MEC 2900
Microeconomics
Provides a rigorous analysis of the behavior of consumers and firms in competitive and monopoly markets; oligopoly markets are introduced. Consumer topics include preferences and utility, budget constraints, consumer optimal choice and demand curves. Firm topics include technology, cost minimization and profit maximization. The course concludes with price determination in monopoly and competitive markets, and an introduction to oligopoly and game theory. The focus of the course is on microeconomics as a decision making tool for consumers and managers.
Instructors
Ahn, Andrew Gray, Cecilia Diaz Campo, David Ahn, Diaz Campo, Gray, Natenzon, Paulo Natenzon
Reviews
2-4 hrs/week
I did not like this class as much as other people did. I found it pretty boring and hard to pay attention. The curve is half points back though which is very generous.
5/21/2024
Great professor. Clear lectures and material that has a straightforward style and occasional dry humor. Everyone dreads mec290, but I felt like Gray is the exception.
5/20/2024
2-4 hrs/week
great professor/lecturer and nice guy but lectures were very dense. exams were fair for the most part and he gives lots of resources to study for them. doable class but definitely use office hours and friends in the class
5/19/2024
10+ hrs/week
Took over the summer. I really liked this class and professor. It was all asynchronous and exams were fair
5/18/2024
2-4 hrs/week
loved this class!!! the professor was great and super engaging and had a good grasp of what the students were thinking, and connected the concepts to a lot of non-money markets which was cool. I felt like I learned a lot, and if you paid attention in class and took notes, the class honestly wasn't that bad. BIGGEST advantage I had in this class was having taken Calculus III already though - a lot of the topics covered we had already gone over in that class, so it easily made sense to me, but a lot of other people were struggling. Theres also weekly homework assignments but its just completion.
5/17/2024
She is so caring, smart, and passionate. Yes, the class is really hard, but she will do everything to help her students; she cares and is very reasonable. If you go to TA office hours, you will get problem-set answers, but MAKE SURE to go to her office hours and stay for the whole time. She will teach you lots, and that time is very valuable.
5/14/2024
Really great professor and funny guy. He's super into the subject so he goes on rants, and sometimes is not the the most straightforward when he explains how to calculate things. But he is very smart and knows his stuff. He's pretty accessible, puts out a lot of study materials, and made class interesting sometimes even though I kinda hate micro.
5/14/2024
AVOID. Makes class unnecessarily challanging, misleads students as to what will be on the exam, and makes her section way harder then the other teachers. Has to curve exams so much because students are so unprepared and generally perform so poorly... the average on her exams is usually around a 50%.
5/14/2024
Natenzon is one of my favorite professor's at WashU. His lectures were extremely engaging in my opinion and he always listened to student feedback. I do think the class could use more TAs but he hosts some office hours and you can ask him questions right after class. If you understand the content and do all the practice exams, you will do fine!
5/13/2024
Professor Diaz-Campo does have more difficult tests, but she curves each test so that the average is an 85. Her lectures are thorough and easy to understand. Problem sets tend to be longer than necessary, but the office hours provided by the TAs and/or herself make them extremely doable. Show up, study, and you'll be fine.
5/13/2024
Her lectures aren't bad and she's a nice person - plus the curve is best in her class - but she does move really fast, gives out pop quizzes, problem sets are long, and tests are pretty hard and may include content not covered in class. I would recommend trying to take MEC290 with a different professor if possible
5/11/2024
Professor Diaz-Campo is a diligent and caring professor; she is always open to answering questions. Attendance isn't mandatory, but she will give pop quizzes. If you can't come just email, she is very understanding. MEC will always be a hard course but as long as you come to class and study well you'll do fine, don't be fooled by the salty reviews.
5/3/2024
Incredibly nice professor, really enjoyed his lectures, and I thought he was fairly good at teaching the material. However, his exams are immensely difficult, and the bi-weekly problem sets are not especially easy, either.
5/2/2024
Worst professor in the B school. Lectures are terrible, she makes no sense in class, and the test are nothing like any homework or class or practice test. You can't do good in this class. Don't take her. Take it in the fall just to have another teacher.
5/2/2024
Abnormally difficult and fast-paced class compared to the other professors for this course. Not the greatest lecturer either.
5/2/2024
The difficulty of this class is overrated in my opinion. Its true that Paulo is not a very good instructor (although a nice guy), I never paid any attention to his lectures, I think online videos and self-studying are more efficient for this class, and if you do his practice exams, the actual exams are very fair and manageable.
4/27/2024
Paulo is a fine teacher. He cares more about his academic papers than actually teaching the class. He is a nice and funny guy but not the best teacher. His class is easier than the other MEC 290 Professors, so I would still recommend it over CDC's class. The class should be fine if you have already taken MGT 100
4/25/2024
I sent an email to her inquiring about my final grade and found out that I had earned an A. I had been striving for an A since my grade was very near the cutoff point. My performance met the challenging standards set by the professor. The professor believed that I had the potential to excel in business. Do not take her class!!!!!
4/24/2024
Ahn is a funny guy and personable, cracks lots of jokes about gambling and poker. However, when it comes to teaching, there's room to improve. Sometimes very unclear about the material, and there are typos on almost ever single assignment/exam which is frustrating. The material itself isn't hard, but I went to office hours every Wednesday!
1/15/2024