Statistics Ambassador Divya Chappa, majoring in Statistics, shares some of her top STAT course picks. Read on for recommendations as we approach Spring course registration!
I know college can be stressful, and most people will agree that course planning is the culprit. Never fear! I’m here to tell you about a few of my top STAT courses, so when registration time rolls around, you might be a little less overwhelmed by Course Explorer. Keep in mind that regardless of what you choose, you’ll do amazing. Good luck 🙂
STAT 107 – Data Science Discovery
My favorite Statistics course of all time is, and will always be, STAT 107. It was the very first course I ever attended in college, but the only one that has stuck with me since. When people ask me why I applied to the Statistics major, I honestly only ever credit STAT 107. Karle and Wade are two of the best professors I’ve ever had, because you can tell how passionate they are. STAT 107 is designed to give students a beginner-friendly introduction to data science and Python, both of which you’ll see a lot of in the future. The structure of the course is straightforward and easy to keep up with–perfect if you’re an incoming freshman getting adjusted to college life! For many other classes, the homework assignments can sometimes feel tedious or difficult to learn from, but I can confirm that is not the case with STAT 107! The assignments are very forgiving, because you get multiple attempts along with an explanation for the correct answer. However, the most valuable skills you’ll attain in this course are from the weekly labs and MicroProjects. The labs give you a chance to work with real (and extremely interesting) datasets, which is the best way to practice your Python skills. The MicroProjects are valuable in a different way. This is where you’ll explore a dataset of your choosing, and conduct your own creative data analysis. I think the most important trait in a statistician is curiosity, and the MicroProjects give you a chance to feed into that. Plus, if you’re ever in doubt, the course website has everything you’ll ever need to know!
STAT 207 – Data Science Exploration
Another memorable Statistics course of mine was STAT 207, because it’s meant to be a continuation of STAT 107. If you’re a data science lover like I am, this is a useful class to take. It expands more on your skills from 107, so you’re analyzing things beyond just the surface. Now you’re not only summarizing and visualizing data, but also modeling it. It’s similar to 107 in the sense where you work with real datasets, but you’re doing so much more with them now. I think a lot of these skills are integral for someone pursuing the data science track, so you definitely won’t regret this course.
STAT 385 – Statistics Programming Methods
When it comes to choosing electives, I will always recommend STAT 385. You’ll gain a solid foundation of R, which comes in handy as a Statistics major. I have used it in almost all of my advanced elective classes, which is why I recommend taking it earlier on. If you’re unfamiliar with R, don’t panic! The course itself is meant to be beginner-friendly. Like STAT 107, the structure is very straightforward, but also fun and engaging. My favorite assignment in this class was the final project, where we used R Shiny to develop a simple app. I never once felt lost in this class, because the course staff were helpful every step of the way. Each assignment was guided and every exam had a practice exam. If you were to ask me the most valuable course for a Statistics student, I would honestly have to choose this one.