Anyone else really bad at statistics?

[tickytacky23]

Just need to know I'm not alone lol

 

I'm doing a summer correspondence stats course, and really stuggling with the more complicated probabilities stuff:eek: . Meeting my tutor first thing tomorrow morning.

 

I'm not the only one who is bad at this stuff right!? I consider myself a smart person, but stats is making me feel dumb!

[thebouque]

Just need to know I'm not alone lol

 

I'm doing a summer correspondence stats course, and really stuggling with the more complicated probabilities stuff:eek: . Meeting my tutor first thing tomorrow morning.

 

I'm not the only one who is bad at this stuff right!? I consider myself a smart person, but stats is making me feel dumb!

 

No you are not the only one who sucks at statistics.

 

Peace

[Prothrombin]

Is it an intro stats course? I just took intro stats in the fall and it was super easy, but the textbook was the sole reason I got an A, the prof was an FOB but a super nice guy nonetheless.

[tickytacky23]

Yea intro to stats. Makes me feel even dumber lol But I'm actually not that bad until it gets into complicated probability stuff.

 

I think my main problem though is that my textbook SUCKS:mad: .

 

Have you ever met a person that takes 20 minutes to tell a story that could be told in 5 minutes? Where they tell you all this unnecessary information that has no impact on the outcome of the story, and they keep jumping from one part of the story to another, and you get confused and annoyed? I feel like my textbook is that person.

[Cnussey]

I always did well in Calculus, but required Deeman's help to pass Stats. I ended up climbing from an F (mid-term) to a low B over all...I guess I did well in the final. That course really required a lot of effort.

[Sarah_2020]

I always supplement my reading material with whats online or in other textbooks. It definitely helps to get another perspective. Also stats can be challenging...especially if its correspondence. A lot of people will say its NOT "super easy"...so dont worry about what other people think and be resourceful.

[trex]

intro stats = easy A

[Cnussey]

I always supplement my reading material with whats online or in other textbooks. It definitely helps to get another perspective. Also stats can be challenging...especially if its correspondence. A lot of people will say its NOT "super easy"...so dont worry about what other people think and be resourceful.

 

Yeah, mine was distance ed.

[Renin]

I failed intro to stats, if that makes you feel better

[tickytacky23]

intro stats = easy A

 

Recieved in my inbox from premed101 @ 12:20AM before trex edited it:

Dear tickytacky23,

trex has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Anyone else really bad at statistics? - in the General Premed Discussions forum of Canadian Premed and Medical Schools.

 

This thread is located at:

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42911&goto=newpost

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************

Courses like stats, math, ochem that require critical thinking usually separate the ones that are smart from the ones that just get by on effort and think they are smart.

______________________________________________________

 

Oh let us bow down to the (apparently) smartest person in the world who has never struggled with any subject in their life.

 

I hope you don't get into medicine with such a closed mind.

[Cnussey]

Recieved in my inbox from premed101 @ 12:20AM before trex edited it:

Dear tickytacky23,

trex has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Anyone else really bad at statistics? - in the General Premed Discussions forum of Canadian Premed and Medical Schools.

 

This thread is located at:

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42911&goto=newpost

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************

Courses like stats, math, ochem that require critical thinking usually separate the ones that are smart from the ones that just get by on effort and think they are smart.

______________________________________________________

 

Oh let us bow down to the (apparently) smartest person in the world who has never struggled with any subject in their life.

 

I hope you don't get into medicine with such a closed mind.

 

Very interesting. Many people can "do" these courses and fail a simple English course--how "smart" would "he" consider them then? Everyone has a subject they are weak in and getting same grade as someone "smart" with a little effort makes them deserve that grade just the same.

 

I would prefer to have to struggle through Statistics than to be arrogant any day.

[astrogirl]

I've never actually taken statistics, but I've certainly taken plenty of other classes where I had to struggle because the material didn't come naturally to me. In the end I learned it because I put the time and effort into it, so I don't think you should feel bad at all because it's hard for you. I think it's more important to be able to work as hard as you need to and get help when you need it than to just naturally get everything without having struggle.

 

Edit: And Cnussey makes a very good point!

[Cnussey]

I've never actually taken statistics, but I've certainly taken plenty of other classes where I had to struggle because the material didn't come naturally to me. In the end I learned it because I put the time and effort into it, so I don't think you should feel bad at all because it's hard for you. I think it's more important to be able to work as hard as you need to and get help when you need it than to just naturally get everything without having struggle.

