Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
I liked him a lot. I wasn't sure what to major in and taking Econ 101 with Sorensen inspired me to become an econ major.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Alan Sorensen
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
His lectures are very similar to the readings which makes them repetitive. The grading distribution for this class is very frustrating (percentile ranking) which makes it hard to know where you stand. (percentiles are only posted after the first midterm). I would take it again, but skip the readings in favor or attending lecture and section.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Lectures are unnecessary towards the exams, but some of them were interesting. Homework and exams were super hard for no reason. He makes the grading super complicated as it's based off of quizzes, homework, participation, exams, and then extra credit points. He 100% relies on TAs to teach the vast majority of the content that appears on the exams.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Pretty engaging lectures and very manageable in terms of homework. By no means was this class easy but if you go to lecture and study you should be fine. Finished with an AB even after averaging around a 75 on each exam so the curve is pretty generous.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Sorensen is a great lecturer. They were engaging and entertaining. My only complaint is he doesn't go in depth into the mathematical concepts. He kind of relies on the TA's to do that and the exams are a little more math heavy so I would definitely attend discussionRate My Professors ↗
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Excellent lecturer. Explanations of math could be better (relies a bit on TAs to do so), but overall entertaining and knows how to get people's attention at early morning lectures.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Alan Sorensen
Principles of Microeconomics covers economic problems of individuals, firms, and industries, emphasizing value, price, and income distribution.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Alan Sorensen
Alan Sorensen delivered clear lectures focused on definitions, but exams required numerical calculations that students felt were not explicitly taught. One student found the course more math-based than concept-based and harder than other sections, while another noted that discussion sections were not very helpful.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026ECON 698
Directed Study
1–4 creditsDirected Study: independent study of topics or research at an advanced undergraduate level, arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Studies measurement in industrial organization, surveys empirical tests of hypotheses, covers antitrust theory and practice, and requires an original research piece.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2020: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=13 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.91 GPA, 95.7% A/AB (n=23 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026 · limited sampleECON 990
Thesis
2–9 creditsECON 990 Thesis involves independent research and writing for graduate students under the supervision of a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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