Some Frequently Asked Questions

Will STAT 33B be offered in hybrid mode (both in-person and remotely, simultaneously)?
No, STAT 33B will not be offered in hybrid mode. Instead, all classes and sections are to be delivered in-person. If you have time conflicts with lecture and/or section, please don’t take STAT 33B this semester.

Will there be live webcast or recordings of lectures?
Yes. Lectures will be recorded and we plan on sharing them.

Do you have an illness policy (e.g. Covid, Flu)?
Maintaining your health and that of the Berkeley community is of primary importance to course staff, so if you are feeling ill or have been exposed to illness, please do not come to class. All of the materials used in class will be posted either in this website or in bCourses. Likewise, you’re encouraged to reach out to fellow students to discuss the class materials or stop by office hours to chat with the GSI, the tutor, or the instructor.

Having said that, we expect you to attend lecture and lab. Past experience tells us that students who constantly miss lecture/lab tend to have a mediocre performance.

Also, missing lecture/lab does not give you the right to use OH as a replacement for receiving instruction. We are always willing to help you understand the learning materials during OH, but this also requires that you make an honest effort reviewing them before coming to OH.

STAT 33A or 33B?
You might be wondering what the difference is between STAT 33A and STAT 33B. Broadly speaking, the topics in STAT 33A are a subset of the topics in 33B. Please keep in mind that STAT 33A is not offered this Fall-2025 semester.

33A is designed for people that have never programmed before, the pace of certain parts is slower, and more examples are provided. 33A puts slightly more emphasis on data analysis packages than 33B. The primary goal of 33A is that students finish the course with the basic programming skills necessary for a typical data analysis or implementation of a simple algorithm.

33B is designed for students with previous programming experience (not necessarily in R). The curriculum assumes students will already be familiar with programming concepts such as variables, if-else statements, loops, and functions, so these topics are covered more quickly than in 33A. The extra time is used to cover details about how R works at a lower level. The primary goal of 33B is that students finish the course with the programming skills necessary to help developing and maintaining software in R.

BTW: STAT 33B is not supposed to be taken after STAT 33A.

I am a concurrent student. What are my chances of enrolling in the class?

None. Sorry.

I am a grad student officially enrolled. Do you have a grading structure for grad students?
This semester we don’t have a special grading structure for graduate students. All students will be evaluated with the same criteria. See the course syllabus for more information about the grading structure.

What if I join the class late?
If you join the class within the first two weeks, read the syllabus and lecture notes, take a look at bCourses to get a sense of any assignments that may have already passed, and visit office hours to check that you’re up to date with things.

After two weeks into the semester, you’ll have too much material that you’ll need to make up, so you will have to wait to a subsequent semester to take STAT 33B.

Are time conflicts allowed?
STAT 33B does not allow students to enroll with time conflicts.

I would like to switch lab sections with other student. Is this possible?
You should attend the lab section you are officially enrolled in. If you have a time conflict, then do not enroll in STAT 33B this semester.

Is this course a good fit if I don’t have any programming experience?
No. We expect that all of you come with previous coding experience and be already familiar with concepts such as data types, variables, functions, conditionals, and iterations.

Is this course a good fit if I already have some programming experience?
It depends. This course should be a good fit if you are truly interested in learning about R and its “behind the scenes”. Having said that, if what you are looking for is a general programming course, or a statistical programming course, STAT 33B is not a good fit.

Can we work in groups?
Yes, absolutely. We strongly encourage you to not work alone. Well, let me rephrase that. You should try to first work on your own (trial and error). Take notes of the things you don’t understand. Then get with other people and discuss ideas, share tips (but not the entire solution).

Aren’t you suppose to teach us?
Yes. But you don’t learn programming by watching someone else program. The same way that you don’t learn to swim by simply watching someone else swimming. You have to get into the pool, and do all the drills your instructor says. This is a very hands-on course, and you will be required to do a great amount of work on your own.