Statistics is Hot!

Many of you who knew me or took my class in the past may not be aware, but last year I was able to bring back the Advanced Placement Statistics class at Bell. Most of you should know I'm a math geek and a college math major. We had 14 students who finished the course last year, 12 took the AP exam, and 11 made 2's or higher on the test, so all in all a good start. I'm not sure of my enrollment this year; I was hoping to get two sections but didn't.

Anyway, much as it pains me to say so, I found an interesting article about statistics in the New York Times, of all places (see, I don't just read conservative sources). Among my favorite quotes:

“I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians,” said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. “And I’m not kidding.”

"The new breed of statisticians . . . use powerful computers and sophisticated mathematical models to hunt for meaningful patterns and insights in vast troves of data." In the old days, we learned how to compute statistics. I'm intrigued that statistics nowadays is about interpretation and understanding - I think its a huge improvement in the discipline.

And for the material-minded: "The rising stature of statisticians, who can earn $125,000 at top companies in their first year after getting a doctorate . . . ." Not too shabby.

I think one of the things that unites the two somewhat dissimilar classes I teach is that they are both among the more practical and useful courses we require students to take in high school. You need many of the basic mathematical skills taught in the other math courses, but I guarantee you that familiarity with statistical lingo and methods will be useful. If you're still at Bell, think about taking the course. If you're in college, it's a smart elective to take. I'm not saying it's an easy course, but it's one that will pay off for you.