Matthew Considine

Intro to Finance with Prof Considine is a very slow-paced relaxed lecture about Time Value of Money concepts (Present and Future Value), as well as corporate valuation methods (WACC, DCF Model). The professor explains the topics in class but either focuses too much on the quantitative formulas or veers off to talk about the secrecy of the college's investment of the endowment (Poking the Bear). In all honestly you don't get much from the lectures. The weekly evening labs are on the other hand very useful in order to actually solve the homework questions. Many students like to miss the lab but there is where the actual important stuff takes place. At the end students are tasked with building a DCF valuation model from scratch but it becomes a very difficult task as this was never taught in class in order to either talk about the mathematical formulas, or talk about the secrecy of the endowment investments.

Intro to Finance with Prof Considine is a very slow-paced relaxed lecture about Time Value of Money concepts (Present and Future Value), as well as corporate valuation methods (WACC, DCF Model). The professor explains the topics in class but either focuses too much on the quantitative formulas or veers off to talk about the secrecy o …Read more

If you are interested in finance as a concept, this class is great for you! I think it would be difficult taking this class with no prior knowledge of finance, as the conceptual aspects are very markets heavy and technical, however, it is great if you are trying to expand on your existing knowledge. Lecture style class with cold calling and homeworks that are due weekly.

I really liked this course. It was very helpful especially if you are thinking about going into finance. I think it is also helpful to take just to know the basics. There were some quizzes, but they were take home. There are some problems sets as well. There is a group project at the end too. I think you get to learn a lot about the world of business and is incredibly useful.