BSDS Change of Major Policy

The Computer Science department will accept change of major applications to the BS Data Science from students with fewer than 90 units.  This policy applies to all students, except that Former Students Returning who were Data Science majors in good standing when they left 91ÁÔÆæ will normally be readmitted to the major.  In particular, the Change of Major Policy applies to all other Former Students Returning, and to all students seeking a second major in Data Science.

Details of the policy are:

  1. Applicants must be in good academic standing to be considered for a Change of Major.
  2. Applicants must have achieved both a sufficiently high 91ÁÔÆæ Cumulative GPA and a sufficiently high GPA in courses that are required to apply at the time that the application is submitted.  For 2024, a 3.5 or higher for both GPAs is required to apply.
  3. Applicants must have completed the following courses with a C or better by the end of the semester the application is submitted:
    • For students with fewer than 60 units:
      • Either: CS 22A (only if taken before CS 46A), CS46A, MATH42 and a Java knowledge course* (if necessary)
      • Or: CS 46A, CS 46B, MATH 42  and a Java knowledge course* (if necessary)
      • Note:  If CS 22A is taken  concurrently or after CS 46A, it will not count toward the change of major requirements and the following courses are required: CS 46A, CS 46B, MATH 42  and a Java knowledge course* (if necessary)
    • For students with 60 or more units, but less than 90:
      CS46A, CS46B, MATH30, MATH31, MATH42, CS131. 
  4. These are minimum requirements and do not guarantee admission due to space limitations.
  5. According to Presidential Directive 2009­-05, applications submitted by students who have earned 90 units or more will not be considered.

Applications will be accepted twice per year, with deadlines of December 1st for Spring semester (notification by approximately February 3) and May 1st for Fall semester (notification by approximately June 30).  

Review of applications will occur only after the application deadline.

Submissions

Applications for Change of Major should be submitted to the College of Science Student Success Center.

Due to space limitations, even if the student has met all the requirements, there is no guarantee of admission to the Data Science major.  Final admission will depend on the capacity of the new major and the ranking based on the GPA in the courses required to apply and the 91ÁÔÆæ Cumulative GPA.  

Questions? Contact College of Science Student Success Center

* A Java knowledge course is considered to be a required course for those students, and only those students, who need it to satisfy the CS146 prerequisite Java language requirement.