Martin Lindquist

As for the course itself, of the two Intro to Stats courses, 1111 is the baby one. While 1211 requires calculus - which you should know if you are taking a quantitative science anyway - 1111 only requires a high school level of math according to its own description. If you happen to have dealt with any statistics before, or have a background in research science, this class is an easy A. And that is even made easier by Professor Lindquist. The material was made astoundingly clear by him. I am not kidding, even the lecture slides on Courseworks (posted up the day before) are clear enough that you could have not even shown up to a single class and done fine - which is probably what happened since our room was too small, but I digress. That being said, if you have time, you should show up to class since he throws in a few examples to clear up any confusion that you may have. He typically assigns two chapters in the textbook each week, and a problem set to accompany it. Some people find the textbook a bit annoying with all the self-referential jokes, but I enjoyed it, so that may be a personal taste; however, you could not deny that it was still effective in teaching the material rather clearly. I plan on keeping it as a reference instead of selling it. The textbook problems take maybe an hour, but the TAs can bring down the hammer on the grading from time to time. Sometimes he att…

This is how a class should be...go to class, go to recitation, do the homework...do well. I have never taken a class that is so strightforward. No surprises on the midterm or final. It was refreshing. In addition to all that, Martin Lindquist is the most amusing, engaging, and entertaining stats professors. If you take this course, take it with Lindquist. He will make it a pleasurable experience.

If you have to take this class for a requirement, old Martin is a clear lecturer and a nice guy. You can imagine how fun intro stats is - the book sucks, its easy to sleep through class, and recitation TA's come up short on the teaching end. Beware the methods of calculating grades - though its really really easy to get an A on the midterm and final (open notes), the homework and quizes count for half the grade, and since the book is horrible and the TA sessions stink, its easy to pull a solid D on half the course work if you're a lazy bum.

Lindquist is a great professor - the class is pretty easy but he curves to a B-, be weary.

Professor Lindquist is a great lecturer--very clear and organized. All of the reviews about him being an extremely nice, accessible, and informative professor are true. If you have to take Statistics, take it with Lindquist. The material is EASY, and if you do have a little trouble with it, he'll be happy to explain it to you in a very coherent way. Spend time reading the textbook and completing the homeworks--they are tedious but they will really help you when midterm and final times come along.

Martin is one of the nicest professors that I have had at Columbia. He responds really quickly to email and is always willing to go out of the way for a student. He's a good teacher too - explains things very well and will take questions if someone is unclear - however, the course material is EXTREMELY BORING. Homeworks are pretty tedious but really help when it comes to understanding the material. TAs grade a lot of stuff, and mine was extremely nitpicky to the point that when she dropped out as a TA Lindquist had to regrade our old homeworks because of the grading disparity. So, in sum - great guy, great teacher, hella boring material. (But if you take Stats I'd recommend you take it with him).

Statistics as a subject is a freaking esoteric nightmare. However, Martin makes it almost bearable. He is the most disarming and frankly mildy goofy teacher ever, but it is hard to imagine anyone else being so enthusiastic about statistics. Take copious notes and make sure to do well on the midterm. It counts for like 25% of the grade.

weekly problem sets that are pretty easy, midterm and final (both of which you are allowed a cheat sheet)

I have mixed feelings about this class. The lectures were very organized; Martin went point by point through the text book chapters, writing out every little thing on the board. He went over certain points probably 10-40 xs, which is great if you are confused, but if you're understanding everything, his repetition gets tedious. He graciously takes questions during lecture but can't always answer them sufficiently. Homeworks got progressively a little longer and harder as the semester wore on. My TA could hardly speak English, which made recitations a bit frustrating. Many kids only went to recitations when we had our quizzes. Martin does his best to make the class entertaining, and he really is a cute little man, but it's still hard to get yourself to go to lecture twice a week. Missing a lecture isn't a big deal, but missing all of them would mean a lot more studying to do around midterms and finals. A good percent of the class came to every lecture. Martin doesn't make himself that available outside of class and wants students to instead consult their non-english speaking TA's. This review is sounding pretty negative, but I didn't dislike the course that much, and I took it for interest. If it's a requirement for you, Martin is a good choice. If you're taking it for interest, you might wanna look for something a little more lively.

Wonderful Professor! Very clear and organized. He covers a lot of material, but does so in a way that you end up understanding everything. He is very approachable. Overall, he's a gem.