Reviews for STAT401

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Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A- Anonymous 02/14/2024	Nice! Easy class, didn't turn in an R project and still got an A-.
Jonathan Fernandes STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/29/2024	He doesn't explain the big topics very clearly sometimes, especially the derivations for type 2 errors. He wants to explain things intuitively, but sometimes, his explanations aren't very intuitive. And because of this, I don't have an as deep of an understanding on certain topics as I would like. I think the class could also benefit from more in-class concrete examples on how concepts are applied (we were taught concepts with no examples, which was very difficult for me), and it would also be helpful if he spent less time in the beginning of class reviewing what we did the prior class (it would occasionally take 18 minutes out of the 50 minute class). But some of the positives to his class are that he lets us have cheat sheets during exams which are extremely helpful because I think memorizing all the formulas is trivial, he records all of the lectures which is tremendously helpful, and Fernandes is also the nicest guy who genuinely cares that his students and he emphasizes prioritizing learning over grades. He also tells occasion stories that I find interesting and he also connects to you on a deeper human level occasionally when he talks about the privileges of education that we have and how we shouldn't take it for granted. I have a lot of respect for him as a person and as a teacher, but there are some aspects of the class that he could improve on while continuing to teach this class.
Archana Khurana STAT401 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/24/2024	STAT401 with Dr. Khurana is one of the most organized and fair courses I have taken. She wishes her students to do well and during office hours, she tries her best to resolve problems and accommodates students as much as possible. The lectures are intuitive and well-planned, with the exams similar to lecture examples and practice exams. If you come to lectures you will do well in her class.
Jonathan Fernandes STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/06/2024	His class requires a lot of work, and the weekly quizzes that open and close on the same Friday were particularly inconvenient. His homeworks are the most difficult parts of his classes, so getting hints from discussion is important. His lecture style also was hard for me to follow, personally, and I found that skimming the textbook helped me grasp the content better than any of his notes. However, he did allow cheat sheets on his exams this semester, and doing well in his course was overall manageable as most of it was a matter of applying the correct formulas/hypothesis tests to the correct problems. As a person, he is nice and fair, and this class as a whole was rather tedious and full of busywork but not too demanding or difficult, so I would probably take him again if given the choice.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/03/2024	very good statistics professor that knows what he's talking about and is passionate about statistics. he makes the class very manageable as well. There are weekly quizzes which are very easy. the exams are pretty fair and the final as well. just review his previous exams and final and you'll be fine. he also allows you to bring note sheets. the only reason I ended up with a B+ is because I started skipping class a lot. if you go to class it should be an easy A.
Jonathan Fernandes STAT401 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/21/2023	Stat400 and Stat401 have changed in difficulty with Jonathan. If you are reading the reviews about his practice exams being exactly the same as his actual exams, that is not the case anymore (for Stat401 at least). So if that is the reason why you want to take him, then it's not gonna fly in Stat401. He is a really great professor though and the homeworks are done by the TA in discussion. I will say that the first part of the course up to midterm 1 will be a little daunting but once you get through all of that and really study the notes and do the homework, it will get better and you don't really have to worry that much about all the things in the beginning of the course once you get to Hypothesis testing, ANOVA, and Linear regression (Although if you didn't understand anything from the first part then you're gonna be lost on some topics that will be considered trivial by then). Content wise, this class was much more interesting than Stat400. I really enjoyed learning the content because it was really applicable whereas in Stat400 it was "Here's a bunch of distributions and find the cdf". I really didn't understand what a majority of the concepts and symbols in Stat400 were used for until taking Stat401 when that actually had to be used for something. His exams sometimes have poor wording which is pretty stressful in a timed environment. However, if you study the notes and understand them and make a good note sheet for the exam, then you should be okay and you'll figure out what's being asked. If you are studying last minute and not putting time into this class thinking you can do the practice exam and be good then you're taking a big risk. There are conceptual questions on the exams that you'll only really know if you study the notes and pay attention to things he emphasizes in lecture. The TA this semester was not very good so I ended up using ChatGPT as my personal TA who could answer a majority of my conceptual questions so I didn't have to deal with her. Also, argue points back on exams if you think the TA took points off for wrong reasons. Jonathan will give you the points back, especially when the answers that were marked wrong are word for word quotations from what he said in lecture. So if you were ever wondering what the point of all these jargon terms like "CDF, Chi-Square Distribution, Degrees of Freedom, etc.. " are used for, you'll learn in Stat401. It'll show that Statistics is a pretty interesting field of study.
