3.1
Quality3.5
Difficulty56%
Would Retake136
Reviews56%
Would Retake
136
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
33
4
26
3
26
2
19
1
32
What Students Say
“Dawg acts like he is too cool for the material he is teaching”
PSTAT120a - 1.0 rating“Was also very inflexible and passive-aggressive in his emails”
PSTAT109 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
19%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.07 avg changeRatings by Course
PSTAT5LS
3.8
(22)PSTAT10
3.8
(16)PSTAT115
3.5
(6)PSTAT5A
3.1
(8)PSTAT1O9
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
PSTAT1O9
4.0
PSTAT120a
3.8
PSTAT109
3.8
PSTATS5LS
3.7
PSTAT120B
3.6
Reviews (136)
Just reads off of slides. Skip class and go to CLAS, you won't miss anything.
Reads off of slides and doesn't really elaborate much on anything. Throws a bunch of formulas in your face and doesn't tell you to remember which ones for the test.
The sample test will blind your eyes. You will never believe that the feeling of answering 20 questions in 45 minutes. And TAs are better than a ppt reader.
THE MIDTERM WAS AWFUL FOR THIS CLASS! How do you expect students to answer a 6 page exam with at least 15-17 sections in less than an hour? You have to self-study or get tutored. Lectures are useless and doesnt help. The cheat sheet didnt help either since there were at least 20 formulas. Midterms have NO curve.
No need to go to lecture, because it is pointless. The teacher just gives you no helpful information. Midterm was nearly impossible to finish in 45 minutes, I think the average was 60%. If you take this class you will have a hard time.
Reads off slides that are directly copied and pasted from the textbook and essentially reads formulas without really going through them. Basically teaches math in a way that a generally people don't learn in. He teaches it likes a review instead of it being a new concept for students. Its crazy that students pay for someone to read their textbook.
Doesn't explain topics and essentially skims over material in lecture. Literally told us that he was too lazy to give us a practice final, although it's the least he could do considering the low quality of his teaching. You learn mostly from TAs and CLAS.
Professor Wainwright is probably the most underrated professor I have taken. Other students did not appreciate Brian due to his dry lectures, and the fact that he basically reads straight from the book. He is a very funny professor and his exams were pretty straightforward. The class needed a curve but I received no curve for some reason.
Literally copy and pastes whats on the textbook and reads the lecture slides in the slowest and softest voice you can imagine. The best option to understand the class material is probably skipping all his lectures and self-teaching yourself because going to class did nothing for me. If youve never taken a stats class before, good luck.
Oh my gosh, I CANT believe how hard was the class. About the midterm, it was about 20 questions in 45 minutes. For final there was not any practice questions, cause he was way lazy to give it to us. Anyways, I feel terrible cause If he wont curve the class I have to retake it with him.
This guy is terrible. Just reads off lecture slides from textbook and doesn't explain. No practice final, started the midterm late and didn't give out enough time. He is one of the worst profs ever. You really have to teach yourself. No need to go to lecture.
I also believe Brian is very underrated. His lecture is humorous and has clear content. He also helps students with patience and care. He tries his most to be available to help his students. The test is not super difficult but is within expectations. I believe he is a good professor.
I enjoyed Brian's lectures, he always provided good examples in class to explain concepts, but did include textbook definitions/notations in the beginning of every concept, which made it overly confusing imo. He is nice to talk to and patient when answering questions. Can be tough if people don't follow instructions though.
Lectures are useless as long as you read the book! I got an A on the midterm by doing the examples in the book over and over and watching YouTube videos. Yeah it sucks that he's not a good lecturer but you can definitely pass the class. Make sure to go through the book examples because the exams were similar to them.
Given the situation of an online quarter, I think Professor Brainwright handled it really well and made adjustments that helped the students a lot. His lectures were easy to follow, quizzes were a little tricky but the midterm was easier. Labs could vary in difficulty but most of them were easy.
This was my second time having Brian as a professor. I didn't much care for him during PSTAT 109 although it was a fairly easy class but really enjoyed him for PSTAT 10. He really does care about his students and will go the extra mile to make sure you understand the material if you reach out to him.
I took PSTAT 10 this quarter with Brian and I really enjoyed his teaching. His lectures were clear, and concise. The labs correlated well with lectures and were doable, but the TAs were super helpful when we got stuck. His dry humor gets you through his lectures. Nice guy that cares about his students, and is very accommodating.
