Data Science Minor Approved Electives
Selecting an approved elective for your Data Science Minor
The Minor in Data Science requires one approved elective course relevant to the minor. While there are many courses that can be approved electives, the course options open to the individual student will depend on the student’s academic studies and majors/minors/certificates programs.
Below is a list of pre-approved elective options for the minor, but there are many courses taught at Northwestern that are not on the pre-approved list that might be acceptable as an elective. The process for requesting approval for an elective course not on the pre-approved list is also detailed below.
Ideally, the course you select will not only enrich your study of Data Science but also support your future goals and applications of your studies.
Once you have taken your approved elective course for the Data Science minor it is important to report it using the Elective Completion/Changes instructions to ensure your elective is properly associated with your data science minor degree.
Criteria to keep in mind when selecting your elective course
No Double Counting. The elective course for the minor cannot be double counted with another Weinberg major, minor, or certificate. It may not be used to meet a requirement of any other Weinberg program. See https://www.weinberg.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/degree/double-counting-faq.html Note: Cross school double counting is generally okay with a few exceptions. If you have questions, please contact Undergraduate Program Assistant Deric Holloway deric.holloway@northwestern.edu
It must be an approved course. The course can be from the Pre-approved Elective Course List, it can be an approved elective from your Data Science Minor Approved Plan of Study, or you can submit a Data Science Minor Elective Approval Request form to receive department approval for a course not on the pre-approved list.
The course should be an advanced course that meets one or more of the following criteria:
- It is an advanced Statistics, Mathematics, or Computer Science course
- It is a course that uses data extensively
- It is a quantitative methods or data related course within your major
The course can be an elective course offered in a subject you are majoring or minoring in. In fact, this is encouraged if an acceptable elective is offered by the department/program. However, please remember that you must complete all the course requirements for that major/minor PLUS all of the requirements for the Data Science minor with no double counting (see policy link above).
It must be a course you are eligible to take. Check the prerequisites for the course you want to take to be sure it is something you will be able to take. This is especially important if you will be submitting a request for a course not on the pre-approved list to be counted as your approved elective for the minor.
It can be a course you have already taken. Depending on your academic background, you may have already taken a course that meets the qualifications listed above.
We encourage you to look for advanced courses that you are eligible to take that will support your goals that have led you to choosing to complete the Data Science minor.
Requesting approval for a course not on the Pre-approved Elective course list
The Pre-approved Elective Course List for the minor in Data Science only includes courses that are regularly taught by departments. However, there are many courses offered at Northwestern such as topics or special courses that might serve as a good elective for the minor in Data Science that will not be included on this list.
If the course you hope to take as an approved elective for the Data Science minor is not on the Pre-approved Course List, you will need to request department approval for the course to be counted as your elective by completing a Data Science Minor Elective Approval Request form.
To request the Data Science Minor Elective Approval Request form, please contact Deric Holloway at deric.holloway@northwestern.edu and he will send you the link to the form and instructions for completing it. Please note that the course you submit should meet the criteria for selecting an elective course outlined above.
After submitting the form, an advisor will evaluate and make a determination about the course you are requesting, then you will be notified of the advisor’s decision. If the course is approved to be your elective course, it will be recorded in your approved plan of study for the minor.
Submitting the Data Science Minor Elective Approval Request form prior to taking the course is suggested, but the form can also be submitted for a course you have already taken.
If you have any questions about whether a course you are proposing meets the required criteria for the elective, please contact Deric Holloway at deric.holloway@northwestern.edu.
Pre-approved Elective Course List for the Minor in Data Science
Below are the pre-approved elective courses for the Minor in Data Science listed by subject. This list includes courses that are regularly taught by departments/programs only.
When selecting a course, please be aware that some of the courses listed here might not be available to all students. You must have the pre-requisites for these courses to register for them and in some cases the course may only be open to students who have a major/minor in that subject. Being a Data Science minor does not exempt you from the pre/co-requisites set for these courses or give you any priority for registering for them.
Also, please keep in mind Weinberg Double Counting rules if you have Weinberg majors/minors in addition to the Data Science minor https://www.weinberg.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/degree/double-counting-faq.html
If there are special considerations for majors/minors in a specific subject, it is noted with the list of courses for that subject.
