STAT 2020

STAT 2020 mostly focuses on hypothesis testing after glossing over probability and its applications in cancer screenings. The instructor was very knowledgeable on the topic yet could have improved with respect to her content delivery. She utilized a flipped classroom, which I find frustrating by itself. Yet she ended up reviewing what she expected you to go over prior to lecture anyways. It isn't a particularly exciting class, but you do learn some good information and end up learning "R." Her exams are actually quite challenging compared to her homework and classwork. So be sure to understand the content enough to get her multiple choice questions (they're brutal).

I took this class Fall 2022, which was my first semester at UVA. I really liked biostats but I absolutely hated Maria. She was always grouchy and made it clear on the first day that she did not like lecturing so we had to teach ourselves through her slides and groupwork. She seems like she hates her job and always has too much on her place. It just never seemed like she cared about her students and I was scared of her. The class itself was not hard, but she was a bad teacher. For me, math is simply one of those subjects I find hard teaching myself, but I had to because she refused to lecture. She literally told us the first class that she did not like lecturing so she would not be doing it. If you can take a different stats class to fulfill the requirement or don't need stats or can do it with another professor, please do. It will make your life so much easier.

This is a backward class, where you have to watch a video before going to class, so class itself is pretty boring. I rarely paid attention in class. If you really try you only need to study for the class 2 days before the exam, and the practice exam she gives is basically the actual exam. I highly recommend taking this class, but just be ready to be bored during class and heads up the prelab video are all always about and hour long, they do not get shorter like she says they do.

Maria is a really great instructor. She has the course logically set up with sufficient materials but is also very clear and thorough without getting lost in details. This was the easiest math class I've ever taken. You are allowed formula/cheat sheet on exams. Lab is a little annoying just because R is not the most fun to work with, but it is much less intimidating than you'd think. Her pre-lab videos are your lifeline for lab. Her TAs were amazing and very helpful. I did not get to really know Maria personally, but she was super sweet. Overall, great class as pre-med and bio major, and in comparison to psyc 2500 maybe a tiny bit harder but definitely doable.

Pretty easy course. Maria is very nice and chill but I wouldn't say she's the best lecturer. She's not great at answering people's questions, often giving longer answers than needed for simple questions. But nothing's ever that complicated/confusing so I don't think it really affected our learning since the slides are clear and helpful anyway. This class isn't very time consuming at all and I think it's easy to get an A or A-. She doesn't go through the slides during class, you're supposed to review them before and she just gives an overview and answers questions in class, followed by graded group work. I rarely ever looked at the slides before, even though I didn't have a strong background in statistics prior. I stopped going to lecture towards the end and when I did go, I never paid attention or took notes (it was very boring). You can make up the group work by doing it independently (you should make friends to ask which practice problems they did in class so you don't do more than needed, or you can simply ask group members to add you in the submission if they're willing).

She allows you to make and bring in cheat sheets for exams and the final. I would recommend focusing on putting practice problems on it since the free response questions are almost exactly like her practice problems from class (she provides answer keys in Canvas). There are some multiple choice questions which might require you to put some conceptual notes but I wouldn't make them too extensive. Exams are overall fair and straightforward.

Weekly labs are pretty chill and not difficult. There are weekly homeworks due on Fridays. They can be tedious, annoying, and time consuming but I found that some homework questions were longer and more difficult than what you actually need to know for exams, so don't spend too much time trying to master and understand everything. Especially since everything is pretty learnable the night before/during the exam if you make a good cheat sheet.

Definitely recommend if you need an easy stats course regardless of your background in stats. Don't let the fact that it's "biostats" scare you, it's all basic stats just applied to health-related scenarios.

Fairly easy class. The class is technically flipped, where you learn the content before coming to class, but Professor Ferrara, 95% of the time, will go over it in class, so any confusion is sorted out. The slideshows to watch before class were often much more content-filled and confusing compared to the actual lecture, but helpful to look at. There are 3 exams (including the final), which are all pretty short with multiple choice and free response. There is a lab session once a week that is also easy, and Professor Ferrara gives you the opportunity to switch lab groups if you're group is not doing the work. The TAs and Professor Ferrara are very picky when it comes to grading, which can be annoying at the start, but you get used to it. In the exams, you can bring a cheat sheet, and you're given a code sheet (which was helpful to know if you're on the right track). I would recommend this class as an easy A if you're willing to put in a little bit of work and be very thorough in lab assignments. Attendance is tracked by turning in notes to Gradescope after every class, which is done in small groups. There's weekly homework, but you have the whole week to do it.