Lectures + labs + optional HW were all really great tools that helped to fully grasp the material. For a course requiring more experimenting, Professor Wainwright and the TAs were very accommodating when it came to clarifying questions and guiding people through confusing coding errors. Probably one of the better online lecturers I've encountered
If you pay attentions to the lectures and do some exercises before the exam, you will receive an A easily. I will definitely take his class again!
Nice guy. The exams are easy, and the lectures are well organized.
Professor Brians quiz was very difficult. The mid-term exam showed questions outside the scope of the exam. After I spent 1/5 of the exam time and completed those questions, he skipped two questions when correcting. There was no extra credit or anything else. The short answer questions in Final are not simple, nor are they answered correctly.
You won't learn anything from prof Wainwright's lectures but he's hot af so you'll probably want to show up anyway!
Pretty sure Brian writes all the 5 point reviews himself. Nobody respects him as a professor, please take a gap year to learn how to properly teach your students. One of the worst professors I have ever had. Just pray to the God you believe in that Brian is not the only professor teaching pstat109 during the quarter you take it!
PSTAT109 online course was much easier than I thought it would be. Wainwright's lectures were straightforward and included examples of problems. The section labs were simple, too. The main problems students had, it seemed, were the midterms (not enough time) and practice midterms (didn't reflect the actual midterms). I fell behind but still passed
He is very lazy. Didn't answer emails in a timely manner during distanced learning, didn't communicate well with his TAs. Was also very inflexible and passive-aggressive in his emails. I agree that Wainwright gets on here and writes positive reviews about himself. I know 30 people who have had him and not one of them had anything good to say.
confused as to why everybody is hating on him -- I thought he was super nice, and the material wasn't hard to understand. i never reached out to him for office hours but he always seemed really empathetic in his lectures online. No complaints.
this class destroyed my will live and I am considering dropping out of the Econ major bc of him. Taught myself everything. Lectures are very boring/long/unhelpful. Had to learn everything from my T. A. I got a good grade but still despised this class. Unpleasant man, would not want to be his friend. so glad I never have to see his face again.
The worst professor I've ever had. Trust me, you don't want to take his class. Doesn't care about his job- not accessible, lectures were horrible, and tests were nothing like the homework. There aren't enough bad words in the dictionary to describe this man. If you want to succeed- skim through lectures, do every hw problem, and practice A LOT.
He actually listens to his students which is shocking, and adjusted test difficulty after everyone complained about the first one. He isn't a bad professor, but his lectures are very boring and he kind of rambles. He bases homework off the textbook, but I think the textbook does a better job at teaching the material so utilize that.
not accommodating of students needs/life which should be a top priority during a pandemic and especially when teaching is limited by zoom
Dr Wainwright is a very nice guy, lectures are comprehensive but a little bit too long, and this 5-unit class does take you a lot of time. 2 mandatory sections and 2 long lectures.
You have to dedicate a lot of time to this class. Both lectures and homework take a really long time which can be annoying when you have so much to do for other classes. Personally, I liked Wainright cause he was always helpful during office hours. I just wish my TA wasn't so rude. She was constantly passive-aggressive toward lab questions.
I wouldn't take this class again if you offered me $10000000000. Prof does not help you with anything, whether it's learning the material, asking for help, or needing some sort of flexibility. very sucky class
The class wasn't a breeze, but for an online math class it was not too bad. The professor covered most of the relevant information and equations in his slides and the TA sections helped to show a wider variety of examples. 30% of your grade is for just being present at TA section and the tests should not be too difficult for someone who has studied
It was an average class where you take it to meet the pre-req and get out. The class does take up a good amount of time. I didn't think the professor was bad as what some of the other reviews said. If you do all the homework problems, then the exams are very reasonable in difficulty. Show up to all the labs and discussion and it's 30% of the grade.
So happy I never have to see this man again. entire class struggled with him and his teaching. Lectures are very boring. he literally reads right off the slides. makes the entire class hard to understand and is very passive aggressive and not helpful at all. he changed the grading scale to anything below 69 is failing and there is no curve. Sucky.
50% of the grade is just labs and quizzes, which are easy because TA's are competent. The rest of the time is listening to the professor read off slides. Practice tests did not match difficulty of midterms and were pretty much useless, but at least the final reused many midterm questions.
Easy to get an A since 50% of grade comes from weekly labs&quizzes(super easy). The practice tests for the midterm def did not match the difficulty. But the final was easy as it was just past questions. His lectures are so long&boring (not necessary to go to them at all). Also not necessary to read the textbook.
