For background, I had absolutely zero experience with any coding language, besides the 3 days I spent on codeacademy to try and prepare for this class.

I must say that for one of my first in person class and intro to code, Prof Mike made it very enjoyable and not as intimidating as I thought it would be.

For one, he is a very understanding professor, dropping a hw grade (that was based on effort to begin with), changing the grade scheme to help with grade anxiety, etc. I was even able to change final dates as a result of a test conflict!

Prof Mike is also very approachable (despite me hardly approaching him but that's because I had to commute).

The hard part about this class is probably just the homework for me. I wanted to really try my best and sometimes that wasn't enough to get through the intermediate problems. The LAs are helpful, as I went once to an office hour and got through a problem. Eddie was my TA and he was also very helpful in discussions. The midterms, while heavily dependent on the free response, were difficult but not impossible for me, so long as you study code! It's important to know what you expect to come out of a command and that method of studying was very helpful once I finally figured out how to study for this kind of class (Midterm 2 made me feel bad but I didn't do horrifically).

Overall, I do suggest that you at least watch the lectures if he continues to BruinCast, as that is what I did after I was tired of driving to school everyday for 3 weeks. Being there actively really helped me succeed as I did WAY better than I thought in terms of my coding knowledge. Definitely would live to take Mike as a professor again in the future!

Overall I think Mike is a great professor. His class isn't as absurdly hard as some of the reviews make it seem. The homeworks definitely take awhile but if you put the time and effort into doing the homework then it definitely helps you with the tests. I definitely recommend taking the class with Mike because he's one of the few professors that I've had who seems to truly care about his students and their learning. Definitely worth it

I know there are a lot of grading schemes/grading breakdowns for Tsiang but here's summer 2021:

20% Homework (HW 4 had an extra credit opportunity but had no idea if it was actually given)
30% Midterm
35% Final exam
10% Final project
3% Discussion Attendance
2% Campuswire Participation (Opportunity to get 1% extra credit through lots of contribution)

Later on the quarter, Tsiang canceled the Final Project and made the grading scheme
35% max(Midterm, Final Exam)
30% min(Midterm, Final Exam)

Grading Distributions for exams were
Midterm 1: Q1: 74.75, Median: 84.50, Q3: 92
Final: Q1: 67.50, Median: 78.33, Q3: 84.50

If you have coding experience, this class should be relatively easy (especially the first half). I would highly suggest taking at least PIC 10A before taking this course. Without any sort of coding experience, unless you are very on top of it, this class will leave you confused. I think Tsiang is honestly a great Professor. I didn't attend discussion nor lecture so I cannot comment on his teaching style, but he is very timely with his responses to questions, gives ample studying materials, and is looking out for the wellbeing of his students (I know that other reviews contradict that last statement - maybe he changed but at least in my eyes he was very good about this). His typed up notes are amazing and if every prof released something like that, we would have nice things. The TA seems nice and probably is good but someone else's review could better justify that. ALSO THERE IS A MASSIVE CURVE. I don't know the exact one but so long as you score about Q3-Median, you can probably get an A-. I scored 91 and 85 respectively for the exams and got an A. Also, don't stress about Homework. Definitely try because it is good practice for the exams but they are free 100s (even if you can't do it 100%). The exams were very fair and doable. The timing wasn't bad at all and I also had about 20-30 minutes afterwards to check stuff. Overall, I'd take another class with Tsiang

My experience is during the covid period. I think the past reviews don't do this class justice. Mike is a great lecturer and everything is clear. I have a very bad coding background but I have taken coding classes before so my experience could have been a lot worse. This class is difficult but yes, you do learn a lot of information. There is a very nice curve at the end so just focus on learning and not on your grade.

** Before you take this class please read**

I have a lot to say about this class. This class was seriously what almost broke me. I was having full on breakdowns about this class every day and my friends can tell you that I was a completely different person while taking this class. It took me so long to write this review because I didn't want to relive how stressed out I was while taking this.
First of all, I ignored the reviews on Bruinwalk before taking this class and this has officially made me learn my lesson. This is the first B I've ever earned in college and as a previously 4.0 student, this was a hard blow. If you do NOT have prior coding experience or familiarity with computers, have SERIOUS CAUTION about taking this class.

ABOUT THE PROFESSOR AND TA: Even though this class was literal hell, I don't have much bad to say about Dr. Tsiang. If you go to office hours, he will spend hours and hours of his time trying to help you understand. He's a likable guy and I liked that he kept his Christmas tree up in the back of his zoom calls through March lol. Additionally, he does curve grades a lot which is greatly appreciated. I really think that he's a great professor and Edouardo was a fantastic TA. However, I think they greatly underestimate the workload. I think that since this is introductory coding and they are much more experienced at coding that they don't understand how difficult this can be for beginner coders.

