Professor
Van Savage
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - My man's handwritten notes look like hieroglyphics. Jokes aside, Van Savage is an incredibly kind and understanding professor. Spring quarter was tough especially towards the end, and he listened to students' feedback regarding the difficulty and pacing of the class and made fair adjustments accordingly. It was a flipped classroom, so there were 1.5-2 hr pre-recorded lectures per class and the actual zoom class meeting (optional) was Q+A. The class is made up of: Labs (10): 20% Problem Sets (5): 60% Midterm (1): 10% Final: 10% - opted out For Spring quarter, he allowed us to opt out of the final and drop the lowest lab and problem set score. There are are 10 labs total, so each matters minimally to the final grade. Labs are in MATLAB and you answer a couple questions exploring a concept that was covered in class, and they're not too difficult (working in groups on your own time helps a lot). The problem sets matter most to the grade, and they are actually pretty difficult to do and require some mathematical knowledge (diffEq and discrete were relevant) and thinking, but as long as you deeply understand the material he imparts and start early on them, you should be fine. He doesn't always give straight answers if you ask him about the homework questions, but he does try to help you as much as possible. Group work is definitely needed for this class. For the midterm, he gave us 48 hours and allowed collaboration. It was basically a longer problem set and it did take a very long time to finish (definitely would not have finished in 2 hours), but it was doable, and if you did particular problems very well, secret extra credit was given. I found his board notes to be the most useful, but sometimes he would mumble and his handwriting was illegible. His handwriting was even more illegible during live zooms, and I found those meetings to be kind of useless (go if you need to ask questions, though). The curriculum itself is very interesting, and I think Van tried his best to pick and choose which parts of this massive field of computational bio to show us. That being said, I think I was somewhat disappointed with the depth of the concepts and think that the class could have had a lot more to offer.
Spring 2020 - My man's handwritten notes look like hieroglyphics. Jokes aside, Van Savage is an incredibly kind and understanding professor. Spring quarter was tough especially towards the end, and he listened to students' feedback regarding the difficulty and pacing of the class and made fair adjustments accordingly. It was a flipped classroom, so there were 1.5-2 hr pre-recorded lectures per class and the actual zoom class meeting (optional) was Q+A. The class is made up of: Labs (10): 20% Problem Sets (5): 60% Midterm (1): 10% Final: 10% - opted out For Spring quarter, he allowed us to opt out of the final and drop the lowest lab and problem set score. There are are 10 labs total, so each matters minimally to the final grade. Labs are in MATLAB and you answer a couple questions exploring a concept that was covered in class, and they're not too difficult (working in groups on your own time helps a lot). The problem sets matter most to the grade, and they are actually pretty difficult to do and require some mathematical knowledge (diffEq and discrete were relevant) and thinking, but as long as you deeply understand the material he imparts and start early on them, you should be fine. He doesn't always give straight answers if you ask him about the homework questions, but he does try to help you as much as possible. Group work is definitely needed for this class. For the midterm, he gave us 48 hours and allowed collaboration. It was basically a longer problem set and it did take a very long time to finish (definitely would not have finished in 2 hours), but it was doable, and if you did particular problems very well, secret extra credit was given. I found his board notes to be the most useful, but sometimes he would mumble and his handwriting was illegible. His handwriting was even more illegible during live zooms, and I found those meetings to be kind of useless (go if you need to ask questions, though). The curriculum itself is very interesting, and I think Van tried his best to pick and choose which parts of this massive field of computational bio to show us. That being said, I think I was somewhat disappointed with the depth of the concepts and think that the class could have had a lot more to offer.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - Honestly struggled weekly in this class to a) pay attention in class and b) do the psets, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Savage knows what he's talking about and seems genuinely very interested in the topic, and although it feels like an extension of the LS30 series, I did enjoy class occasionally. Lectures aren't recorded, but pandemic recordings are available with his board notes -- probably why half the class isn't there most days after the first. The midterm/final questions are quite vague, but each is worth less than a single homework pset individually + it's take-home with groupwork permitted (most people seemed to do well on it). Labs are done in MATLAB, and while I think it's one of the most insufferable languages known to man, they're easy and require very little integration with/knowledge of the lectures beyond the provided lab instructions. The textbook is referenced a few times (which is why I assume it was offered through Inclusive Access) and provides useful reading if you have the time and mental fortitude to read through a chapter on your own, but if you know where to look you can find it online anyway. Grade Breakdown Homework - 60% Labs - 20% Midterm - 10% Final - 10%
Spring 2024 - Honestly struggled weekly in this class to a) pay attention in class and b) do the psets, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Savage knows what he's talking about and seems genuinely very interested in the topic, and although it feels like an extension of the LS30 series, I did enjoy class occasionally. Lectures aren't recorded, but pandemic recordings are available with his board notes -- probably why half the class isn't there most days after the first. The midterm/final questions are quite vague, but each is worth less than a single homework pset individually + it's take-home with groupwork permitted (most people seemed to do well on it). Labs are done in MATLAB, and while I think it's one of the most insufferable languages known to man, they're easy and require very little integration with/knowledge of the lectures beyond the provided lab instructions. The textbook is referenced a few times (which is why I assume it was offered through Inclusive Access) and provides useful reading if you have the time and mental fortitude to read through a chapter on your own, but if you know where to look you can find it online anyway. Grade Breakdown Homework - 60% Labs - 20% Midterm - 10% Final - 10%
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