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Information for Biometry and Statistics Majors students who entered Fall 2020 or Spring 2021

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Thomas DiCiccio

Grades

Courses required for the major must be taken for letter grades. To remain in good standing in the major, a student must have a GPA of at least 2.3 in all courses required for the major including advanced electives. A student must earn a grade of C- or better in every required course; if a student receives a lower grade in a required course, the course can be retaken until a C- or better is earned, or the requirement can be satisfied by another course. If these requirements are not met, a student may, if desired, transfer to the General Studies major but still complete the coursework required for the major. 

Course substitutions

If a student’s faculty advisor approves in advance, the student may substitute a similar course for a requirement of the Biometry and Statistics major. For example, BTRY 4090 may be replaced by another suitable course in the theory of statistics, such as MATH 4720. 

Counting courses not on the Statistical Methods list as electives

Students may petition to have courses not on the Statistical Methods count as electives for the major. Decisions about petitions will be made by a committee of the Statistics faculty. Courses that are approved as electives through the petition process will be added to the list. 

Double majors

A student may fulfill the requirements of two distinct majors. If both majors are in the same college, the double major can be officially recognized. If you wish to do this, you should discuss your situation as early as possible with the Director of Undergraduate Studies or Undergraduate Advising Coordinator of the home department of the second major. A faculty advisor in the second major should be arranged. 

Transferring credits to the major

It is important to distinguish between transfer credits toward graduation, which are evaluated by your college Registrar’s Office, and transfer credits toward the major, which are evaluated by the statistics faculty. It is the individual student’s responsibility to provide sufficient information to the Registrar’s Office and the statistics faculty for evaluation of transfer credits, including Advanced Placement credits. 

Transferring into the major/Declaring a major

A student must be in good academic standing in the program from which the student is transferring and also by the standards of their college. To transfer in as a sophomore, a student must have completed one year (two semesters) of calculus with an average grade of B- or better and must have taken at least one course in statistics. To transfer in as a junior, a student must have completed one year (two semesters) of calculus with an average grade of B- or better and must have taken at least two courses in statistics. Transfer students will be exempted from all required courses for which they have taken equivalent courses at other colleges or universities. A  student transferring into the major must meet with the student’s faculty advisor to discuss and determine which required courses the student has been exempted from taking. 

Major Requirements

All required classes must be taken for letter grade, only grades of C- or higher will count towards major requirements. 

Calculus I & II: MATH 1110 and MATH 1120 /1220 /1910 

Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra: MATH 2210 & 2220 or 2230 & 2240 or 1920 & 2940 or 2130 & 2310 

Statistical Methods I: BTRY 3010/STSCI 2200 

Statistical Methods II: BTRY 3020/STSCI 3200 

Probability: BTRY/STSCI 3080 or MATH 4710 

  • Alternatives include ECON 3130 and ORIE 3500 

Linear Models: BTRY/STSCI 4030: Linear Models with Matrices 

  • ECON 3140 is an alternative. 

Theory of Statistics: BTRY/STSCI 4090, or MATH 4720 

Statistical Computing: BTRY 4520 

Students entering the major as sophomores (including transfers and Arts and Sciences students declaring a major) must have completed Calculus I & II and Statistical Methods I. 

Students entering as juniors must have also completed Statistical Methods II and Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra 

ECON 3110 and/or ECON 3120 may be substituted for Probability and Linear Models respectively only by double majors in Economics if taken prior to joining Statistical Science. 

Students must additionally complete two courses from the Statistical Methods Electives list below, and another 3 courses of Related Electives that make a thematically-linked sequence. 

Statistical Methods Electives 

BTRY/STSCI 3090: Theory of Interest 

BTRY/STSCI/ILRST 3100: Statistical Sampling 

STSCI/ORIE 3510: Introduction to Engineering Stochastic Processes I 

STSCI/ILRST 4010: Great Ideas in Statistics 

STSCI 4060: Python Programming and its Applications in Statistics 

BTRY/STSCI/ILRST 4100: Multivariate Analysis 

BTRY/STSCI/ILRST 4110: Categorical Data 

BTRY/STSCI/ILRST 4140: Applied Design 

BTRY/STSCI 4270: Introduction to Survival Analysis 

BTRY 4381: Biomedical Data Mining and Modeling 

STSCI/ILRST 4550: Applied Time Series Analysis; cross-listed as ORIE 5550 

STSCI 4740: Data Mining and Machine Learning 

STSCI 4780: Bayesian Data Analysis: Principles and Practice 

STSCI/ORIE 5640: Statistics for Financial Engineering 

ECON 4110 Cross Section and Panel Econometrics 

BTRY 4820: Statistical Genomics 

BTRY 4830: Quantitative Genomics and Genetics 

BTRY 4840: Computational Genetics and Genomics 

NTRES 6700: Spatial Statistics 

ORIE 4741: Learning with Big Messy Data 

BTRY 4980, 4990 and STSCI 4970, 4990 are recommended, but cannot be used for major requirements. 