I actually really enjoyed Professor Wainwright's class. While the content could be dry at times, he did his best to keep it lighthearted and engaging. His exams were straightforward, and well-aligned with the lecture material and practice tests. He was also a generous grader, despite the class not being curved. Would definitely take him again!
2 labs & 2 lectures every week. He was a dry lecturer and read off the slides. A bit condescending when answering questions tbh. Sometimes I just read the textbook instead cuz it's the same stuff. He wasn't very accommodating, lectures would fail to record and he gave no solutions and pretty much said oh well. But, this was a low stress class.
He mumbles in class which makes people sleepy. The textbook is much more helpful than him
Brian was an okay instructor. The material is fairly complicated and he was able to break it down somewhat simply. 50% of your grade is final and midterm. Four HWs were challenging and you could work on them with a partner. Midterm was incredibly difficult and the final was take home and much fairer.
great professor
I don't know why people don't like him. He's really accessible outside of class and it's obvious he cares about his students and wants us to learn. As long as you put effort into the class, you will get an A. If you don't, you won't.
Prof. Wainwright wasn't as bad as the rating shows. The lecture slides were extremely clear and there were useful examples on them. Grading was fair and the questions on the exams were straight-forward as long as you go through the slides and examples. Wonderful TA sessions which were very practical and TAs reply to all your emails.
Material is alright, If you do all the optional homework and read the textbook, you should be fine. If you're able to do the homework with no issues, you should be able to do well on the midterms. Same for final. Just keep up with the class.
Wainwright is ok, he is always available to help outside of class which is nice. Having a good TA is really helpful. Do the practice homework and ask questions and the midterms are fine. He doesn't give A-, B-, etc so that's nice bc he'll bump you up to A, B or C. Definitely manageable to get an A If you do book work, and section grade counts a lot
By far the worst aspect of the class is the weekly check-in assignments. These four-question weekly quizzes account for 20% of your grade. They target the most minuscule and impeccable details imaginable and it is really easy to mess up. These should not be graded so heavily...or at the very least mix in easy questions with hard ones.
Professor Wainwright made me want to fall asleep every time I walked into a lecture. His lectures are incredibly dull, and I found reading the book more beneficial and doing the optional homework. My TA was great and very helpful. I looked forward to doing the excel labs, and the weekly quizzes were not challenging. I found the midterms difficult.
Horrible professor in my opinion. Don't bother going to lectures, he's slow and the stuff he teaches isn't relevant to the exams. Just learn from the textbooks and do all of the book problems he suggests and then the exams will be fine.
He's a pretty good explainer tbh. Teaching alone, he would've gotten a 4/5. However, the weekly quizzes are the definition of STRESS. They are 4 question quizzes with a 10-minute limit worth 20% of ur grade. It's really easy to accidentally misread the q carelessly cuz of time limit and be punished severely; meant to spread class grade distribution
I dont really think Wainwright deserves the low rating. Lectures are very boring and the material can be hard for some, yeah, but the grading system is actually really forgiving and material isnt too different from AP Stats. Tests are 50% of your overall grade, and the other half is basically participation and attendance.
Very clear and relatively generous grading criteria, 35% labs which are free points, 20% weekly check in quizzes (can be tricky), 20% midterm (very technical and specific, average was in the 70s) and 25% final (haven't taken yet but assume it's like midterm). 90%+ is an A so that's nice. Lectures not mandatory, can learn through section.
Professor Wainwright's class is very manageable and the expectations are very clear, but his class is super boring. Lectures are very slow and he takes forever to cover the easiest topics. With that said, the class is not difficult and if you attend section you'll be fine.
Honestly, he isn't a bad professor, he's chill it's the class that's boring. He does tend to dwell over topics tho. All expectations are clear. Grading is fair. Recommend reading the textbook for harder topics.
Wainwright is a good prof who really cares about his students. Lecture is not mandatory, but is EXTREMELY helpful. I agree with other posts regarding the weekly check in quizzes -- I would have done better on a couple of them if it weren't for the 10 minute time limit. One TA held review sessions for both exams which was essential to doing well.
Crazyyy final
horrible
For 5LS I would highly recommend if you want an A. It's an extremely doable A and his grading is fair. His tests are copies of the homework so there are no surprises. I've seen tests from other stats professors for 5A and Wainwright's is way easier and straightforward. His tests also give credit on work shown so partial credit is given :))
I thought it was hard at first, but if you pay attention to the lectures and worksheets with some practice, you will be good in this course. The professor is kind, and TAs are really helpful.
