Fall 2026

Financial Markets, Institutions and Economic Activity

FINANCE 305 analyzes the U.S. financial system, its impact on economic activity and policy, and risk pricing.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Ilhan Demiralp3.8/5Dmitry Orlov3.5/5Simon Brown

Summary

1 / 6

Students must attend lectures as they are not recorded, but exam preparation is facilitated by direct alignment between lecture examples, homework, and tests.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(ECON/​FINANCE 300 or concurrent enrollment), or declared in undergraduate Business Exchange program

FINANCE 305 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

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.50/5 from 4 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: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.0/5 difficulty · 3 reviews

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

Ilhan Demiralp is praised for teaching material with direct examples that closely resemble homework and exams, making assessments fair and straightforward. Reviewers note he is straight to the point and grades promptly, though attendance is essential since lectures are not recorded.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.24 GPA, 57.5% A/AB (n=113 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.36 GPA, 65.7% A/AB (n=108 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.22 GPA, 58.6% A/AB (n=116 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Dmitry Orlov

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

Raw average: 3.18/5 from 11 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.

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

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ILHAN DEMIRALP is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. 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 Instruction60 / 600
LEC 002Classroom Instruction60 / 600
LEC 003Classroom Instruction60 / 601
LEC 004Classroom Instruction60 / 608
LEC 005Classroom Instruction60 / 600
LEC 006Classroom Instruction41 / 600

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

Ilhan Demiralp is praised for fair, straightforward exams that mirror lecture content, making the course manageable for attentive students.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.49 GPA, 71.7% A/AB (n=226 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.41 GPA, 66.2% A/AB (n=293 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.51 GPA, 73.6% A/AB (n=292 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Students must attend lectures as they are not recorded, but exam preparation is facilitated by direct alignment between lecture examples, homework, and tests.

One reviewer found the class easier than Finance 300, while another noted prompt grading and clear instruction that helped them learn the material effectively.

Topics

  • U.S. financial system structure.
  • Financial system impact on economic activity and policy.
  • Risk assessment and pricing on financial instruments.
  • Fund allocation across economic sectors.

Skills

  • Analyze the U.S. financial system.
  • Assess and price risks on financial instruments.
  • Evaluate the role of finance in economic fund allocation.

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 · 0.15 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.

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Selected offering source records
FINANCE 305 · Fall 2026

Financial Markets, Institutions and Economic Activity

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": "1272:233:003042",
    "course_id": "FINANCE 305",
    "course_uid": "course_ad4d4970816277a713b7cfd6",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "003042",
    "source_subject_id": "233",
    "title": "Financial Markets, Institutions and Economic Activity",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
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": "6b6b3324aa137193b816cfc3d0ffec6a60e7cec29272093bf937049b4750a348",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}