Fall 2026

Economic Theory-microeconomics Sequence

Graduate microeconomic theory covering firms, consumers, markets, and equilibrium.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Benjamin Bernard4.0/5Cenyu ZhangDan Quint

Summary

1 / 7

The course requires significant time and deep thinking, with challenging problem sets and long exams. Reviewers describe the workload as intense, noting it is particularly demanding for undergraduates or master's students.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Graduate/professional standing

  • Graduate/professional standing
ECON 711 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Graduate/professional standing

Professors

Fall 2026

Benjamin Bernard

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.67/5 from 12 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 4.8/5 raw quality · 4.3/5 difficulty · 8 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Benjamin Bernard delivers challenging, thought-provoking problem sets and deep lectures that reward significant effort. Reviewers praise his passion, accessibility, and high-quality materials, though some note his lectures can be too fast. He is highly recommended for PhD students seeking rigorous engagement with microeconomic theory.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.51 GPA, 73.5% A/AB (n=68 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.45 GPA, 60.8% A/AB (n=74 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.51 GPA, 70.8% A/AB (n=48 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Daniel Quint is described as a great teacher, though his online exams are reported to be very difficult. This historical review highlights his instructional quality despite the challenging assessment format.

BENJAMIN BERNARD is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DANIEL QUINT is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JOHN KENNAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

WILLIAM SANDHOLM is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019. 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 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction32 / 360
DIS 302Classroom Instruction15 / 180
DIS 304Classroom Instruction17 / 180

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Benjamin Bernard is described as passionate and accessible, with thoughtful lectures and high-quality slides. Reviewers note his fast pace but emphasize his availability in office hours and the rewarding nature of the challenging problem sets.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.51 GPA, 73.5% A/AB (n=68 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.45 GPA, 60.8% A/AB (n=74 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.51 GPA, 70.8% A/AB (n=48 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course requires significant time and deep thinking, with challenging problem sets and long exams. Reviewers describe the workload as intense, noting it is particularly demanding for undergraduates or master's students.

Students find the problem sets creative and the slides self-contained, aiding learning. However, the fast lecture pace can be difficult to follow, making office hours essential for clarification and support.

Topics

  • Firm and consumer theory
  • Partial and general equilibrium
  • Welfare economics

Skills

  • Analysis of firm, consumer, and market theories
  • Equilibrium analysis in various economic systems
  • Welfare economics evaluation

Grades

Historical instructor

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 · 0.07 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 · Fall 2025 · 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

1320 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.

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Selected offering source records
ECON 711 · Fall 2026

Economic Theory-Microeconomics Sequence

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:296:005729",
    "course_id": "ECON 711",
    "course_uid": "course_58c6777bcc200d28ee8b067d",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "005729",
    "source_subject_id": "296",
    "title": "Economic Theory-Microeconomics Sequence",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "93f399946aaa272e9d26971d97ea0aac97dd57d2e0d7589667bfba4f8571802e",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}