Data Science applies scientific and mathematical principles to find nuanced, complex patterns of physical and human behavior in our increasingly data-driven world. The program is inherently interdisciplinary. Students can choose to study purely in data and mathematical sciences or explore another discipline such as economics, environmental studies, or political science. Students choosing to specialize in another discipline will apply data analysis, mathematical modeling, and computational techniques from courses such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to solve complex problems in that discipline.
Graduates will be able to work and contribute in a variety of data-driven careers and causes. Business analytics, political science, environmental monitoring, and bioinformatics all rely on sophisticated data expertise. This major couples this discipline-focused training with a broad liberal arts education that will empower our students with the expertise necessary to succeed in this rapidly growing and changing field.
The major has three parts: Entry, Specialization, and Exploration. You will take three Entry courses and three Specialization courses. Depending upon your area of exploration, you will take three additional courses and a capstone either in our program or another program. The Entry courses are foundational courses within the discipline. The Specialization courses extend this foundation, while giving you specialized knowledge and skills in some of the discipline’s major sub-fields. The Exploration courses explore data analysis in a disciplinary context. Although students may choose the disciplinary context of their major through choice of Exploration courses, please note that Exploration areas do not appear on diplomas or transcripts.
Placement Procedure
Students with an AP score of 4 or more in Statistics may place out of DMC 106.
Students with an AP score of 4 or more in CS-A may place out of CS 116.
Students with an AP score 4 or more in Calculus AB or BC may place out of DMC 172 and DMC 160.
Double Majors in Computer Science and Data Science
Students who are double majors in Computer Science and Data Science (with the Data and Mathematical Sciences Exploration) may request permission to satisfy the Capstone Experience Goucher Commons Requirement in both majors with a single capstone course; either CS 497 or DMC 497. Students who request this option are required to have the approval of both the Computer Science Program Director and the Data Science Program Director before this option is approved and before they register for their single capstone course.
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