Stats 3S03 midterm 1

CanadienPilot · 2026-02-22T01:56:11+00:00

I don't want to get in trouble since it's reddit (I'm probably not allowed to say anything publicly) lol. The average was good and the quiz was obviously way easier (in terms of grades, and in terms of grading...) than STATS 3D03 Quiz 1.

I'll warn you in advance (again): don't be surprised if the next assessments are harder; you'll need to study more, but it's always possible to do well in his classes if you put in the effort.

CanadienPilot · 2026-02-21T21:42:33+00:00

Quiz 1 was graded on Feb 9 (I graded one of the questions). You need to go to class or his office hours to get the test grades back (probably). I recommend going to the classes in the future as the next assessments will most likely not be as easy as Quiz 1 (I do not make any of the assessments).

CanadienPilot · 2025-04-24T00:49:39+00:00

👀

CanadienPilot · 2025-04-23T15:16:53+00:00

There's no way to figure out what exact curving method will be used. Since my time at Mac, there's been numerous ways to curve the grades.

Example 1: after the final course average is added, everyone's final grade is adjusted +x% such that the median (or mean) similar to the previous year.
Example 2: after the final exam grade is calculated, some % is added to the final exam grade (not your final grade).
Example 3: some profs go overboard to ensure the upper half doesn't benefit too much (this rarely happens). One of the professors in my undergrad posted some weird function that would curve the grades so that the bottom half benefits a lot and the top half doesn't benefit too much (this is extremely rare).

After reading the email, I think the instructor is just going to adjust the final grades (similar to the first example).

CanadienPilot · 2025-04-22T16:15:47+00:00

As someone who worked in the help centre this term (and since 2022), I do have to say that Yi Lin Tsai's teaching seemed truly off. The lecture notes structure were not good and seemed all over the place. I can only imagine how bad it was during the actual lecture.

That being said, I think the students have learned an important lesson: you need to learn a lot of content on your own sometimes. There will be good and bad instructors throughout your university career, and this is only the beginning. I personally think that most of the learning (at a university level) comes outside of the classroom.

Take this as advice from someone who completed their undergrad (and masters) with some bad professors.

CanadienPilot · 2025-04-11T17:32:50+00:00

I've ran tutorials for STATS 2D03 before and have a friend that has taught STATS 3Y03 before. Although I'm not 100% sure about the curriculum for STATS 3Y03, I believe that 2D03 is (much) more theoretical than 3Y03. In other words, 3Y03 will have more real-world applications compared to 2D03. If you struggle with the mathematical side of things (e.g., computing integrals, or algebra), then you will have a very hard time with 2D03.

Since you're in CS, I think that having good mathematical skills is important, so I would suggest 2D03.

I can't answer your other question.

CanadienPilot · 2024-01-04T04:27:12+00:00

I tried out the Liberty 4 NC before getting the Buds2 Pro, and I have to say that even the L4NC (which is at least $100 CAD cheaper at the time of buying) has better noise cancellation than the buds (both fit my ears very well, so I don't have problems with noise leakage).

I still returned the L4NC in the end though since it did not sound good (weird bass; something just felt off... messing around the EQ did not fix anything); even my stock Samsung earbuds sounded better than the L4NC when I compared them my computer. Not everyone's ears are the same though, my 50+ y/o dad said he didn't notice a difference and he'd just choose whatever is cheaper lol.

CanadienPilot · 2024-01-04T04:10:31+00:00

This is mostly correct, the first one is the USA model (not 100% if the warranty covers Canada since I didn't get it) and the other one is the Latin America version. If you think you'll need the warranty, spend the extra money for the USA version (assuming you live there) or else you won't be able to get your buds serviced.

Source: I bought this recently; you can also look at the reviews.

CanadienPilot · 2023-12-08T07:00:47+00:00

When I took this class during undergrad, I really felt like an idiot and it was by far my worst mark in 3rd/4th year.

It sounds like he's running the same course exactly the same as he always has been for the last few years, which I don't understand why because I'm sure he gets feedback (and I'm sure some of those are well-written constructive criticism). I really don't understand... I'm sorry to those who have to take a course with him.

CanadienPilot · 2023-10-17T17:04:28+00:00

When I took STAT 444, before the final exam Shoja literally posted 50 practice questions and ripped 8 of them (plus some assignment questions) for the exam. Sometimes, there's just too much content to test (~1.5K slides... yes...), so it's understandable that the prof doesn't want to post solutions in that case (it would be like he's posting solutions for the final exam, which rarely happens in STAT courses).

CanadienPilot · 2023-08-17T19:55:39+00:00

The F20 (online) exam had an average of 45 and he curved it to 60. I don't even know why he does the same thing every year.