 

Edit: And Cnussey makes a very good point!

 

Oh man, was I surprised in second year Newtonian, Quantum, etc. when nothing seemed easy or even remotely easy anymore. Lol.

[astrogirl]

Oh, man, Newtonian! How can something so seemingly simple be so nonsensical? I had a nightmare during that class where someone called me on the phone and told me to stop rotating things because I was actually a character in their physics problem set, and they had to calculate everything I was doing!

 

I should also clarify that when I say that "In the end I learned it" I mean sometimes I learned it after the second time I took the class.

[Cnussey]

Oh, man, Newtonian! How can something so seemingly simple be so nonsensical? I had a nightmare during that class where someone called me on the phone and told me to stop rotating things because I was actually a character in their physics problem set, and they had to calculate everything I was doing!

 

I should also clarify that when I say that "In the end I learned it" I mean sometimes I learned it after the second time I took the class.

 

Nothing like Newtonian to cause a stroke.

 

I remember that "prof" putting quirky cartoons on the projector and finding them funny and asking us spontaneous questions as to why...and all I could do was look around hoping I wasn't the only one scratching her head! Lol.

[AKY]

I have my summer stats exam on Thursday so I guess i am qualified enough to comment on this thread... I think it depends a lot on your prof and TA. I didn't find the material terribly challenging, but the prof I found to be very vague in his requirements and on his midterm if you included something that he thought wasn't important (like the basic characteristics of normal distribution) then he took marks off because to him "you are just copying down from the book (open book exam) and not writing from your understanding".... Therefore, it was kind of hard to judge what he wanted. I got 76% on the midterm, so I am hoping get an A- for final mark... Maybe an A if I do well on the final.

 

It is a tough course at times though, you have to keep up with the concepts

[Prothrombin]

I'm guessing you guys have already learned about the binomial probability distribution and like the poisson and hypergeometric stuff? That stuff it really easy but you just have to be creful about the way the question is worded and what its asking you to find. I found the large sample hypothesis testing the most challenging, but once i did the problems in the book a few times i got it.

[astudentis]

its just a matter of sitting down with the text for a couple of hours and look at the examples.. that seemed to work for me.. here is the book i used from the library sometimes

 

http://www.amazon.ca/Statistics-Life-Sciences-Myra-Samuels/dp/013041316X

[MedDream]

I found stats REALLY hard, but it was the exam that killed me. I went into the exam with a 79, and studied like mad for it, hoping to pull up my mark... came out with a 72.... sooooooo haha, glad it's over! The only thing I'm happy about is taking it first year instead of second.

[Julie]

From my experience, stats is one of those subjects that people either get really naturally & get an A without trying, or don't get naturally at all & have to work really hard to pass an intro class. I've known many who I consider to be intelligent people who really struggled with stats (yet got great overall GPAs in difficult programs). I remember in my intro stats class someone telling me it was their 4th time taking it! That might be a bit extreme, but you're definitely not the first to struggle with the subject.

 

We all have subjects we're not gifted with, I'm sure you're gifted in some subjects that someone else just can't seem to understand. Struggles make us better people & help us develop empathy (think : important for doctors!)

 

Best of luck & don't give up!

[nosuperman]

To be fair, the whole "easy A" thing can be greatly influenced by the prof and the evaluation method.

 

If you think your ability to get a high grade is necessarily reflective of your intelligence, or type of intelligence, then you're being incredibly shortsighted. Schedule conflicts, personal lives, marking schemes, professor's shortcomings and biases, class distribution, the person you sit next to etc. can all make that 'A' quite a bit easier, or quite a bit more difficult to obtain.

 

I think Stats is one of those things that can be made intuitive if the prof is able to present in such a way. It can definitely be made confusing, particularly if you have 4 other demanding classes and can't afford to allocate more time to something unfamiliar as stats is to new students. My advice would be to find a student, tutor or book that can portray the topic material in a way that better suits your learning. It might be some tough extra work at first but when you find one and it clicks for you the benefits will certainly outweigh the costs... and you'll get a higher mark

[DanInVan]

I've never actually taken statistics, but I've certainly taken plenty of other classes where I had to struggle because the material didn't come naturally to me.

 

Plants were the bane of my existence. We had one midterm in plant development that was so "easy" the average was an A. I got a big fat D. Apparently I can't differentiate a root from a shoot. Ah well, pretty much everyone finds at least one thing challenging