Well, I feel mixed about this class. Tsiang is really a nice person. Besides what I experiencing in the class, I do really like him. He always care about the students and let us know that wellbeing is the most important thing in our life. But I don't think this class is meaningful.

First, the class is just like from CS department. As a CS major students, R is not a good language to write functions. But we have to spend more than 5-10 hours if you decided to finish all the homework(based on completion, you can show you hard working to get a full credit.). It's not difficult for me but very boring.

If you have coding experience and not a stats major, buy a book for R and don't take it. Else if you(haha) are a beginner, maybe this is a gate for coding. Don't take it as a stats class, it's a CS class. Trust me.

Second, the exams are very difficult. I have no idea how my classmates can get a perfect score on it. But this class is not a GPA killer, prof will curve your score. Even you mess up all the exam, you can get a B or even a A-.

STATS 20 will let you feel depressed. But you will learn a lot. Make the decision by your own.

To preface, I had very low expectations going into this class. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Mike, the TA, and the LAs were all very helpful throughout the quarter and really placed an emphasis on thinking critically to solve difficult problems. The homework assignments and exams were all challenging, but not unnecessarily so; I felt that they tested the material in a fair way even though I didn't do as well as I wanted on them. Mike's lectures and notes are all very well-organized, so make sure you read through them thoroughly and reference as needed.

This is a hard class, and there's naturally a lot of anxiety about grades (I know I stressed A LOT). Listen to Mike when he says that he will assign a grade that reflects your learning. If you put your best foot forward and make an honest effort, you will get a good grade. I performed at or slightly below the median on both midterms and the final and ended up with an A, so the curve is very generous.

Lastly, do not hesitate to go to office hours or ask for help on Campuswire. I wasn't able to attend office hours too much due to my schedule, but there are 6-7 different timeslots a week that should hopefully work.

I know the other reviews are scary, but Professor Tsiang has completely changed this course now and there's no more horror stories about the new TA.

It's going to be hard and frustrating at times, but please believe me when I say that your grade is in great hands. Tsiang/TA may be strict at times, but it's for your own good and learning. The course is meant for you to be challenged and get equipped with a toolbox of skills and knowledge.

The way to succeed is pay attention to lectures, everything that Tsiang/TA says, and do your BEST -- just try and put in an effort and your grade will show the same!

Grading scheme: 30% Final, 20% each Midterm, 3% Discussion attendance, 2% Campuswire participation, 15% HW, 10% Final Project

The HWs are graded on completion so that's some easy points (although start early and work strategically on them!)

** Before you take this class please read**

I have a lot to say about this class. This class was seriously what almost broke me. I was having full on breakdowns about this class every day and my friends can tell you that I was a completely different person while taking this class. It took me so long to write this review because I didn't want to relive how stressed out I was while taking this.
First of all, I ignored the reviews on Bruinwalk before taking this class and this has officially made me learn my lesson. This is the first B I've ever earned in college and as a previously 4.0 student, this was a hard blow. If you do NOT have prior coding experience or familiarity with computers, have SERIOUS CAUTION about taking this class.

ABOUT THE PROFESSOR AND TA: Even though this class was literal hell, I don't have much bad to say about Dr. Tsiang. If you go to office hours, he will spend hours and hours of his time trying to help you understand. He's a likable guy and I liked that he kept his Christmas tree up in the back of his zoom calls through March lol. Additionally, he does curve grades a lot which is greatly appreciated. I really think that he's a great professor and Edouardo was a fantastic TA. However, I think they greatly underestimate the workload. I think that since this is introductory coding and they are much more experienced at coding that they don't understand how difficult this can be for beginner coders.

ABOUT THE MATERIAL: I have taken calculus, biology, and chemistry classes and earned A+ in all of them so I thought that I would be okay, but coding is a whole other monster. Even though previous coding experience is not required and the professor insists that, it truly puts you at a disadvantage because coding requires a very different logic and way of thinking.