My first stats class and it was so much better than I expected. His lectures were basically just reading his slides so I never went to class but GO TO SECTION! Attending section is like half of your grade, free points basically. Doing the homework practice problems and light review will get you at least a B on the tests: 2 midterms and a final.
Lectures were pointless since he reads off the slides. Going over the slides and studying async is more worth the time to passing. Also do recommended book problems to do well on progress checks in class since that is a large chunk of your grade!
He very obviously cares about his students. He is super sweet, helpful, reasonable with grading/regrades and does not give A-'s. His lectures could be longwinded at times, but he posts them online so I always just watched them double speed and it was super helpful/convienent. Just do the reccomended homework problems and you'll for sure get an A!
2 mandatory lab sections/week graded solely on showing up. Isn't 100% the best prof, but definitely cares about students and wants them to succeed: no A-, B-, etc (90-99 = A). Midterm/final VERY fair and straightforward/reflect practice problems and are mostly on R/SQL coding syntax. Little workload and easy to catch up, but quizzes are hard :/.
As someone who has never learned to code before, this class was the best way for me to learn to code. If this is your first time coding, take this first! The lecture slides have everything you need to know to get As. Quizzes are tougher but doable. 90+ is an A which helped. Go to section and understand how the code works if you want to succeed.
Midterm consists of 5 problems with 4 subproblems each. Expects us to finish in 50 min (actually less than that because he ended it earlier than he was supposed to). Idk about others but I could only finish 4. Even if you perfectly know how to do them all, the time was simply not enough.
PSTAT 5A was a difficult course. Wainwrights lectures were no help in learning the material. I spent most of my time reading the textbook for this class and teaching myself concepts. There are very limited resources to help you study for exams, which entirely make or break your grade. The final was insanely hard. 0/10 recommend.
This class was so easy.
Hardly gives you anything to prepare and study for midterms. Final exam was incredibly difficult and we weren't given anything to prepare for it. Lectures are very slow, examples aren't always concise. He's a good guy but not a good professor for this class. This class requires you to understand coding which is ridiculous, it's a statistics class.
Lectures are only focused on the main topics and easy questions that will help you understand but not solidify the material. He doesn't give you studying material for any exam at all so you must find other ways to study beyond the weekly homework. The textbook is at the library and is essential for studying, tests make or break your grade.
Pretty easy grading scale. Section attendance, fair midterm and final. Dont have to put too much work in to pass, put in an average amount of work and get an A. Lectures are okay, but I appreciate Dr. Wainwright, probably best professor to take 120a with.
Professor Wainwright was a great professor but talks a lot during lectures. The course material was difficult but not impossible, and the homework was pretty easy. Tests and quizzes are very fair. Loved listening to his stories during class!
Wainwright kinda just felt like he was ripping off Swenson the whole quarter. When he was out for a week for Covid at the beginning of fall quarter, he literally just gave us Swenson's prerecorded videos instead of using his own. For this class, going to TA office hours are basically a must, as his notes are long-winded and sometimes confusing.
His lecture is dull and unhelpful. You can learn this course by reading the lengthy PowerPoint every week. There are four really difficult quizzes and one final exam (difficulty is manageable). Since the average for quizzes is low, it's important to get extra credits by going to TA's office hours and giving pre on additional problems.
Wainwright may intend to be a good teacher, but his help is limited. His lecture is just reading off the slides and he doesn't give enough explanation to help understand. Hw question are either too difficult or too easy, also too many proof question. He didn't provide enough review material for final either. Self-study might be a better strategy.
Wainwright is a very caring professor. The material is difficult and lectures can be confusing BUT the grading scale is generous and there's extra credit (up to an additional 10% on quizzes). The quizzes were challenging but take home and open note. He announces extra credit and quiz content in class (which saved my grade) so attend lecture!
Lectures weren't too helpful, but it was Wainwright's first time teaching the class and he usually would go through slides too quickly. We had four two hour long take home difficult quizzes, but it helped prepare a lot for our final. HW is completion based (you get to correct it). Overall very difficult course, but also learned a lot from it.
Prof. Wainwright is really chill, and my 120A experience with him is honestly pretty nice. 50% of the final score is basically free if you do the work, and the exams are not difficult either. Highly recommended.
