Frequently Asked Questions

1. Talk to a data science advisor (today!) See Faculty page for more information.

2. Talk to a concentration advisor.

3. Gather the registrar’s documents for individual majors:
   Individual Major Form (here, “concentration” means four courses from one department - note that MATH and STAT are the same dept)
   Unofficial Transcript
   Statement of Intent

4. Make a copy of the Supplemental Form for Declaring Data Science and fill it out.

5. Email both advisors (in one email) the supplemental form, individual major form, unofficial transcript, and statement of intent, and ask them to write statements of support

6. Receive signed statements of support from the two advisors, electronically

7. Email the registrar all the documents - those you emailed the advisors, plus the two statements of support - with the subject “Individual Major Proposal”

8. You will hear from the registrar if/when your proposal is approved 

If you are a Data Science major or STAT minor, we recommend that you first take MATH 205, and then begin statistics with STAT 218.

If waiting to take STAT 218 after MATH 205 would make it difficult for you to complete the major, STAT 160 may be a good option for you. STAT 160 is a rigorous introductory statistics course without prerequisites, aimed at students who plan to continue in statistics and data science. 

For other options, all with prereqs:

• PSYC 105 (formerly called 205)
• ECON 103/SOC 190
• BISC 198
• POL 299

QR/STAT 150 does not count as an introductory statistics course for the data science major. Students who have taken 150 should move forward by choosing one of the introductory courses listed above.  

STAT 260: prereq is any intro stats course, includes practical data handling skills, data cleaning, visualization, missing data, non-parametric methods 

STAT 318: prereq is STAT 218 or STAT 260, plus MATH 205 and MATH 206, includes proofs/derivations that STAT 260 skips, advanced regression models

Another option is the QAI Summer Program, a non-credit version of STAT 260:

• Does not count as one of the 12 major courses

• Satisfies the statistical modeling foundation

• Take an additional elective if using this as a foundation course

We recommend beginning with any introductory programming course, equivalent to CS 111 (Python), followed by CS 230 (Java). 

However, it is understandable if you cannot get into these courses. CS 111 and CS 230 are over-enrolled and give preference to underclasswomen. Good thing: they are offered every semester.

But, do not wait!

All 300-level CS courses require CS 230. 200-level, elective CS courses allow you to take CS 230 in parallel (with permission of instructor, based on strong CS111 showing). Learning the foundations of programming early on, makes it easier to become proficient in R and work with advanced tools (e.g. R Shiny) or build your own R packages. Both Python and R are extremely popular in Data Science circles and offer similar libraries.

Yes, you can. However, data science concentrations cannot have the same name as the other major.

Not allowed:

• Economics + DS with economics

Instead, concentrate in something unrelated or in a subfield of other major.

Allowed:

• Economics + DS with social justice
• Economics + DS with global health economics

There is no double counting. Many courses count toward DS and another major or minor Choose where to count each course, and choose an elective in other major/minor (with advisor approval). 

For example: DS/PSYC double major could

• count PSYC 105 toward DS and take an additional elective for PSYC
  or
• count PSYC 105 toward PSYC and take an additional elective for DS

Yes, with exceptions. For example, Data Science majors can minor in math. However, Data Science majors cannot minor in statistics or CS.

There is no data science minor, but there is a statistics minor.

Statistics minor information:

• Advisors: Prof. Pattanayak and Prof. Wang

• Can be added to any major, including Math (but not DS!) 

• Under the Math department

• First cohort of 7 students graduated 2019

• Many of the same rules as data science: extra electives instead of double-counting, extra electives if placing out of a requirement or taking the QAI Summer Course, statistical modeling must be taken at Wellesley, don’t wait for CS 111, study abroad and MIT courses possible

• CS 230
• Statistical modeling foundation course
• Two 300-level courses

It will be easier to find countable courses abroad if you have already taken statistical modeling at Wellesley.

Preapproved MIT courses:

• 6.00 Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, in place of CS 111
• 18.600 Probability and Random Variables, as elective, in place of STAT/MATH 220
• 6.036 Introduction to Machine Learning, as CS elective
• 18.615 Introduction to Stochastic Processes, as STAT elective
• 18.655 Mathematical Statistics, as STAT elective, in place of STAT 221
• 15.068 Statistical Consulting, as STAT elective

• There is no limit to courses you can take credit-non, similar to many other majors.
• You cannot substitute other courses for MATH 206 unless placed out of it
• No independent studies are permitted

No. Similarly, you do not have to be a data science major or statistics minor to take courses in stats and CS. Your resume can say "coursework in ..."

• Quantitative Analysis Institute - internships, events, statistical consulting, join the Google group, like us on Facebook. The QAI also has many online resources for students interested in intermediate statistics.  
• SIDI - new student group, express interest here
• BOW DataFest in Spring 2020
• Help us make the new Data Lounge all about data!
• Check out our document on getting involved in statistics and data science, inside and outside the classroom