ABOUT THE WORKLOAD: The workload in this class is A LOT. There are 2 midterms, a final, a final project, weekly in-depth homeworks, and participation credit through an online forum. I hate to say it, but the TA and professor both insist that the weekly homeworks should not take you more than 4 hours, but that's just frankly not the case. I spent probably 20 hours at least per week on the homeworks and that's lowballing it. The questions are never basic and require you to know the lecture material IN DEPTH and think very outside of the box other than what he's shown you to use. Also you are not allowed to have tutors outside the class.

TLDR: The professor highly curves this class and is helpful and kind, but the material is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT especially if you've never had interactions with coding before. My personal experience with this class was also combined with personal emergencies that made trying to juggle both REALLY difficult and gave me some extremely dark thoughts that a class has never given me before. Designate A LOT of time for this class and GO TO OFFICE HOURS. I could not have survived this class without office hours. And DO NOT**** plagiarize!!! The professor is VERY SERIOUS about plagiarism and if you get even close he will report you.

I would highly recommend this professor. Although the class is quite fast-paced as we go through a lot of R material in the space of 10 weeks, Mike was very good at explaining concepts and was very helpful. Most importantly, he was very fair with his grading scheme. As you can tell, a good chunk of the class ends up with A's as he curves each midterm and then also does a final curve at the end. As someone who has never coded before in my life, I guarantee you will get an A if you are willing to put in the effort to learn the material and complete the homeworks.

This was my third class with Professor Tsiang (STATS 20 and STATS 199 prior to this) and he never ceases to place things into perspective. As another review noted, this class provides the reasoning behind STATS 101A (and a little of STATS 102B). The pacing of the class was nice as, because this quarter was conducted remotely, Professor Tsiang made the class asynchronous and held office hours during the time listed with the registrar. Professor Tsiang gives ample time for both the midterm as well as the final and combines a little theory with a little application so that we understand not only the reasoning but also the practical use of the concepts of 100C.

At first, I thought his class was extremely hard. That. was before I fully realized that the homeworks are based on completion. You really get what you put into this class. If you really want to learn R, he is a great teacher. His notes are awesome, and I do think his assigned homework is useful to complete (you do have to attempt the homework, but not graded on accuracy). In my opinion, tests are not easy, but he curves a lot. He also allows around 3 pages of cheat sheets. If you have a coding background - this class is easy.

As a Psych major pursuing a Computing Specialization, this was my first coding course. Hands-down, this was the most applicable course I've taken at UCLA so far. While it is definitely challenging, it is extremely rewarding because you learn so much; Professor Mike and the TAs are super supportive and understanding, as well. Prior to this course I already had some experience with using R for basic data organization, graphics, and statistics, but I still found the course soooo helpful and interesting because it really helped me begin to understand the deeper intuition behind everything in R. Homework-wise, some of the assignments were very long and difficult, but as long as you made an honest effort you would get 100% on them (they're completion-based). Exam-wise, the tests were challenging and relatively unpredictable (some had a harder MC while others had a harder free response section, sometimes questions involved super specific syntax stuff and weird edge cases), but he re-scaled them so that the averages were low Bs (and Professor Mike gave us super cute rubber ducks to give us emotional support during exams :). I would be lying if I said I was never frustrated in this class, but ultimately I found a love for it. The professor, TAs, and LAs are ALWAYS available to answer your questions on Campuswire, and there is an amazing emphasis on mental health over grades. If you re-frame this course as a learning experience rather than just another letter on your transcript, you'll probably have some fun and definitely come out of it feeling proud of yourself!

I would overall recommend this class because I feel like the way the class was structured was really beneficial for learning without worrying about grades and gpa. The homework was graded on completion(with clear effort) and homework was worth a large percentage of your overall grade. The homeworks were manageable and really did allow me to exercise all I learned in class. The professor is truly very kind and understanding, and this class never gave me stress because it felt like a safe learning space. :)

The content of this class is tough (easier if you already have coding experience). Homework and exams were difficult, however Mike places a huge emphasis on learning and not on worrying about grades. As a result, even with low exam scores and difficult homework, the class is curved very generously at the end. I would highly recommend taking this class with Mike as you can prioritize learning over grades, something a lot of classes nowadays lack.