Professor

Michael Tsiang

AD
3.7
Overall Ratings
Based on 268 Users
Easiness 3.0 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.0 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.1 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 3.9 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (268)

10 of 21
10 of 21
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Feb. 20, 2020
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: DR

Mike says he cares about our wellbeing, but I'd say that's complete bs. Here I sit at 3 am still doing his homework. He gives 8 questions each week and they're impossible to solve without wanting to die every single second. The TA Jake Kramer is an absolute asshole that delights in seeing his students fail. Avoid at all costs.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
March 22, 2020
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: B-

This class was such a nightmare! So much heavy, unnecessarily difficult workload that takes up what should be used as study time! The exams test on minute details that you can't really study for. The last two weeks were a complete disaster! A self study chapter, a homework assignment, and a final project all assigned in Week 9 with barely enough time to study for the final. And the worst part about the class is the professor saying crap like "Your mental health is more important than your grades" which baffles me because this class is the source of mental health problems. The only good thing about this class is the curve, but everything else was just bad.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Jan. 3, 2020
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

Stats 20 with Mike was a grueling experience, but one which I would wholeheartedly have again, as I believed that I learned a solid amount with regards to programming as well as R itself. I came into this class with no programming experience whatsoever, but Mike easily guided me through the lectures while also pausing for questions if the class had any questions.

Mike also provides an extensive amount of office hours and is always willing to help guide the students with the homework and answer any clarifying questions as well. I went to virtually every single office hour and felt like I received a good understanding of the goals of this class.

Now, the tests--both the midterms as well as the final--are difficult, but in the end, Mike tends to curve the class, so the absolute number you see is not the actual end result of the grade. The midterms were primarily difficult due to the time constraints--only 45 minutes--while the final was more difficult on a conceptual level than time-restrictive.

Overall, this class was enjoyable for me, and I disagree with claims that one needs prior programming experience to do well in this class. I believe that as long as you focus on learning and understanding the material, instead of the grade, and give an effort for the class, you will do relatively well in Mike's Stats 20.

TL;DR: Waffles, not grades.

Helpful?

0 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
April 28, 2020
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A-

This class actually kinda kicked my ass. Everything seemed straightforward and then wasn't. I walked out of the first midterm thinking I couldn't have gotten anything wrong but I got a C. Lectures are basically useless, and the TAs that we had at least SUCK. Labs and HW are easy, it was really the midterms and finals.

But Tsiang is a really cool dude and obviously cares. I should have gotten a B- and he bumped me up to an A-

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 9, 2020
Quarter: Spring 2018
Grade: A

I really enjoyed taking this class with Tsiang. He explains all the material very clearly and puts in a lot of effort into teaching. Stats is not the most interesting subject (at least to me) but he makes his lectures as engaging as possible. He was also super helpful during office hours and was willing to spend lots of time with students to make sure they understand a concept. In addition, his exams were completely fair and by no means challenging as long as you put in a little bit of effort into studying. He even let us use a cheat sheet which was really helpful.
If you're hesitant about taking this class with Tsiang because of the reviews - don't be! I don't understand why people are upset with his teaching. I thought he went above and beyond to help students and is in general a super nice person. Would definitely recommend this class with him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 100C
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 14, 2020
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A+

Stats 100C is one of the most important classes you will take as a Stats major. The theory behind linear regression is very important and sets you up well for doing statistical analysis and working with data. That being said, Mike placed emphasis on both the theoretical and applied portion, making sure that we knew about why the theory and "hard" math are important for the applied portions. Think about it as "why Stats 101A works." Mike did an amazing job explaining these concepts to us, through very thorough and well-paced lecturing, copious amounts of office hours, and well-rounded exams. Mike's virtue of valuing learning over a grade really reflected in my performance, and it was especially necessary for this class. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 100C
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 20, 2020
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A

*online version*
Known as possibly the hardest stats class offered, Mike made 100C very easy to follow and learn, even for his first time. He made clean lecture slides that explained the topics well, and the homework assignments built upon what was taught in the (prerecorded) lectures. The class was graded on homework (30%), midterm (30%), and final (40%), but for this quarter, he made the final no-harm/optional. He offered office hours both during regular times and during class times, and was extremely helpful with questions, though he enjoys helping students come to the correct answers themselves. The tests were fair, as they were similar to the homework, but expanded on different concepts.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 29, 2019
Quarter: Summer 2019
Grade: A

Professor Tsiang and Jake reformed the Stats 102A class to be more rigorous and engaging. We created a battleship project with a custom AI from scratch and even made a package in R (a combination of all our homeworks). I learned a lot in advanced R programming and am thankful for the hours the Professor and Jake put in to clarify any confusion I had. Tough class but learned valuable concepts in writing clear, concise, and effective code

Helpful?