Jonathan Fernandes STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/20/2023	Jonathan is a nice guy. He curves quite a bit, and he is open to feedback. My only problem is his lecturing style, since I feel like he says a lot of nothing half the time, though to be fair there isn't much to teach in this course. The TA was very helpful as well. She made some of the more difficult HW problems much more manageable. Overall, the first half of the course in my opinion is harder than the second, but it was still pretty easy as long as you put in enough effort.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/20/2023	DANUL IS THE MOST UNDERRATED PROFESSOR I HAVE EVER HAD!!!! If your put in effort, even if you are checked out for weeks, if you put in the effort you will get a good grade. He is intentional in helping students earn good grades and does everything possible to do that. He is also very well spoken, its not common to have a professor who communicates the instruction effectively while helping students get the grade they want. Must take him, you will never regret not taking him.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2023	Literally my favorite professor at this school and I've taken two different classes with him. He's so smart and you can genuinely tell he cares and puts a lot of time into the course, but at the same time he's so accommodating of students. He literally could not be nicer. He also teaches super well and is happy to clarify any concepts!
Matthias Wellershoff STAT401 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2023	Worst grading scheme of any class i’ve taken, you can get all the right answers and still get a B because you didn’t write it the specific way he wants you to. The expectations for the class are really ambiguous because you usually get a 100 on all the homeworks but exams are graded harshly. The content of the class is not too hard but you end up spending more time on figuring out the little details of the exact procedures he wants you to do than actually learning stats.
Matthias Wellershoff STAT401 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/16/2023	The material is so easy that he looks for things to deduct points on for exams, and he doesn't grade homeworks the same way as exams even though it can literally be the same problems. You can't do problems your own way, you have to guess his contrived steps that are each worth 0.5 pts for each question. Getting all the right answers doesn't mean you get anywhere close to a good grade. I literally spend more time doing his steps than actually solving the questions.
Archana Khurana STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/14/2023	As most other reviews say, she is extremely nice and helpful. I had friends taking STAT401 with other professors at the same time and it seems to be much more work with others. Quizzes and worksheets are almost entirely multiple choice with six VERY simple projects. We were allowed to choose the software we used but she said she will be switching to Minitab next semester for the projects to be more inline with her lower-level courses. Exams you have cheat sheets, so it is very low stress around exam time. Highly recommend her for STAT401.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 08/22/2023	Exams are identical to practice exam. You get a formula sheet. Homeworks are easy. This is literally STAT400 that he teaches but a little more deeper in knowledge. The first half of the course is just STAT400 review if you took it with him. Easy peasy.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 08/22/2023	Exams are identical to the practice exam, like I literally mean it, they are just number swapped because he probably does not care about this class. Homework can be found exactly on chegg and the quizzes are literally super easy so long as you pay attention in class. R Projects are the only hard part about this class but then again if you do well on the exams, you will be safe for an A
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 08/16/2023	Great professor, tests are so easy
Archana Khurana STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2023	One of the best instructors at UMD. She is so kind and understanding and truly cares about her students performing well. She is also exceptionally responsive to student feedback which is rare. We had two exams and a final. Homework is reflective of lecture examples and exams are in turn reflective of the homework, quizzes, and practice exams. So basically, no surprises. Quizzes are timed usually 10 to 15 minutes for one or two short questions and based directly on the material taught in class, so I’d highly recommend reviewing your lecture notes before attempting them. She also posts all her handwritten lecture notes on Canvas, which is super helpful, especially if you aren’t the best notetaker. 10/10 would take again and recommend to anybody choosing between professors!!
Hatice Sahinoglu STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/15/2023	The lectures in this class focused heavily on proving why things worked, which was not really tested on so that was annoying. If you come to class consistently then the material isn't too bad and you should be able to do well. There was a curve for this class because most didn't do too well on the tests.
Archana Khurana STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2023	She is an amazing professor that cares about her students. Her lectures can be slow, but she does an amazing job at explaining concepts and makes sure everyone understands. She takes students' feedback seriously and will make sure the quizzes and assignments are reasonable. I would recommend people to go to class because sometimes she will literally give you the answers and hints for quizzes and assignments. Her exams are fair and I would recommend people to take her class! All the assignments are reasonable and fair!
Matthias Wellershoff STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/03/2023	Nice Guy and great teacher. Clearly provides all the information you need from his lectures, and willing to provide his notes as well. The rhythm of the lectures was still a bit rough, but that's probably just because he is still a pretty new professor to UMD. Homeworks were helpful and exams were very fair. He is a great professor, highly recommend.
