notes that are almost word for word in what he goes over during lecture, so if you miss something in lecture you can go back. McDevitt is so accommodating to his students, and gives extra office hours in the days leading up to the exams and always gives detailed answers and more to whatever you ask. I cannot sing higher praises for this professor, he knows his stuff and is fair to his students.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
April 5, 2023
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: B-

Maybe I am different from most of the students, I am not really like this professor. He will curve but not round up 0.1 ever. He never replies emails after the final exam, and usually in rude or confusing words, like " I told this balabala" instead of Yes or No. Recording has a blurry quality, too.

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1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 150
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 30, 2021
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: B

Professor McDevitt is the best lecturer in the Econ department. To be fair, I put in minimal effort in the class due to extenuating circumstances from the COVID-19 pandemic. I didn't watch a single lecture, studied maybe 3 days before each of the 2 exams and final, and somehow managed to get a B. Getting an A is definitely doable if you put in the work to fully understand the material (which I've managed to do in other courses I've taken with him). I find his curve generous, and it only serves to help you. If you're not great at graphs, you'll struggle a bit like I did. You're only graded on the 2 exams (20% and 25%) and 1 final exam (55%).

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 121
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 27, 2022
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A

The "theory" part of the title is accurate - not many case studies like some other upper divisions, think Econ 1 and Econ 2 type graphs and theory.

Has a different style of teaching and tests which takes the first midterm to get used to. Listening to his lectures is the best way to study, not reviewing notes. He is a good teacher that clearly understands everything he is saying extremely well. Questions will be answered thoroughly. He explained some basic econ 1/2 concepts better than I had ever heard before.

Very unorganized lecture notes. Tests are NOT math-based plug and chug type but more concept based with free writing response sections where you are expected to copy down graphs and explain.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Oct. 16, 2023
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: A

this class covers interesting topics. I think professor McDevitt is not a bad lecturer and during the lectures he will talk about all type of topics, from Econ 1 to Econ 106. the workload is not that bad, you just need to watch the lectures, and study for midterms and finals. some questions on the exams are almost the exact same from the practice exams. my biggest advice is to go to the regrade section that he offers after each exams. For each exams on average my grade improved by 8/10%. Overall a good class, in the same quarter I was taking three other Econ classes and I was able to manage all As.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
July 2, 2023
Quarter: Spring 2023
Grade: B

- Despite this class being extremely tough, McDevitt is a very good lecturer and explains every concept very well. His style of teaching is whiteboard rather than slides, which IMO allowed me to follow along better and take better notes. He also provided notes which he followed in lectures and although they were kind of messy and confusing to follow, if you can deconstruct it, use it to study and for the exams.
- Exams make up 100% of the grade with two midterms and a final (25%, 30%, 55%) so there are no other graded assignments. Exams are multiple choice, true/false, with a couple FRQs, however, the multiple choice sometimes have choices A-G with only one right answer, but his recommendation was to treat them as a FRQ which sorta worked for me. Exams are open note/book which helped a lot especially because there was so much we needed to know, but for the midterms there is a huge time constraint so don't depend on them. I bombed the first exam, but got better with second and final which boosted my grade.
My advice to study for the exams:
- Go to lecture and then rewatch it (you don't even have to show up in person, but just watch it twice). He does record his lectures, and again he explained concepts very well, but I found it impossible to grasp onto the concepts after watching the lecture for the first time especially when I'm more focused on taking notes so all the understanding came while rewatching the lecture. And I rewatched it in 1.5 speed, plus he cuts his lecture short sometimes and it's really not that bad. Also, everything he tests us on he would teach in his lectures, he would sometimes also let us know exactly what would be on the exam so we can study for.
- Deconstruct his notes and make cheat sheets. His notes are very confusingly formatted and all over the place, but if you are able to deconstruct them they explain some of the concepts very well and very useful for exams.
- Do the study question and practice exam questions and understand them.
- Go to office hours, around exam times, he opens up more office hours at different dates and times to accommodate anyone that needs it.

