SDS 3020
Elementary to Intermediate Statistics and Data Analysis
An introduction to probability and statistics. Major topics include elementary probability, special distributions, experimental design, exploratory data analysis, estimation of mean and proportion, hypothesis testing and confidence, regression, and analysis of variance. Emphasis is placed on development of statistical reasoning, basic analytic skills, and critical thinking in empirical research studies. The use of the statistical software R is integrated into lectures and weekly assignments. Required for students pursuing a major or minor in statistics or wishing to take 4000 level or above statistics courses.Though Math 2130 is not essential, it is recommended.
Instructors
Abigail Jager, Bill Katsianos, Bowen Xie, Chetkar Jha, Ed Spitznagel, Jimin Ding, Nan Lin, Nicholas Syring, Nilanjan Chakraborty, Ron Freiwald, Shota Takeishi, Soumendra Lahiri, Todd Kuffner
Reviews
(This is for 4030) The materials are crazily difficult compared to SDS 3030, and his lecturing styles make it worse. Going to lectures are highly recommended (self-taught is impossible). Homework are long but doable because you can copy codes from lecture slides. Exams are similar to practice exams, but still difficult to do in 50' and take 50%.
5/5/2026
Singlehandedly the worst professor I've had at WashU. While the content was quite manageable, I cannot overemphasize how unreasonably difficult his exams were. The lectures were 0 help, as he just read directly off of the slides. Prof Katsianos singlehandedly made me not want to do a stats minor, or ever take a stats class again. Avoid at all costs
5/4/2026
The way he respond in piazza is not helpful. Students asked question about which method should use, and he responded as "you can use whatever you want as long as it is correct". And this class has no replace in midterms which have lots of percentage, make it almost impossible to get an A if you did bad in one midterm....
4/30/2026
Very difficult class, especially if you miss class, good luck understanding the slides. Lectures are boring and hard to follow. Topics are taught at a high level without much intuitive explanation
4/9/2026
Professor is very nice and helpful when asked questions, but exams are 70% multiple choice which does not provide a lot of room for error given that the class is mostly graded on exams. Really nice professor though, but mainly just writes down and teaches the slides exactly.
1/12/2026
The exams in this class were quite difficult and often had a curve, and though I enjoyed the content, I think the lectures/teaching could have been better.
12/22/2025
Very passionate professor, and he cares about his students' success. The exams are mostly multiple choice (each question is 4 points) with no partial credit, so little room for error. The difficulty in content increases quite steeply after the first exam. Go to office hours and ask question- he is very accessible if you just make the effort to go.
12/21/2025
Love Jager down. So organized and made stats enjoyable. It has piqued my interest in future stats courses
12/17/2025
He makes good slides, but the exams are UNREASONABLY HARD. For the second midterm that counted 25% towards the final grade the average before curve is 63% (he curved 10 points, but it is useless). For the final, he said it was really easy and it turned out that the average before the curve is 70% (he curved 5 points up).
12/16/2025
This course starts off fairly easy for the first month, but immediately gets more difficult until Exam 2. The slides and notes are incredibly useful. Bill teaches really passionately, but is a bit slow-paced. Be prepared for calculation-heavy homeworks and exams.
12/14/2025
Gonna go against the grain here. I liked her and she gave very intuitive lectures but her tests were really difficult. Docked off points for minute errors (or just miscommunications) and I would often get into regrade wars with a TA. I also thought even though she was good at explaining, she was not at all entertaining. Had little motivation to go.
5/14/2025
Nice teacher. 3200 is hard ans hard to get A, but she is really nice and helpful
2/7/2025
Jager is a great professor that really cares about her students. Her lectures are great - if you show up, pay attention, and do the homework, you will have every opportunity to succeed in this class.
1/13/2025
Jager is the best professor I've had at WashU. Her well-structured, follow-along notes make complex material easy to understand. She presents challenging topics in a clear, conceptual way that's easy to follow. Be thorough with the class notes—understanding them will set you up for success in exams and other statistics-based courses.
12/23/2024
helpful when I asked questions, good lectures, usually prepares you well for the exam but I wish there were more review questions.
12/14/2024
JAGER IS THE BEST! Her lectures reminded me of high school with easy to fallow notes. She was very accessible outside of class and would send out reminders for every important date. Content can be hard but I found exams generally easy except the last midterm which was needlessly difficult. If you have taken AP Stats class won't be too bad.
12/4/2024
Best professor at WashU by far! Post lecture notes weekly so its super easy to catch up if you've missed a few lectures. Her lectures go at the perfect pace, HW and exams are pretty fair, textbook integrates seamlessly with lecture. Host office hours weekly, super helpful and patient.
12/4/2024
Lectures are hard to take notes on unless you have an ipad. Nevertheless, Jager clearly cares about her students and makes tests manageable. Lots of homework that is graded on correctness though.
11/23/2024