Econ 1B03 is all about Microeconomics, unlike Econ 1BB3 which is about the opposite, Macroeconomics. Check out my review for that here.

In essence, you'll be learning about how the economy affects individual businesses...

Click here to read the entire review

DONT take this course if you can't memorize a lot or don't have interest/background in economics

DONT take this course if you think you'll breeze through it, if you wanna get good marks in this you'll have to read 90+ slides in each chapter

I got a 7 because I thought it was gonna be a bird course

And the first two chapters of this course are very easy so it's pretty misleading as to how difficult this course is...
the only thing crappy is the huge amount of formulae and that you have to memorize/practice them all...not at all what I call a bird course

Thanks for the heads up!

Originally Posted by Afzal

DONT take this course if you can't memorize a lot or don't have interest/background in economics

DONT take this course if you think you'll breeze through it, if you wanna get good marks in this you'll have to read 90+ slides in each chapter

I got a 7 because I thought it was gonna be a bird course

And the first two chapters of this course are very easy so it's pretty misleading as to how difficult this course is...
the only thing crappy is the huge amount of formulae and that you have to memorize/practice them all...not at all what I call a bird course

Psh. I can only think of a couple of chapters that had 90+ slides, and that was because she inserted a new slide for each new graph i.e if a graph changed whatsoever, she put that on a new slide, so really, it's alot less than 90 slides. Plus, I usually condense the PowerPoint into my own notes, which are usually 1-2 pages in length.

As well, if you understood the material, the formuals derived from the material are more or less intuitive. Intro. Econ. is probably one of the easiest courses offered at Mac. Period.

Overall, super easy course. You need to put a bit of effort but you should leave at least with a 10. Easy 12 though if you try. Tests are easy, notes are all online, exam is easy. Assignments are all easy. Good course to take if you just want a mark booster. Also...its one of those courses where you dont have to go to class and still do well. The material I find is boring, but thats just me.

Its a bird course through and through. its all memorization and common sense. Going to class is a waste of time and studying for the exam is extremely boring but very easy to do well!

I'm planning to take this course in the summer but the professors teaching it is either Aswani or Khan...Does anyone know who/how these two professors are?

If you can stay awake in classes then this 1B03 is possibly the easiest course at mac, certainly for engineers. If you go to classes and review the lecture slides before a test, required study time is far less than most courses (30 min for me). Exam was harder than tests but still not too bad. Midterms are on saturday mornings, which sucks; although you can write early if you commute.

I would NOT recommend that you buy the textbook. At least wait and see the lecture notes before you buy; you will find the book not overly helpful, and expensive besides.

I didn't take econ in high school and I thought this course was really easy. Barely any hard math to do. (hardest would probably be gr 9 or 10 level in high school).
Easy concepts. Just keep up with the content each week and assignments and you can easily get a 90. The exam and midterms are harder than assignment questions, but if you can find some practice on older exams and midterms, you'll do just fine if not great

The prof (Holmes) is a relatively good and easy-going. She basically repeats what's on the powerpoints. So going to class isn't the highest priority as there are posted podcasts on elm. But if going to lectures works for you, go right ahead.

The textbook isn't really needed at all. The study guide is ok if you need extra practice with concepts. But don't get them if you want to save money.

1B03 is significantly easier than 1bb3

this class killed meeee last semester!! They have made this class a lot harder now because they are sick of people ending up with double digits i guess.

Originally Posted by mcmastergcdb

this class killed meeee last semester!! They have made this class a lot harder now because they are sick of people ending up with double digits i guess.

What was the new marking scheme?

I wish I had stuff to upload to you guys, but since this was the easiest class for me in 1st year, I don't have anything lol.

However, all of Holmes' powerpoints can be downloaded here: http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/hholmes/1B03_Class/

i dropped econ in grade 11...would you recommend i take it as an elective or would it be boring for me?

Originally Posted by samantha__

As far as I remember, the final exam average was the same, though alot of people find it hard that it's everything you've learned, compressed into like.. 3 hours? or 2? I forget. It gets to the point where the questions become so redundent that you don't wanna answer them anymore lol.

More than agreed.

So from what I understand, this is an easy course for engineers?