Most importantly
"Come into the class with a sense of what you want to learn from it and focus on because this will help you really apply what you learn in class to your own interests during the homework."
On when to start your final project
"Start your project early!"
"I would advise future Stats 50 students to go to every class and definitely to start the final project early. I wish we had started earlier because we would have been able to do a much better job and a much more interesting analysis."
"Start your project early and challenge yourself. This class is what you make of it. I think everyone loves sports but might be timid in getting seriously involved. I challenged myself and learned a lot and am super thankful that I did."
"Don't save the project for the last minute; come up with an idea early so you can think about it as the course goes on."
On learning R
"Take the time to learn R at [the] beginning of the class... [It] will save you time in [the] long run."
"Invest some effort early in the quarter to learn R. Don't treat it as a ... low-effort class just because it's about a topic that isn't traditionally academic."
"Learn R well!"
"Make sure to go through the R day scripts in full and that you understand what is going on, so that when it comes time for the homework you are ready."
"Make time to finish R work after class each week -- much more rewarding that way! ... Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if the rest of the class knows the answer!"
"Don't just copy Scott's code with tiny changes for HW. First try to implement it yourself without referencing it, then if you're stuck you can look."
"Spend time throughout the quarter learning R on your own, not just through the assignments."
"I would say it is important to do the R tutorials before starding to make sure you are up to speed. Also office hours are helpful for making sure models in R run correctly. Also pick a project you are interested in -- it makes it more fun!"
Miscellaneous
"Pick homework topics you really care about (forces you to learn it well)."
"Find a sport/topic you love, and keep pursuing it more in-depth throughout the quarter."
"Make sure if you aren't following a sport, to pick one to be able to better understand the material. Students should choose a sport at the beginning of the quarter and stick with it throughout."
"Challenge yourself with the HW assignments to get the most out of the class. Know the basics of R so you can hit the ground running in tutorials."
"Have some basic experience with statistics and preferably some coding experience beforehand."
"Feel free beyond the course to look for data and data analysis tools to do even more extensive analysis"
"Spend more time getting comfortable with the models."