0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 22, 2020
Quarter: Summer 2019
Grade: N/A

I took this class in summer 2019, the slides he used was very clear and easy, but the homework was really unfairly hard and the tests were tough. It's impossible for a student who just finished stats 20 to write two games and other homework like that. I think the TA JAKE made up the homework, he just wanted to show how talented he is. Avoid this professor and the TA JAKE. If you can, just change the major.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 29, 2020
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: I

Don't take Stats 20 with Professor Tsiang who always has Jake Cramer as TA!!! I dropped this course on Week 2. The workload was unreasonablly large, and all homeworks and exams were very difficult. Strategies for problems on weekly homework were not taught in class, and they needed great amounts of time.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 20
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: DR
Feb. 20, 2020

Mike says he cares about our wellbeing, but I'd say that's complete bs. Here I sit at 3 am still doing his homework. He gives 8 questions each week and they're impossible to solve without wanting to die every single second. The TA Jake Kramer is an absolute asshole that delights in seeing his students fail. Avoid at all costs.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 20
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: B-
March 22, 2020

This class was such a nightmare! So much heavy, unnecessarily difficult workload that takes up what should be used as study time! The exams test on minute details that you can't really study for. The last two weeks were a complete disaster! A self study chapter, a homework assignment, and a final project all assigned in Week 9 with barely enough time to study for the final. And the worst part about the class is the professor saying crap like "Your mental health is more important than your grades" which baffles me because this class is the source of mental health problems. The only good thing about this class is the curve, but everything else was just bad.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 20
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Jan. 3, 2020

Stats 20 with Mike was a grueling experience, but one which I would wholeheartedly have again, as I believed that I learned a solid amount with regards to programming as well as R itself. I came into this class with no programming experience whatsoever, but Mike easily guided me through the lectures while also pausing for questions if the class had any questions.

Mike also provides an extensive amount of office hours and is always willing to help guide the students with the homework and answer any clarifying questions as well. I went to virtually every single office hour and felt like I received a good understanding of the goals of this class.

Now, the tests--both the midterms as well as the final--are difficult, but in the end, Mike tends to curve the class, so the absolute number you see is not the actual end result of the grade. The midterms were primarily difficult due to the time constraints--only 45 minutes--while the final was more difficult on a conceptual level than time-restrictive.

Overall, this class was enjoyable for me, and I disagree with claims that one needs prior programming experience to do well in this class. I believe that as long as you focus on learning and understanding the material, instead of the grade, and give an effort for the class, you will do relatively well in Mike's Stats 20.

TL;DR: Waffles, not grades.

Helpful?

0 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 10
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A-
April 28, 2020

This class actually kinda kicked my ass. Everything seemed straightforward and then wasn't. I walked out of the first midterm thinking I couldn't have gotten anything wrong but I got a C. Lectures are basically useless, and the TAs that we had at least SUCK. Labs and HW are easy, it was really the midterms and finals.

But Tsiang is a really cool dude and obviously cares. I should have gotten a B- and he bumped me up to an A-

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 13
Quarter: Spring 2018
Grade: A
June 9, 2020

I really enjoyed taking this class with Tsiang. He explains all the material very clearly and puts in a lot of effort into teaching. Stats is not the most interesting subject (at least to me) but he makes his lectures as engaging as possible. He was also super helpful during office hours and was willing to spend lots of time with students to make sure they understand a concept. In addition, his exams were completely fair and by no means challenging as long as you put in a little bit of effort into studying. He even let us use a cheat sheet which was really helpful.
If you're hesitant about taking this class with Tsiang because of the reviews - don't be! I don't understand why people are upset with his teaching. I thought he went above and beyond to help students and is in general a super nice person. Would definitely recommend this class with him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 100C
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A+
June 14, 2020

Stats 100C is one of the most important classes you will take as a Stats major. The theory behind linear regression is very important and sets you up well for doing statistical analysis and working with data. That being said, Mike placed emphasis on both the theoretical and applied portion, making sure that we knew about why the theory and "hard" math are important for the applied portions. Think about it as "why Stats 101A works." Mike did an amazing job explaining these concepts to us, through very thorough and well-paced lecturing, copious amounts of office hours, and well-rounded exams. Mike's virtue of valuing learning over a grade really reflected in my performance, and it was especially necessary for this class. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 100C
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Spring 2020
Grade: A
June 20, 2020

*online version*
Known as possibly the hardest stats class offered, Mike made 100C very easy to follow and learn, even for his first time. He made clean lecture slides that explained the topics well, and the homework assignments built upon what was taught in the (prerecorded) lectures. The class was graded on homework (30%), midterm (30%), and final (40%), but for this quarter, he made the final no-harm/optional. He offered office hours both during regular times and during class times, and was extremely helpful with questions, though he enjoys helping students come to the correct answers themselves. The tests were fair, as they were similar to the homework, but expanded on different concepts.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 102A
Quarter: Summer 2019
Grade: A
Dec. 29, 2019

Professor Tsiang and Jake reformed the Stats 102A class to be more rigorous and engaging. We created a battleship project with a custom AI from scratch and even made a package in R (a combination of all our homeworks). I learned a lot in advanced R programming and am thankful for the hours the Professor and Jake put in to clarify any confusion I had. Tough class but learned valuable concepts in writing clear, concise, and effective code

Helpful?

0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 102A
Quarter: Summer 2019
Grade: N/A
June 22, 2020

I took this class in summer 2019, the slides he used was very clear and easy, but the homework was really unfairly hard and the tests were tough. It's impossible for a student who just finished stats 20 to write two games and other homework like that. I think the TA JAKE made up the homework, he just wanted to show how talented he is. Avoid this professor and the TA JAKE. If you can, just change the major.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
STATS 20
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: I
June 29, 2020

Don't take Stats 20 with Professor Tsiang who always has Jake Cramer as TA!!! I dropped this course on Week 2. The workload was unreasonablly large, and all homeworks and exams were very difficult. Strategies for problems on weekly homework were not taught in class, and they needed great amounts of time.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
10 of 21
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