Meng, Fanru  

I had Professor Meng the first quarter she started at Cal Poly. She seems really shy during her lecture and she speaks pretty softly. During her office hours she was extremely helpful. Her tests and quizzes covered the lecture material and the reading assingments. She understood that most of the kids taking 201 weren't econ majors, so she tried to make the lectures and the tests as straightforward as possible.

Don't listen to the bad things people said about Meng, even her accent is not hard to understand. The only thing that she says that is hard to is government...she makes it sound like garment. Anyways, she tries really hard and actually cares about her students. She came to class prepared everyday and understood that some people have never taken an econ class before. Yes, the class is boring, but all econ classes are. She tries to encorporate games and videos to make it a little easier. Her guidelines are clear and your grade is straight forward. There is one midterm, 5 homework assignments, about 7 quizzes or group work, and one final. the final is accumulative. Make sure you go to class everyday or else you will miss the quizes or group work-which are unannounced. They aren't very hard, but the points help your grade. She lets you drop your lowest one. Just study her handouts and you will do fine on the tests. I found her to be a lot easier than my other econ teachers. I would definitly recommend her. I went in a little nervous because of the poly ratings, but I was pleasantly surprised. Oh, spend a decent amount of time on the homework-she is a little picky, but you will get the hang of it.

She is really boring. Everyone leaves at break or doesn't show up. There are unannounced quizzes, though. Tests are fair.

Meng is one of the worst teachers I have ever had. Minorities are a good thing for Cal Poly but hiring teachers who can't speak English does not fare well when they are required to communicate to students. Unfortunately I am stuck with her for 314 as well. No one listens in class and probably would not go if she did not give random quizzes. Her midterm is only tough because she does not teach anything. I am not exaggerating when I say that you completely teach yourself the material. She is a nice lady and means well and she does grade on a curve but she simply does not know how to teach. On the first day you realize that when she says "garment" she means "government." I am ashamed that this is a major class and I am being taught this way. Try to avoid this horrible teacher for any class or else you will be sorry.

GOOD LORD! What is she saying? The first few weeks is a true test of your ability to stand her accent. As an econ major I can say, with confidence, that she is the worst econ professor in the department. I learned everything from the book and power point slides (provided by the makers of the book). During class she reads a power point presentation and THAT IS IT! Our final was 100 mc questions (which in economics is hard as hell). She shows minimal effort. I don't think she prepares for the class at all. She reads each slide as if for the first time. The Dean really screwed up on choosing this lady!!!!

This is the second time around with Meng, she is still a TERRIBLE teacher! Class is completely useless and a waste of time, her homework assignments are tedious busy work. It is very hard to pay attention because no one in the class cares what she is talking about. The book and any random student in the class would be a better teacher than Meng. She does know the material and she tries hard but so what. Trying and doing are two different things. I came hear to get an education and having someone TRY to teach me the way she does is not acceptable. Do not take Meng, stay away.

Professor mengs class is very boring and hard. Her test suck ass and the lectures are so so so mundane. She is a nice lady but does not know how to teach. It angers me that people wrote about her accent. Yes, she has an accent. So???? It's not hard to understand her. Just because its different it doesn't mean its impossible. That's a messed up reason not to take her!!!!!!

I think we need to be fair for all the work that Dr. Meng has done for the class. I totally disagree with those who said Dr. Meng was unprepared for the class, she is a very organized teacher, and she is TOTALLY well prepared before she came to class. I agree that her exams are a bit tough and I think you can seek for help during her office hours, she is always there for you! The only way to succeed in her class is to PAY FULL ATTENTION in class and don't try to pick on her ACCENT!!! If you can't hear clearly, just raise out your questions, I'm very sure that she's very willing to make the materials clear to her students.

It seems like the main thing that people pick on is Dr. Meng's accent and that's completely unfair! She is a very nice lady, and yes, the class is boring, but what Econ class isn't? As for the part about her being unprepared: that is completely untrue. She gives a great amount of effort in trying to make sure that students understand the material, recognizing student difficulties, and honestly cares about how students do. In our class, that meant going over it several times, which was the boring part. But after that, what is there not to understand? If you don't get it, then ASK!! As long as you take good notes and do your part, you'll be fine. If you have ADD then take someone else.

Alright, you've probably read the reviews before mine already, and as you can see the main issue with Meng is that, well, you cant figure out what the hell she is saying. She is a tiny little Chinese lady who is straight from the mainland, but hey give her a fair chance at being a professor. As you can tell from my grade it didn't do so good in this class, but it was just as much my fault. Her lectures are VERY DULL, and I would skip out of em at the half, only to find out at the end of the quarter that she gave quizzes once a week at the end of class (Easy quizzes too, but I missed ALL TEN of them). I didnt read or study much, only 4 HW assignments and an easy midterm and average final. I would probably have gotten a B in this class, without even trying, so if that's what you are looking for then take her, and whatever you do, TOUGH OUT THE BORING LECTURES AND TAKE THE QUIZZES.

Meng really isnt a bad teacher. She's actually pretty good at presenting the material in a clear fashion. The problem is that she has a very, very dry topic to begin with, and makes little effort to infuse her lectures with any sort of life. I think I spent more time drawing in my margins than I did paying attention. This class is by far the most boring one I've taken at poly...and I used to be a biochem major. Thats saying something. As I said though, everything IS there for you to understand, you just have to pay attention. Her accent really isnt that bad. Its nowhere near the point that your learning is hindered by it. Those other reviews saying so were either 1) crap or 2) true and she's just got better over time. Skipping out on class is not a good idea either (see review below,) which sucks...cause you'll really want to at times. You have to stick around for those quizzes/groupworks (theyre really, really easy) though. Your grade will suffer if you dont. Bottom line: Take her if you have to, you'll make it through. But if anyone else is teaching the course, dont take her.

