5th Year MIDS Degree Requirements
The 5th Year MIDS program requires 27 units of study, which will be completed over the summer, fall, spring, and summer terms. As part of the curriculum, students are also required to attend one Immersion Program on the UC Berkeley campus or in other locations relevant to data science prior to completing their degree.
5th Year MIDS is a lock-step program, which means students are required to enroll in and complete specific DATASCI courses each term.
Courses contain both live sessions and asynchronous content. Students are required to be online (and on camera and audio) for at least 90 minutes weekly per course for the live, synchronous sessions.
5th Year MIDS requires foundational knowledge of Python programming, linear algebra, data structures, and algorithms and analysis of algorithms. Admitted students who lack a working knowledge of these fundamental concepts may complete this coursework in their first term.
Curriculum: Course Sequencing
First Summer Semester: Foundation Courses (6 units)
- Data Science W200. Introduction to Data Science Programming *
- Data Science W201. Research Design and Applications for Data and Analysis
Fall Semester: Foundation Courses (9 units)
- Data Science W203. Statistics for Data Science *
- Data Science W205. Fundamentals of Data Engineering *
- Data Science W207. Applied Machine Learning
Spring Semester: Advanced Courses (6 units)
- Data Science W241. Experiments and Causal Inference
- Data Science W266. Natural Language Processing with Deep Learning
Second Summer Semester: Advanced and Capstone Courses (6 units)
* Students with a strong foundation in the relevant topics may be eligible to waive out of DATASCI W200, W203, and/or W205 by taking and passing relevant waiver exams. Students who waive these course requirements will substitute other advanced DATASCI electives.
If you are interested in an accelerated path of three semesters, please consult the admissions team.
All 9 DATASCI courses must be taken on a letter grade basis.
Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least a B (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) in order to earn the MIDS degree.
Immersion
Each 5th Year MIDS student must attend at least one in-person Immersion Program on the UC Berkeley campus or in other locations relevant to data science. The three- to four-day Immersion is crafted to provide a variety of learning, networking, and community-building opportunities. A $500 immersion program fee will be charged. More information about the Immersion Program.
