Surro is an excellent professor. You get out what you put in for this class. He gives you an amazing amount of resources; you just have to be disciplined enough to actually use them when you're not required to. None of the homework is mandatory, but doing them helps your grade. The class does get harder in the last few weeks, so watch out for that.

Surro is a very clear and helpful professor, and you can tell that he really wants his students to succeed. He really provides all the tools necessary for you to do well in the class. He even gives a step-by-step guide on how to succeed in Econ 11 at the very beginning of the class. The hw quizzes and problem sets are obviously much easier than what will be on the exams, but they are still helpful for building a solid understanding of the material. You'll get the best studying done through the review sets he provides prior to each exam, which are just exact questions he's asked in previous quarters' exams.
That being said, you definitely need to put in the work for this class. The material is definitely a step up from previous econ classes. It combines the microecon intuition you learn in econ 1 with some basic levels of partial derivatives. If you're a mathy person and good at basic calculus, it should be very manageable. Even if you're not a mathy person, Surro makes it understandable.
The class consists of one midterm and one cumulative final. For our class, the midterm wasn't terrible, and the average was about an 80% if I recall correctly. The final was definitely harder in my opinion, even compared to the previous exam questions he provided. Surro came in clutch and curved it to make the median grade in the class into a B.
I'd definitely recommend making the most of all the resources he gives you in this class. Do the problem sets and quizzes and turn them in; though they are optional, they are graded for completion and will give you free points for your final grade. Read the lecture notes or rewatch the lecture recording if you need review. Discussion is very helpful for reviewing the material and oftentimes, the TA's will provide their own practice questions that will help you even more in prepping for the exams. As long as you're willing to grind for this class, you will do very well.

Based on the BruinWalk reviews for this course, I came in very nervous. Not only did the poor ratings make me anxious, but with the experience I've had with Econ professors throughout my 4 quarters here, I managed my expectations and just focused on trying to get an A in this class.
At first, it took a while to get a grasp of the materials but Professor Surro paced the class very well. He set our expectations from the first lecture and I truly found all the resources he provided to be of help. While the midterm was a little tough, I was genuinely able to navigate through it because of practice. I thought it was fair and believe that doing the problem sets and practice problems prepared me well enough for it.
I'm not a very STEM-inclined student but I've been enjoying math a little more than I used to in high school and I want to say - that this class, this mix of math and economics, has made me reconsider my stance because I genuinely enjoy the math we had to do.
The class structure was as follows:
Midterm - 150 points (25%)
Problem Sets (only have to complete 6 out of 8 for full credit, also only graded based on completion and effort) - each problem set is 15, so 90 points (15%)
Quizzes (only have to do 12, graded based on completion) - each quiz is 5 points, so 60 points (10%)
Final - 300 points (50%)
If you do better on the final than the midterm, he'll change your grade scheme so that the midterm is dropped and the final counts for 450 points (75%)
He also curved the final grade cutoff because the final average was lower than the midterm average. So the cutoff for an A- was 89% overall, and for an A was 91% overall. (He assured us at the beginning of the quarter that he would not curve down, which some econ professors do and should be a crime :( )
Also, Professor Surro's reminders with regard to prioritizing mental health and just our health, in general, were definitely something that made me like this class. His continuous notes of encouragement and grading schemes that allow for flexibility in what our final grade is, were incredibly helpful.
I would definitely take a class taught by Surro again - best professor in the econ department.

Surro was a very good professor due to the amount of resources he provides for us to succeed in his class, however, I found the class to be extremely difficult. The only grades in his class are the midterm which is 33% and the final which is 66%, or if you do better on the final it can be 100% of your grade. He adds points to your grade if you complete the quizzes and the problem sets and also curves the exams if he feels necessary. Although the information itself wasn't too difficult to grasp with practice, his exams were really hard for me. I studied every day for two weeks before the final reviewing every resource he provided in the class and still got a bad grade. In the past, Econ 11 teachers would do multiple choice exams but his is free response and all of the questions are 15-30 points each and many of them build off of each other. So if you didn't get one question you would lose so many points. I'm not sure what I could've done differently to do better in the class, but there are many students who do succeed in this class.

I would recommend taking Econ 11 with Professor Surro. I was scared taking this class as it is a weeder class but I was surprisingly a pleasant experience. He gives every resources students need to be successful from his notes, recordings, practice questions, quizzes and past exams. Going to class and ta sessions are not mandatory. The content of this class isn't that difficult, you just need to remember the steps to approach a problem and do basic math with some calculus. There is an option for your grade to be your midterm and final or final as 100% of your grade (there is quizzes but it is graded on completion so that serves as natural curve). I think the midterm was easier but I made a bunch of random mistakes and got 83%. I think the final was quite challenging but it is not too different to the practice questions and I got 92%, which is curved to an A. I believe that as long as you put effort in, it is very possible to get an A in his class.

Best Econ Professor ever.... So organized and explains things in an extremely intuitive way. Exams are tough but there is significant practice material provided. If you do all the practice material and understand it thoroughly, no reason to not get an A.

I took 4 classes with Professor Surro and I think he's one of the best professors in the Econ department. He's very active answering questions and giving out feedbacks to students. The exams are pretty hard and he pretty much respects the department grade distribution. There was a power point on the Solow Model and it was probably my favorite part of the course. Take the midterm because the final is harder and the multiple choice section is very tricky.

There is a reason Chris Surro is the GOAT of the Economics department. Reasonable quizzes and readings. Participation during most lectures was required, but it is not difficult to fulfill. We wrote a couple papers throughout the quarter and finished off with a group presentation. Perhaps difficult if you leave everything to literally the last minute, easy otherwise.

i hate his teaching style - it doesn't work for me. if you took econ11 with him and think this will be any different, it won't. save yourself the trouble. this class isn't for people who like to play catch up.

one positive is that he passed me even tho i shouldn't have. if he sees you trying, and turning in assignments, there is not really a way to fail his class. you will move on to the next series. i appreciate him for that. thank you, chris surro! i won't be taking another class with you, but i respect your integrity.

This is a fantastic class. The tests are hard but Surro gives so many opportunities to prepare and practice for them. If you want to succeed in this class, make sure to do the quizzes, practice questions, and problem sets. If you do them, you are in a great place for the tests and they help add some buffer to your grade!