For all you kids that are accustomed to very outgoing, kindergarten-like professors here at Poly, don't take Meng. But if you want to learn international trade without the bullshit in between, you got it. She's perfect at presenting the material, she provides notes and outlines for every chapter, and she repeats the concepts several times so you know what's on the test. Fuck the kids that make fun of her accent, her English is fine. I guess the only drawback is that there are many group exercises worth a few points each that are unexpectedly assigned... and a couple of pop-quizzes. Take Meng... besides, this fucking cow-town / stuck-up school needs a little diversity in its faculty anyway.

i love this teacher! she is so tiny and cute, and at random times she will say completley unexpected comments that are a crack up coming from her. she presents the material pretty well, and although the subject can be dull at times, she does a good job with it. im glad i took her.

Great teacher. The class was a breeze. 2 Tests (1 midterm 1 final). 5 homeworks. Take this class for your International Business course. Meng is awesome

meng was a great teacher. the class was very boring, but that had nothing to do with her teaching- econ just isn't the most interesting subject. she was by far the best econ professor i have had. and no, her accent is not that hard to understand. one more thing, she reminded me a lot of "Shorty" from indiana jones and the temple of doom. that made me laught a lot

Dr. Meng is one of my favorite teachers here at Poly. It is true that the material very boring and the pace is pretty slow but she does take a lot of time and care to make sure that her students understand the material. 1 midterm, 1 final, 5 homeworks, a bunch of group work and pop quizzes. Her midterm is mostly multiple choice with a couple of problems to work out in the end. Her final is all multiple choice and she even throws in a couple of extra credit questions too. I felt that she could of taught more because most of the material in Econ 401 is stuff I learned in high school. Easy class if you try. Just don't screw up on the midterm like I did.

I ended up with a B in this class but I really should have gotten an A. This is my first 400 level class at poly and it might be the easiest class I have taken so far. I barely studied for the one midter and the final and aced both of em. The reason I don't have an A is because each homework assignment is posted on blackboard and if you don't check it you lose 5% of your grade for every assignment missed. Also this class is really boring. It goes super slow and while I am good at econ in general I think I could have passed this class in elementary school. Also part of your grade are two randomly assigned quizzes and 4 random groupwork assignments that are all really easy. If you stay on top of the homework and manage to go to all the classes so you don't miss any random assignment you should have no problem getting an A in this class.

I did not like this class at all....the best part about it, and the only helpful thing was the handouts. I guess my only problem with her was that her pronunciation sucks. I thought that I would be able to handle the class after reading all of the reviews, but I strongly recommend taking the class with someone else. If you unfortunately have to take this class, DO NOT buy the book. I did not open it once. As long as you study the handouts that she gives you, you should do ok on the tests. Another problem with the class is that you have to show up every day because she gives pop quizzes and in class assgns. DO NOT miss turning in one of the homework assignments either. That is was ended up killing my grade in the end.

meng is a nice professor but she can be hard to understand sometimes. the class consists of a midterm, a final, 5 homeworks and 6 group works/quizzes (unannounced). the final is much easier that the midterm so don't stress if you do bad on the midterm. she has a lot of office hours and she always wants to help her students. she puts handouts on blackboard for each chapter and those are your notes for the chapter. the hw's can be tricky so make sure you do them right because they can affect your grade. great professor.

She's good. The complaints about her accent (she's thai from chinese descent) have some grounds, but if you read this you should figure out that it only applies to a few words. What sounds like "WAR" = "WORLD"; "MUMBER" = "MEMBER". She's really quite good and will crack a joke randomly when you least expect and is actually kind of funny! She will make a few mistakes in class, but someone will catch it and it'll all be good. She teaches you what you need to know for every assignment and test. I actually got 100% on the first final! THAT's never happened before so you might get an idea about how easy the material is. It's a bit painful to sit through at 8am, and I honestly don't know how I made it to every class given that you could learn the material VERY easily just from the handouts, but she does give random group in-class exercises as well as quizes so it's probably a good idea to show up. To fulfill your international requirement or to use as an upper division economics class for support or an econ minor this is a good easy option!

her provided study guides are the saving grace for Fanru. you'll need these to teach yourself what Dr. Meng was trying to teach. not to belittle Fanru too much, she's an exceptionally kind and sweet professor, but she has very little ability of conveying her subject in student terms. yeah - she has a Taiwanese accent, yes - it helps with the boredom factor, but the main problem is fanru's terribly poor articulation of the economic concepts at hand. seriously, you will debate with yourself daily on whether you should go to class or not (she has some - about 5 or 6 - in-class assignment which usually isn't too hard) because you know that irrespective of attending the class you'll just end up having to teach it to yourself in the end. a helpful note, if she would use less jargon and more simple terms (which may be because of her limited english ability) she'd greatly help her classes. all and all, she's a genuinely sweet lady, and she genuinely cares about her students, it's just that she's able to create a clear path for her students to navigate the material.

Fanru is nice woman and a descent professor. She's sometimes hard to understand because of the Chinese accent. However, she really wants students to learn. Her lectures are a bit boring. She isn't very engaging with the class. Consequently, you really have to pay attention. Her tests are surprisingly tough but she grades fairly.

Probably not the best hiring choice the OCOB has ever made. Really a nice lady, but she can't teach. She really tries, and does grade fairly, but her lectures are extremely boring and she reads off PowerPoint slides. When will this school get the message? PowerPoint is a horrible way to learn! It's passive and uninvolving. I CAN READ. If I wanted to read slides off a computer screen, I could do it at home by myself!!!

Fine teacher, but a little dry in the presentation. I wouldnt suggest having her at 8:00 in the morning, might be difficult staying awake.