Department of Mathematics and Statistics

I am currently a first year Statistics Major at CSUMB. From the second that I visited CSUMB, I knew this university provided an environment that I want to be a part of. Even though CSUMB seems so small from an outside perspective, the school is amazing for so many different reasons. From the feeling that you are in the middle of nature to the great accommodations to the tremendous support, CSUMB is like no other. CSUMB is a hidden gem. The ability to walk to the beach, rent out a computer for free, and participate in research opportunities makes CSUMB ideal. From working with monarch butterfly data for the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum last semester to analyzing data for Second Harvest Food Bank with Dr. Kim this semester, CSUMB has been a valuable experience for me being a statistics major. Most of all, the amount of support you receive from the professors is unmatched. I’ve never felt alone in a class at CSUMB. These professors with the small class sizes make you feel a sense of community that a larger school cannot offer. For all students considering CSUMB, there is no reason to think twice because CSUMB has so many opportunities and support for you.

My name is Jessica Naranjo and I am from Pomona, California. I am a first-generation Mexican-American student and I just graduated from CSUMB as a Mathematics major with a minor in Data Science in May 2024. Before making my decision to attend here, I had talked to previous students about their experiences here. There was a consensus about the positive learning environment at CSUMB, which helped me decide to come here. Since the department is small, I felt comfortable approaching my professors and the students here too. As a result, I found a great group of friends and mentors who challenge and believe in me. 

One of my favorite classes here is MATH 362S: Service Learning for Mathematics and Statistics Consultants class. This class helped me realize a lot about the impact mathematics and statistics have on the world. Being able to help out a non-profit organization and participate in weekly discussions about how to ethically conduct statistical work influenced me to continue to want to pursue a career as a data scientist in which I can help people using the skills and knowledge I have (and will continue to) gain. During my time here, I participated in genomic summer research as a NIH Genome Research Experiences to Attract Talented Undergraduates (GREAT) Scholar and traveled to present my work at various symposiums and conferences. I also was selected to be and will be conducting research in the summer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as a GEM Fellow and pursuing my Master’s in Statistics at Oregon State University in the fall.

I would advise CSUMB Math or Stats students to go to professor’s office hours and to take advantage of all the resources available to them here. The professors here are always so nice and willing to help in any way that they can. I have no doubt that any student will be able to find a community that will support them in and out of coursework here.

While I was a student there, The Math & Stats department made the learning process easier by recognizing the importance of group projects and presentations. The skills you learn, such as breaking down complex subjects for different types of audiences, and showcasing your work to others has made the jump from school to work so much easier. I feel that I was fully prepared for job interviews, presentations to large groups, and how to communicate my problem-solving process to others, to name a few. 

When I arrived at CSUMB, I had several careers that I wanted to pursue. The department helped focus my efforts by offering internships, student jobs or research opportunities, and a wide range of electives - which led me to a data analysis career. The math classes directly helped with the mathematical logic and set theory I needed to combine and organize complex data sets, and the stats classes helped with the research and statistical programming parts of my career. 

The faculty and staff were always friendly and available to help. Their planning and outreach efforts were the reason why I found out about the Statistics program, and even applied to & accepted internships for UC Santa Cruz and the County of Monterey. I even worked as an assistant to the department and after I graduated, I was able to create a service learning partnership there. This shows that before, during, and after I was a student there, the department offered opportunities to help advance my career and use this to help others. I believe this department does everything they can to support students through all stages of their career. 

Looking back at my time at CSUMB, I can summarize what I valued most about this department and faculty. All of the classes, including mathematical proofs, differential equations, linear algebra, statistical programming, and statistical theory are all very tough subjects. What I appreciated about the department was how they strategize the best way to present this complex information to students. It takes so much work to summarize the most important parts of a difficult class, create a plan to help students solve these problems together, then reinforce what they have learned by having them teach it to others. With that in mind, in addition to all of the other strengths the department has such as small class sizes and research opportunities, I would highly recommend the math and statistics department to incoming CSUMB students.

While at CSUMB, I conducted research with Dr. Kim involved exploring Bayesian approaches to Bland Altman analysis. Through working on this project, I learned how to program in R, constructed data simulations, gained exposure to Bayesian statistics methodology, developed a web applet, and helped publish a research manuscript. Prior to working with Dr. Kim, I didn’t have any formal research
experience and I never thought that I would be able to contribute to a project like this. instruction. After graduating from CSUMB, I went on to pursue my Master’s Degree in Statistics from the University of California, Berkeley and am now applying my data and statistics skills as a Data Reporting and Analytics Consultant at Kaiser Permanente. The skills that I gained through working with Dr. Kim and the faculty in the Mathematics and Statistics program and the knowledge I gained from their mentorship truly set me up to succeed in graduate school and beyond.

Alari, K. M., Kim, S. B., & Wand, J. O. (2021). A Tutorial of Bland Altman Analysis in A Bayesian Framework. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science, 25(2), 137–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/1091367X.2020.1853130