Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data is growing more important every year in nearly every field. Whether you go into business, academia, medicine, journalism, activism, or government, claims about data will profoundly influence your career and the world around you. Many important real-world decisions hinge on conflicting claims about “what the data show,” such as:

Does raising the minimum wage increase unemployment?

What forms of activism are most effective at changing voters’ minds?

Is a new cancer drug more effective than the current standard of care? Is it more effective only for a subset of patients, and if so how do we identify them? How do we design a clinical trial that gives the most precise answers while experimenting on the fewest patients?

What are the most likely ecological or agricultural effects of climate change, and how do we mitigate them?

Your professional life aside, interpreting data will also increasingly become part of your personal decision making. Should you modify your activities based on data about trends in crime? How should you interpret the results of a medical test? Should data about climate change affect your own choices, and if so, how?

These questions are complex and subtle; we cannot realistically hope for the right answer to “fall out of the data” without careful and rigorous thinking. The best reason to major in statistics is to empower yourself to be an active participant in the data-driven arguments that drive decisions and shape our understanding of the world.

Preparing to Study Statistics

Students interested in exploring the Statistics Major or Minor are encouraged to:

• Review the Statistics Major Map, Statistics Major Snapshot, and Statistics Minor Snapshot.
• Take relevant courses to explore and prepare for Statistics such as Stat 20 or Data C8, and lower division Math Courses (Math 1A, 1B,  53 and 54/56).
• Review Sample Program Plans and develop a draft of your own using the fillable worksheet.
  •  Meet with an Advisor to review your plan.
  • Consider studying abroad as a Statistics Major and incorporate this into your Program Plan.
• Connect with the Statistics Community
• Stay informed about the move of the Statistics major and minor to the new College of Computing, Data Science and Society (CDSS)