Statistics Placement

Who should read this?
This document addresses placement questions for undergraduates who have not yet taken a statistics course at Duke.

Note for potential statistics majors and minors:
If you are considering a major or minor in statistics, you should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Course codes:
The placement information below refers to statistics courses by number. If you wish to see a detailed description of a course, then you should refer to the Bulletin of Undergraduate Instruction for descriptions of all statistics courses.

First-year Seminars
Occasionally, the Statistics Department offers one or more seminars for first-year students. The seminars vary from year to year and you can check the Registrar's Course Schedule to see what particular seminars are being offered in the current semester. First-year seminars carry the number 49S in all departments. The prerequisites for these seminars vary, and you can check these by reading the information linked from the Registrar's Course Schedule.

Information for Students Who Have Had Little or No Calculus
The entry level for non-calculus Statistics is Sta 10, 101, 102 or 102b. Most students registering for Sta 10, 101, 102 or 102b must take the Statistics Placement Exam, which is offered every semester. (Students who declared a major before March 29, 2007 are exempt from the placement exam.) Your score on the test determines which course you can register for. Note: It's possible that you need a math review before registering for any statistics course. Students with a Math SAT score of 520 usually qualify for Sta 10, while students with a Math SAT score of 680 usually qualify for 101, 102, or 102b. Please remember, however, that permission to register will be determined by the placement exam.

Information for Students Who Have Had a Year of Calculus
Students who have had a year of calculus should generally not take Sta 10. Your choices are usually Sta 101, 102, 102b, 103 or 113. Sta 103 and Sta 113 require calculus while 101, 102 and 102b do not. Therefore, if your calculus is weak you should probably be in 101, 102 or 102b; but if your calculus is strong you should probably be in 103 or 113.

Duke Statistics offers a two-semester sequence, Sta 104, 114 (cross-listed as Mth 135, 136) in probability and statistics. If you have completed a course in multivariable calculus (Mth 103) then you are eligible for Sta 104. If, in addition, you know some linear algebra (Mth 104 or Mth 107) then you will be ready for Sta 114 after Sta 104.

If you want just a one-semester introduction to statistics then you have three choices: Sta 103, Sta 113 or Sta 213. Sta 213 covers much of the material in Sta 104 and 114 combined. Following is a summary table:

Course	Math Requirement	Primary Audience
Sta 10	Algebra	Humanities Majors. Student fulfilling QS requirement.
Sta 101, 102b	Algebra	Social Science Majors. Students fulfilling a requirement of their majors.
Sta 102	Algebra	Pre-med students
Sta 103	Light Calculus	Economics Majors Students fulfilling QR or major requirements who are above average in math.
Sta 113	Heavy Calculus	Engineering Majors Students who are very strong in math but want only a one semester introduction to statistics.
Sta 104	Heavy Calculus	Math and Statistics Majors and Minors Students who want a two-semester (Sta 104, 114) introduction to probability and statistics.
Sta 213	Heavy Calculus	Graduate Students from many departments Students who want to cover most of 104, 114 in one semester.