Class was structured nicely with section attendance and homework (gave you answers) making up almost half of your grade. Practice exams, homework problems, lecture examples, etc. did not match level of difficulty of the tests though, gave old tests as practice & last yr students had it way easier with their exams.
Professor Wainwright is absolutely one of the best professors at UCSB. 120A is a hard course but he makes it interesting and clear to learn. If you have any questions, he will explain them clearly and nicely during office hours, really accessible outside of class. The midterm and final are hard, but, again, just ask questions and you will improve!
Professor Wainwright is a really nice one, his lectures are really interesting and his teaching style is really awesome. If you have any questions, please please go to office hours, it really helps a lot. He will explain them crystal clear and any questions will be solved! 120A is a heavy and important course, he makes it clear and interesting!
Wainwright's slides are pretty good so you can do well in the class without showing up to lecture. 50% of your grade is free because of the online quizzes, homework, and section attendance. The midterm was kind of hard because he made it really long, but with the feedback he got I don't think he will make the same mistake in the future.
Dawg acts like he is too cool for the material he is teaching. The information he explains during his lecture does not compare to the quizzes, homework, or exams at ALL. You will have to do your own reading and a lot of studying/watching videos outside of class.
He just reads off his slides with an occasional extra explanation. Lecture is just a yapping session for reading his slides. Study for your midterm but I don't know how helpful it will be. Midterm is much harder than homework and quiz. The midterm was so long that It wasn't possible to finish.
The difficulty of the exam is completely different from the usual study, and a lot of content has not been covered. And it's impossible to finish the exam
If you choose take his class good luck! During lecture he reads off his slides and the examples he gives are over simplified and nothing like the homework or the quizzes that he writes. The midterm had 26 parts for 1 hour and 15 minutes and after being curved the average was still around a 66 percent. Content should not be as hard to get as it is.
Like others are saying, his tests are insanely hard--the leap in difficulty from the lecture questions to the exam questions is pretty big, and the short time window to answer so many questions doesn't help. I'm giving a 2 rating instead of a 1 because I do like how he handles HW policy. He has us recorrect our own HW to get full credit.
Doing Wainwright justice cuz so many people rated him 1/5 for PSTAT120a. Yes he's lectures r boring but he's exam is not that hard (I would say even easier than HW and Quizes, but they are LONG). If you actually put in solid time to study for the content (which is avalaible online), you would do well on it, and pass the class.
Lectures are not helpful and are rly boring, but his slides are useful. I like how his HW is a bit challenging but you are still getting full credit because he posted solutions the week after. Exams are not hard as long as you study, but they are pretty long and time consuming. Def recommend taking 120A with him because his grading is pretty fair.
Honestly, this class was not as insane as people say it is. From my experience, the quizzes were more difficult than the exams themselves, and as long as you pay attention in section, you will be fine. Textbook is another big thing, it's not required but it is EXTREMELY helpful especially when studying for exams. Class was scaled very fairly too.
Wainwright is very straightforward. Personally I need the extra help outside of the class to connect all the dots & CLAS every week saved me. The class is do-able. The practice tests/ weekly quizzes & worksheets were very similar to the midterms, the final was a bit long and a bit harder.
Wainwright was a fair professor and grader. PSTAT120A is always going to be a tough class, but he did a great job breaking down and explaining the material. The midterm and final were both very long, but the questions were fair. Go to CLAS and stay on top of the material from the beginning and you'll be okay
Did not go to a single lecture and was able to get A+. Homework is free points and the tests are generously curved, but the biweekly quizzes (12% of grade) are difficult. Easy if you keep the topics organized! Anyone who got an F and rated him a 1.0 is simply not cut from the same cloth.
His lectures and pretty boring, and often irrelevant to homework and test material, but he is amazing during office hours, and if you put in the work to teach yourself how to do the homework, the tests should be a walk in the park. The biweekly quizzes are tough, but do-able with ample studying. Will prepare you for 120B.
120A was tough. I wouldn't say Wainwright was, though. Twice weekly office hours provided plenty of time to get clarification of homework, previous quiz questions, or general prob/stats questions. Every-other-week quizzes were tough, made by TAs, but only 12% of total grade. Mandatory section attendance (13%). Very information-dense. Worth it!
really understanding and office hours are awesome. he's willing to answer any questions and really makes sure that everyone does well. grade is based on participation, but it's easy to get participation points. the material is hard, but overall, wainwright is a great prof and seems to really care about his students and his class
wainwright was a good professor and very efficient with his lectures. there are weekly quizzes but they really did help to prepare for the midterms and the final. the tests weren't too hard if you understood the homework. the only thing i didn't love how the format of the final was free response when the previous midterms were multiple choice
He is simply committing a crime
His tests are the most unreasonable exams I have ever taken at this school. His lecture notes are oftentimes disorganized. At least bro seems like a nice guy
Sped through example problems in lecture, had to do a lot of review outside of class. Midterm was unreasonably short but he did curve it and the final had several problems drawn directly from the textbook, overall difficulty was pretty manageable. As long as you study consistently w/ examples from the textbook you should pass, could have been worse
While Brian isn't the worst teacher, he definitely fumbled the midterm W24 (avg. was ~50% after curve). I scored extremely low but still managed to pass the class after numerous office hour visits and practice. My advice to succeed is to do extra HW prob. from the book as he uses it for tests Grade Scale was 30 HW, 15 Section, 25 Midterm, 30 Final.
Gives long exams that make it difficult to finish in time but he very generous curves
Professor Wainwright is a super nice guy and very helpful during office hours, but unfortunately mundane during lecture. His slides are ripped from the textbook with little elaboration, and his examples are also from the book, but often skip "trivial" steps which can make them hard to follow during lecture. Homework is graded on completion.
Midterm and final were difficult (especially the midterm), He accounts for it with a huge curve. Curves the entire class grade in the end Explains things clearly and throroughly answers questions Some people don't like his teaching style, but if that's the case, attendance isn't mandatory he provides a textbook that explains the material well
The first half of the quarter's content was covered really quickly and pretty confusing, but he slowed down a lot in the last half. Once he slowed down, I actually liked his lectures. The midterm was quite long so scores were very low, but he curved the whole class a lot at the end. The final was reasonable.
midterm was hard, but he curved a lot. Final was super essay, as far as i know a lot of people get full credits. However, his lecture was boring, but you have to go there since the explainations on the textbook were not clear. If you only read the textbook, it will be hard to get an A.
Very good professor. HW is slightly challenging, but is 50 percent of grade and is based on completion which is great. Both the midterm and the final are very fair, as long as you understand the material. The only slight downside is that his lectures are slightly boring. Also, the PSTAT CLAS 120A made my Jeremy Li is incredibly helpful.
Prof Wainwright is a great guy, and his class was really interesting. Took 120A as an elective, and it was fairly hard, but if you keep up with TA material and study with his resources (and CLAS) you will do fine. He helped me out when I had a scheduling conflict and really does care about student success. You will be extremely prepared for 120B!
His lectures are useless. Half the grade is free, midterm and final are hard.
Lectures were very informative but there definitely wasn't enough time which is why I recommend doing practice problems from the textbook. To study for exams, I would recommend doing practice problems instead of just doing the homework and attending lectures/section.
He taught Bayesian Statistics very well and used lots of real world examples which helps to remind you of the "why" we do any of the statistics. He explained things very well with very helpful visuals which made it easy to understand the theory. Attendance isn't mandatory but I highly recommend going to the lectures. Great course and professor.
I had Wainwright for 120A (fall ‘24). I personally could have performed better but in general Wainwright provided a well-structured class and he's a fine lecturer. He prepared me well for 120B, as I've recently come to figure out.
He was fine but taking this class with him was kind of hard everyone runs out of time for the tests but he is fair. Hard to pay attention in lecture because he goes so fast and doesn't actually show how to solve a problem step by step he is just teaching concepts so makes it hard to study. But he is fine you just have to put effort in.
Horrible, unfair final, with questions incomparable to ones we had seen before, after a Canvas announcement claiming the exam would be analogous in rigor to the midterm (it was not).
From what I've heard that final should be easier compared to the midterm, but it was actually a lot harder for me personally. I did ok on the midterm but the final was really hard and long... I did learn stuff but the exam is super challenging although I thought I was prepared for it. Not sure if there's a curve at the end. Okay lecture/tough exam
Brian is an alright professor that does prepare you for the midterm with lectures and homework. The final was said to be cumulative but focused on topics post midterm that were briefly mentioned in class. The final was also said to have the same level of difficulty as the midterm but students would say otherwise.
Exams are extremely unfair. I saw a lot of people saying his final is easy, well he changed. His final is even harder than the midterm and the example tests he gave us for practice is useless. It's not about putting in effort anymore, I spend so much time for this class and going to tutors and he decided to make questions tricky to mess you up.