Matthias Wellershoff STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/26/2023	Really good professor and very nice guy who just wants you to do well. His lectures and notes are very clear, and the exams are pretty much straightforward. If you go to lectures or even read the notes/textbook, you should be more than ready for them. Would highly recommend taking him for Stat401.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/31/2023	This man is a GOAT. G - GREATEST AT LECTURING O - OVERALL EXAM GRADES WERE 90+ EACH ONE A - ALL HOMEWORK IS SEARCHABLE ONLINE AND EXAMS ARE THE SAME AS PRACTICE T - TEACHES LIKE HE ACTUALLY CARES
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/31/2023	Very passionate professor and easy
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/24/2023	Great professor, easy ass exams that are identical to review
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/03/2023	Easiest stat class of my life with this profesor
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/22/2022	Weekly quizzes to boost your grade, homeworks are easy, practice exams are identical to the exams, don't know what more you need to get a free a+
Natalia Tchetcherina STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2022	It can be difficult to understand her because she is not a native English speaker, however, all the slides she provides are straightforward to follow. The homework and classwork can be tedious but for the most part, they are fair and follow the examples she does in class and I think they are good resources that allow you to teach yourself; personally, I taught myself mostly through the work given out. There were times that I felt that the content in class did not completely line up with the homework, but since the homework was WebAssign, it is pretty simple to just quickly read the relevant part of the book that allows you to complete the homework. Since attendance isn't mandatory, it is totally feasible to get a good grade simply by completing the given work and understanding that. As for exams, I felt her practice exams gave you a good idea of what it would look like. There were some tricky parts and things you can easily lose points on (like not using the hat symbol), but for the most part, there were no "gotcha" questions. You are allowed to have a cheat sheet during the test and it becomes essentially a plug-and-chug if your notes are good. For the final, if you get an A, you automatically get an A regardless of what you got previously. I think this is a fair policy that should apply to many classes. Her grading can be a bit picky for Classworks but she is willing to hear you out and give you back points here and there if it is reasonable. From my experience, she is one of the kindest teachers I have had and I would take her again. I feel like if you do all the work she gives, getting an A- for this class is guaranteed. I would take her in the future.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/19/2022	Finished all of his classes with A+, stat400, stat401, stat410, you may think I am a genius, but that is not the case, his class is designed for students to get an A. The homeworks are straight from the textbook which are easy, exams are LITERALLY the same as the practice, LITERALLY. He does not throw any curveballs in the class and genuinely loves teaching statistics. Sure he may not be a good calculus professor as previous reviews say, but all his statistics ratings are HIGH, he is truly the most fair and generous professor in the statistics department.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2022	Great professor, would recommend for anyone taking statistics, this is my third time taking a class with him and still getting an A
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2022	Exams were literally the same as the practice exams, I think he was just lazy and did not care. Lectures were okay, you can tell he has a passion for statistics but still were a bit boring. Homework is very easy. Would recommend.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/16/2022	Truly a 4 star professor but his reviews are a bit crazy, so I want to raise his rating a bit higher. Like others have said, do the homework, review the practice exams, and you should be fine with this class. Coding projects are a bit annoying but they are not hard. Would recommend.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Anonymous 12/15/2022	Very clear at explaining statistics concepts, quizzes and exams are pretty easy. Only downsides are that his lectures can be quite dry and coding projects are somewhat annoying to do.
Hatice Sahinoglu STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2022	lol, literally just follow along with the handouts she gives in class and turn in the homework on time. It's really that easy. 1 star off bc her chalk board handwriting sucks
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Anonymous 12/12/2022	quizzes are easy, midterms are same as the review he puts out, homework is fine, but most boring lectures ever.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2022	Very accommodating professor. I got some points off on my quizzes and explained my logic further and he gave the points back. Very lenient and understanding professor who truly wants you to succeed. Quizzes are free points, homework is bearable, and practice tests are literally identical to the real exams, hence why most of our exam scores were average around 91+
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2022	Great professor. Content is easy to understand from each lecture, homework are 5-6 questions each week, and midterms are easy. Would recommend this professor for stat courses.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/01/2022	Pretty good STAT professor in UMD. His homework is not too challenging, he is very lenient in grading, and he tries to make lectures enjoyable.
Mestiyage Gunatilleka STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/27/2022	Haven't yet completed this course, but I can tell you this is the best stat professor in UMD. I took him for stat400 and now stat401 and the format for the class is set up for everyone to get an easy A or A+ in the class. He makes concepts easy to understand and all the averages for his midterms have been 90+. Everyone who is trashing this professor is in the lower level maths and complain. Take this professor for all your stat courses and you will get a free A.
