The Econ Tutor

Went to Econ Tutor for all my upper division Econ classes. The sessions made studying much easier and for many classes, you can neglect to attend or buy the book and still pass with an A without studying too much, as long as you go to Econ Tutor. For the harder classes, you can get a B without going to class but getting an A is harder since Eric doesn’t do sessions until about a week before the exam.
Only negatives is the classes rarely start on time and he moved his sessions to nearby hotels, so parking is annoying since there can be 60+ kids all trying to leave a session at the same time and validation takes forever.

As a recent UCSD Econ grad I can say without a doubt that Erik and his classes can help tremendously in any econ course. The classes are very well done and do a great job focusing in on the most important information. Erik himself is a very nice guy who will go out of his way to help you as long as you show him respect. The only downside is the classes often start late but he does a good job ending them on time.
Do yourself a favor and give the classes a shot. After all, the first one’s free.

Oh I have to say, that is the worst thing about UCSD Econ majors! I can never imagine that a college student waiting there several hours for his session as he always ran late. Students seem to prefer his sessions more than coming to classes. What a distorted education rules! Years ago I went to his session, waited for 3 hours and went out at around 3:15am! Yes! That is am, not pm! I was too tired to drive home. I stayed at La Jolla Sheraton hotel that night for several hundred bucks! I can not bear the distorted education of both UCSD and the Econ department. And the Econ tutor! The hard thing is that: You may have to go to the Econ tutor as everyone go! However, just endless memorizations rather than true understanding. Luckily, I transferred to a better private school two years ago and am about to graduate. I’d say I have learned much more here at another school.

Eric is an amazing teacher! Yes you have to wait a little bit in line, but just bring your book and study while you wait. When I was completely lost and overwhelmed in class, I’d go to the econ tutor and he would explain things so clearly and quickly that it suddenly clicked for me and became easy. He’s worth every penny and then some! I’m graduating with honors thanks to him

The EconTutor has changed the way I studied at UCSD, Eric is super awesome, he actually remembers you and learns your name. His packets are really well organized and clear, going step-​by-​step to explain problems and he specifically caters his sessions to the professor. All professor’s have different styles/​habits/​random trick questions on exams that I would always spend half the quarter just trying to figure out what on earth they were doing. Eric makes it really clear and helps with things that you will really see on an exam, not random theory that the professors like to mush in with applicable things they would actually test us on. I would definitely recommend trying him, first session is free anyways so no harm!

Econtutor… you’ll hear about this place one way or another if you’re an econ major. I don’t know the actual number of students he has, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at least 50% of the students go to him for their classes.
I’ll start with the cons first.
Cons:
–Tends to be late (like a 85% guarantee)
–Pricey ($ 25 for each session, unless first time or quarter pass)
Pros:
–usually finishes on time (90% of the time) if he does run late, it’s usually not by much
–if you go first time, it’s free (so it doesn’t hurt to try a session)
–Knows the professors style of teaching, and writes his playbooks accordingly.
–his playbooks have organized, condensed material that makes studying easier.
–has a session for everything (midterm, homework, and finals)
Over all, I would recommend the econtutor as a) supplement study material in addition to hw, lecture, discussion, and office hours so you get a clearer overview of the class (plus some professors don’t put up every old exam so people that do go to the econtutor have that advantage) and b) if you don’t go to class for whatever reason and want a passing grade. If you have more than one econ class, getting the quarter pass is probably the best idea.

I used Econ Tutor when he was starting out his business in Point Loma. Looking back, this was probably the only way I passed my difficult upper division econ classes. They might be a little pricey but his tutoring sessions are definitely necessary to be above the curve so you an get a decent grade on midterms and finals. Not a bad investment to come here to brush up on economics. The one negative is that the classrooms cram all these students into a small room so it gets really stuffy inside. There is hardly much table space to be comfortable.

I graduated from UCSD with an Economics degree, and the Econ Tutor was extremely helpful in studying for the midterms and exams. The Economics department at UCSD is competitive, and every advantage you can attain is worth the money. I attended every UCSD Economics class, and although most teachers are great you might come across a few who make it clear that their research is their main priority (not teaching). One UCSD teacher bragged about his previous classes having a 20% fail rate, so tutoring combined with studying and class attendance was key. TAs can go over problem sets, but I also attended sections at UCSD where the TAs were less than prepared to actually do the problems.
Having read other people’s reviews for the Econ Tutor, the only complaint I gathered was about the time that students waited. I remember waiting in some of the lines but it wasn’t always bad. Even if Eric ran late (because he just finished teaching a previous class tutorial, or because students were paying at the door instead of online) the wait was worth every minute.
The Econ Tutor should be a supplement, not a replacement for reading or going to class. Having said that, Eric is a great tutor and explains every step that you need for your midterms and finals. I highly recommend just buying the quarter package, it was worth every penny for me.

