SYS 4021

This class was just really not enjoyable. Barnes and Quinn co teach and they really aren't bad, it's just so so difficult to be engaged in this class, especially online. Labs are ok, difficulty varied. Midterm and final were somewhat difficult. Just was a headache of a class.

#tCF2020

Not a bad course at all, although not a terribly universally helpful one. Labs are straightforward walkthroughs or slight transformations of the code demonstrated in class, and projects are generally simple extensions of them as well. First project takes a while to document and write up, and some things require some clarification (professors and TAs very responsive on Piazza). Exams don't provide any surprises, with simple, easily learnable and predictable recitations of phrases and concepts in one section and a coding section which is open-note (have all of the code you've used in the semester's labs, by and large, ready to go in one file that you can easily access) and is pretty much as straightforward as the rest of the course.

Barnes taught for most of the semester (prior to maternity leave), and provided a reasonably solid experience for the last true undergrad systems course requirement.

Useful but boring lectures

Homework labs (used to be in-class quizzes) can sometimes be hard due to obscure questions. Group projects vary wildly based on your group (3 kids in each group.) They are no surprises on the midterm and final. Barnes really does try to help you, but it come off coldly b/c of her personality (monotone voiced).

This class is required by the Systems dept, so I would not recommend it to anyone outside of that unless you are really interested in data science and practical applications of statistical analysis and forecasting. Barnes is a terrible lecturer. She is boring, monotone, seems thoroughly unengaged with the material, and gives pretty useless responses to in-class questions. This class has the potential to be one of the coolest and most rewarding in the Systems Dept; I just wish there was a different instructor.

Important material for systems engineers. If you put a lot of work in, can get a decent amount out and learn a good bit out statistical analysis of real world data.

That said, the class structure kind of sucks, and as can be seen by the average GPA, they aren't very generous considering it's a fourth year class. Quizzes are a nuisance, and the projects are inconsistently graded. You won't love this class (far from it), but it's sort of a necessary evil.