Take econ 1 with another professor if you can. I stopped going to his 8am lectures mostly because I didn't want to waste the effort of waking up early not to really be engaged. You must read the Midnight economist and his course reader if you want to do well. I studied a great amount for both midterm(s) and final, made review sheets, notes, everything - and STILL ended up with a B. The vast amounts of T/F questions on his test a very aggravating because many of them are based on his personal opinions from his own writings; thus, answers are, like many others have said, generally NOT logical. Don't think too hard and just read the stuff and you'll be fine. If you don't like lame humor, or just simply abhor True/False questions, I would recommend finding a different professor. Nice guy though.

Not a bad professor. He only seems evil because his class is at 8AM, but once you get over that the class isn't so bad. Prof. Allen could teach the material better but at least he tries to keep the students alive with his humor. Otherwise, as he put it "There are no signs of life left." NOTE: BUY LECTURE NOTES & STUDY OLD EXAMS!!! These will be your life savers. I won't lie though, you will have to read the Midnight Econ. Reader and you will have to do some independent study, but all in all, it's not impossible.

Allen was the best economics professor I have ever had. His lectures were interesting, philisophical, and full of humor. Its sad that he is leaving but if for some reason he teaches again, then I highly recommend him.

And like all the other reviews, find the old exams, they help.

Tests consists of short fill in the blanks and many TF questions. You MUST read the Midnight Economist! Buy his lecture notes! STUDY his old exams because that's where his questions come from. Some of the problems on the final were ones he NEVER taught in class which is why i say STUDY OLD TESTS. Go to the review sessions held by the TAs.

The man is extremely old. He is boring and tries to be funny but his "humor" gets old after the first day. I don't know how other econ 1 profs are but if you do the things i listed above...you should be okay.

The material in econ 1 is not very difficult to grasp, but I found Allen's class to be very hard. His tests require a deeper understanding of things than he talks about in class or in his lecture notes. He would introduce concepts by drawing charts/graphs on the board, which was fine, but on his tests and practice tests the questions asked a lot of detail about those graphs that he really didn't explain very well or at all. Also, his true/false questions can be very tricky. Another problem is that this class has no text book, so there's nothing to help if you don't understand something in lecture. I ended up teaching myself a lot of the material from other resources that I had to find myself in order to really understand how things worked. I did well on the midterms (haven't gotten my final grade yet though...) but I had to work HARD for it.

I took Allen for econ 1 and once you overlook the fact that the class is at 8am then its not so bad. He sometimes has trouble with being loud enough to hear so you might want to sit near the front. All and all the tests were tricky but fair, he really wants you to understand the equations and graphs. Definitely BUY THE LECTURE NOTES. They're really helpful while studying but I wouldnt recommend substituting them for lecture, he goes over a lot of stuff in detail and in clearer steps in class.

People give him a hard time on these reviews for being old but he's still totally with it. Super funny and always calls you a "Young Scholar" I would definitely recommend taking Econ with Prof Allen...especially after reading reviews for so of the other Econ 1 professors.

Oh my god! This old guy is sooooo funny. Everyday I was cracking up. Ask him what he thinks of the administrations wives. Good times will be had by all.

Don't miss class and you'll be fine. Some of the math gets a little tricky but he uses the same test questions over and over again so just read that stuff and you'll be set. Also, get the lecture notes. They are they lecture word for word.

I only answered the T/F questions on the final. Failed the first midterm and still managed a B-

Put some effort in and know algebra and you're set!

you people are sick. allen is a horrible teacher. i have never commented on bruinwalk, but allen's reviews make me morally compelled. just find a different teacher that actually cares about learning. allen really doesn't care how you dom he's not funny, obviously the other people in the class have HORRIBLE senses of humor. if you're not an econ major, or you really aren't sure, don't take allen, it's worth the wait.

Awesome! Professor Allen made me want to wake up early and go to his 8 am class. He is hilarious. One of the best teachers at UCLA. He really wants you to learn the "economic way of thinking" which is so much better than memorizing random curves and numbers. If you want to do well go to class and section and most importantly, do every practice midterm and final you can get your hands on.

I really liked professor Allen. He really has a great sense of humor. I don't really know why he has so many negative feedback. His exams are very reasonable if you really go to lectures and try to understand the concepts, you should be able to do well on his exams. I got a B in his class, not because it was impossible to get an A, but maybe i should have studied a little harder. I do recommend taking him!