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.

This class is hard no matter the professor. That being said, I would reccomend to take it with McDevvit. While lectures are kind of hard to follow, especially since he writes in chalk with hard to read handwriting, all the lectures are posted online and he has a copy available of all the notes needed for the class. He gives out plenty of studying material, so you don't really need the textbook. One stressful thing is that the final is 55% of the grade and the two midterms make up the rest, so there is high pressure for those tests. Overall, hard class that you will have to study a lot for but a solid professor for the class.

NOT NICE PROF
ARN'T WILLING TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
KINDA PRETENTIOUS HYPOCRITE

Don't buy the textbook. It's expensive and you won't use it.
You should sit in the front; you can barely hear or see anything at the back.
McDevitt is a really smart guy. I found his lectures pretty interesting because of both the content and his teaching style. This professor is extremely fast when he teaches so make sure to pay attention. The tests are pretty difficult and he puts so many options in the multiple choice questions that guessing just won't work for you. Luckily, there is no homework so you have lots of time to prepare for tests.
There is one thing I hated about Prof. McDeviit though: his writing is pretty sloppy. It sounds like an unnecessary complaint but trying to read the board is an extreme sport. I know I wasn't the only one that had this problem, too. It's not just his handwriting, but sometimes he writes over stuff he didn't completely erase or over huge marker smudges and we're somehow meant to decipher that. Additionally, his graphs on the tests are pretty sloppy. It's literally some 6th grade Microsoft Word user work. It's pretty hard to understand sometimes.

Professor McDevitt is very helpful and loves what he is teaching. He stays around after class if you go and ask him questions and he holds useful office hours where you can ask questions and he would expand a little bit on his lecture. He gives a lot of practice problems, which is GREAT for me because my best strategy to study is to practice plenty. Make sure you do those problem sets and review them well, and you will be fine for the exams. He posts all the old lectures notes, so you can skip his lecture is you can study the notes well yourself. I would recommend going because it just makes your life easier to sit for an hour and learn from him than to spend hours trying to figure it out yourself.

Oh one thing, he talks constantly and writes constantly during lectures. If you zoom out for a minute, you will find a board of new materials and you will be like ???? Don't worry if it seems intimidating, because there is really not much material covered every lecture. (Although the incessant writing and talking make it look like there is a lot)

I got a 99/100 for midterm one because the first part is really easy. For midterm two I screwed up a bit but still decent 115/150. I don't know about my final grades, but I assume I did well since I got an A+ at the end.

Appreciate this man. He’s not the best in the school but he’s probably the best that teaches this class. Tests are hard but doable.

McDevitt is a great professor who teaches Econ the way it should be taught. Tests can be challenging, but if you put in the work, listen to him well, and actually care about the subject, you’ll do well. Highly recommend him for this class.

Fantastic class. McDevitt provides you with literally everything you need to succeed in his class. He’ll post past exams that are extremely similar to the midterms and final but with the numbers changed. You should also invest time in the study questions because those help a lot. As for a TA, I would highly recommend Carlos. He is extremely smart and dedicated to helping his students.

McDevitt is extremely dedicated to his class in that he provides a wealth of study materials and sets time aside on the weekend before any given midterm to host multiple review sessions. Lectures can be fast-paced, so make sure to attend TA office hours to truly get a handle on the concepts. On that note, I highly recommend Carlos Carvajal (extremely dedicated, funny, and down to earth TA).

If you do the study questions and study the notes you'll pass at the very least.

I feel more interested in econ because of mcDevitt. Please take this you will not regret