PSTAT 501
SWENSON J S
Julie Swenson
85 reviews

PSTAT5A . Swenson J S A Month Ago

Professor Swenson is really sweet and extraordinarily clear. There were concrete expectations. There was definitely a lot of work to be put into the class with the flipped classroom technique and two sections per week, but if you keep up with it all there's no reason you won't do well.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 2 Months Ago

The class is entirely online except for the midterm and final, which are worth 30 and 40% of grade respectively. If you have questions, go to office hours; she is super helpful and really wants to make sure you get the hw correct and understand material. Tests are tough, but if you review lectures a ton, you will do well.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 2 Months Ago

One of the worst professors in the department. Does NOT care about a student's success, only about TAs getting grades "done." Does NOT help you understand and makes it difficult to get questions answered. Does not teach and releases the same videos every quarter. Shes lying when she says she refreshes the material.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 2 Months Ago

I had almost 100% for everything except midterm and final, yet still barely made it to B+, and the homework was really different than lecture contents. Both exams are worth 70% of the grade in total, and the things she tests you on are just so pointless. The practice final is 10% related to the real final, and good luck with the rest of 90%:)

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 4 Months Ago

Swenson is a sweet person, and explained course content in a thorough and clear manner. While lectures are online asynchronously, I recommend going to her office hours, hosted during class time for help with homework questions. Beware of the detailed midterm and final worth 70% of your grade (I could only get a C+ with a generous curve).

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PSTAT5A . Swenson J S 5 Months Ago

There was 1 prerecorded lecture and 1 in person lecture per week. The prerecorded lecture was laid out very well so it was easy to take notes and follow along, in person lecture was a review of the recorded one. She curved the final grade. I highly recommend because I'm already recognizing irl concepts that I learned from this class.

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PSTAT5A . Swenson J S 5 Months Ago

Professor Swenson is genuinely one of the kindest people ever. Math isn't my forte and I was really intimidated coming in but she broke down concepts so well and provided so many examples for everything which really helped me. Love her!!! (also the python aspect of this class isn't super serious so don't worry)

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 6 Months Ago

Although the homework was fair and straight to the point, the midterm and final were extremely difficult and unfair. Many MC questions if code was ran the answer would still be the same. Tested on many small minute things that do not help you gain further knowledge. However, she does curve the class grade at the end.

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PSTAT5A . Swenson J S 6 Months Ago

Professor Swenson is really nice. Really passionate about the contents, and would answer a lot of questions you have through easier examples. Though the lectures do need to take some time to adapt to and finish them, but you can do the lectures with your own pace (since part of them are online). A caring professor that can lead you into statistics.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 7 Months Ago

Homework is not correlated with lecture.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 7 Months Ago

Vague lecture

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 7 Months Ago

Her online coding lecture is so confused.

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PSTAT5A . Swenson J S 8 Months Ago

Professor Swenson is a sweetheart, caring for her students success. Half the class is asynchronous, so it's nice to go at my own pace and then review the lectures once in person. The only difficulty was 80% was graded on exams, and 20% on participation/attendance. No HW credit, but you are expected to do HW to maintain a good grade.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 8 Months Ago

Professor Swenson has a very organized class, homework is based purely on lecture material that you watch online. You have one class a week where you can basically just ask for help. My only issue is her exams are insanely hard, you must memorize exact wording from lecture materials. I ended up doing poorly on the both the midterm and final.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 8 Months Ago

Online lectures and they're only about 1 hr long each week. Didn't have to spend much time on this class which was nice. Exams were pretty difficult though so make sure to watch every lecture and memorize everything.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 1 Year, 2 Months Ago

the best professor in the department in my opinion. Every time I take a class w/ Swenson lectures are clear, concise, & exactly what we need for the exams; with that said, the difficulty spike between the midterm & final is really big, and the multiple choice questions test for EXTREMELY nitpicky/tiny syntax details, some of which feel unnecessary.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 1 Year, 2 Months Ago

HW is not that bad. The exams are quite difficult and test you on how well you know the syntax and structure behind SAS. Is kinda dumb that you could know how to code decently but the exams only test you on very not pickey questions.

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PSTAT5A . Swenson J S 1 Year, 3 Months Ago

Great great professor! Ik Stats is a really intimidating subject for a lot of people but she makes it really manageable and easy to understand. Lecture videos are great and go over tons of examples. One of the first classes I've taken at UCSB where I felt prepared for the exams from just lectures alone. Sections were really helpful as well.

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PSTAT5A . Swenson J S 1 Year, 3 Months Ago

Prof Swenson is such a sweetheart! You can tell how much she cares, and does a really good job at explaining tricky concepts. She does try to trick you a lot on midterms with question wording, so be prepared for that. Our class was half online half in person and it seems like a lot of work at first but it wasn't too bad once I got in the groove.

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PSTAT5A . Swenson J S 1 Year, 5 Months Ago

Swenson is a great professor! You can definitely tell that she really cares about her students and wants you to understand everything. Lab wasn't too bad, and there are weekly quizzes that are very easy if you did the homework. Although, her final was a bit harder than the midterms/quizzes. Overall though, I highly recommend her!

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PSTAT5A . Swenson J S 1 Year, 7 Months Ago

the material itself was difficult at times but she is very helpful if you go to office hours

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 2 Years Ago

One of the best, if not, THE best instructor the PSTAT department has to offer. Actually wants you to learn and puts passion behind her lectures. She is also very sweet when asked for help. Lots of memorizing, but just redo the homework and review lectures and you will do fine. If the department hired more people like her, they'd be unstoppable.

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 2 Years Ago

Lectures are dense w/ crucial material but are clear, interesting, and not too long. Prof. Swenson is v sweet if you talk to her at OH/lecture. She genuinely wants her students to understand concepts and is eager to help. The final was harder than anticipated but manageable. It's been a week after the final, and I passed the SAS 9.4 Exam today ;)

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PSTAT130 . Swenson J S 2 Years Ago

Lectures all online with easy quizzes in them due by Wednesday with optional in person lecture on Thursdays. 15% HW 10% lecture quizzes 5% section 30% midterm 40% final. Swenson is so so nice and very clear in lectures. The exams are very detailed and require a lot of memorization for an A. Basic understanding will get you an easy B. Generous curve

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