Capped Major Application
UC San Diego first or second year undergraduate students who would like to change from another major or undeclared into the Data Science Undergraduate Program may apply to the major via the Capped Major Application. Applications must be submitted on or before the deadline.
At this time, transfer students are not eligible to apply to the Data Science major through the Capped Major application. If you are a transfer student interested in learning more about alternative ways to build your Data Science skills, please connect with the department through your Virtual Advising Center.
Students are allotted only two application attempts. Therefore, if you are not admitted during your first attempt, you have one additional opportunity to apply, so long as you still meet eligibility requirements.
The Data Science Capped Major Application can be found on the UC San Diego Capped Major tool here: https://soeapp.ucsd.edu/cappedmajor/DSC
Tentative Capped Major Application Dates:
Next Capped Major Application Cycle: WINTER 2020
- February 27th: Capped Major Application Opens
- March 30th at 11:59:59 PDT: Capped Major Application Closes
- Applications will be reviewed once grades have been posted from the Winter 2020 Quarter. Offers of admission will be sent between Tuesday, March 31st and Monday, April 6th. Students will have until April 9th to accept the offer of admission.
Additionally, we will allow one screening course taken during the Spring 2020 quarter to be taken as P/NP. Students who choose to take one screening course during the Spring 2020 quarter must complete the other two screening courses for a letter grade to be eligible.
Eligibility Requirements:
- 1) Successful completion of 24 units (for letter grade) at UC San Diego (to ensure that students are making progress towards their degree).
- 24 units must be must be completed and/or in progress* at the time of the Capped Major application to be eligible.
- Please note: If you are applying while courses to meet the 24 unit minimum are still in progress and you Withdraw or Fail courses needed to reach 24 units, your application will be denied. Furthermore, this will be considered one of your allowed two application attempts. Therefore, we recommend applying with units still in progress if you are confident you can pass the necessary minimum units.
- 2) Successful completion of the screening courses (for a letter grade): MATH 20C, MATH 18/20F, and DSC 10.
- Courses must be completed and/or in progress* at the time of the Capped Major application to be eligible.
- Please note: If you are applying while a screening course is still in progress and you do not ultimately pass or complete that course with a C- or better, your application will be denied. Furthermore, this will be considered one of your allowed two application attempts. Therefore, we only recommend applying with a screening course still in progress if you are confident that you will pass the course with a C- or better.
- Students who pursue the honors versions of MATH 18 and MATH 20C (MATH 31 AH and MATH 31 BH, respectively) will also be eligible for the Capped Major Application.
- Spring 2020 Quarter ONLY: One screening course taken during the Spring 2020 quarter will be allowed to be taken as P/NP. Students who take one screening course during the Spring 2020 quarter must complete the other two screening courses for a letter grade to retain eligibility.
- Courses must be completed and/or in progress* at the time of the Capped Major application to be eligible.
- 3) Students must apply by the end of their sixth academic quarter at UC San Diego.
- Summer Quarters are not included in this total
- At this time, students seeking Readmission who previously completed 6 or more academic quarters at UC San Diego are not eligible for acceptance.
- Due to the new “Time to Degree” policy, transfer students who have matriculated as a different major are unable to switch into the Data Science major through the Capped Major Application process. This is due to the additional screening process that would add to transfer students’ time to graduation, without a guarantee of acceptance into the major.
Students with 150+ units at the time of the application review wil need to have submitted a quarter by quarter (QxQ) plan for their remaining requirements to be reviewed by the DSC department and their college. QxQ plan must be emailed to dscstudent@ucsd.edu no later than the capped major application deadline.
Selection Process:
- Students will be ranked based on their GPA in the screening courses, MATH 20C, MATH 18/20F, and DSC 10. Grades from transfer credit will be used in calculating the GPA for the screening courses.
- Students with the same GPA in the screening courses will be ordered by their overall GPA.
- Students will be admitted according to their ranking based on the number of available seats. If there are more students at a given rank than the available seats, random selection will be made from among the students at that rank to fill in the remaining seats.
Data Science Capped Major FAQ's
The number of students accepted into the Data Science major will depend on faculty and staff capacity at the time of the Capped Major application.
During the Spring 2019 application cycle, we were able to admit 75% of applicants, with an average screening course GPA of 3.53. The number of students we admitted during this cycle was based on department capacity at the time of the application, which will continue to fluctuate in the future. Therefore, we are unable to predict how representative these figures will be of future application cycles. However, the odds of getting into the major should not be your focus! Focus on setting your long-term goals for academic and career development. Explore the many options you have for attaining them. Learn to manage expectations, and to be resilient, resourceful, adaptable, and creative! Resources included College Advisors, Computing Paths, Career Services Center, and CAPS.
Students are ordered, first, by their GPA in the three screening courses (Math 18, Math 20C, and DSC 10). If multiple students have same screening course GPA, those students will be further ordered by their overall GPA. Therefore, focus on completing your courses to the best of your ability, and utilize on-campus resources such as OASIS, the Teaching + Learning Commons, in addition to course TA’s and tutors, for extra support.
You are eligible to apply to the Data Science Capped Major application if you have completed and/or are currently enrolled in the three screening courses (DSC 10, Math 18, and Math 20C). We will review applications after grades have been posted for the quarter.
No. Articulated transfer coursework that has been completed with a C- or better (or a Pass grade for AP/IB/A-Level) cannot be repeated for credit at UC San Diego, as it is considered duplicate credit. Therefore, the transferred grade will be factored into your Screening course GPA.
Students may apply up to two times through the Data Science Capped Major application. If a student submits an application but does not meet eligibility requirements, this will still count toward their two allowed applications. This is to ensure students make progress toward a major at UC San Diego, rather than continually applying without guaranteed admission.
Students who would like to add Data Science as a double major must still apply and be accepted through the Capped Major application in addition to submitting their Double Major petition form. If you are accepted through the Capped Major application and choose to accept the major change, you will be removed from your current major. Therefore, be sure to connect with your other major BEFORE the Capped Major application to understand their policy about re-adding their major as a second major. If you would be unable to re-add your current major without going through a Capped Major application, or that major must be listed as your primary major, then you will NOT accept the major change. Instead, notify the Data Science department before the deadline to inform us of your intention of adding Data Science as your secondary major through the Double Major Petition form.
Students who have left the Data Science major and wish to return to the Data Science major must also apply through the Capped Major Application, and will not receive guaranteed admission.