Statistics

“The best thing about being a statistician is that you get to play in everyone’s backyard.” ~ John Wilder Tukey

Interested in majoring in Statistics?

Statisticians learn how to work with data, quantify uncertainty, and understand natural variation. Statisticians work with experts from other disciplines to develop models to solve complex, real-world problems. Beginning academic year 2023-2024, students are able to pursue and declare a major in Statistics. Students in the major simultaneously develop a strong mathematical foundation and practice data analysis and modeling skills. If this is a path that appeals to you, we recommend directly reaching out to one of our Statistics faculty members:

or email stats@middlebury.edu.

Please visit the Requirements page for more information about the course requirements for the Statistics major. A major in Statistics is different from a major in Mathematics. Students who are pursuing a Statistics major will be ineligible to minor or double major in Mathematics.

First course recommendations

The Mathematics and Statistics department offers three unique introductory courses in Statistics and Data Science: STAT 116, STAT 118 (or XXXX 1230), and STAT 201. 

  • STAT 116: Introduction to Statistical Science
    • This course provides skills and methods that are useful for quantitative research in many disciplines. Students are introduced to basic statistical theory, simple visualization techniques, and common hypothesis testing procedures. Students learn to program using the language R.
  • STAT 118: Introduction to Data Science or XXXX 1230: Data Science Across Disciplines
    • This course provides a hands-on experience visualizing, wrangling, and summarizing real-world, messy datasets. Students learn how to visualize and create tables that reveal multivariate relationships. In addition, students are introduced to the statistical programming language R with a focus on the tidyverse. 
  • STAT 201: Advanced Introduction to Statistical and Data Sciences
    • This course is an accelerated combination of STAT 116 and STAT 118, providing both basic statistical theory and data analysis techniques. Students learn to program using the language R with a focus on the tidyverse. This course is recommended for students who may be interested in taking future statistics offerings. Calculus I (MATH 121 or its equivalent) is a prerequisite.

STAT 201 or the combination of STAT 116 + STAT 118 (or equivalent courses, see below) is required for the statistics major. Students intending to major in statistics who have taken Calculus I (MATH 121 or its equivalent) are recommended to enroll in STAT 201 as soon as possible. 

Course offerings

The flowchart below (also available here) displays courses that count towards the Statistics major, as well as the relevant sequencing. Note that some courses are not offered every year, and that every major must take a STAT 7XX senior seminar.

Current elective offerings:

  • STAT 0218
  • MATH 0323*
  • MATH 0410*
  • STAT 0412*

* denotes Group B elective.

Flowchart for courses that are required and/or count towards the Statistics major.

Frequently Asked Questions

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AP Statistics is not a substitute for any of the introductory statistics courses offered within the Mathematics and Statistics Department at Middlebury. Placing out of statistics in another department does not place you out of introductory statistics for the Mathematics and Statistics department.



 

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Students who have taken STAT 118 are ineligible to enroll in STAT 201, and must take STAT 116 (or its equivalent) to fulfill the introductory course requirement. 

Similarly, students who have taken STAT 116 must take STAT 118 (or its equivalent) to fulfill the introductory course requirement. 

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An introductory statistics course in another discipline (e.g. ECON 111, PSYC 201) taken at Middlebury College has course equivalency to STAT 116. Therefore, students interested in pursuing a statistics major should follow up their introductory statistics course with STAT 118. 

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Any and all of the statistics faculty are happy to answer your questions! You may direct questions to the stats@middlebury.edu, or to any of the Statistics faculty members.