Jonathan Fernandes STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/25/2022	I didn't like him at first because he taught with a heavy theory approach but after I hunkered down and developed some intuition for the content, the class became a lot easier. The exams were straightforward and most of the class did well. The R projects (25%) are free points, and he gives bonus points at the end depending on how the class curve is. He expects 80% of the class to get an A and from the looks of it, we did. I plan to take STAT401 with him later, so I recommend him. It's not an easy A but if you put in a fair amount of effort, you will succeed.
Archana Khurana STAT401 Anonymous 12/17/2021	Probably the most fair stat professor I've had so far. (after taking STAT400 twice). Highly recommend
Susan Mazzullo STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/23/2021	One of the greatest professors at UMD!
Susan Mazzullo STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/20/2021	Professor Mazzullo is widely considered to be the best UMD undergraduate statistics professor. Having taken her class, I can say that that title is 100% earned. Pros: + Content is digestible and made extremely to understand. Prof Mazzullo is very good at explaining what could be very difficult and complex topics. + Professor answers any question that anyone has, no matter how dumb a question may seem. This creates an extremely nurturing learning environment + Easily the nicest professor I've had + Exams are quite easy and fair + Tons of opportunities for extra credit + Teaches a ton of relevant skills for a variety of careers, such as Python, SAS, Excel, and Minitab, despite not explicitly needing to for this class. Cons: - Only one I could think of was that the first midterm had a time crunch. However, it was still doable, and future exams did not suffer from this issue.
Natalia Tchetcherina STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/04/2021	Natalia was a fine professor, and she recorded all of the zoom lectures which was helpful. There were daily classwork assignments at the start of the semester, which were graded pretty harshly, which I found frustrating. She also used WebAssign for homeworks, so there was always at least a bit of work. Tests were fair though, and if you got an A on the cumulative final you got an A no matter how you did before, which felt fair to me.
Archana Khurana STAT401 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/28/2020	Very nice professor that cares about her students. Lectures were recorded and she would give an ELMS quiz after learning new chapter content in class. We also had weekly ELMS worksheets. It seems like a lot of assignments at first but she would go over the questions in lecture. Exams had the same topics as practice exams, was open book, and gave us all day to complete it. Would answer emails regarding questions fairly quickly and would not hesitate to help.
Susan Mazzullo STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/29/2020	Mazzullo is the first prof I've had that I think about and smile. The first that I'll actually miss when I graduate, even though we aren't buds or anything. She's just extremely, extremely nice, and sharp as a tack too. Any class she teaches will be easy, she will teach it well, and you'll have lots of opportunities for flexibility. Plus, it's clear what you have to know, and she will teach you all you have to know.
Archana Khurana STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/10/2020	Really cares about her students performing well. She will add extra credit and assignments to help students. Her lectures are easy to follow and follows the textbook well. Taking her again for STAT410.
Paul Smith STAT401 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2019	Professor Smith focuses heavily on formulas, and the majority of class time was focused on proving or using formulas. This made his exams and final easy, because as long as you had the formula written down (he allowed one page of notes) then it was plug and chug to get the answers. However he assigned homework that was often too long and repetitive, so expect to spend 2+ hours a week solving the same problems but with different numbers. Also he refuses to use ELMS to post student grades, so prepare to be guessing at how well you are doing compared to other students. Easy A if you can put in the time and not get too frustrated at the homework.
Hatice Sahinoglu STAT401 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 08/28/2019	Really makes classes harder than they need to be. That's really all I have to say.
Takumi Saegusa STAT401 Expecting an A+ rreviewer 05/22/2019	Professor Saegusa is great. He teaches the content in an easily digestible manner and his exams are less nitpicky and more about overall concepts. Definitely recommend taking 401 with him.
Hatice Sahinoglu STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/14/2019	One of the best professors I've had. She pays enough attention to students and exams aren't too hard, same level as homeworks.
Adam Telatovich STAT401 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/25/2019	Pretty good professor, but can be a bit monotone sometimes. He truly wants the best for his students.
Archana Khurana STAT401 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/01/2018	She might be new but don't let that scare you off; Archana is a great instructor. Her explanations are easy to understand and she works though tons of examples in class. Exams were fair and you generally know what to expect on them. She also genuinely cares that people do well in her class. Don't be surprised if you go to office hours after an exam and she already remembers what mistakes you made. I did a double take the first time but honestly it's pretty refreshing in a huge school like UMD.
Eric Slud STAT401 derubermenche 10/20/2010	He's really boring and assigns lots of homework. You won't learn anything. Stay away.