Thomas Downes - Tufts University

Professor: Thomas Downes
Department: Economics
College: Tufts University
Rating # 1
Overview:
  • Course: EC124
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Prof. Downes is a very nice and helpful professor! He explains concepts clearly during lectures, and he holds multiple office hour sessions each week during which he discusses class topics in even greater depth. EC 124 has a lot of reading for an Econ class, but I'd say they're all pretty interesting, especially if you like public policy!
Rating # 2
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Downes knows the material like the back of his hand. His lectures are informative, but quite dry and without much class participation. He's extremely helpful outside of class and really cares about his students. His tests are well-designed to see if you actually know the subject matter, but there are no curveballs. Study and you'll be fine.
Rating # 3
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
By far the worst professor at Tufts, wish I could give him a 0 rating. Absolutely terrible at explaining concepts, rambles on about unnecessary information, and reads off cluttered lecture slides that make no sense. Weekly problem sets are long and have nothing to do with the test. Just a terrible professor who doesn't care about students at all.
Rating # 4
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
One of the absolute best professors I've had. Super accessible outside of class. If you're confused on any concepts, just ask him and he'll explain it clearly. Lectures and slides are super clear. I learned a lot in his class due to how well he explains the concepts. Would totally take another class with him again!!
Rating # 5
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
Downes was a phenomenal lecturer and worked at a reasonable pace. He is a tremendous help outside of class and has extra review sessions before exams.
Rating # 6
Overview:
  • Course: EC124
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Downes is awesome. His lectures are very clear and the material is generally presented in a way that flows naturally. He's super accessible, and super super helpful outside of class. He definitely cares a lot about his students and really wants everybody to do well and understand the concepts. Would recommend any class he teaches.
Rating # 7
Overview:
  • Course: EC148
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Great class and one of the best econ professors at Tufts. Crystal clear lectures and expectations. Tests are easy as long as you go to class and the research project should be interesting as the topic is of your own choosing. Downes is very helpful in general and especially with the final project.
Rating # 8
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Downes is by far the worst professor Ive had at Tufts so far. Not only are his lectures dry and boring, but he also does a horrible job explaining the concepts. He simply rights down definitions. Because of this how you do in the class mostly depends on your memory. Tests and problem sets are like practice problems except much harder.
Rating # 9
Overview:
  • Course: EC124EC148
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
I took both of Professor Downes' upper-level electives (Ec 124 and Ec 148) and loved both of them. His lectures are crystal clear and pretty engaging, and he is very, very helpful in office hours and over email. He is also about as straightforward a professor out there -- no tricks. Take a class with him; it will definitely be worth your while.
Rating # 10
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Excellent professor! I am not an economics major, and have never taken stats, but I really enjoyed this class. He emails back promptly at all times of day, and really takes his time to make sure everyone understands. Go to class, or you won't understand it. It's a hard class, but worthwhile.
Rating # 11
Overview:
  • Course: EC148
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Very clear lectures and engaging even early in the morning. Exams are straightforward and the research paper is manageable and actually interesting work through. Also very helpful with the project or during office hours.
Rating # 12
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
I dont understand why people believe he is a good prof. Lectures are WAY too slow. The examples he works at class are just dumb. You can certainly pick up all the stuff on your own and learn even how to prove the theorems which he omit a lot in class but you definitely need them in order to understand truly how stats works.
Rating # 13
Overview:
  • Course: EC15
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
Best professor at Tufts!!
Rating # 14
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Professor Downes is an awesome professor. I have had him for multiple classes. He knows so much about the subjects he teaches, and is super helpful in office hours. He writes everything down on the board, so depending on how you learn it can be really useful.
Rating # 15
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
He tries to be clear during lecture, but just ends up rambling on about too many topics for each class. Most exams had tricks on them and weren't straightforward. He is helpful during office hours. He is terribly slow at grading and takes literally forever to grade exams. He does not try to make the topic interesting at all, so he's very boring.
Rating # 16
Overview:
  • Course: EC15
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.5
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Professor Downes is a great professor. He presents difficult material in a very straightforward manner, and takes the time to write down everything he says on the blackboard, ensuring you have enough time to take notes. He doesn't try to be interesting, but he's 100% clear.
Rating # 17
Overview:
  • Course: EC124
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Professor Downes was very helpful and very clear. He's as straightforward as a professor can be so there are no tricks. He's a nice guy too.
Rating # 18
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
you can tell he's passionate about statistics but he is not clear while lecturing statistics. too many problem sets, one due every week. the tests were not that bad but the class average was low. it's a hard class i wouldn't recommend it unless you're an econ major
Rating # 19
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
clear lectures.
Rating # 20
Overview:
  • Course: EC13
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.5
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
He loves statistics. I hate it now cuz he can't teach it, but he really enjoys himself while he's up there.
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