Information and Data Science: MIDS

University of California, Berkeley

About the Program

The Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS) is an online, part-time professional degree program that prepares students to work effectively with heterogeneous, real-world data and to extract insights from the data using the latest tools and analytical methods. The program emphasizes the importance of asking good research or business questions as well as the ethical and legal requirements of data privacy and security.

The Fifth Year Master of Information and Data Science (Fifth Year MIDS) is a customized pathway in the MIDS program that is designed for students who have just completed their undergraduate education at UC Berkeley. 

Students attend weekly live ("synchronous") sessions with classmates and instructors via an online platform as well as engaging with online ("asynchronous") videos and assignments on their own time. 

The curriculum includes research design and applications for data and analysis, statistics for data science, data engineering, applied machine learning, data visualization, and data ethics. MIDS features a project-based approach to learning and encourages the pragmatic application of a variety of different tools and methods to solve complex problems.

Graduates of the program will be able to:

  • Imagine new and valuable uses for large datasets;
  • Retrieve, organize, combine, clean, and store data from multiple sources;
  • Apply appropriate data mining, statistical analysis, and machine learning techniques to detect patterns and make predictions;
  • Design visualizations and effectively communicate findings; and
  • Understand the ethical and legal requirements of data privacy and security.

The I School also offers a master's in Information Management and Systems (MIMS), a master's in Information and Cybersecurity (MICS), and a Ph.D in Information Science.

VISIT PROGRAM SITE

Admissions

Admission to the University

Applying for Graduate Admission

Thank you for considering UC Berkeley for graduate study! UC Berkeley offers more than 120 graduate programs representing the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary scholarship. A complete list of graduate academic departments, degrees offered, and application deadlines can be found on the Graduate Division website.

Prospective students must submit an online application to be considered for admission, in addition to any supplemental materials specific to the program for which they are applying. The online application can be found on the Graduate Division website.

Admission Requirements

The minimum graduate admission requirements are:

  1. A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;

  2. A satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale; and

  3. Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field.

For a list of requirements to complete your graduate application, please see the Graduate Division’s Admissions Requirements page. It is also important to check with the program or department of interest, as they may have additional requirements specific to their program of study and degree. Department contact information can be found here.

Where to apply?

Visit the Berkeley Graduate Division application page.

Admission to the Program

Applications are evaluated holistically on a combination of prior academic performance, work experience, essays, letters of recommendation, and goals that are a good fit for the program.

The UC Berkeley School of Information seeks students with the academic abilities to meet the demands of a rigorous graduate program.

To be eligible to apply to the Master of Information and Data Science program, applicants must meet the following requirements:

  • A bachelor’s degree or its recognized equivalent from an accredited institution.
  • Superior scholastic record, normally well above a 3.0 GPA.
  • A high level of quantitative ability as conveyed by significant work experience that demonstrates your quantitative abilities and/or academic coursework that demonstrates quantitative aptitude
  • A high level of analytical reasoning ability and a problem-solving mindset as demonstrated in academic and/or professional performance.
  • A working knowledge of fundamental concepts including: data structures, algorithms and analysis of algorithms, and linear algebra.
  • Proficiency in programming languages, such as Python or Java, demonstrated by prior work experience or advanced coursework. Applicants who lack this experience in their academic or work background but meet all other admission requirements will be required to take the Introduction to Data Science Programming course in their first term.
  • The ability to communicate effectively, as demonstrated by academic performance, professional experience, and/or strong essays that demonstrate effective communication skills.
  • Not RequiredOfficial Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores. As of Fall 2020, we have eliminated the GRE/GMAT requirement. We recommend you put your time and effort towards the required application materials.
  • Official Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores for applicants whose academic work has been in a country other than the US, UK, Australia, or English-speaking Canada.

Note: Admission to the Fifth Year Master of Information and Data Science program requires that the applicant complete their undergraduate education at UC Berkeley in the year prior to starting the program. Consequently, applicants are not required to submit TOEFL scores. However, applicants are required to submit three letters of recommendation and additional short answer essays.

For more information and application instructions, prospective MIDS students should visit the datascience@berkeley Admissions Overview and prospective 5th Year MIDS students should visit the I School Admissions page.

Master's Degree Requirements

Unit Requirements

The Master of Information and Data Science is designed to be completed in 20 months, but other options are available to complete the program. You will complete 27 units of course work over an average of five terms, taking a maximum of 9 units each term. Courses are divided into foundation courses (15 units), advanced courses (9 units), and a synthetic capstone (3 units). Students also complete an Immersion Program.

The unit and coursework requirements for the Fifth Year Master of Information and Data Science are identical, although fifth-year students are also encouraged and supported to seek internships to complement and encourage professional development.

Curriculum

Foundation Courses
DATASCI 200Introduction to Data Science Programming3
DATASCI 201Research Design and Applications for Data and Analysis3
DATASCI 201ACourse Not Available4
DATASCI 203Statistics for Data Science3
DATASCI 205Fundamentals of Data Engineering3
DATASCI 207Applied Machine Learning3
Advanced Courses
DATASCI 209Data Visualization3
DATASCI 231Behind the Data: Humans and Values3
DATASCI 233Privacy Engineering3
DATASCI 241Experiments and Causal Inference3
DATASCI 251Course Not Available3
DATASCI 255Machine Learning Systems Engineering3
DATASCI 261Machine Learning at Scale3
DATASCI 266Natural Language Processing with Deep Learning3
DATASCI 271Statistical Methods for Discrete Response, Time Series, and Panel Data3
DATASCI 281Computer Vision3
DATASCI 290Special Topics3
Capstone Course
DATASCI 210Capstone3

Immersion

The Immersion Program provides MIDS students with the opportunity to meet faculty and peers in person. Students have the opportunity to gain on-the-ground perspectives from faculty and industry leaders, meet with data science professionals, and soak up more of the School of Information (I School) culture. Offered three times a year, each three- to four-day immersion will be custom-crafted to deliver additional learning, networking, and community-building opportunities.

Please refer to the datascience@berkeley website for more information.

Courses

Please note: DATASCI courses are only available for Information and Data Science (MIDS) students.

Information and Data Science

Contact Information

School of Information

102 South Hall

Phone: 510-642-1464

VISIT PROGRAM SITE

Senior Director of Student Affairs

Siu Yung Wong

studentaffairs@ischool.berkeley.edu

Admissions

Phone: 855-678-MIDS

admissions@datascience.berkeley.edu

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