I completed STA 4321 during Summer A and earned an A. The course was useful and intellectually rewarding, but the accelerated six-week format made it very demanding. There was substantial homework, usually due two or three times per week, along with frequent quizzes and three exams. The exams mixed computational, conceptual, and proof-based questions and were approximately 30% multiple choice and 70% free response. Their difficulty was inconsistent: the first and third were challenging, while the second was much easier. The main source of difficulty was the Summer A compression rather than the course being unusually difficult for a 4000-level mathematics course.

The course covered foundational probability, including counting methods, conditional probability, random variables, discrete and continuous distributions, expectation, variance, joint distributions, and functions of random variables. The material is highly useful for students interested in mathematics, statistics, data science, actuarial work, or quantitative fields. A strong background in precalculus, Calculus I–III, basic proofs, and introductory statistics was helpful. The textbook was necessary because it contained the assigned homework problems. Lecture notes and slides were provided, but they were mainly supplements to attending class rather than materials from which to learn independently. Additional practice problems were posted about a week before each exam, with solutions usuall...read more

My experience with Dr. Athienitis was mixed. He is energetic, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and capable of explaining difficult ideas well. He was supportive of motivated students, patient when students were confused, accessible before and after class, and helpful during office hours. He also responded quickly to Canvas discussion posts. However, his teaching was inconsistent. Some lectures were excellent, while others went off topic through discussions of politics, YouTube videos, or AI. Some jokes made me uncomfortable, and his occasional negativity or pessimism could be discouraging. His exams also felt unevenly calibrated. Still, he often awarded partial credit for strong reasoning, even on multiple-choice questions, and he could be generous with extra credit.

Do not fall behind. Summer A moves extremely quickly, and the homework, quizzes, and exams require consistent effort. Work ahead when possible, use the textbook, complete the additional problems, attend office hours, and use the Canvas discussion board. Be prepared for considerable independent learning. The course is manageable for a strong and disciplined student, but earning a high grade may require a major time commitment. I studied for more than eight hours on many days and finished with a 97%, although that was my personal approach and not necessarily what every student would need. I believe the course would be substantially more manageable during a full semester.

This was a disaster. The assigned professor didn’t show up so my man Prof Athienitis had to scramble all course resources last minute as well as his TAs. Due to this all schedule got pushed back by a week.

I don’t know about usefulness but it was kinda interesting. Great introduction to R and R Studio.

Prof. Demetris Athienitis is pretty fair. Overall friendly. Very responsive and flexible. They had a Microsoft Teams where he would personally answer students’ questions. Great sense of humor.

Quizzes are difficult and exams are based on quizzes. Wish I’d studied for quizzes more.