Mike is amazing. Amazing professor and amazing person. When he tells you that whole grades aren't more important than your health you best believe he means that, it's not just something he says just to say it. During finals week when I got an untimely illness to say that he was accommodating and helpful would be an understatement. If you are going through something reach out to him he is a very caring and understanding professor which is somewhat of a rarity in South Campus. Also a great lecturer, I'm the type to stop going to lecture after Week 6ish but I kept going into Week 10. He really breaks down the material nicely but keeps it light like you leave the lecture not even realizing just how much you just learned. Also, laugh at his nerdy jokes, nobody in my hall did and it was super depressing because they were actually lowkey funny.

The class itself is hard but manageable. Don't go into it thinking it will be easy or even medium. If you go into it knowing that you will have to learn an entire coding language from scratch (which is hard) then you will be fine. How to do well in this class? HOMEWORK, HOMEWORK, HOMEWORK. Don't leave it to the last minute. Don't copy it. Really struggle through it trust me it is better to struggle on the homework than cram before the test. Do it by yourself, not with a partner. Also, do or at least try the advanced problems, they are not required but do it anyway.

The grading is beyond fair, the tests are strictly graded but the curve is generous to make up for it. It is after all, a class rank test which is annoying for other students to have to do poorly for you to look better in comparison but it's as close to fair as course like this can get.

I think somebody in here posted the grading distribution so find that.

I liked Tsiang, this review isn't about him.

It's about Jake Kramer the TA. Absolutely awful. IF YOU GET HIM TRANSFER SECTIONS. Just trust me on this one.

Michael Tsiang was an amazing professor. In my first quarter at UCLA, and in my first statistics class since junior year of high-school, he was able to help me understand the content easily and do well in the class. The tests are all multiple choice, and he has chapters of reading for all the content he covers which are very straight-forward and help you understand what you're learning. The homework assigned can be challenging, but it is always testing a topic that you can learn through the reading, which he also goes over in class. Most importantly, it's very obvious that this professor really cares about how well students do in this class.

The worst professor ever in college.
tons of meaningless homework, torturing exams and scores, and horrible TAs (especially Jake, I think the only thing he wants to do is to make everyone fail the class)
Never, ever take this class, or any class, with this professor.

This man ruined my life. He has no regard for how difficult and time-consuming projects are and his high-minded messaging about student welfare (sends you emails saying "your grade doesn't reflect you," makes you meditate at the beginning of class) is completely undercut by the fact that he will assign massive amounts of work and immediately ding you for an honest mistake. You will end up in disciplinary hell and go through a process that saps you of your energy and desire to learn. I know he's done this to at least 40 students.

ok i am never one who writes reviews but this class is so damn bad i have to step up and make sure other students dont suffer. I looked forward to this class seeing the previous reviews, and especially hearing about how kind mike is towards his students. BUT THIS CLASS IS HELL. I am a stats major myself but the homework is excessively tedious, the exams are so darn hard and they literally ask the most random questions which are not the most important or related to what we need to know in R. The exam is only 45 minutes but is wayyyy too tedious. Jake Kramer even shouts a lot during the exam, often times giving students a scare. I have once been to office hours with mike in week one and never again. He is the most passive aggressive professor who isnt even helpful, all he does is give you a condescending look. Honestly am considering changing my major because of this class. The only helpful TA is Bo Pang, he is genuinely amazing and helpful but Mike and Jake are no-go. Do not take this class at all cost. It reignited my anxiety

Listen. After our second midterm, a lot of students posted very harsh reviews of Prof Tsiang. The reality of the class is that while it is hard, you will actually learn how to code in R. It is a perfect class if you actually want to apply any of this information later in your college career. Prof Tsiang is an amazing professor who honestly cares about his students. Caring about your students should not mean that he gives easy tests !! I have taken a lot of CS classes and this class is so much easier than those. Just going over the notes is enough to do the homework, while in CS classes you have legit no idea what is going on ever. And it takes a few hours a week as most classes do. In addition, he gives enough time for every assignment. I highly recommend this professor!

This might not be a popular opinion, but I think everyone is over reacting. I honestly do not think this class is as bad as everyone is making out to be. Yes, the class can be overwhelming at times especially when comparing it to other lower div intro classes. But it is not nearly as impossible as everyone makes it seem. In my personal opinion, I think if you expect to always have the answers handed to you, you are going to have a really hard time in life in general. So overall, yes it might be tougher than other intro programming classes I've taken. HOWEVER, it is NOT because Mike is a bad professor or the TA Jake is this terrible human being whose sole person in life is to make our lives a living hell. Everyone needs to calm down. They are BOTH beyond helpful and extremely good at theirs jobs! Both spend hours and hours out of their own time to help us. I would without a doubt take this class again with Mike and Jake, and plan on taking any future classes with them if possible.

In summary, if you're lazy do not take this class with Mike/Jake. If you actually want to learn and can put in minimal effort to actually attend lectures/discussions and occasional office hours then I 100% recommend.

THIS IS NOT THE SAME CLASS AS BEFORE FALL 2019. Disregard all reviews not from Fall 2019. The course has changed!! This is supposed to be an intro class, but instead this is the hardest and most challenging class ever! The lectures are easy, he just goes over notes. Theres a place online to ask questions, which is very useful and necessary at times. However, the weekly homework takes about 12 hours to complete, and thats after getting stuck 100 times and wanting to slam your face against the wall. This is not a stat class, it's a coding class. I would definitely recommend having coding experience before taking this class, I don't know how those without it are surviving. First midterm is bad, but doable. Second midterm is trash, nobody finishes and nobody can answer the short answers. There were also miscellaneous questions that are very knit-picky. Don't take this class with other hard classes, and don't take it if you don't have to. This is the class where the lectures are easy but the homework and tests are insane. Don't know why they changed the class so much, it's just brutal.

Mike and Jake are nice and helpful. Class is a lotta work but the reviews exaggerate. Mike will answer your campus wire questions at 1 am and he has three hour office hours three times a week. Jake will stay for hours past his office hours to try and help everyone.

Yes the class is a lot of work. I never coded before and the weekly homework takes me 10-12 hours. But, I think that Mike is an amazing professor (clear and funny lectures, bruincasted, posts super detailed notes online) and Jake will go out of his way to help you on any problem if you ask him during office hours.