Reviews of professor Yaoyi Xi

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Hardest class I have ever taken. He is a super nice teacher and will help you when needed. He also gives great feedback, but wow... he is hard. I studied for 14 hours straight for a test and still got a C. You must go to class and pay attention.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
caring, makes the class interesting with real-world examples, genuinely wants you to succeed, three quizzes are given on the class before exam day, they're effort based so don't worry too much, 1-page cheat sheet for exams, make sure to participate in class, super cool professor, ask if you need help, he dumbs it down even more than in class

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
The professor is very nice but his class structure needs work! There are 3 proctored exams each worth 100 points. His lectures are extremely long and difficult to understand due to an echo. The homework is long and only worth 1-2 points. There is a big curve at the end of each exam and at the end of the course. The curve took me from a 59 to a 79%.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Xi is very knowledgeable about textbook and real-world finance. This class was extremely hard for me because of the content and fast pace, but I could tell he was trying his best to cover as much content as possible. He is accessible outside of class and will respond to emails. I hated the class, but he's probably the best professor to take.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Professor Xi's exams were tough, him as a professor was not. Out of all your options, him and Brincks are amongst ur best options. 3 exams and around 15 hws on Connect. He curves every exam, and curves the class at the end of term (very generous curves). He's aware course is hard, he just wants you to understand at least 1 thing from each chapter.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Took Xi for 323 as well and loved him. I believe he is the best finance professor at SDSU. Takes time to break things down and explain them well for 423. Super caring about you and your success as well. Readily available to answer questions and genuinely wants to see you thrive. I credit Xi with developing my love for finance

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
I learned much more in his class compared to my other classes because of how good his lectures are. However, it's still tough. You have to really study the homework to do well on the exams. He calls on people randomly, but does not make people feel bad for getting answers wrong which, in my opinion, enriches the course and encourages learning.