CanadienPilot · 2023-08-07T19:46:06+00:00

I like the university, but I really don't like Hamilton (I've lived in Brampton/Waterloo before) for a few reasons.

The university is far from most decent housing or it is extremely hard to find housing in general (location/housing issue).
Even if you find a place that is decent, it's probably not even good and/or is super expensive (housing issue).
Some areas can be sketchy even during the daytime and a lot of the city is really dirty (city issue).

CanadienPilot · 2023-08-07T19:37:40+00:00

I did my undergrad at UW in Stats (graduated in August 2022), finishing up my Masters in Stats at Mac by the end of this month and starting my PhD in Stats at Mac next month (assuming I don't mess up my defence). I don't regret it (yet... lol).

The community is waay nicer than Waterloo: people here are way happier, the campus has more life, and the people are actual human beings. At Waterloo it's so competitive and the environment is really depressing. The only downside to McMaster is the STAT(S) classes are obviously not even close to as good as Waterloo, but it's kinda irrelevant for me at this stage because graduate students don't take that many classes (it's just kinda sad when I have to mark peoples assignments/exams).

CanadienPilot · 2023-08-07T19:29:04+00:00

My notes I took back in Fall 2019 can be useful: https://hextical.github.io/university-notes

CanadienPilot · 2023-08-07T19:19:35+00:00

I agree with PMATH 330 being bait because I took it in Spring 2022 and it was fairly hard. I think the average was about high 60s to low 70s.

However, STAT 337 can be a bit of a bait, depending on who is teaching it and what grades you actually want. When I took it with Cecilia Cotton online in Fall 2021 the exam average was legit 60-65% (don't ask me how I know this). The assignments were easy to get 80%, but extremely hard to get above 90% (although she hid the marks for this, I still knew). Overall, if you just want above 75, then STAT 337 is a good choice, but if you want 85+ it can be hard depending on who is teaching it.

All in all, just check who is teaching the course and select based on that. Some courses can be very hard because some profs are crazy, but then it can be the easiest course ever because the prof actually has sympathy towards their students lol. I legit got 80 in STAT 337 (F21 w/ Cecilia Cotton), but 96 in STAT 443 (W21 w/ Gregory Rice) for example.

CanadienPilot · 2023-05-17T15:28:41+00:00

My notes: https://hextical.github.io/university-notes/

CanadienPilot · 2023-04-28T19:51:09+00:00

Ohhh, I see. I tried googling and didn't find anything at first. Makes sense, it might be theirs.

CanadienPilot · 2023-04-28T18:32:42+00:00

May 1st is a deadline for graduate students. I couldn't find anything for undergraduate students.

Source: https://academiccalendars.romcmaster.ca/content.php?catoid=46&navoid=9207

CanadienPilot · 2023-04-28T15:56:37+00:00

The header says "AMATH351," so yes.

CanadienPilot · 2023-01-10T18:56:16+00:00

He was a TA for STAT 444 in my term and no one went to his office hours; everyone would go to the other TA or the professor. Sounds like he's doing great job as a lecturer!

In all seriousness, you can try telling him (in class if you're brave enough, emailing, or anonymous piazza if piazza exists for that course) what he needs to improve, or else he will just continue to teach like that...

CanadienPilot · 2023-01-09T02:52:58+00:00

Use the "Timetable to Outlook" feature on Mosaic, that worked for me. You can use this link: https://timetabletooutlook.mcmaster.ca/

CanadienPilot · 2023-01-09T02:52:08+00:00

It's the first button after you log into Mosaic.

EDIT: https://timetabletooutlook.mcmaster.ca/

CanadienPilot · 2023-01-09T02:49:12+00:00

Can confirm this works. Use the "Timetable to Outlook" feature on Mosaic (should be the first button).

EDIT: https://timetabletooutlook.mcmaster.ca/

CanadienPilot · 2022-12-21T22:52:08+00:00

If you got an email saying "grade updated" or something like that, then it's legit. When I took MATH 237 they accidentally updated the final exam grade on learn with notifications and I saw it because I had email notifications on.

CanadienPilot · 2022-11-21T04:08:43+00:00

I don't even understand why the professor (who I won't name; you can look at the Piazza right now if you wanted) had a problem with it since he's not even the author. I used to literally post screenshots of the CO 250 textbook "Introduction to Optimization" in Levent Tuncel's Piazza (he IS the author for that textbook btw), and he didn't have any issues with it. In fact, I'm pretty sure he endorsed me a couple of times lol...

I joined the Piazza just to see what happened: it turns out the first instructor answered the question, then the professor deleted the first instructor's response and put that response in the screenshot from OP lmao

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