UC San Diego undergraduate students who would like to change from another major or undeclared into the DSC program may apply to the major via the Capped Major Application. Applications must be submitted on or before the deadline.

Please note that space within the Data Science major is limited and admission is not guaranteed. We recommend that all interested students looking to switch majors meet with their current Major Advisor, College Advisor, and a DSC Advisor during drop-in advising. Prospective transfer students are strongly encouraged to meet with their College Advisor and a DSC Advisor to discuss their interest and ability to become a DSC major. Advising hours and instructions can be found on the Advising page of our website.

Students majoring in Data Science may NOT double major or minor in Computer Science & Engineering.

The Data Science Capped Major Application can be found on the UC San Diego Capped Major tool here: https://soeapp.ucsd.edu/cappedmajor/DSC  

• WINTER 2024:
  • Open to Students to Apply: Wednesday, January 3
  • Deadline to Apply or Make Changes: Sunday, January 14
  • Offers of Admission Sent: Monday, January 22 – Friday, January 26
  • Deadline to Accept/Deny: Friday, February 9
• SPRING 2024:
  • Open to Students to Apply: TBD
  • Deadline to Apply or Make Changes: TBD
  • Offers of Admission Sent: TBD
  • Deadline to Accept/Deny: TBD

1. Successful completion of the 3 screening courses: (MATH 18 or MATH 31AH), (MATH 20C or MATH 31BH), and DSC 10.
   • Courses must be completed at the time of the Capped Major Application to be eligible. Students may not have any outstanding grades for screening courses or any reason (e.g., Incompletes, pending Academic Integrity case, etc.)
2. Students who entered UC San Diego as First-Years must apply by their 6th academic quarter.
3. Students who entered UC San Diego as Transfers must apply by their 3rd academic quarter.
4. Students with 150+ units at the time of the application will need to submit 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.
5. Students are allotted 2 application attempts.

1. Students will be ranked based on their GPA in the 3 screening courses: (MATH 18 or MATH 31AH), (MATH 20C or MATH 31BH), and DSC 10.
   • Grades from transfer credit will be used in calculating the GPA for the screening courses, but not overall GPA.
2. Students with the same GPA in the screening courses will be ranked 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 available seats, random selection will be made from among the students at that rank to fill in the remaining seats.

Students who entered UC San Diego as Freshmen: 

Students must be on track to complete DSC 30 and DSC 40A prior to their 3rd year at UC San Diego to be on track for an on-time graduation. Prospective students in their 2nd year are strongly encouraged to meet with a DSC Advisor during drop-in hours to review their long term plan for the major. Advising hours and instructions can be found on the Advising page of our website.

Students who entered UC San Diego as Transfer Students: 

Currently, the DSC major requires a minimum of 8 quarters for transfer students to complete. To remain on this 8-quarter transfer plan, transfer students must be on track to complete DSC 30 and DSC 40A prior to their 2nd year at UC San Diego. Prospective transfer students are strongly encouraged to meet with a DSC Advisor during drop-in hours to review their long term plan for the major. Advising hours and instructions can be found on the Advising page of our website.