Very nice professor. Always answers students' questions on campuswire. Tests are ok. Very easy A+.

The grading is not strict and curves are often given. Mike is engaging and clear in his lectures and the posted notes are organized. The content is very interesting to learn and if you pay attention to class and review the notes, you'll be fine with this class! After taking Mike's stats20 gave me the incentive to take more stats classes and probably minor stats.

Professor Michael Tsiang was definitely hard and this was my most challenging quarter so far, but his notes and lecture videos were so well put together and clear that overall, my experience with this class was good, but it was just a LOT of work.
I believe this class has a bad rep because of a previous TA but the current TA is so patient and explained things clearly, especially with the homework problems. The beginning was definitely a struggle for me as I had virtually no experience with R and I was always confused on how to even begin the homework. The LAs were the ones that mostly pulled me through this course and once you practice a lot, the class becomes easier.
The homework is definitely a lot harder than his exams but they're done that way in order to encourage learning and they're graded on completion only, but they do hold key understanding for the tests themselves so even if you can't figure out the homework, make sure to understand why after.
The discussion also gave a lot of practice using R and even though they didn't contain many points, they are similar to what you will see on the exams and I believe it's created by the TA.
Overall, my advice going into this class is to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRATICE. Play around with the code and see how it interacts with different commands as you will gain a deeper understanding of how it works. The LAs also host review sessions where they further go into R code.

Don't be scared about taking this class! I was nervous going in based on prior reviews, but this class has been restructured a bit from the ~dark days~ mentioned by some other reviews and is not anything to fear.

That being said, I would not say this is an easy class per se, but if you go to lecture and do the homework (even though they are for completion, if it definitely worth your while to dedicate a significant portion of time to really trying each problem), as well as go to office hours for things you are unsure about, you can succeed in this class.

Professor Mike is truly one of the kindest professors I have had, and cares a lot about your success both in the course (i.e. understanding R) and overall. He dedicates a lot of time via office hours and on campuswire helping out students, and emphasizes prioritizing your mental health over grades, which I appreciate. Also!! Exams are less difficult than homework, so don't freak out if the homework takes you hours upon hours; exam questions will test similar info but the solutions can often be done somewhat simply.

Mike is amazing. Amazing professor and amazing person. When he tells you that whole grades aren't more important than your health you best believe he means that, it's not just something he says just to say it. During finals week when I got an untimely illness to say that he was accommodating and helpful would be an understatement. If you are going through something reach out to him he is a very caring and understanding professor which is somewhat of a rarity in South Campus. Also a great lecturer, I'm the type to stop going to lecture after Week 6ish but I kept going into Week 10. He really breaks down the material nicely but keeps it light like you leave the lecture not even realizing just how much you just learned. Also, laugh at his nerdy jokes, nobody in my hall did and it was super depressing because they were actually lowkey funny.

The class itself is hard but manageable. Don't go into it thinking it will be easy or even medium. If you go into it knowing that you will have to learn an entire coding language from scratch (which is hard) then you will be fine. How to do well in this class? HOMEWORK, HOMEWORK, HOMEWORK. Don't leave it to the last minute. Don't copy it. Really struggle through it trust me it is better to struggle on the homework than cram before the test. Do it by yourself, not with a partner. Also, do or at least try the advanced problems, they are not required but do it anyway.

The grading is beyond fair, the tests are strictly graded but the curve is generous to make up for it. It is after all, a class rank test which is annoying for other students to have to do poorly for you to look better in comparison but it's as close to fair as course like this can get.

I think somebody in here posted the grading distribution so find that.

I liked Tsiang, this review isn't about him.

It's about Jake Kramer the TA. Absolutely awful. IF YOU GET HIM TRANSFER SECTIONS. Just trust me on this one.

Michael Tsiang was an amazing professor. In my first quarter at UCLA, and in my first statistics class since junior year of high-school, he was able to help me understand the content easily and do well in the class. The tests are all multiple choice, and he has chapters of reading for all the content he covers which are very straight-forward and help you understand what you're learning. The homework assigned can be challenging, but it is always testing a topic that you can learn through the reading, which he also goes over in class. Most importantly, it's very obvious that this professor really cares about how well students do in this class.

This man ruined my life. He has no regard for how difficult and time-consuming projects are and his high-minded messaging about student welfare (sends you emails saying "your grade doesn't reflect you," makes you meditate at the beginning of class) is completely undercut by the fact that he will assign massive amounts of work and immediately ding you for an honest mistake. You will end up in disciplinary hell and go through a process that saps you of your energy and desire to learn. I know he's done this to at least 40 students.

The worst professor ever in college.
tons of meaningless homework, torturing exams and scores, and horrible TAs (especially Jake, I think the only thing he wants to do is to make everyone fail the class)
Never, ever take this class, or any class, with this professor.

ok i am never one who writes reviews but this class is so damn bad i have to step up and make sure other students dont suffer. I looked forward to this class seeing the previous reviews, and especially hearing about how kind mike is towards his students. BUT THIS CLASS IS HELL. I am a stats major myself but the homework is excessively tedious, the exams are so darn hard and they literally ask the most random questions which are not the most important or related to what we need to know in R. The exam is only 45 minutes but is wayyyy too tedious. Jake Kramer even shouts a lot during the exam, often times giving students a scare. I have once been to office hours with mike in week one and never again. He is the most passive aggressive professor who isnt even helpful, all he does is give you a condescending look. Honestly am considering changing my major because of this class. The only helpful TA is Bo Pang, he is genuinely amazing and helpful but Mike and Jake are no-go. Do not take this class at all cost. It reignited my anxiety