ABOUT THE MATERIAL: I have taken calculus, biology, and chemistry classes and earned A+ in all of them so I thought that I would be okay, but coding is a whole other monster. Even though previous coding experience is not required and the professor insists that, it truly puts you at a disadvantage because coding requires a very different logic and way of thinking.

ABOUT THE WORKLOAD: The workload in this class is A LOT. There are 2 midterms, a final, a final project, weekly in-depth homeworks, and participation credit through an online forum. I hate to say it, but the TA and professor both insist that the weekly homeworks should not take you more than 4 hours, but that's just frankly not the case. I spent probably 20 hours at least per week on the homeworks and that's lowballing it. The questions are never basic and require you to know the lecture material IN DEPTH and think very outside of the box other than what he's shown you to use. Also you are not allowed to have tutors outside the class.

TLDR: The professor highly curves this class and is helpful and kind, but the material is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT especially if you've never had interactions with coding before. My personal experience with this class was also combined with personal emergencies that made trying to juggle both REALLY difficult and gave me some extremely dark thoughts that a class has never given me before. Designate A LOT of time for this class and GO TO OFFICE HOURS. I could not have survived this class without office hours. And DO NOT**** plagiarize!!! The professor is VERY SERIOUS about plagiarism and if you get even close he will report you.

I know the other reviews are scary, but Professor Tsiang has completely changed this course now and there's no more horror stories about the new TA.

It's going to be hard and frustrating at times, but please believe me when I say that your grade is in great hands. Tsiang/TA may be strict at times, but it's for your own good and learning. The course is meant for you to be challenged and get equipped with a toolbox of skills and knowledge.

The way to succeed is pay attention to lectures, everything that Tsiang/TA says, and do your BEST -- just try and put in an effort and your grade will show the same!

Grading scheme: 30% Final, 20% each Midterm, 3% Discussion attendance, 2% Campuswire participation, 15% HW, 10% Final Project

The HWs are graded on completion so that's some easy points (although start early and work strategically on them!)

To preface, I had very low expectations going into this class. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Mike, the TA, and the LAs were all very helpful throughout the quarter and really placed an emphasis on thinking critically to solve difficult problems. The homework assignments and exams were all challenging, but not unnecessarily so; I felt that they tested the material in a fair way even though I didn't do as well as I wanted on them. Mike's lectures and notes are all very well-organized, so make sure you read through them thoroughly and reference as needed.

This is a hard class, and there's naturally a lot of anxiety about grades (I know I stressed A LOT). Listen to Mike when he says that he will assign a grade that reflects your learning. If you put your best foot forward and make an honest effort, you will get a good grade. I performed at or slightly below the median on both midterms and the final and ended up with an A, so the curve is very generous.

Lastly, do not hesitate to go to office hours or ask for help on Campuswire. I wasn't able to attend office hours too much due to my schedule, but there are 6-7 different timeslots a week that should hopefully work.

Well, I feel mixed about this class. Tsiang is really a nice person. Besides what I experiencing in the class, I do really like him. He always care about the students and let us know that wellbeing is the most important thing in our life. But I don't think this class is meaningful.

First, the class is just like from CS department. As a CS major students, R is not a good language to write functions. But we have to spend more than 5-10 hours if you decided to finish all the homework(based on completion, you can show you hard working to get a full credit.). It's not difficult for me but very boring.

If you have coding experience and not a stats major, buy a book for R and don't take it. Else if you(haha) are a beginner, maybe this is a gate for coding. Don't take it as a stats class, it's a CS class. Trust me.

Second, the exams are very difficult. I have no idea how my classmates can get a perfect score on it. But this class is not a GPA killer, prof will curve your score. Even you mess up all the exam, you can get a B or even a A-.

STATS 20 will let you feel depressed. But you will learn a lot. Make the decision by your own.

This is the best professor I've ever had at UCLA. He really cared about the students and never took points off for minor mistakes. The TA Jake is the best TA in the world: he never yelled at us. I don't understand why here are so many negative comments about these two wonderful and lovely people. I would definitely take Michael again!

I absolutely loathe every second that I spent on this class. All Professor Tsiang does is reading the pdf handout. He does not explain things most of the time ( maybe he assumes that we just know it all? ). This class is hard for people with no previous coding experience. Professor Tsiang will give you the most basic knowledge of R and then give you questions that require a lot of R coding experience. There's a lot of homework, and all the questions are difficult and tricky. Maybe I'm too dumb for this class. I found it quite discouraging talking to professor Tsiang. I don't want to say this, but this is the worst experience that I ever have ever since I attended UCLA.