Overall, this class wasn't easy but McDevitt is a very good lecturer (probably one of the best in the Econ dept.) and gave everything we need to know for exams.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 30, 2023
Quarter: Spring 2023
Grade: A+

The class itself was conceptually fairly simple for me. I have heard that other professors are math heavy and have complex calculus and algebra involved in the class but professor McDevitt does not have hard calculus or algebra in any part of the class so you do not need to worry about brushing up on these concepts too much. The class is very conceptual but as long as you are following in lecture and do the practice problems you will do fine on the tests.

Distribution:
Midterm 1: 20%
Midterm 2: 25%
Final: 55%

I got a 97%, 100%, and 96% respectively before the cure on the exams scoring the highest in the class overall. I did not put in a crazy amount of time outside of the class studying. I simply would make sure I understand lecture problems. I would try to apply to concepts to the study questions. Then I would again try to apply the concepts to the practice exam questions. Thats all you need to do. Understand the concepts he is talking about and you will do fine.

The averages in on the the tests were around 60% but then he curved these up to a B approximately. The class is pretty heavily curved so you could honestly put even less effort than I did to get an A even though I didn't do anything crazy to score high in the class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 102
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 17, 2010

For an economics teacher, sure. I'll give him that - his lectures are clear and concise. But when you're going into this class, don't bring your hopes up. UCLA Economics requires you to do a lot of self study and understand the material by yourself.

The "best" teacher I ever had is Ravetch. This guy does not belong in this league of teachers. When you mumble and recite from memory an insurmountable amount of information, I am not impressed. This guy is NOT as good as everyone else says he is.

Do not buy the lecture notes, take your own notes. You need all the help you can get internalizing the theory.

Short answer is not tough, but multiple choice questions (answer choices a-k) are pretty ridiculous sometimes.

Overall, it really doesn't matter what professor you take for any economics class, as it's going to be ridiculous and BS anyway.

Helpful?

2 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 101
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A
June 22, 2020

Professor McDevitt is one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. He is extremely receptive to feedback and understanding of students struggles. He really wants to make sure his students understand the concept. He was by far the best at accommodating to the change in learning environment due to COVID19. He would prerecord lectures and then do them again live. He is very clear on what is on each test and gives lots of very similar and helpful practice problems. His teaching is clear and easy to follow. The only thing I had a slight problem adjusting to at first is that his multiple choice questions can have up to 10 choices including choices like "two are correct" and "none are correct" and there is no partial credit so if you get one wrong you've already lost 10 points. However, if you do the practice problems they should be pretty manageable. I would highly recommend taking this class with Prof McDevitt!

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 121
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A+
March 27, 2022

This is a very doable classes. The key to success is to make sure you show up everyclass, and complete all his study questions before his exams.
There are not too many workload, and all exams are open books which means that you can even print his study questions out since many exams questions are taken directly from the practice questions(maybe changing some number or some wording, but same idea).
Professor is very clear and as an international student with weak English skills, I am able to follow his lecture without any confusion. Gradings are 25% midterm1, 25% midterm 2 and 50% finals. His office hour is helpful as well.
The content is interesting for me, I would absolutely want to take his class again.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 101
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A
June 17, 2020

McDevitt is by FAR the best econ professor i've encountered at UCLA. His tests are hard and his tests make up your entire grade (45% midterms, 55% final) but he never tries to trick you and the tests are fair (nothing he doesn't cover in class are on exams). He gives practice exams which are incredibly helpful in studying for the tests, and provides detailed notes that are almost word for word in what he goes over during lecture, so if you miss something in lecture you can go back. McDevitt is so accommodating to his students, and gives extra office hours in the days leading up to the exams and always gives detailed answers and more to whatever you ask. I cannot sing higher praises for this professor, he knows his stuff and is fair to his students.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENVIRON 134
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: B-
April 5, 2023

Maybe I am different from most of the students, I am not really like this professor. He will curve but not round up 0.1 ever. He never replies emails after the final exam, and usually in rude or confusing words, like " I told this balabala" instead of Yes or No. Recording has a blurry quality, too.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 150
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: B
March 30, 2021

Professor McDevitt is the best lecturer in the Econ department. To be fair, I put in minimal effort in the class due to extenuating circumstances from the COVID-19 pandemic. I didn't watch a single lecture, studied maybe 3 days before each of the 2 exams and final, and somehow managed to get a B. Getting an A is definitely doable if you put in the work to fully understand the material (which I've managed to do in other courses I've taken with him). I find his curve generous, and it only serves to help you. If you're not great at graphs, you'll struggle a bit like I did. You're only graded on the 2 exams (20% and 25%) and 1 final exam (55%).