The Econ tutor has made it possible for my degree. All his review sessions have been helpful in someway. Without his services I am sure I would have changed my major and gave up on Economics. Eric has helped hundreds of students over the past years and I am one of them. Eric is someone that you can still approach through emails or after sessions if you have still have trouble understanding the concepts. Students do not realize all the tedious work that has to be done before the review sessions and do not take into account that he is teaching about 8 different courses per quarter. Please be patient, I’m sure if he stopped servicing us, most people would be struggling with Economics.

Alright, let me give you a 100% honest review. I just graduated from UCSD with an economics degree so there is no benefit for me to lie about this review. Going to the Econ Tutor is a waste of time. First, you have to wait in line for over an hour, just standing there waiting until Eric finally is ready (that time could be a useful hour of study time). Then you finally start being ushered in where you sit for another 30−45minutes waiting while he prints out his playbooks (again more time that you could have used studying). Finalllllly, he starts to go over his playbook. Although many econ students have become extremely dependent on these playbooks, all he does is take old practice midterm questions and solves them. Any TA would do the same thing for free, just ask a TA to go step by step on how to solve a problem. Also, TAs can often predict what will show up on a midterm so they would often be more help. It wasn’t until going to the Econ Tutor a couple times did I realize all the wasted time at this place and began using other resources. Eric is helpful if your goal is to be one of those students that never show up to class and want to scrape by with a C. However, if you are looking to get that A and you actually do attend class and review sessions, the marginal cost of waiting and that $ 25 is definitely greater than the MB of going to a session :)
ALSO, keep in mind that Eric pays people to make sure people don’t copy his play book so there is nothing stopping him from paying people to write good reviews on Unilocal… This place definitely is not a 4.5 star place.

UCSD ECON department sucks ass, only Emily Tang I see is a good professor. Professors like Levkoff sucks ass. Eric tries his best to help me out. I really appreciate it.

Highly disorganized. I’ve waited for over 2 hours outside in the cold and then another hour until the guy got his crap together to start the session. You are better off going to class reviews and seeing TA’s for any questions you may have. I’ve gone to a few sessions and really didn’t find any of it very helpful. You would be better off using those hours to study on your own.

Thank goodness for The Econ Tutor! Eric’s prices are very reasonable and affordable.

Speaking of behalf of all Management Science majors at UCSD, our classes aren’t easy. Eric is the best thing that ever happened to the economic department students. I didn’t want to write this review because I want to continue to be part of a small majority of econ students that ace their tests because of Eric.
You da man.

UCSD is a unique university in the sense that our school offers a wide array of resources when students are in need of assistance with courses; AS Lecture Notes, Teaching Assistants, Professor Office Hours, and other programs. Often times, however, these services are in high demand and sometimes ineffective — The Econ Tutor (Eric) is a great way to receive comparable, if not more experienced help with courses when perhaps other resources are not available.
Different students have different methods of learning, and perhaps The Econ Tutor may not be entirely effective for every student, but The Econ Tutor provides the first session free for prospective students looking to try and see if it is a good fit. In addition, Eric provides a discounted program for students to attend all Econ Tutor Sessions with one flat rate that provides significant savings.
I definitely recommend other students attend at least the first session if you are in need of assistance, and see if it is a good fit. Eric provides step-​by-​step guides for a majority of the Econ Department Courses, and even has some archived exam examples for particular professors.
Most students generally have difficulty with Econometrics and STATA, and I found his Econometrics Tutoring Sessions most helpful (Econ 178, 120A-​C).
You have nothing to lose with your first session, and only a potential benefit to gain with your understanding of subject matter, which obviously affects your grade.

When you first come to UCSD and worry about economics classes, almost everyone would tell you to go to econ tutor. I scoffed at it first but after first session I been to, I changed my mind.
Eric shows every problem step by step and explains while doing so. Theres noone else better to go to if you need some help. Also, he really cares for his students and I say this because even though he has many other classes to teach if a student needs help, he has made review sessions so they can get help. I really owe him for passing my econ classes so go to him if you need help in econ classes! All the new students, take advantage of the thing that most other schools do not have.

Probably would not have passed and graduated without Econ Tutor. Eric works very hard, and in regards to other negative reviews, he titles the sessions midterm/​final review, so obviously he is going to go over the material you will be tested on. That’s a good thing in my opinion.
My only scuffle is that he starts and runs late, so it can be difficult for planning. The 10pm session isn’t the most fun, but on the bright side, you know you’ll cover all of the material?
Buy a quarter pass early on ($ 150), arrive on time, and respect his rules.

I strongly advise against this tutoring institution if you are someone who likes to understand the material you are being taught, rather than memorizing test answers.
First off, I feel like the tutor is unprofessional. Classes almost always begin late (up to an hour), and Eric seems to get upset when you try to leave early, even though he encroached on your time first by starting the session late. This could easily be fixed by hiring at least 1 other person to help with making copies or signing people in, but despite consistent complaints, this hasn’t happened. Plus, there’s gotta be some sort of ethical issues with cramming so many people into such a small room…
Secondly and more importantly, I don’t feel like Eric’s teaching style reflects my learning style. That’s not to say that EconTutor won’t work for others. But I feel that he just goes through the tests and provides answers without really explaining the intuition behind them or providing any guidance as to how those answers came to be. It’s not any different from staring at an old exam, except it’s slower. In my opinion and experience, teaching to the test does not work.
Maybe it’s the size of that tiny room, or maybe it’s the fact that you’re there at 1am, but it certainly doesn’t feel like the intimate setting that the website would have you believe. I know that’s probably because certain sessions are more popular than others, but that promise should not be made if it is not intended to be kept. Classes are also not interactive or personalized, as the site would have you believe.
I regret wasting my money here. I even regret wasting my time on the free first session. I WOULD tell you to go and see for yourself –but only if you have hours to waste waiting in line to sign in and get started. Much easier to actually go to class and pay attention.

I’ve been going to the econ tutor since I first started taking upper division econ classes and let me tell you – hes a life saver. He teaches the material to students in a way that is easy for us to understand and really takes the time to go over all of that specific teachers problem sets, practice midterms/​finals, and homework. Sure, sometimes the classes may start late or go past the allotted time frame, but it is, to me, a minuscule inconvenience compared to the quality of the material he is ultimately teaching you. The amount of time he saves you from studying by yourself in those classes is reason enough.
I personally do not know what I would do without Eric and I hope he knows just how much his students do appreciate him.

I’m going to give the most honest review of this institution because it has been such a big foundation to my educational experience at UCSD.
I had been a student of Eric for nearly 2 years until I graduated last year. I can be honest, public, and forward when I say that I wasn’t exactly the best student during my time at UCSD. I never found interest to attend all my classes, especially when a class was sliced into a M/​W/​F 50 minute per lecture schedule. The grim truth is, the average student has too many activities preventing them for doing what they came to college to do – to focus on their education. Spending time to meet people, bond with friends, explore a new city, join clubs, exercise, work, find internships, recruit, schedule classes, all while managing time to eat and avoiding illness take their chunk of time and it becomes hard to make it to a full week’s lecture. And if you miss one class… well it almost always snowballs, and each lecture becomes increasingly more confusing.
TheEconTutor was always an outlet by which I could ease the stress of approaching examinations or assignments. Yes, its true that the wait at times got unwieldy, but whether you are studying in line with other classmates who have conveniently found themselves at the doormat of the building or in an overcrowded library makes little difference, in fact I’d argue that waiting in line gave me a chance to answer questions, or at the very least, share in venting my frustration over exams, the material, or finding new friends to study with. Even at times when I felt Eric’s material would provide little value to me, the $ 25 you spend to reinforce your learning is peanuts compared to how much you are paying for each lecture at UCSD. But the fact is, you diploma is all that matters in the end and his service is another tool which you should utilize as an advantage.
Eric is a hard worker which I can personally attest to by the fact that I would be in back to back 3 hour sessions up till 3am in the morning if need be. But the best part of it, is that he enjoys the material, which is evident by the way he answers any questions, or in the event he makes a mistake, thinks of the best way to solve the problem. That said, its understandable that hes taken measures to ensure his work is protected, some measure which I thought at times were even a bit extreme but in hindsight I would do the same in his shoes. He pays a fortune to rent a building that is conveniently located to campus and easily accessible by all.
I worked all through college. Sometimes with 3 – 4 midterms or finals all while working anywhere from 20 – 40 hours a week and I honestly don’t know what I would do if Eric didn’t provide the service he provided me. So thank you.