18.05

Table of contents

  1. Course Info
  2. Realistic Prerequisites
  3. Subject Matter
  4. Course Staff
  5. Lectures
  6. Problem Sets
  7. Exams
  8. Resources
  9. Grading
  10. Advice to Future Students

Course Info

Class Size 27
Hours/Week 10.2 (12 responses)
Instructors Jeremy M. Orloff (Lecturer), Yichi Zhang (TA), So Hee Ahn (UA), Jovita R. Li (UA), Maximilian Porlein (UA), Alessandre Santos Sagastume (UA), Willers Muye Yang (UA)
# of Responses to Course 18 Underground Questions 7/27

Realistic Prerequisites

  • Some background in probability and statistics. The course material was somewhat advanced, and it would be hard to develop a good understanding without prior background.
  • 18.02 (multivariable calculus).

Subject Matter

  • Very applicable if you’re involved in research. Covered statistical methods used to analyze data.
  • Presented in thoughtful manner, building on previous concepts.

Course Staff

  • AMAZING professor. Students found Jeremy kind, caring, available, passionate about the subject, genuine in his desire for students to succeed, etc.
  • TAs were approachable and knowledgeable.

Lectures

  • Students learned the most from the problem sets and from the lecture notes, rather than from lectures.

Problem Sets

  • Roughly weekly. Covered the important topics from the week.
  • Greatly contributed to learning.
  • Occasionally required creativity.
  • Challenging and time-consuming but fair.

Exams

  • 6 quizzes. Students preferred the 6-quiz format to the normal exam format.
  • Quizzes were very fair, and course materials provided adequate preparation.

Resources

  • Lecture notes provided by professor were extremely comprehensive and useful. They were the main class resource.
  • The professor also provided pre-class readings and class practice problems, which students found helpful.

Grading

  • Grading was fair and transparent.
  • “I expect most people in this class to get As or Bs.”

Advice to Future Students

  1. “Advice: take the class if you have even a little interest in statistics”
  2. “Ensure that you have somewhat of a background in probability/statistics before taking 18.05.”