Student Comments

Many students have provided very encouraging comments at the end-of-term evaluations, and here is a collection of comments. Listed below are student comments for just one course.

In Winter A 2023, I taught Financial Modeling, an MBA level elective course at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Here are some nice things my students said about this course.

1 Professor Lei for course FIN 575-002, has developed a course that allows him to break free of school resource constraints and instead have a very navigable website of resources (a massive amount of resources!) instead of relying on the absolute misery of Canvas. Professor Lei’s website should be used as a model for how to deliver resources to students for other faculty, along with his automated email messaging system. Professor Lei’s ability to lecture for three hours straight on Monday evenings (after a three hour lecture with section 1 a couple hours prior) with such absolute focus and mastery was very inspiring! He supplied the right amount of jokes with valuable insights weaved into his lecture allowing the whole class to stay focused and learn. His support of students across the class including myself, sets a bar for other faculty. His accessibility and responsiveness again was very high. The excel modelling was slightly fast in lecture, but with all the resources provided you can keep up if you set up your screen as he suggests. If you recruited IB in the fall, this course is the best next logical step in solidifying banker concepts in a safe supported space created by Professor Lei.
2 All of the practice and real hands on experience were vital. I would recommend this course to become part of the core, I think this would really distinguish Ross as a School.
3 1) The course teaches us how to build financial modeling from the basics and gradually add more content to build a full LBO model. In this way, I think it is easier for us to digest the materials and build confidence along the way. 2) I found very helpful that Professor Lei has well-established archives of learning materials on the website, including class recordings in past years, excel templates, and extra reading materials. 3) Besides modeling, Professor Lei taught financing theories which is helpful for us to understand the reasoning behind modeling. 4) The classes are always well-structured and easy to follow with practice. 5) Professor Lei is very patient with questions. 6) Overall, I wanted modeling training in my MBA experiences and the course provides exactly what I needed. I would recommend the course to other students who are interested in learning how to build financial models
4 The greatest part of this course is we get to work on some challenging yet practical modelling exercises with gradual increase in difficulty. Previously I have taken some modelling courses with too steep learning curve and I do not understand the logic and modelling methods behind which makes me feel frustrated as I cannot construct a proper financial model. This course actually gives me a clearer picture and clarifies my thoughts on financial concepts like capital structure and LBO, given Professor Qin’s outstanding teaching standard. It would be great if the course can be structured a bit longer to cover concepts like depreciation and operating leases, and study some real-life examples/ financial models.
5 The combination of theoretical and hands-on finance content. It is absolutely a great course, and the professor promotes participation and active enrolment in the class.
6 The professor was great and taught everything with high passion, commitment, and one goal in mind -> make us all better professionals!
7 It was fantastic class and I can only be sorry it is over.
8 I loved the fact that we did in-class exercises as it greatly enhanced my learning and increased my confidence when undertaking financial modeling assignments. Professor Lei was very patient with the class and he did an excellent job explaining topics.
9 The materials (videos, spreadsheets, instructions, and reading materials) are hands down among the best I’ve ever seen. Given the short amount of time in class, I had to rely on these materials to study the topics on my own. Professor Qin Lei was also extremely helpful in class. He could quickly pinpoint almost every issue we encountered in our modeling exercises.
10 This was an excellent course and Dr. Lei was a very engaging teacher with obvious passion and ability.
11 Professor Lei is a great teacher - he manages to make the course engaging and interesting
12 Professor Lei is very passionate and knowledgeable about the course material.
13 Very hands-on learning with the trivia questions and group project. I also felt like I learned a lot about leveraged buy-outs and increased my general knowledge of the finance industry. The professor and TA’s were also very accessible with office hours basically every day.
14 Professor was very entertaining
15 Lots of office hours, clear access to material, templates provided, doing modeling exercises in class. Professor Lei is clearly passionate and cares a lot about the course and ensuring students are successful.
16 The professor was very helpful and knowledgeable about the subject.
17 Lots of course materials and resources were made available and the communication was very clear and thorough from the beginning of the course to the end.
18 Course website is super well organized and clear
19 It was interesting to learn about the various players involved in a leveraged buyout and their motives.
20 The course contents are concise, accurate, and practical.
21 Complete and comprehensive class materials.
22 Well structured, incremental examples
23 Covered a wide range of topics and provided hands-on work to put it into practice.
24 Very practical and useful

© Qin Lei. All Rights Reserved.