Prospective Students

Prospective Students Info

In the Data Science minor you will learn how to:

• Apply modern data science techniques arising in the fields of computer science and mathematics to solve real-world problems, with a special emphasis on problems arising in the context of biomedical, natural and physical sciences.
• Demonstrate critical thinking and innovation skills in the design of data science techniques as applied to data curation, analysis, modeling, visualization, or decision making, while understanding how to identify and express limitations in the application of models as analytic and predictive tools.
• Communicate and collaborate in a variety of professional contexts and in diverse environments, demonstrating the understanding of principles of effective data visualization design for data communication, as well as communicating effectively with diverse audiences.
• Understand the human and ethical implications of data science and integrate that knowledge into the design and execution of their work by applying relevant ethical and social standards to: demonstrate understanding of privacy issues; analyze and discuss social impacts in the realm of data science; advocate for ethical decision making in the use of data.

Enrolling in the Data Science minor

• Any current UMD College Park undergraduate student with at least 4 remaining semesters, GPA of 2.0 or higher, and flexibility to complete 18 credits, can enroll in the Data Science minor, provided they satisfy the DATA minor fundamental statistics prerequisite.
• DATA minor fundamental statistics prerequisite requires taking DATA100, or STAT100, or MATH135, or any 400-level STAT course (i.e., a statistics course offered by the STAT program at CMNS) as a prerequisite to enroll in the minor.
• Students with AP STAT score of 4 or 5, or students with IB Mathematics Analysis or Applications HL score of 5, 6, or 7, fulfill the DATA minor fundamental statistics prerequisite.
• Students must declare a major before enrolling in a minor.
• In situations where a student already has completed some relevant coursework, the requirement of 4 remaining semesters may be relaxed upon approval by the Program Director.
• ENEE324, DATA400, and STAT400 are considered as equivalent courses for the purposes of enrolling in the DATA minor.

Restriction:

Students in the Mathematics major Statistics specialization (1701S), the Computer Science major Data Science specialization (0701B), or the Computer Science major Machine Learning specialization (0701F) may not enroll in the Data Science minor.

Contact:

In order to initiate the enrollment process, please email data-director@umd.edu with your request and a copy of your unofficial transcript.

Important Information for Prospective Students:

Due to an unexpectedly high interest in the DATA minor, we have already reached our quota for this Academic Year 2024/25 and enrollment in the DATA minor is on hold until further notice.

In order to add yourself to the waitlist, please email data-director@umd.edu with your request, UID number, and an attached pdf copy of your unofficial transcript.

We will revisit the waitlist in March 2025.

Office Hours:

In person office hours are held in Mathematics Building, room 2105 (MTH2105) on a first come – first served basis.

For online office hours, please email data-director@umd.edu ahead of time, to receive a personalized Zoom link.