List last updated: May 19, 2023
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Anthropology
ANTHRO 322 Introduction to Archaeology Research Design and Methods
ANTHRO 324 Archaeological Survey Methods
ANTHRO 362 Advanced Methods in Quantitative of Analysis
ANTHRO 389 Ethnographic Methods and Analysis
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement --- see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Biological Sciences
BIOL_SCI 323 Bioinformatics: Sequence and Structure Analysis
BIOL_SCI 338 Modeling Biological Dynamics
BIOL_SCI 341 Population Genetics
BIOL_SCI 354 Quantitative Analysis in Biology
BIOL_SCI 359 Quantitative Experimentation in Biology
BIOL_SCI 378 Functional Genomics
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students, especially Biological Science majors/minors, may find additional 300-level BIOL_SCI courses that could be used to fulfill the Data Science minor elective requirement. See Requesting Approval for a Course Not on the Pre-Approved Elective Course List for directions on how to request approval for an BIOL_SCI course not listed here.
Biomedical Engineering
BMD_ENG 311 Computational Genomics
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students in McCormick are allowed to double count the Data Science minor elective towards a McCormick major/minor.
Chemical Engineering
CHEM_ENG 379 Computational Biology: Analysis and Design of Living Systems
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students in McCormick are allowed to double count the Data Science minor elective towards a McCormick major/minor.
Cognitive Science
COG_SCI/PSYCH 345 Presenting Ideas & Data (previously COG_SCI/PSYCH 245)
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Communication Studies
COMM_ST 352 Social Network Analysis
COMM_ST 355 Audience Analysis
COMM_ST 358 Algorithms and Society
COMM_ST 371 Cultural Analytics
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students in the School of Communication are allowed to double count the Data Science minor elective towards their School of Communication major/minor.
Computer Engineering
COMP_ENG 329-0 The Art of Multicore Concurrent Programming
COMP_ENG 358-0 Introduction to Parallel Computing
COMP_ENG 365-0 Internet-of-things Sensors, Systems, And Applications
COMP_ENG 368-0 Programming Massively Parallel Processors with CUDA
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students in McCormick are allowed to double count the Data Science minor elective towards a McCormick major/minor.
Computer Science
COMP_SCI 214 Data Structures & Algorithms (not allowed for Computer Science majors/minors)
COMP_SCI 217 Data Management and Information Processing
COMP_SCI 323 Code Analysis and Transformation
COMP_SCI 325 Artificial Intelligence Programming
COMP_SCI 331 Introduction to Computational Photography
COMP_SCI 333 Interactive Information Visualization
COMP_SCI 335 Introduction to the Theory of Computation
COMP_SCI 336 Design & Analysis of Algorithms
COMP_SCI 337 Natural Language Processing
COMP_SCI 339 Introduction to Database Systems
COMP_SCI 344 Design of Computer Problem Solvers
COMP_SCI 345 Distributed Systems
COMP_SCI 347 Conversational AI
COMP_SCI 348 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
COMP_SCI 349 Machine Learning
COMP_SCI 351-1 Introduction to Computer Graphics
COMP_SCI 351-2 Intermediate Computer Graphics
COMP_SCI 352 Machine Perception of Music & Audio
COMP_SCI 367 Wireless and Mobile Health: Passive Sensing Data Analytics
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students in McCormick are allowed to double count the Data Science minor elective towards a McCormick major/minor.
Earth and Planetary Science
EARTH 323 Seismology and Earth Structure
EARTH 327 Geophysical Time Series Analysis
EARTH 340 Physics of Weather and Climate
EARTH 343 Earth System Modeling
EARTH 353 Mathematical Inverse Methods in Earth and Environmental Science
EARTH 360 Instrumentation and Field Methods
EARTH 361 Scientific Programming in Python
EARTH 362 Data Analysis for Earth and Planetary Sciences
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Economics
ECON 310-1 Microeconomics
ECON 310-2 Microeconomics
ECON 311-0 Macroeconomics
ECON 329 Experimental Economics
ECON 330 Behavioral Economics
ECON 331 Economics of Risk and Uncertainty
ECON 336 Analytic Methods for Public Policy Analysis
ECON 380-1 Game Theory
ECON 381-1 Econometrics
ECON 381-2 Econometrics
ECON 383 Applied Econometrics
Students, especially Economics majors/minors, may find additional 300-level ECON courses that could be used to fulfill the Data Science minor elective requirement. See Requesting Approval for a Course Not on the Pre-Approved Elective Course List for directions on how to request approval for an ECON course not listed here.
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Electrical Engineering
ELEC_ENG 328 Information Theory & Learning
ELEC_ENG 331 Introduction to Computational Photography
ELEC_ENG 332 Introduction to Computer Vision
ELEC_ENG 335 Deep Learning Foundations from Scratch
ELEC_ENG 373 Deep Reinforcement Learning
ELEC_ENG 375 Machine Learning: Foundations, Applications, and Algorithms
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students in McCormick are allowed to double count the Data Science minor elective towards a McCormick major/minor.
Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics
ES_APPM 344 High Performance Scientific Computing
ES_APPM 346 Modeling and Computation in Science & Engineering
ES_APPM 370 Introduction to Computational Neuroscience
ES_APPM 375-1 Quantitative Biology
ES_APPM 375-2 Quantitative Biology
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students in McCormick are allowed to double count the Data Science minor elective towards a McCormick major/minor.
Geography
GEOG 341-0 Principles of Cartography
GEOG 343-0 Geographic Information Systems
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Global Health Studies
GBL_HLTH 320 Qualitative Research Methods in Global Health
Global Health majors/minors can use GBL_HLTH 320 for their Global Health major/minor OR for their Data Science minor elective, they cannot use it for both.
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences
IEMS 308 Data Science and Analytics
IEMS 313 Foundation of optimization
IEMS 315 Stochastic Models
IEMS 317 Discrete Event Systems Simulation
IEMS 340 Field Project Methods
IEMS 341 Social Networks Analysis
IEMS 351 Optimization Methods in Data Science
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students in McCormick are allowed to double count the Data Science minor elective towards a McCormick major/minor.
Integrated Marketing Certificate
Registration for these courses is restricted to IMC students only
IMC 302 Research for Marketing Communications
IMC 307 Digital, Social and Mobile Marketing
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
IMC students are allowed to double-count one, and only one, course with a major or minor.
Journalism
Medill students are prioritized for these courses
JOUR 342-1 Knight Lab
JOUR 377-0 Knight Lab: Data Analysis and Visualization
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Provided the course is taken as a Medill general elective, Journalism majors may double count one of these courses as an elective for the Data Science minor.
Linguistics
Mathematics
MATH 306 Combinatorics & Discrete Mathematics
MATH 308 Graph Theory
MATH 310-1 Probability and Stochastic Processes
MATH 310-2 Probability and Stochastic Processes
MATH 310-3 Probability and Stochastic Processes
MATH 311-1 MENU Probability and Stochastic Processes
MATH 311-2 MENU Probability and Stochastic Processes
MATH 311-3 MENU Probability and Stochastic Processes
MATH 314 Probability and Statistics for Econometrics
MATH 366 Mathematical Models in Finance
MATH 368 Introduction to Optimization
MATH 370 Mathematical Logic
MATH 386-1 Econometrics for MMSS
MATH 386-2 Econometrics for MMSS
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Music Theory
MUS_THRY 348-0 Corpus Studies
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Political Science
POLI_SCI 310 Methods of Political Inference
POLI_SCI 312 Statistical Research Methods
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Psychology
PSYCH/COG_SCI 345 Presenting Ideas & Data (previously PSYCH/COG_SCI 245)
PSYCH 369 Psychological Tests & Measures
PSYCH 380 Advanced Statistics and Experimental Design
PSYCH 387 Consumer Psychology and Marketing Research
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
School of Education and Social Policy (SESP, SOC_POL)
SESP 272 Field Research Methods (previously SESP 372)
SOC_POL 330 Economics of Social Policy
SOC_POL 331 Economics of Inequality and Discrimination
SOC_POL 333 Economics of Health, Human Capital, and Happiness
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Students in the SESP are allowed to double count 2 courses at most from their SESP major with a Weinberg minor.
Sociology
SOCIOL 303 Analysis and Interpretation of Social Data
SOCIOL 329 Field Research and Methods of Data Collection
SOCIOL 335 Sociology of Rational Decision Making
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Statistics and Data Science
STAT 320-1 Statistical Theory and Methods 1
STAT 320-2 Statistical Theory and Methods 2
STAT 320-3 Statistical Theory and Methods 3
STAT 328 Causal Inference
STAT 342 Statistical Data Mining
STAT 344 Statistical Computing
STAT 348 Applied Multivariate Analysis
STAT 350 Regression Analysis
STAT 351 Design and Analysis of Experiments
STAT 352 Nonparametric Statistical Methods
STAT 353 Advanced Regression
STAT 354 Time Series Modeling and Forecasting
STAT 356 Hierarchical Linear Models
STAT 357 Introduction to Bayesian Statistics
STAT 365 Introduction to the Analysis of Financial Data
Reminder that the Data Science minor elective cannot be used to satisfy another Weinberg major and/or minor requirement – see Weinberg rules for double counting.
Statistics majors who are also Data Science minors must complete all of the requirements for the Statistics major including the 3 STAT 300-level electives and the courses for the Data Science minor without double counting. See Statistics Major + Data Science minor for more information.
