Reviews for DATA400

Information Review
Fushuai Jiang
DATA400

Anonymous
03/03/2024
He writes notes, not that legibly, in notability, and fails to really explain any proof, and instead writes it word for word from the text book. There were times when people had questions, and he stated that "it was outside the scope of the course". His review problems for the test are not close at all to actual problems present on the test and instead are random proofs and questions he's taken over all his lecture. TA's are nice and are the only way to get through the course, but most of the time they have no idea what he's doing. You are allowed a cheat sheet on exams, but it only helps if you happened to copy the right proof down, or else good luck figuring it out intellectually on exams when you likely won't. Overall, take any other professor for STAT400, because they are all way better in terms of grade distribution and teaching ability. If you were forced to take Professor Jiang, then I wish you the best of luck, you'll need it.
Dmitry Dolgopyat
DATA400

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/25/2023
Lectures are very difficult to understand, focuses too much on the underlying theory leaving you really confused on what he's trying to explain. 9 times out of 10, after self studying I realize that the content is actually not that hard, he's just not very good at explaining. Most people skip the lectures and do fine. His tests, quizzes, and homework are actually pretty reasonable and he is pretty generous about how they are graded. You can pass this class if you work hard, but I can definitely say there's easier professors to take.
Dmitry Dolgopyat
DATA400

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/19/2023
Clearly a very smart person and knows a lot about the subject. However, he is not meant to be a professor. I was lost in all of his lectures. Office hours were very difficult to figure out. His answer keys for reviews had a lot of errors and were hard to follow and understand. Not sure I really learned anything from this class. The fact that quizzes (30%) are worth more than exams (20%) is what got me a B-.
Jonathan Fernandes
DATA400

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/18/2023
The first half of the semester really deceived me. Homework was doable, and the first exam was genuinely copy and paste the sample exam, even though we did not have access to a calculator. But then things suddenly shifted once the second exam came around. For the first exam, he went over the entire sample exam in class and discussion, for the second one, he only went over a few in class and the rest were just in the air. Mind you, these questions are a lot harder and it's tough to conceptualize without seeing an example of it. I had to go on a scavenger hunt to find answers, some were in lecture notes and others were found in homework answers. I even had to scan through answers from PREVIOUS YEARS to find close answers. The worst part is the second exam was not simply a copy and paste from the sample. Now here comes finals, he posts a sample exam with 36 QUESTIONS!!! and does the same thing he did for the second exam. He expects us to find answers & examples through his lecture notes and homework and all over. Overall a very frustrating exam experience. Knowing that his exams are derived from his samples (he even tells us this), it is all the more important to have some sort of answer sheet explaining some of these questions. The questions are typically one of a kind and were only mentioned once or twice on homework or lecture so often times students don't have a full grasp on how to apply their knowledge to such problems. He is overrated simply because he curves, but do not expect this class to be easy (don't let people fool you like they fooled me) TAKE MESTIYAGE, HE ALLOWS A CHEAT SHEET AND CALCULATOR!!!
Dmitry Dolgopyat
DATA400

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2023
I cannot say enough positive things about Mr. Dolgopyat. From the moment I stepped into the classroom, I knew I was in for an amazing semester. His passion for statistics was infectious and made me excited to learn. One thing that sets this teacher apart is their ability to make complex concepts easy to understand. They have a way of breaking down difficult material into manageable pieces, and their explanations are always clear and concise. His use of real-world examples and hands-on activities made the course material come to life and solidified my understanding of the subject.
Dmitry Dolgopyat
DATA400

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
11/22/2023
I just want to make something very clear first: Dmitry is clearly a brilliant man and knows what he's talking about... He's just not a very good lecturer. If you're going to take this class, I hope to you're comfortable with reading chapters out of a textbook to teach yourself, because that's all your semester will consist of. I stopped going to his lectures because I realized that teaching myself the material from the textbook was genuinely a more productive use of my time. Dmitry's midterm study material (practice exams) are a 50/50 when it comes to how similar they are to the actual exams (first midterm -- actual exam was easier than practice; second midterm -- actual exam was on par with practice in my opinion), so it's stressful to try and figure out whether it's over for you or not, while doing the practice exams. I'm the type of person to find the positive in every terrible situation, so I'll try to do the same here. You get weekly homework assigned to you on Webassign, and honestly, I'm always able to knock those out within around 1.5 to 2 hours, and the problems are straightforward enough such that you're able to read the textbook and (mostly) know what to do. Not only that, if you genuinely and honestly do well on the homework assignments, the weekly quizzes are easy, since they're pulled straight from the homework (albeit with different numbers). Yeah, that's it... Whoever you are reading this, if you're like me and took this class due to lack of openings in other sections, I wish you the best, and I believe in you :) If you're reading this and you have other options for professors, please please please take them instead.
Dmitry Dolgopyat
DATA400

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
11/08/2023
He can't teach for the life of anyone. His sample problems, solutions, and everything else he has ever laid his hands upon are unreliable. Better to drop the course than have this teacher. Run far away. Not worth it. Will screw up your GPA. Doesn't curve.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka
DATA400

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/26/2023
Great professor