Three thematically-linked courses covering related topics to statistics. The courses should either have a quantitative component that involves probabilistic reasoning or covers mathematical or computational tools that are used within statistics. 

  • CS 1110: Introduction to Computing Using Python, or 
  • CS 1112: Introduction to Computing Using Matlab 

may be used as one of these courses in conjunction with two others in any discipline. This is strongly recommended for anyone without prior programing experience. 

Courses from the Statistical Methods list may be used to satisfy this requirement, but no course can be used for both requirements. Unless otherwise noted all courses should be taken at the 3000 level or above. Example sequences are provided on the Statistical Science and Biometry 

The following are suggested external elective subjects along with potential courses. This list is not exhaustive and any external elective sequence should be agreed on with your faculty advisor. 

Note that individual courses may not be available some years and specific course offerings may change. 

Mathematical Statistics

(recommended if you are considering graduate school in statistics) 

MATH 3110/4130: Mathematical Analysis and two of 

Any MATH classes at the 3000 level or above 

CS 2110: Object Oriented Programing 

ORIE 3300/3310: Optimization 

ORIE 4580: Simulation Modeling and Analysis 

CS 3220 or CS 4220: Scientific Computing and Numerical Analysis 

Statistical Methods 

Three further courses from the Statistical Methods electives. 

Computational Statistics and Data Management 

STSCI 4060: Python Programing and its Applications in Statistics 

CS 2110: Object Oriented Programing 

CS 3110: Data Structures and Functional Programing 

CS 4320: Introduction to Database Systems 

CS 4786: Machine Learning for Data Science 

INFO 3300: Data Driven Web Applications 

ORIE 3120: Industrial Data and Systems Analysis 

Statistics, Policy and Communication 

COMM 4860: Risk Communication 

ILRST: The Ethics of Data Analysis 

INFO 4200: Information Policy: Research, Analysis and Design 

INFO 4250: Surveillance and Privacy 

INFO 4270: Ethics and Policy in Data Science 

INFO 4700: Data and Algorithms in Public Life 

STS 3020: Science Writing for the Media 

STS 3811/PHIL 3810: Philosophy of Science 

Economics 

ECON 3030: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory 

ECON 3040: Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory 

Plus any ECON courses at 4000 level or above, but particularly 

ECON 4020: Game Theory 

ECON 4110: Cross Section and Panel Econometrics 

ECON 4220: Financial Economics 

Actuarial Studies 

BTRY/STSCI 3090: Theory of Interest 

BTRY/STSIC 4270: Survival Analysis 

STSCI/ORIE 4550: Applied Time Series Analysis 

AEM 2241: Finance or ECON 4220: Financial Economics 

AEM 4210: Futures, Options and Financial Derivatives or ECON 4220: Financial Economics 

STSCI/ORIE 5640: Statistics for Financial Engineering 

Finance 

AEM 4210: Futures, Options and Financial Derivatives 

ECON 4220: Financial Economics 

ECON 4902: Banks 

HADM 2250: Finance 

ORIE 4630: Operations Research Tools for Financial Engineering 

ORIE 4742: Information Theory, Probabilistic Modeling, and Deep Learning, with Scientific and Financial Applications 

ORIE 4820: Spreadsheet-Based Modeling and Data Analysis 

Statistical Genetics 

BIOMG 2800: Genetics and two of 

BIOMG 4870: Human Genetics 

BTRY 4381: Bioinformatics Programming 

BTRY 4810: Population Genetics 

BTRY 4820: Statistical Genomics 

BTRY 4830: Quantitative Genomics and Genetics 

BTRY 4840: Computational Genetics and Genomics 

ENTOM 4610: Model-based Phylogenetics and Hypothesis Testing 

ENTOM 4700: Ecological Genetics 

Information Sciences 

INFO 3300: Data-Driven Web Applications 

INFO 3350: Text Mining History and Literature 

INFO 4154: Analytics-driven Game Design 

INFO 4310: Interactive Information Visualization 

Computer Science and Machine Learning 

CS 2110: Object-Oriented Programing 

CS 3220 or CS 4220: Scientific Computing and Numerical Analysis 

CS 4700: Foundations of Artificial Intelligence 

CS 4740: Natural Language Processing 

CS 4780: Machine Learning 

ORIE 4741: Learning with Big Messy Data 

ORIE 4742: Information Theory, Probabilistic Modeling, and Deep Learning, with Scientific and Financial Applications 

ORIE 6741: Bayesian Machine Learning 

Quantitative Biology and Ecology 

BIONB 3300: Computational Neuroscience 

BIONB 4220: Modeling Behavioral Evolution 

ENTOM 4700: Ecological Genetics 

MATH 3610: Dynamic Models in Biology 

NTRES 4110: Quantitative Ecology & Management of Fisheries Resources 

NTRES 4120: Wildlife Population Analysis 

VTPMD 6660: Advanced Methods in Epidemiology