Spring semester 2020 Stat 200 has always had it’s challenges.  A lot of students have been told “it’s just one grade do better next time”, but our amount of “next times” are coming to an end leaving a lot of students worried about their grades, with little to no help from professors.

Ever since Stat 200 became an online course, it has been agreed upon by the students of all sections that the work has become much harder and much trickier.  Second hand sources (youtube videos, lion tutors, etc.) are being sought out by Stat 200 learners to try and gain knowledge to help complete assignments as it is felt amongst many that the lectures and readings do not help.

The recently instated pass/fail option as well as the late drop option (even though the deadline has passed), are not options for many students.  Stat 200 is a requirement for a variety of majors across the different colleges. Students who use the new pass/fail option still must declare the course as “satisfactory” or the course will have to be taken over again. Due to the recent change in difficulty that many students feel, do not wish to do this, which is the main reason most students did not late drop.  All students have a GPA requirement to meet for their specific college, including Schreyer students, who also feel the recent difficulty of the course has hurt their GPAs and may affect their ability to remain in the honors college.  It has been agreed upon that Stat 200 is hurting more than helping students. 

We are asking for the lowest test grade to be dropped as well as a curve to the course.  We are aware that it is stated on the syllabus that no grades will be rounded up to the next letter grade. During these unprecedented times, professors should become more lenient and more willing to help their students succeed.  We as Stat 200 learners, do not feel this is the case with this course and wish to have this request be considered amongst the Stat 200 professors at Penn State.