Professor Phillips is a gem! Her class was fun and informative and would recommend 10/10!

Class Overview: Grading consisted of two problem sets (25% total), a midterm exam (25%), take home final (25%), two mini exercises (15% total), and various other little assignments that were graded for participation (10%). Not too bad and she did offer various opportunities for extra credit. As far as for course content, it is largely a review of an intro stats class (STATS 10 or AP Stats), but you will also learn about how to code with R.
Lectures: Lectures were live (although she did record them). Personally, I found going to live lecture was better as sometimes it can be hard to follow along without knowing the context (i.e. what question a student asked). She was funny in lecture but was still able to stay on track. Her lectures were also example based which was helpful imo.
Labs: Each week for lab would consist of reviewing the lecture and working on either the mini exercise or problem set for the particular week. They did usually take the full two hours but it was nice to be able to get much of the work done in lab and ask any questions in the process. Overall, the TAs were very knowledgeable and helpful both in lab and on the discussion forum so no problems there.
Problem Sets/HW: The assignments were all on R. The instructions were pretty clear and the TAs did post a good amount of resources to help with coding. There was plenty of time to do the assignments, but they did have many parts and subparts to each question so be aware of that.
Exams: The midterm was as basic exam on CCLE (open note) that consisted of M/C, short answer, long answer, and an extra credit. Average was in the 90s so not too difficult. The final is a take home exam on R (basically a condensed version of a problem set).
Reading: There were reading assignments for each class (and sometimes a podcast). They weren't really necessary and I didn't read them beyond a quick skim before each lecture.
Clarity/Helpfulness: Professor Phillips and the TAs were all helpful, especially considering the virtual quarter. They were active in the discussion board, helpful in OH, and overall very accommodating and flexible.
Overall: TAKE THIS CLASS! You will definitely learn a lot (esp about R) but its not overwhelming and she is very helpful and funny!

Having taken AP Stats in high school, I definitely came in with a bit of an advantage because the class is basically a review of AP Stats. The midterm was basically all AP Stats and wasn't too hard in my opinion. The fire alarm did go off in the middle of our midterm so we were all given an extra 3%, but our class average was somewhere in the high-80s/90s I think so it's not like we really needed the extra 3% but it was really helpful. She does give extra credit on the problem sets and midterm, as well as some if you submit a winning data link, but I didn't really need it and ended with an A. In regard to using R, I had never heard of R before taking this class and still managed to do well by paying attention during lab and asking my TA if I had any questions. Professor Phillips really wants us all to do well and was super approachable during office hours. The class overall is engaging and we would analyze our own data which was pretty cool. This really isn't a class to fear as long as you do the readings because the midterm does ask some questions specific to the readings but overall they are interesting and manageable. The final is a take-home R code and took me about 3 hours and is basically everything we learn. Also, the textbooks are free !! 10/10 would recommend.

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.

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.

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.

I took this class online, and I feel like this is one of the classes where having the lectures online and recorded were super helpful because we were able to rewatch lectures and also the TAs guided us through all the labs. I had never taken a statistics or coding class before and don't like math, but I didn't find that part of the class super hard at all! Our midterm is a multiple choice exam, and the final was a coding assignment where we didn't get to work with others. Overall, I feel like I learned a lot and it was a great introductory to statistics class!

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this class. Did I learn statistics? Yes. Did I spend 5+ hours working on projects that weren't supposed to take that long? Yes. I felt like the TA you had for this class made a HUGE difference. My TA did not help us out AT ALL on the problem sets so I attended other sections where they would basically tell you exactly how to do it or do you it for you. It wasn't fair that other students spent an hour on their problem sets while I spent 5+ collaborating with others in my section trying to figure it all out. I also felt the final was graded very harshly. The problem sets were not graded as harshly as the final so PLEASE be extra extra thorough on the final exam. PREPARE A LOT AND WORK TOGETHER TO STUDY FOR THE MIDTERM!!! I studied over the course of 4-5 days with a few friends. Each day we would choose a few lectures, study them individually, go over each part together, and then add it to a large study guide. The last session we all came up with practice questions and we all worked together to make a huge powerpoint. This helped a lot and we all got 97% or above. The final exam was take home and was very similar to a problem set, but judging from the fact that I had gotten above 95% on all the problem sets, I thought I would be okay- I was not. I got a 75% and a bunch of my other friends in section did not do too hot as well. I've never worked harder for a class so it was disappointing. My tips: Find friends, LOTS. Ask questions in class, and if your TA sucks, just attend another section.

Definitely take this class with Professor Phillips. You will learn a lot and will get a good grade.

Professor Phillips is amazing. The material itself tends to be a little dry if you're not really into statistics, but the readings are often interesting and she does a really really good job of keeping your interest in class. The TAs are often helpful with the homework and may even let you start working on it during discussion. There's a lot of work in the class but that also means there's a lot of opportunities to do well. I didn't really do that well at all in the midterm and still managed to scrape through to a B+ (to no fault of the professor - she is, again, excellent). I would absolutely recommend her for this class.