Program Requirements

Requirements

  • Coursework
    • 36 credits
      • 24 graded STA; 6 graded/ungraded STA; 6 STA or non-STA**
        • First-year MSS Core is a set of 6 required 3-credit courses on models & methods, theory, computing and practice, plus a 1-credit pro-seminar. First-year students generally take additional courses from the recommended electives. A student having substantial prior courses in one or more of these may be permitted to substitute an alternative, more advanced course on approval of her/his advisor and the MSD. 
        • Second-year Core & Electives is a set of courses offering a diverse range of advanced and special topics including advanced courses specific to the STA MSS program.
    • Satisfactory progress on courses
      • Some courses, including required first-year courses, have formal prerequisite courses. A student whose grade on a prerequisite course is lower than C+ may be required to undertake additional assignments to enroll in the required course, following discussion with the course instructor and the MSD.
  • Applied Statistics Experience
  • Progress Toward Completion
    • Each MSS student must complete the Progress Report Form and submit it to the DGS assistant by April 22.
  • Completion Exercise
    • Either Portfolio or Master's Thesis

First Year Required Core*

Fall Semester Spring Semester
STA 521 Predictive Modeling and Statistical Learning
STA 523 Programming for Statistical Science
STA 581 ProSeminar: Becoming a Professional Statistician**
STA 601 Bayesian and Modern Statistical Data Analysis
 

STA 531 Advanced Bayesian Inference and Stochastic Modeling
STA 532 Theory of Statistical Inference
STA 663 Statistical Computing and Computation

*The requirements are somewhat flexible depending on student background and interest. Any changes to the requirements must be approved by the Master's Director prior to registration.  

Elective Courses

Electives typically offered

STA 522 Study Design: Design of Surveys and Causal Studies
STA 561 Probabilistic Machine Learning
STA 571 Advanced Machine Learning
STA 583 Internship Writing and Communication***
STA 613 Statistical Methods in Computational Biology
STA 621 Applied Stochastic Processes
STA 623 Statistical Decision Theory
STA 640 Causal Inference
STA 642 Time Series and Dynamic Models
STA 643 Modern Design of Experiments
STA 644 Spatio-Temporal Modeling
STA 650 Social Networks
STA 841 Categorical Data
STA 851 Statistical Consulting Workshop
STA 944 Spatial Statistics

*** 1 credit   ** If students need to take more than 6 credits external to the department (and have it count toward the degree), they should get approval from the Master's Director. 

MSS Focus Area/ Tracks

The Master's in Statistical Science (MSS) program provides guidance for students interested in particular statistics focus areas/ tracks: