Barry Halvorsen

School: Drexel University
Department: Finance
Location:Philadelphia, PA
Overall Rating
rated by 20 students
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 Pros: Great Professor -- he really knows what he is talking about and makes the material interesting
Tests-- he will freak you out and say that they are the most difficult thing ever, and they are, but only for those people who didn't study. My friend didn't study so she got a 72 on a test -- I did and got a 92. So just study and you will do fine, he is a fair grader.
Cons: The material is tough so just expect to put the work in -- this is by no means an "Easy A"
I would recommend.
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 Pretty straightforward class. I had this at night once a week. Halvorsen will have a 5-10 minute break half way through the class and usually let you out about 30 minutes early. He only gives homework so that you can practice problems requiring calculations. All the material is uploaded online. He recommends you print everything and bring it to class, but I think that's ridiculous. Bring a laptop if you don't mind, otherwise you'll have a textbook-size binder full of material at the end of the term. No textbook required. He passes around a sign-in sheet. In terms of lecture, it can be boring, cut and dry of him going straight through the material. He does go pretty fast so the class ends early.
First exam covered holding period return/yield, horizon yield for bonds, and mortgages. Not hard if you do your homework and study his handouts. There are a couple problems and they are easier than the homework. There is true/false and multiple choice. This is probably the hardest part of the exam because some questions can be tricky or you just might not know the answer. Average was low 80s.
Final is the same format and I believe it was easier in terms of problems. The multiple choice was difficult in my opinion because a lot more material was covered in the second half of the term. Recommend the same study strategy as the midterm.
Overall a pretty good professor. Open to answering any of your questions. He'll throw in tidbits relevant to the material. Your grade is based on attendance and exams. He did collect homework, but I'm not sure if he actually counted them toward our grades.
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 Pros: You will definitely learn a lot.
Cons: Sometimes a lot is too much to remember.
I had nothing against this teacher. You will definitely learn ALOT and some topics are quite interesting. I would suggest knowing someone in the honors college to help print out the handouts online... it can be quite costly. Tons and Tons of packets every class, and he manages to squeeze a lot of information into and every one of them. It can be quite overwhelming when exam day comes, so I suggest to go over the notes every week so you won't have to cram everything at the end.
His exams are not impossible, but it does require a lot of studying and knowing the little details. So if you are looking for an easy A class, this is prob not what you are looking for. Esp since the exams are 45% each. :/
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 If you want to learn something about Finance take him. Has a straight forward layout of the class and follows very closely to all slides he gives to the class. Gives a lot of handouts and a ton of info is on each test. Textbook reading is required in order to follow him and do well on the tests. If you read the text, pay attention in class and study, you will do well on his tests bc they are exactly what he says they are going to be no tricks. However, there is a ton of info on each test. Class is 90% tests, and he does not curve. I studied as much as possible for the tests and still felt I barely had enough time to get done. So overall if you want an easy A, dont take him. But if you want to learn a lot and work for your grade, take him. Attendance is not required, but it is 10% of your grade.
His lectures are very fast and right to the point, be prepared!
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 Decent guy, but is out of touch with whats going on. There were a number of times he said things during class that were innacurate or just not correct. Not a lot to learn unless you have no knowledge.
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 class attendance is mandatory. aside from handouts that he downloads on web ct, all info that is relevant to the test is covered in lecture. concept questions on tests are somewhat difficult. no curves on tests. no homework. you will learn alot in this class. you will be there hte whole class time. i would recommend him. he can be funny, and truly cares about students.
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 His lectures are long and boring, but what else can you expect from a four hour night class? The concept questions on his tests are difficult and doesnt directly relate to class material - so you really have to understand and apply your knowledge to ace that part of the test.
Otherwise, he is an experienced guy with lots of knowledge - you will learn a lot in his class if you are interested in finance.
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 i took his night class, attendence is mandatory, class is very informatiive, you have homework assingments but he never collects them, you have a mid term and a final which are very hard because he trys to trick students with wording, you also have an economic indicator project which again is easy but he grades it really hard, overall the class isnt hard but hes a dick about alot of things, hes very nit picky about the little shit which shouldnt matter, i would take this class again tho because alot of useful information was taken from it and you can get an A or B...
