I took McAuliffe for my first and last quarters at UCLA (100A and 101), and I'd have to say each quarter that I've had him he's been my favorite professor each quarter. You can tell that he loves teaching and puts in the effort to make his classes fun and interesting, which will appeal mostly to the students that understand his extremely dry humor which I personally found hilarious. Most professors at UCLA are hired to conduct research for the university and teach only because they have to. McAuliffe is not one of those professors and is honestly one of the best professors at UCLA in my opinion. His tests are straight-forward and fair, and I would highly recommend him despite all the negative posts previously mentioned, which are mostly 100A students who lack the logic required for statistics as I've taken his class and found it both easy and extremely entertaining.

I got an A- in the class but I'd give McAuliffe an A- too.

Reading the terrible reviews about him, I was dreading this class but McAuliffe is definitely not the McAwful that people make him out to be. Yes he talks fast and his powerpoint slides aren't that useful but the person below me has the right idea on how to do well in this class.

1. READ the online textbook. Every word is important and is fair game on the exams. Details, details, details. The massive amount of spelling errors in the book will drive you mad but it's not unreadable. Complete all the questions at the end of every chapter and do the practice problems over and over until you can solve them with your eyes closed.

2. Attend lecture.
His slides aren't that helpful but he will sometimes say things that you can't find in the text or on the slides that will show up on the exam and final. Pay attention to how he conceptually explains the formulas. There are A LOT of formulas to memorize but he makes them easy to remember by emphasizing the concept behind them and how they all relate. Big plus to McAuliffe for that.

3. Do the homework. Exam Q's are similar to the homework and practice problems from the textbook.

4. Go to discussions. It's optional to go but the TAs I had were super helpful in breaking down difficult concepts.

5. GO TO OFFICE HOURS. I only went three times (the day before each of the exams) but McAuliffe is such a nice guy and really wants you to do well. You don't even need to have questions, just go and listen to him answer other people's questions. It helps.

6. Take McAuliffe's class. The other section taught by Moran actually had a lower average than McAuliffe's class...so you decide.

He gives you practice midterms and a practice final, he makes a difficult subject less difficult, and he's occasionally funny. He's not unfair and if you work hard then there's no reason you couldn't walk away with at least a B in the class.

Mr McAuliffe isn't a bad professor. He just has rep of being awful because of his unpredictable test questions. Honestly speaking, some of his questions were out of the ordinary, but he provides practice midterms that, for the most part, will give you an idea of what to expect. Yes, they wont be the same, but at-least you'll gain a sense of what to expect. Below, are some guidelines that will guarantee you a good grade in this class

1.Practie Practice Practice!!!! I cant stress enough how praticing is a must. He doesn't provide formulas and worst of all, no graphing CALCULATORS. That white, cheap, and small calculator will be your best friend for the quarter so treat it well. Whatever problems you see relating to stats, do it!!! it will likely appear on the test.

2. Go to Discussion
Discussion is optional, but it surely helps. Our TAs were knowledgeable about the material, and knew what they were talking about. There, they'll polish over concepts that are complicated or ambiguous. Sometimes, they'll help with homework, but wont provide answers!!! Sorry!!

3.Read the book!!!
the book contains all the INFO lectured in class. It's an online text and has a plethora of errors, but it explains the concepts very well.

4. Recopy Your notes
It is time consuming but it works. Re-writing your notes will help you retain all the info, down to the most specific details that will likely to show up on the exam.

5. Go to office hours!!!

Hopefully, before considering dropping the class, or opting for a another professor, you'll my guidelines as to how to succeed in this class. Remember, the grade depends on you. Either you slack off, or follow the guidelines The choice is yours.

WORST professor ever. Honestly, doesn't get any worse than him. Just save yourself the trouble, save yourself your GPA, save yourself from going crazy and don't take this class. You think you're doing well, you have the A's on the exams, and then he throws in some random test questions to make people fail. He always has a couple questions that will stop you in your tracks, they're not from the book, not from the lecture, and definitely not from the homework. He expects you to memorize all formulas for the sake of ruining your life, because in reality there's not point in memorizing the formulas. Even if you fall a quarter behind, wait for another professor to teach this class. Statistics is easy, I took an advanced course and received an A, but earned a low B in this joke of a class. He knows people call him McAwful, but he doesn't seem to care.. apparently it makes him laugh and feel all giddy inside. That's how much of a jerk he is. I worked so hard in the class and got nothing out of it, except a drop in my stellar GPA. I read reviews on here before taking the class, and thought I could handle it, and honestly I could; the material was easy but he is just impossible. Disorganized and talks way too fast, just HORRIBLE. DON'T DO IT.