Wainwright is a nice guy, but as a professor, he's okay. However, his exams were extremely difficult and felt unfair. The midterm had an average score of 30% in my section, and the final was even harder, stuff I had never encountered before. The disconnect between the coursework and the exams was significant. I also never worked harder in a class
Exams were hard; I had never had such a low grade before on an exam. There was no curve for any of the tests. Class average for the midterm was a 65%. Homework is a free A, but the final was nothing like he said it was gonna be. Decent lecturer but really boring.
The final was absolutely brutal, and the Canvas & CLAS resources were definitely not enough to prepare us for the type of exam he gave us. The midterm average was about 65%, with just a few people scoring full credit. Lecture/HW were helpful but only concept-wise because the problems were nowhere similar in difficulty compared to the final.
Very great professor, but a structurally flawed class. You'll likely not have enough time for the difficult exams. I was one of those and that really demotivated me for the rest of the quarter. Definitely focus on this class if you want to succeed. He goes fast too so be sure to pay attention. 40% HW/section, 60% tough exams. Edit: Brutal final.
He's just okay, boring lectures, he moves fast and skims over a lot. TAs were a lot more helpful. Exams were very difficult and incomparable to HW/practice exams, despite him saying they would be similar. The difference between what he gives us to prepare and the actual exam is genuinely laughable.
Lectures were nothing special but sufficient to learn material. Easy midterm, harder final. Gave us extra credit for filling out a survey. Generous curve on lower end (63% turned into a passing C). Most people have difficulty with the material, not the professor. HW is harder than both midterm and final and serves as good prep.
Professor is fine, but his lectures are not interactive and a lot is gone over very quickly. The class was curved generously at the end because of the midterm and final being somewhat challenging. Homework and grading are both very lenient: scored a mediocre 89 on both midterm and final, but I originally thought my grade was going to be much worse.
Lectures were fairly engaging, although there's way too much information on the slides and it gets impossible to follow at times. HW is a free 50%. But final was absurdly difficult based on everything else he assigned; it brought my grade down an entire letter. You'll be fine as long as you study MUCH more than you think you have to for the final.
No curve at all. The exams are straightforward but covers an insane amount of content, so it's really hard for you to memorize every detail clearly. However, those things that you fail to notice are highly likely to appear on the exam. Afterall it's a tough course and the professor is not good.
Brian can be very charismatic in his lectures, and explains the content well enough. The course contains a lot of difficult content to cover but his grading scale is very lenient, however the exams (particularly the midterm) were very nitpicky on the particular content used, and covered 50% of the final grade; section attendance was also required.
Third class with Wainwright, super chill, lecture not required but helpful as he explains nuance and is responsive to lecture questions. Go to office hours with actual questions and you should be set for exams. Homework can be done with a partner which makes them super manageable.
easiest pstat5ls class ever he was so great. reminds me of my dad a little bit but not in a weird way. GOAT!
Exams are straightforward but lectures are very boring. Much of it can be learned on your own by glancing at the lecture slides a couple times afterward.
lectures are long and full of new information every time but he does a good job explaining content especially if you ask questions. only 6 homework assignments for the whole course and each one only takes 1-1.5 hr. he's funny and always kept it interesting i liked his class overall!
Honestly this class is pretty easy if you are consistent with the Homework and attend lectures. Practice exams he provides is very similar to the actual exams.
He was super helpful!! Lecture was only twice a week and an hour and 15 each so it was hard to stay focused because he just yapped. GO TO OFFICE HOURS!! He is really good in a small setting and helps you with the homework. Do practice exams, frqs were always pretty easy I would get tripped up by the MCQ on the tests. He is the goat!
He was quite passionate about statistics and explained everything really clearly, although the lectures did get a little boring. Drops 3 sections which are required attendances, but I genuinely loved my TA so much and she was very helpful! Doing the homework and test reviews pretty much completely prepares you for the exams!
Lectures are uninteresting and slow. Sections are somewhat useful but definitely skippable if attendance weren't graded.
Lecture not mandatory but section is with one section being dropped. The workload is super manageable but the content is difficult. It is very easy to get lost even if you go to the lectures. The average on the midterm was 40%. Your final grade is curved at the end. Wainwright is a super chill guy and will remember if you come to the lectures.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
19%
Textbook Required
0%
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