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 121
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A
March 27, 2022

The "theory" part of the title is accurate - not many case studies like some other upper divisions, think Econ 1 and Econ 2 type graphs and theory.

Has a different style of teaching and tests which takes the first midterm to get used to. Listening to his lectures is the best way to study, not reviewing notes. He is a good teacher that clearly understands everything he is saying extremely well. Questions will be answered thoroughly. He explained some basic econ 1/2 concepts better than I had ever heard before.

Very unorganized lecture notes. Tests are NOT math-based plug and chug type but more concept based with free writing response sections where you are expected to copy down graphs and explain.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 134
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: A
Oct. 16, 2023

this class covers interesting topics. I think professor McDevitt is not a bad lecturer and during the lectures he will talk about all type of topics, from Econ 1 to Econ 106. the workload is not that bad, you just need to watch the lectures, and study for midterms and finals. some questions on the exams are almost the exact same from the practice exams. my biggest advice is to go to the regrade section that he offers after each exams. For each exams on average my grade improved by 8/10%. Overall a good class, in the same quarter I was taking three other Econ classes and I was able to manage all As.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 102
Quarter: Spring 2023
Grade: B
July 2, 2023

- Despite this class being extremely tough, McDevitt is a very good lecturer and explains every concept very well. His style of teaching is whiteboard rather than slides, which IMO allowed me to follow along better and take better notes. He also provided notes which he followed in lectures and although they were kind of messy and confusing to follow, if you can deconstruct it, use it to study and for the exams.
- Exams make up 100% of the grade with two midterms and a final (25%, 30%, 55%) so there are no other graded assignments. Exams are multiple choice, true/false, with a couple FRQs, however, the multiple choice sometimes have choices A-G with only one right answer, but his recommendation was to treat them as a FRQ which sorta worked for me. Exams are open note/book which helped a lot especially because there was so much we needed to know, but for the midterms there is a huge time constraint so don't depend on them. I bombed the first exam, but got better with second and final which boosted my grade.
My advice to study for the exams:
- Go to lecture and then rewatch it (you don't even have to show up in person, but just watch it twice). He does record his lectures, and again he explained concepts very well, but I found it impossible to grasp onto the concepts after watching the lecture for the first time especially when I'm more focused on taking notes so all the understanding came while rewatching the lecture. And I rewatched it in 1.5 speed, plus he cuts his lecture short sometimes and it's really not that bad. Also, everything he tests us on he would teach in his lectures, he would sometimes also let us know exactly what would be on the exam so we can study for.
- Deconstruct his notes and make cheat sheets. His notes are very confusingly formatted and all over the place, but if you are able to deconstruct them they explain some of the concepts very well and very useful for exams.
- Do the study question and practice exam questions and understand them.
- Go to office hours, around exam times, he opens up more office hours at different dates and times to accommodate anyone that needs it.

Overall, this class wasn't easy but McDevitt is a very good lecturer (probably one of the best in the Econ dept.) and gave everything we need to know for exams.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ECON 11
Quarter: Spring 2023
Grade: A+
June 30, 2023

The class itself was conceptually fairly simple for me. I have heard that other professors are math heavy and have complex calculus and algebra involved in the class but professor McDevitt does not have hard calculus or algebra in any part of the class so you do not need to worry about brushing up on these concepts too much. The class is very conceptual but as long as you are following in lecture and do the practice problems you will do fine on the tests.

Distribution:
Midterm 1: 20%
Midterm 2: 25%
Final: 55%

I got a 97%, 100%, and 96% respectively before the cure on the exams scoring the highest in the class overall. I did not put in a crazy amount of time outside of the class studying. I simply would make sure I understand lecture problems. I would try to apply to concepts to the study questions. Then I would again try to apply the concepts to the practice exam questions. Thats all you need to do. Understand the concepts he is talking about and you will do fine.

The averages in on the the tests were around 60% but then he curved these up to a B approximately. The class is pretty heavily curved so you could honestly put even less effort than I did to get an A even though I didn't do anything crazy to score high in the class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
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