STAT 1601

I went into this class a little nervous, especially having very little knowledge on coding and basically only taking it because it's required to declare my major. If you're like me, then this is definitely a class you DO NOT want to skip. You'll probably get lost since each unit builds on one another, but thankfully there are office hours and while I never attended them myself, I heard they were helpful! Professor Roland gives many assignments (pro: because you're not only depending on exams for your final grade, con: because you do have to set a couple hours on them, especially, like I said, if you're not knowledgable in coding already lol). However, she gives plenty of time to complete them, with homeworks and "classwork assignements" being weighed about the same. Late work is also accepted with 10 points being deducted every day it's not submitted but some credit is better than none so just turn it in anyways. She did drop our lowest homework AND classwork grade, so if you get them all done throughout the school year and decide not to do them during finals' week, then it really takes a weight off your shoulder. She allows one letter-sized page cheat sheet (back and front) where you can put whatever you want to assist in the exams, so I pretty much set aside a couple hours/2 days max to work on them depending on the unit. Even though it felt like the cheat sheet probably helped with a few questions(;-;) , making them helped in remembering what was taught throughout the unit, so they served their purpose overrall. I ended with an A-, so just stay on top of your assignments and you'll be fine!

As always with these technical classes, how much you get out of it will differ a lot based on your background and skill level. Some might find this class slow and not very useful, but I can say that for people with no coding experience, this is a good introduction to R and data science in general. Unlike a lot of professors, Dr. Roland goes over the basics at a pace that's easy for anyone to follow, and she's always willing to repeat something or take questions during lectures. You definitely need to pay close attention, but you'll learn something new in every class. The exams are pretty straightforward with a mix of short answer and multiple choice questions, and you're allowed to bring in a sheet of notes as well, so it's nothing to stress about.

I will say that some of the homework assignments were oddly worded and seemed to apply the logic we learned in class in ways that I wasn't prepared for. Even the TAs had trouble explaining some of the material to me during the semester I took it, but Dr. Roland is very responsive through email, and the grading wasn't too harsh overall. Also, some people might find her unlikable, but as long as everyone stays quiet and respectful during lectures, she's not so bad.