Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.21 GPA, 62.0% A/AB (n=245 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.21 GPA, 61.7% A/AB (n=230 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.18 GPA, 63.3% A/AB (n=248 letter grades).
Fall 2026
Introduction to Finance
Introduction to corporate finance and investment concepts including valuation, capital budgeting, and financial markets.
Summary
1 / 7
The course is consistently described as tough with hard exams and significant reading, particularly because Laplante wrote the textbook. Success requires substantial effort and ownership of one's education.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course map(ECON 101, 111 or A A E 101) and (ACCT I S 100 or 300 or concurrent enrollment) and (GEN BUS 206, 306,ECON 310,MATH 331,STAT/MATH 309, 431, STAT 224, 301, 302, 311, 324, 371 or PSYCH 210 or concur enrollment) or declared undergrad Bus Exchange Program
- take one
- take one
- GENBUS 206
- GENBUS 306
- ECON 310
- MATH 331
- MATH/STAT 309
- MATH/STAT 431
- STAT 224
- STAT 301
- 302
- STAT 311
- STAT 324
- STAT 371
- PSYCH 210
- concur enrollment
- declared undergrad Bus Exchange Program
“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- All of
- Any of
- Any of
- Any of
- Any of
- GENBUS 206
- GENBUS 306
- ECON 310
- MATH 331
- MATH/STAT 309
- MATH/STAT 431
- STAT 224
- STAT 301
- 302
- STAT 311
- STAT 324
- STAT 371
- PSYCH 210
- concur enrollment
- declared undergrad Bus Exchange Program
- Any of
Professors
Fall 2026Mark Laplante is praised for his passion, clear explanations, and inspirational teaching. Reviewers highlight his straightforwardness and wit, noting he cares deeply about student success.
Conversely, recent reviewers call him one of the worst professors, claiming they learned nothing. They criticize the disconnect between lectures and exams, advising others to avoid the class.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.24 GPA, 54.5% A/AB (n=266 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.16 GPA, 39.6% A/AB (n=366 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.15 GPA, 42.3% A/AB (n=272 letter grades).
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
No reviews exist for current instructors Jim Shovein or Mark Laplante. Historical reviews for Bulent Paker describe him as helpful and caring, though one reviewer noted he can be hard to hear. Belinda Mucklow was praised as charismatic and fun, with clear organization.
BELINDA MUCKLOW is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
BULENT PAKER is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
JIM SHOVEIN is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MARK LAPLANTE is recorded teaching in Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Fall 2026Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 158 / 240 | 0 |
| LEC 002 | Classroom Instruction | 200 / 240 | 0 |
| DIS 301 | Classroom Instruction | 22 / 60 | 0 |
| DIS 302 | Classroom Instruction | 43 / 60 | 0 |
| DIS 303 | Classroom Instruction | 46 / 60 | 0 |
| DIS 305 | Classroom Instruction | 40 / 60 | 0 |
| DIS 306 | Classroom Instruction | 54 / 60 | 0 |
| DIS 308 | Classroom Instruction | 52 / 60 | 0 |
| DIS 307 | Classroom Instruction | 54 / 60 | 0 |
| LEC 003 | Classroom Instruction | 119 / 120 | 20 |
| DIS 309 | Classroom Instruction | 60 / 60 | 10 |
| DIS 310 | Classroom Instruction | 59 / 60 | 10 |
| LEC 004 | Classroom Instruction | 118 / 120 | 17 |
| DIS 311 | Classroom Instruction | 60 / 60 | 8 |
| LEC 100 | Online Only | 31 / 50 | 0 |
| DIS 312 | Classroom Instruction | 58 / 60 | 9 |
| DIS 304 | Classroom Instruction | 47 / 60 | 0 |
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 21 / 151 | 0 |
| DIS 301 | Classroom Instruction | 3 / 50 | 0 |
| DIS 302 | Classroom Instruction | 7 / 50 | 0 |
| DIS 303 | Classroom Instruction | 8 / 45 | 0 |
| DIS 308 | Classroom Instruction | 3 / 53 | 1 |
| LEC 002 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 216 | 1 |
| DIS 305 | Classroom Instruction | 12 / 55 | 0 |
| DIS 306 | Classroom Instruction | 1 / 55 | 0 |
| DIS 307 | Classroom Instruction | 1 / 55 | 0 |
| LEC 003 | Classroom Instruction | 2 / 119 | 0 |
| DIS 309 | Classroom Instruction | 1 / 60 | 0 |
| DIS 310 | Classroom Instruction | 1 / 60 | 0 |
| LEC 004 | Classroom Instruction | 1 / 119 | 3 |
| DIS 311 | Classroom Instruction | 0 / 60 | 2 |
| DIS 312 | Classroom Instruction | 1 / 60 | 1 |
| LEC 100 | Online Only | 1 / 50 | 0 |
| DIS 304 | Classroom Instruction | 3 / 55 | 0 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Mark Laplante is described as passionate and inspirational, though reviews are sharply divided on his effectiveness. Some students find his lectures amazing and clear, while others report learning nothing and finding the course unnecessarily difficult.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.22 GPA, 58.1% A/AB (n=511 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.18 GPA, 48.2% A/AB (n=596 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.17 GPA, 52.3% A/AB (n=520 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
The course is consistently described as tough with hard exams and significant reading, particularly because Laplante wrote the textbook. Success requires substantial effort and ownership of one's education.
Students report conflicting experiences regarding lecture value. Some find the lectures engaging and essential, while others claim the lectures do not matter for exams and the content is standard.
Topics
Skills
Grades
Fall 2026 · Projected
Before grades are released– average GPA
Approximate 80% prediction interval
About this estimate
The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.
The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.
8 earlier forecasts · 0.08 GPA average error.
Grades over time
Through Fall 2026
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Where this course fits relative to
Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels
GPA
Higher than % of other courses in this group.
Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range
letter grades
More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.
Typical course in this group: letter grades.
About this comparison
1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.
Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.
Sources & history
UW–Madison
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
Introduction to Finance
Recorded 2026-09-07Introduction to Finance
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:233:003041",
"course_id": "ECON/FINANCE 300",
"course_uid": "course_bff484b003bf5318358b70ba",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "003041",
"source_subject_id": "233",
"title": "Introduction to Finance",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
},
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:296:003041",
"course_id": "ECON/FINANCE 300",
"course_uid": "course_bff484b003bf5318358b70ba",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "003041",
"source_subject_id": "296",
"title": "Introduction to Finance",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
}
]Rate My Professors
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Madgrades
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesModel outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
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"model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
"task_version": "14",
"output_id": "73dba1eeae2bde7c2684f5c1401bd1d3f6996d73025b67cc1b51d5b65b4f22ee",
"requirements_status": "needs_review",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}