STAT 3250

* This is for Fall 2024 *

I love Sam! If you're a stat major and have the chance to take a course with Sam, MAKE SURE YOU DO!
10 HW assignments, 6 quizzes, and 1 midterm exam and final project, and the lowest in each category gets dropped (meaning for example, if you hate exams, you could skip the exam and just do the project).
Overall, the course isn't difficult at all. Just use chatgpt, OH, and ask Sam and the TAs for help. The content is also interesting and extremely useful for internships and full time jobs later related to data science especially.

This class is tricky to review because you what you put into this class is exactly what you get out. You can get an A pretty easily by putting in a fair amount of effort to understand the material or by just mindlessly copying the homework solutions that Sam provides in the lectures. I won't lie, it was tempting some days to take the easy route and just bag the A, but I do think that the content covered in this class is EXTREMELY useful in statistics and data science, so it's in your best interest to actually get a good grasp on them. Grades are composed of weekly homeworks, weekly quizzes, and exams. He goes over the homework in class before they are due, so they are fairly easy to score full points on. Weekly quizzes are online and have unlimited attempts, so they are also free gimme points. Exam is probably the "hardest" part of the class, but there are only two and you can drop one, so if you do well on the midterm, you don't need to take the final! He also offers a ton of extra credit throughout the semester so you can offset a mid score on the exam, but he's very lenient when it comes to grading so it's not difficult to score well on the exam even if you're not super prepared.

Sam is probably the most personable professor I have had at UVA. He sets the class up for his students' success and puts in A LOT of work to make the class helpful for us. He's also just a chill guy -- super easy to talk to and always encourages feedback. I just wish he structured the class in a way that would hold students more accountable for their learning.

Before laying out the scores, Professor Somal ("Sam") is a great person and wants students to learn and do well in his course. I highly recommend taking this course with him if you haven't had him yet. I took this as a 4th-year and wished that I had taken a course with him earlier after being in the course.

Syllabus: 10 HWs (each worth 7 points, drop one), 6 Quizzes (each worth 1 point, drop one), 3 Exams/Project (each worth 16 points, one drop)

Overview: The course is point based not percentage based. For example, if you earn a full-score on the first homework to start the semester, you have guaranteed 7% of your grade. I wish I had realized how beneficial this is to your success because it would have reduced a lot of stress about the course early on in the semester.

For homework, they are writing code to return answers to questions that revolve around manipulating datasets with the methods learned in class. They can be tricky, but if you commit time to them, you can earn a 100% on every single one.

Quizzes are on Canvas and range from 4-5 questions focused on recent class unit concepts. You have multiple attempts to earn a 100%, so you should earn full points without any issue.

The exams can be HARD. However, this should not prevent you from taking the course. This is why I am going to give the course a hard rating, not because it is hard to earn a good grade. If you earn a 90-100, you receive an A as your final grade. Due to the point scale being in place, if you gain a perfect score on the homework assignments and quizzes you will already be at 68 points already, which requires that you earn 22 more on exams to earn an A. On each exam and just throughout the class you can earn numerous bonus points which reduces the exam pressure even further.

For exams, you can either do a third exam or a final project which requires the comprehensive use of Python to explore a research question that you have. Personally, I had ~70% average on the first two exams, knew I already ended the course with an A and was able to use my final exam as a drop (didn't even take it). However, if you wanted the opportunity to complete a project and are passionate about showcasing your coding skills and research in a portfolio or Github, this course is a great opportunity to do so.

I recommend this course to anyone that wants to learn more about the Python language. You won't regret it taking the course with Sam.