uwloo

ECON 101Introduction to Microeconomics

Units
0.50
Faculty
Arts
Subject
Economics

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 7 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 7 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This course provides an introduction to microeconomic analysis relevant for understanding the Canadian economy. The behaviour of individual consumers and producers, the determination of market prices for commodities and resources, and the role of government policy in the functioning of the market system are the main topics covered.

Prerequisites

None listed.

Antirequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
      • COMM103 - Principles of Economics (0.50)
      • ECON100 - Principles of Economics (0.50)
      • MSE263 - Managerial Economics (0.50)
    • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in:
    • Not open to students enrolled in H-Management Engineering

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 0013165355 / 387TTh 11:30–12:50
LEC 0023166363 / 387TTh 14:30–15:50
LEC 003328558 / 65TTh 14:30–15:50
LEC 0813164246 / 250Online or by arrangement
LEC 0828108148 / 250Online or by arrangement
TST 1013811718 / 774Oct 2 16:30–18:00
Oct 30 16:30–18:00
Nov 20 16:30–18:00
TST 102397558 / 65Oct 2 18:30–20:00
Nov 13 18:30–20:00

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 00131040 / 250MW 13:00–14:20
LEC 00231050 / 250MW 14:30–15:50
LEC 00335930 / 65TTh 08:30–09:50
LEC 08135150 / 250Online or by arrangement
LEC 08238500 / 250Online or by arrangement
LEC 7011183339 / 9999Online or by arrangement
LEC 7021271190 / 9999Online or by arrangement
TST 10176220 / 500Feb 12 16:30–18:00
Mar 19 16:30–18:00
TST 10284620 / 65Feb 11 18:00–19:20
Mar 18 18:00–19:20

Resources

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Reviewed on UW Flow

47% liked it70% easy63% useful

From 1,671 ratings and 332 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • TLDR: IF YOU HAVE ANDREW H GIBSON, SWITCH OUT TO ANOTHER PROF ! OTHERWISE, SHOULD BE BIRD !
    do NOT TAKE andrew h gibson... somehow as a CS MAJOR my stat, cs (246 and 245 if you are curious) courses are MORE THAN 20% higher final GPA than andrew h gibson's econ 101 class... if you are in his class SWITCH OUT!!! friends in the same year but different section spent LESS THAN A QUARTER (~10 hours TOTAL) OF THE TIME I SPENT studying and achieved 90+ easily!!!!! if you want a course without notes, exams where the prof forgets to print enough test papers, (the SAME) exam without PICTURES PRINTED ON THE PAPER (he had to draw it out on the blackboard), take andrew h gibson's econ 101 class!!!!…

    Dec 2024 · didn’t like it · 9 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • DO NOT PICK ANDREW GIBSON FOR ECON IF YOU WANT AN EASY WAY OUT
    The course was somewhat useful but the teacher did not provide us with any resources. There are no slides, no content under Learn, no videos and no textbook, just him and the blackboard.
    He was a very chill and relatable guy tho.

    Dec 2024 · didn’t like it · 6 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I took this asynchronous so I can't say necessarily the same is true for in-person, but the course was overall really dry. As a disclaimer I never took econ before in high school. The course content had nonexistent explanations, motivation, applications, citations or justifications. It reminded me of memorisation-heavy high school courses that feed you information, never explaining why they are true or why you would ever need to know them.
    Some reviews below claim that most statements are common sense, but as someone who has never taken econ in high school, I find that there are several unjustified claims in the modules, such as "why is ATC minimized when MC=AVC?" I later found a proof of…

    Dec 2021 · didn’t like it · 4 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Came in with no prior knowledge, skipped every lecture, studied 4h per exam, ended with low 90s.

    Dec 2019 · liked it · 4 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This course can go fuck itself

    Apr 2017 · didn’t like it · 4 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

2,528 posts and comments in 1,636 threads mention ECON 101, May 2011 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2024

Fucked Up Real Bad on my (1a) 17 points, 8 comments

u/Interesting_Bed6243: “… Maybe take 4 courses also econ101 is option instead of AFM101! You need to make notes and memorize the formulas. …”

u/chaneltulip: “unless you need afm for a future course u should retake math135 to minimize course repeats. there is a maximum number of unusable course attempts in cs”

u/Adorable-Bug768: “So since i need a 1.0 credits in Social Sciences (SS). Would you recommend I don't retake AFM 101, and take ECON 101 and BET 320? Both of these courses are a 0.5 cred in Social Sciences.”

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Waterloo courseload 1 point, 8 comments

u/MinuteRemarkable9989: “Hello everyone I am going into my 1B math term with these courses MATH136 MATH138 CS136 STAT230 ECON101 (Online) Is this too much for me to do in one term, should I consider switching into lower level CS or should I stay in this schedule.”

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how to study for econ101 final 2 points, 1 comment

u/DramaticTelephone159: “i am in skuterud’s class and his tests have been a bit different from what he discusses in class. he also doesn’t really have resources on our learn classroom. any tips for studying for the final besides rereading his slides and doing achieve access questions?”

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Current ARBUS Students - Is it worth it? 3 points, 5 comments

“I have applied to ARBUS for the fall 2025 intake, and I'm wondering if it is worth it over HA. I've tried to search through older posts, but they are all 6 - 9 years old at this point. …”

u/TheZarosian: “… The most difficult ARBUS courses I have seen people had trouble with were ECON 101 (Microeconomics), ARBUS 102 (Accounting), and ARTS 280 (Statistics for Arts Students). …”

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Econ 101 Midterm 2 3 points, 1 comment

u/Available_Scheme_112: “GUYS!!! I have my midterm Friday, but I haven’t bought achieve. Can anyone help me out and give me access? I LITERALLY BEG YOU, PLEASE! If not can you recommend some resources that may benefit me in my studies? Anything helps:)) Btw I’m in Skuteruds class”

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Transferring to Waterloo Math from McMaster 4 points, 3 comments

“Hi! I'm a first year math & stats student at McMaster and was wondering how hard it would be to transfer into a Waterloo math program (not CS). …”

u/whore_for_coop: “I transferred with one of my friends from math and stats to Waterloo math in my first year, my mac gpa was a 11.7/12 but my friend did it with a 11.6/12”

u/surker512: “… MATH 1X03/1XX3 transfers to MATH 137/138 MATH 1B03/1C03 transfers to MATH 136/135 ECON 1B03/1BB3 transfers to ECON 101/102 COMMERCE 1AA3 transfers to AFM 101 Note that MATH 1MP3 will not transfer to a UW CS course. …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

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Undergraduate Calendar