Stat 240 Credit by Examination

Students who plan to take the exam should already have studied all of the topics that may appear on the exam.

• STAT 240 list of topics
  • Data visualization and cleaning with tidyverse (comfort with common dplyr, ggplot, tidyr, lubridate, and stringr operations)
  • Probability theory and binomial+normal random variables
  • Confidence intervals and hypothesis testing inference methods for:
    • 1 and 2 proportions
    • 1 and 2 means
    • simple linear regression

We offer the credit exam because we recognize that there are a number of situations in which a student may have engaged in formal study of all of the content of STAT 240 but not have transferable credit for this course. However, not all prior Data Science and Statistics preparation is adequate for success on the credit exams.

General Information:

The Statistics Department offers an exam to students who want to earn credit for STAT 240. The exam is offered the first week of the fall and spring semester.

The exam is intended primarily for freshmen who have taken substantial Data Science courses in high school, or for transfer students who did not get transfer credits for a Data Science course taken at another institution, and who desire to establish college credits for STAT 240. It is open to undergraduate students only. 

Students who have been, or will be granted credit for STAT 240 by other means, such as through transfer credit, do not need to take this exam.

Students who have enrolled in STAT 240 past the DR notation deadline cannot take the exam. 

Students may not take a credit exam for a specific course more than once.

Spring 2025 Exam Date/Times:

• The STAT 240 exam will be given during the first week of classes on Thursday, January 23 at 5:00pm.
• Note: students who have conflicts with the exam and would like to request a later start are encourage to contact the Academic Program Manager, Alissa Leppert (courses@stat.wisc.edu), to discuss whether a late start accommodation is possible. This should be done as soon as possible.

Two hours are allowed to complete the exam.

Modality: The STAT 240 exam is taking place in-person and on campus. There will be an online portion of the exam, completed on a provided device. 

Room/Location: 250 Van Hise Hall (campus map)

Identification: You will need your student ID (or, if unavailable, a picture ID) in order to submit the exam. Please bring a digital or printed copy of your registration confirmation email in case it’s asked for.

Registration & Fees: Students must register in order to take the exam. The registration deadline is 24 hours before the exam. There will be a $135 fee for the exam. This fee is non-refundable (The fee is waived for Banner, FASTrack, Bucky’s Tuition Promise and Pell students). The Bursar’s Office will add this as an additional charge to a student’s account distinct from regular tuition and fees. Failure to appear at the exam location during the specified time will result in the forfeiture of this fee.

Register for the STAT 240 Credit Exam Here

• Registration closes on 1/17/2025.
• Note: to access the form you must sign in with your UW-Madison NetID.

Registration Cancellation: below is the policy on cancelling one’s registration for the STAT 240 credit exam. Note that if a student wishes to cancel their exam registration, we suggest they do it as soon as they are sure they wish to cancel:

• Students that would like to cancel their registration for the exam at least 24 hours prior to the beginning of the credit exams should email courses@stat.wisc.edu. Students who email at least 24 hours prior to the exams and notify the Statistics Department of their cancellation will not be charged a fee for the exam.
• Students that would like to cancel their registration within 24 hours of the exam due to an unforeseeable and unavoidable situation should email courses@stat.wisc.edu with a reason why they are cancelling on short notice. Their request will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Students in this case who have their cancellations approved will not be charged a fee for the exam.
• Students that do not email to request a cancellation prior to the exam and do not show up to the exam will still be charged a fee for the exam.
• Students requesting McBurney accommodation should register at least 48 hours before the exam time. The department may not be able to fulfill accommodation requests made in the two days before the exam.

More Information:  Email courses@stat.wisc.edu.

Passing Scores: A student needs to get at least a 70% on the exam to get credit for the course.

Exam Results: Results will be sent to the student’s official @wisc.edu address before the add/drop deadlines.

Enrollment: The Statistics Department will enter enrollment permissions allowing a student with a passing credit exam score to enroll in a subsequent STAT course for the same semester. (E.g., if a student passes the STAT 240 credit exam, they will be allowed to enroll in STAT 340 for the same semester since they will receive STAT 240 credit.) The Statistics Department is happy to waive prerequisites based on credit exam scores, though we do not reserve seats.

• Note that if a student needs the credit exam course as a prerequisite for a course outside the STAT subject (e.g., a student passes the STAT 240 credit exam and would like to enroll in a non-STAT course that requires STAT 240 as a prerequisite), that course’s department will need to make the determination on whether they can waive the prerequisite before credit officially posts. The Statistics Department will send students that passed the exam a confirmation email that credit will be posted in the near future.