As Week 7 begins, we are officially two-thirds through the early fall term. Hard to believe, huh? This is the time of the term when students are usually in the thick of their final projects, for those classes that have them.

I wanted to talk today about some ?lessons learned? so far in 620. It?s no secret that this is the class that usually strikes the most fear into IMC students (with all due respect to Prof. Ramos and New Media), and with good reason. This is because of the math/statistics concentration, which is not natural for us writers.

For me, this definitely has been the toughest course in the program so far. However, here are some tips I?ve learned along the way that may help those of you who haven?t taken the class yet.

Read, read, and re-read: There is a lot of material to cover. It is more difficult than most class readings, because there are numerous statistical concepts to be mastered. Everything builds on previous material, so you must be vigilant from the beginning to not get behind. Allow time for several re-readings, because you will need it.

Practice SPSS: Start working with the SPSS statistics computer program from the beginning as well. This is an area where I could have done better myself. Not all of the writing assignments use SPSS, so it is easy to set it aside and concentrate on the weekly work. However, SPSS is central to the final project, so you must master it. Take some time every week to experiment with the program, whether it?s playing around with it yourself, taking the tutorial, etc.

Seek help from the professor and classmates: I am fortunate to have a really good group of classmates and a great professor for 620. Dr. Gao promptly and politely answers all questions. She also posts a great deal of supplemental material. This class is a good mix student-wise. Everyone seems interested in doing the best they can, and in helping on another. One trick I have learned in my time in the program is to seek out classmates? help if I am having particular problems with something. In any class, it is usually pretty easy to pick out one or two top students who obviously give a lot of effort and know what?s going on. These types of students are usually willing to help with questions, or merely serve as a sounding board for ideas.

I hope these tips help you as you get ready for 620. A couple of other notes: ?Ask Todd? is still open for business, if anyone has IMC program questions or comments. Also, don?t forget to check out the new advanced direct marketing elective. More information appears in a previous blog post below. Have a great Week 7!