This class was a struggle ngl. Lectures were good, but I stopped going around week 4-5 when everyone was getting sick bc that room was stuffy af and I did not appreciate getting coughed on on all sides lol. Anyway, I fell behind bad because the lecture recordings are almost impossible to understand bc the audio is so scuffed, and Phillips uses a laser pointer in lecture that you can't see in the recording. She's a great lecturer tho and super helpful! Queen tbh. So yeah, go to lecture if you can, unless they update the recording equipment smh. I'm pretty sure Bruce Tsai isn't TAing again but just in case he is, FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE TO BE IN HIS SECTION. He's so dedicated and helpful and chill and accessible fr there is no better TA on this campus. We believe in Bruce supremacy.
The class itself had ~4 problem sets, some photo/content submissions, a midterm test, and a final problem set. Honestly, the content wasn't that difficult, it was just the issue of lectures being inaccessible that made this class difficult.

Professor Phillips is a really sweet lady who does her best to help her students out where she can. I personally found this class horrible though simply because I despise coding. The coding assignments would take me hours on end to do and I would be very frustrated overall. However, this was my first (and hopefully last) coding class ever, so if you are familiar with R or any coding program in general then I am sure you will be fine. I really do not see what this course has to do with public affairs, but if you need to take it then I would say take it with Phillips.

Professor Phillips is the best!!! I immensely enjoyed her lecture: she was clear, to the point, and funny. I had no experience in R, and this class was an excellent start. Prof. told me that this class is more coding than STATS10 (which focuses more on stats but less coding than STATS20 (which is on R coding). I am a person who hates STEM and coding, but this class changed my perspective on that. The first half of the course focused on more basic statistics, and the second half focused on hypothesis testing and more intense coding. She gave a lot of extra credit, so I found it helpful. The class workload was reasonable, comprising four coding assignments (two big and two small), seeing data everywhere (4 links to data-related sources), (mandatory discussion) participation, midterm, and final. The midterm was in-person, focusing more on stats, while the final exam was a take-home coding project. The office hours and TAs were beneficial for explaining things in the class, so use them! Because of the quarter system, it was a pretty fast-paced class. It was packed, but I learned a lot. If you need a stats requirement, I could not say more good things, so TAKE THIS CLASS WITH PROF PHILLIPS!

One of the most practical and interesting classes I've taken thus far at UCLA. If you are interested in data analysis as it applies to the social sciences, or are looking to take other classes that use R, this is a great introductory class. TA spends a lot of time in the beginning helping you get accustomed to the software, and for this class I'd say having a good TA makes all the difference. You also learn some basic statistics applied to public policy issues which was interesting. Prof Meredith is incredibly helpful, passionate about the subject matter, and encouraging. Would highly recommend this class with her.

Dr. Phillips is also the chair of the Public Affairs major for people who did not know. This class was very fun if you're someone who likes statistics. If you're less inclined to learn statistics, you should really invest time into studying for this class. The only large amount of work for this class are the labs. The labs often took around 5-10 hours to complete thoroughly and even then you will most likely not get 100% (certainly an A though). I REALLY REALLY recommend attending office hours EVERY WEEK. Dr. Phillips is phenomenal in office hours and takes her time to explain things to the dot in office hours. Labs are cut in half so the first half is mandatory and the second half is optional to stay back and work on lab (highly recommend so you can get help from the TAs). The lectures, readings, and podcasts are all really fun and engaging. This is probably the only class where I did all the readings. The midterm and finals are tricky. Pay attention carefully. Overall this class really isn't that tough (I mean the grade distributions show that 50% of the class got A+,A, A- so that's a great indication). But I can see how you could fail or do really bad if you don't put in the work to your labs and readings. With that being said, adjustments will probably be made for the class since it was the first time this class was taught so be open to changes.