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 Dont listen to alot of the reviews on here. Halvorsen isnt that bad of a teacher.. His class is long and boring but what do you expect from a 4 hour finance class (he will only keep you till 9).. Theres really no math involved in the class just the theories behind alot of financial instruments. Bring a laptop to type notes and pay attention and youll do fine.. Easy B
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 This professor just talks and talks. He is horrible!Your screwed if you do bad on one test b/c it's 45%. His test are testing little details. He gives you an option of a final paper but that does help unless you get an "A" on it. So unless your sure you'll get an A it wont help one bit. This guy is so horrible!!!!!!!!
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 Keeps you in class for at least 3 hours. Lectures are dry and extremely boring. His tests are tough because they cover a lot of information, but as long as you take good notes you should be well prepared. The book doesn't help at all so don't read it. There is no partial credit on the math problems in the tests so make sure you do them correctly.
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 took this fool for personal finance. his tests are hard since the questions are poorly worded. I love it when he tells you false information such as "the P/E of the S&P 500 is in the 30s" no idiot, do research, a 30x multiple is way too high for large caps. in reality it is 17.9. another crazy statement, "mutual funds price four times a day". umm no. mutual funds price at once day. arg i hate this guy!
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 Halverson is a tough professor, he is boring, his classes go on for a long time, he grades pretty tough, he's all business, he's blunt, he's not really funny, you must attend class to do decent, and he has a 1920's haircut. But he's a good teacher, you learn a ton of information, he presents the material very clearly, he's worth taking if your major is finance, he knows what he is talking about, he can answer any question, he provides you with alot of packets, he gives you a good study guide, he's honest, and he's a nice guy.
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 He was a good teacher. He really knows his stuff too. I think he has a little bit of OCD, you'll see what I mean when you take the midterm lol. Also he throws a lot information at you so you have to go to class or you'll be kinda lost. The only thing that I didn't like was that I told him I was interested in Investment Banking and he repsonded by saying "a lot of students say that but if you get less than a "B" in my class I don't think you should do it". I thought teachers were supposed to encourage not discourage.
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 You will learn a lot from Prof. Halvorsen. He teaches real life financial stuff and he told us what to watch out for.
Exam: He covered everything he taught in class. if you take good notes, you'll find the exam easy for you. His format is multiple choice, T/F, and calculation.
Grading: very fair system. No curve whatsoever... make sure you don't miss the exam without a clear communication with him or he will fail you. take this seriously!!!
Lecture: very concise to the points. He wrote difficult words on the board and define it. he emphasized important words for us to remember. If you read the book, you'll find that he covered everything in the book.
Be wise: Tape his lecture. It will help you in the future.
Overall: Prof. Halvorsen is one of the best prof. found in Drexel.
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 FIN323, Halverson is an excellent teacher. All the notes are typed up in outline format, so you have them before lecture. Homework is collected, but not graded. Review sheets given before exams.
FIN325, So much information taught. Not sure if it's supposed to be like that. Tests are tricky. Workload light. Review sheet given before exam.
Halverson refuses to curve anything. He makes jokes and tries to add humor to the class. Hey sometimes they're funny.
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 This class is not required for finance majors but if you need an extra class in your schedule and you are a finance major this class will not be challenging at all. There are 2 exams and a project. The project requires you to get articles from the Wall Street Journal. This class is meant for non-finance majors but it is not that difficult to begin with. He is a good professor that is very straightforward about the material and what will be on his exams.
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 Granted his exams are difficult, but they are not difficult due to his inabilities as a teacher. He presents students with all of the information necessary to learn and excel in his class. His exams are just very challenging due to the amount of information that he throws at you during lecture. If you want to learn as much as possible in a term, this professor is the way to go. If you are looking for a more relaxed class, just take a slacker prof like Gyoshev.
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 I had him for both of the above mentioned classes in the same term. First of all the textbook is not to helpful in his classes because the lectures have the only material that he holds students responsible for. Students will learn a lot in his class and he is very good at explaining the material. His class is not the most exciting but you will learn a lot from him. He gives out study guides before each exam. I found his exams to be too easy though as long as you use the study guide as a guide when studying the notes. Overall a good teacher that cares about whether or not his students understand the material. But for finance majors taking either Fin 323 or Fin 338 the material should be review just with more detail.
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 this guy was a good teacher; explained everything well, went over problems, gave homework that related to the tests. What more could you ask for. Not the most fun and certainly not the best but you can learn something from his class and its worth taking him too, especially if its your major.

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