STAT 2020

If you need a statistics class take normal statistics instead of this class. To all the premed students reading this: DONT TAKE THIS CLASS you are going to hear people tell you that it will look good for medical school but trust me it's not worth it.

This class was great and made me consider a major in biostats. I honestly don't know why anyone would complain about Rebecca I think she was a wonderful teacher and explained all the concepts thoroughly. If you listened to her in class you will definitely get an A on the exams. She's so nice and is always willing to help. I would definitely take her class. If you're already in her class, there is no need to switch to Maria's. If you really want to talk to Maria just go to her office hours.

This class is a good one to take at UVA. I don't understand why people say take it with Maria instead of Rebecca because Rebecca was a very good teacher. She's a little goofy but she's still a good teacher. Her office hours are also very helpful and she is willing to go step by step to help you solve homework questions. In class she constantly asks if you understand what's going on so make sure you speak up. Don't buy the textbook that's a waste of money I didn't even crack the book and this was my first time every taking statistics. It's about 4 chapters per night that you're not going to read anyways. All of the information is in her powerpoint slides but won't make much sense if you don't go to class and never took statistics. The labs were useless! If you need help with R Studio just go to a TA's office hours.

This class was one of the most boring classes I have taken at UVA but its a req for the bio major so a lot of people have to take it. Rebecca was a fine professor; she's actually soo good at stats and is super knowledgable. The only thing about Rebecca is that she's kind of awkward and her voice kinda put me to sleep. I never did any readings for this class. There is a weekly webassign but it wasn't bad. Lab meetings are pointless but required. The exams aren't difficult but the way the MC part of the exams is graded makes it easy to choke and get a low grade. I studied for each exam only a day or two out and did fine in the class. Really only take this class if you have to for a req or your major. Pretty boring to sit through.

I was required to take this class for the Global Public Health major and it actually wasn't too bad, even as someone who hasn't taken math since high school four years ago. Labs and homeworks were all quite easy, and the exams (though I haven't taken the final yet) were manageable if you did the practice exam and put in a couple hours of studying. I had Rebecca, and while I don't know anything about Maria, I'd recommend Rebecca. My only issue with her was that the would often repeat herself, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

After reading the reviews, I went into this class thinking I didn't have to do absolutely anything to succeed. This is not the case. While the material is extremely short and Rebecca's presentation is not engaging, she rarely posts powerpoints and puts super obscure questions on some of her exams, so it's important to go to class, study for the tests, and do the homework ahead of time (she makes it due Friday night... if you know that won't happen for you, definitely make a point to do it at the beginning of each week). The class is extremely boring, and I don't find that I learned that much; overall, despite getting a 97 on the final (the only test I studied for), I still only ended up with a B+ because of her grading. Generally, unless you have to take it, I wouldn't recommend it. It's easy enough that you don't have to put in insane amounts of work, but boring enough that you won't even wanna do that.

Okay, this review will provide you the best advice for this class. The material in this class is not difficult, but it is really easy to bomb the exams if you do not FULLY UNDERSTAND the material. Do not underestimate this class, because you need to study effectively and for a good amount to do well.

1) DO NOT skip class. Rebecca is boring, but you cannot comprehend her powerpoints without any context. Despite what people may say about her, Rebecca does provide adequate guidance in understanding statistics and it will save you much more time studying for this class if you simply listen, take notes, and learn the content in class the first time around.

2) REINFORCE your understanding by reading the textbook and doing the online practice modules on Sapling. I strongly disagree with those who think the textbook isn't helpful, because I found it incredibly useful in providing a structured context for certain statistical concepts. Rebecca doesn't teach you all the theory you need to know for stats, but the textbook does and the modules are useful in assessing how much you truly understand statistics theory-wise. The multiple choice section of the exams are mainly theoretical and fairly tricky- if you do not understand stats at its foundation, you can end up bombing the MC and hence the exam. Therefore, I highly recommend doing the additional Sapling practice.

3) ATTEND office hours at least once a week. Rebecca is super helpful during office hours, and is willing to do the homework with you. You can essentially actually knock out your assignments during OH. You should make it a duty to understand the homework completely as well, and Rebecca's easy accessibility during OH can allow for that.

Overall not a difficult course.
Rebecca is a wonderful lecturer who takes the time to go through the material, and she goes through practice problems during the lecture that are very similar to exam problems.
There are 3 exams each worth 20% of your grade. You do not need to read the textbook to do well on the exams. As long as you attend the lecture and do the extra practice problems and practice test she posts, you will be prepared for the exam. The multiple choice can be tricky sometimes, but as long as you review her powerpoints you should be fine. The short answer questions are usually very similar to the practice problems.
Also, she offers a lot of extra credit throughout the year (about 10 points back on your exam total).
I went 101, 90.5 (Shout out to winning the National Championship the night before), and 103 on the exams.
The labs are worth 25% and done in R. The instructions are straight forward and easy to follow, but if you have trouble office hours are great for getting help. Overall, pretty easy to get 98+% for a lab grade.
The homework can be at times tricky, but you are offered 2 chances to get the answer correct. I usually did the homework in a group so that we had more chances to get the right answer. Also, the lowest homework of the year gets dropped, but by working in a group I got a 100 on all of them.
I ended the course with an A+ and loved Rebecca.