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. IF YOU CAN GET INTO NANDY'S CLASS, DO IT..FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR GRADE AND SANITY. Don't get me wrong, Professor McAuliffe is an awesome lecturer, even though he does go through material at lightening speed. He makes the most hilarious jokes and talks about his cute, little daughter all the time. The homework is do-able (usually 25 questions), but he always had 1-2 questions which were impossible to answer. I was enrolled in AAP and not even the tutor could answer them! The midterms were...okay (there were several questions which were incredibly hard and a lot of repeats), but there was always that "one kid" who aced every single one of the 3 midterms. So needless to say, the curve does NOT HELP AT ALL.

Just make sure that you are DEFINITELY sure that you can handle this class. I honestly thought I could, even after reading all of these negative comments from other students, but I ended up having to drop the course. Now, I'm taking it again with Nandy. And, oh boy, his class is like a JOKE compared to McAuliffe's.

OH! And also, Professor McAuliffe also decided to switch things up for our class and changed the syllabus. He tested us on material, which was way too advanced for a class like this, and the material wasn't even on the syllabus. Pretty shitty, huh?

Hope this post will help a poor soul out there thinking about taking this class with him.

Do not take this professor unless you want to ruin your GPA. I stayed because I need to declare my major. I'm an A student but not anymore! There is no way to get an A in this class as the past reviewers suggest, unless they cheated as many did in my class. I did not and actually memorized all formulas. The professor forces you to subscribe to the website he created, nice side income. The text is full of errors, his made up critical values-1.64? As well as other mistakes in the power section. His questions on exams have at least 4 that aren't mentioned in lecture or text. This is meant to sabotage you. What kind of teacher derives pleasure out of sabotaging students? He claims he has to in order to weed out serious psych students. Hmmm how come Nandy doesn't have that problem?

Many people hated him, but I actually enjoyed his class! The material is really straightforward, and anyone with a little background on stats should at least get a B.
I have never taken any stats class in my whole life, and I came in the course all scared with all the "McAwful" rumor, but got out of this class with an solid A.
Yes he has his trick questions and he doesn't give formulas, which is the main reason people are complaining. But none of these matters if you really understand the concept.
My adjust would be, read everything, literally every word, the night before his midterms, and work through all the homework problems. Know the concepts and you'll be solid.
Midterms are the ones that you really have to study hard for because there are three of them and only 25 questions each. Few errors will SCREW you! FInal is harder, but you can miss a lot and still get an A.
Homework can be tricky but you can go to the TAs for help, they'll tell you the answer.
He give nice lectures if you are actually paying attention and follow his pace. He really put into an effort to make the lecture more fun. He is a really nice guy, take him and you won't regret it!

My grade:
Midterm #1: 24/25
Midterm #2: 22/25
Midterm #3: 23/25
Final: 45/55
Final grade: A

Good luck with McAuliffe!

Okay, so he isn't a good lecturer, meaning that not everyone (including myself) may understand everything he says during lecture. But the CLASS itself isn't as bad as some people here make it seem to be. Or maybe I feel that way because I've taken stats before and math in general isn't too hard for me. I think The class can be quite confusing for those who haven't taken stats before.

But even if you haven't taken stats, if you put some effort into it, it shouldn't be hard to teach yourself through the website, which is your online textbook(really get to know it well; many questions from the test are written from here and it simplifies most concepts that Mcauliffe makes difficult).

If you are good at memorizing formulas and can teach yourself (maybe even attend lecture, or at least the one on correlation; there will be things on the test from that lecture), I think it isn't hard to pass the class. Now, if math really isn't your thing, you may really want to consider taking it with someone else. Or else, don't be too scared by some of the reviews here... I personally found the class quite easy and bearable (at least I'm not bothered by his jokes).

Biggest asshole ever. Don't take him if you care about your grade. The class itself is not a difficult course but he MAKES it difficult on purpose. He has this ridiculous idea that formulas shouldn't be given to students so you'll basically send your whole time memorizing stupid formulas and trying to remember what order to do all the steps for problems. He makes his tests difficult with a number of questions that are meant to trick you - and he has no qualms about relishing in intentionally doing this. In fact he gloats about it.

Anyone who says this guy genuinely cares about his students are deluding themselves. He doesn't actually care about the students - he's probably just sick of all the negative reviews on Bruinwalk (he gives away on the first lecture that he reads through these reviews).

Anyway, I hated this course and him as a professor. He's not funny and he thinks his attempts at humor (especially on the tests) makes things less stressful but really they're just irritating. Save yourself a quarter full of tedious memorization/sucky jokes and take the course with someone else.

DO NOT TAKE HIM, HE IS HORRIBLE. His lectures are incomprehensible and i had to teach myself everything. Save your gpa, do not take him.