Capped Major Application

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. 

Transfer students will be eligible to apply to the Data Science major through the upcoming Capped Major application. We are still in the process of reviewing our eligibility requirements for transfer students, and will provide an update regarding transfer student eligibility as soon as possible. Please note, however, that prospective transfer students are strongly encouraged to meet with their college advisor and a data science advisor to discuss their interest and ability to become a Data Science major.

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 

Next Capped Major Application Dates:

  • FALL:
    • Open to students to apply: December 3rd 
    • Deadline to Apply or Make Changes: January 3rd at 11:59 pm
    • Offers of Admission Sent: January 4th to January 8th
    • Deadline to Accept or Decline Offer: January 13th 
  • WINTER: 
    • Open to Students to Apply: February 22nd
    • Deadline to Apply or Make Changes: March 23rd at 11:59 pm
    • Offers of Admission Sent: March 29th to April 2nd
    • Deadline to Accept or Decline Offer: April 9th 

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. 
  • 3) Students who entered UC San Diego as Freshmen must apply by the end of their 6th 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.
  • 4) “Quarter of attendance” eligibility requirements for students who entered UC San Diego as transfer students is still being determined. We will update this page as soon as possible.

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:

  1. 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.
  2. Students with the same GPA in the screening courses will be ordered by their overall GPA.
  3. 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.