Requirements for the Major
Honors in the Major
Courses
Room 1220 MSC, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706; 608-262-2598; office@stat.wisc.edu; www.stat.wisc.edu
Professors Bates, Chappell, Clayton, DeMets, Doksum, Loh, Newton, Nordheim, Shao, Tsui, Wahba, Yandell; Associate Professors Keles, Larget, C. Zhang, Zhu; Assistant Professors Ane, Qian, Wang, Z. Zhang
Undergraduate advisor for major: Rick Nordheim, 1110 MSC, nordheim@stat.wisc.edu
Faculty diversity liaison: Jun Shao, shao@stat.wisc.edu
Modern statistics is an exciting subject that affects most aspects of modern living. It has been developed to deal rationally and objectively with the uncertainty that accompanies variation in phenomena as highly complex as the interplay of the many factors that affect our environment. It derives a vitality in coping with practical problems arising in all fields of scientific activity, including the social, business, biological, agricultural, medical, natural, and engineering sciences. Investigators' efforts to learn about a specific phenomenon, be it the response of a patient to a certain medical treatment or the effectiveness of a particular instructional program on a student's learning, are impacted by the presence of natural variation. The field of statistics is concerned with valid and efficient ways to learn more about these phenomena in the presence of such variation. It is an inductive science in which information is extracted from sample data in order to draw inferences. This process most often involves planning experiments to ensure that valid answers to questions are obtained from the sample.
The Department of Statistics has a broad program to fulfill many needs of students at all levels. In particular, the department offers several introductory courses designed for nonstatistics majors in various disciplines. Statistics 301 offers an introduction to statistical methods and provides students with techniques immediately applicable to various subject areas. Statistics 301 can be used to satisfy the statistics requirement for many undergraduate majors, and can be used to satisfy the campus QR (quantitative reasoning) B requirement. For students in the College of Letters and Science, Statistics 301 (or any higher-numbered statistics department course) can be used to partially satisfy the B.S. mathematics requirement. In addition, Statistics 301 can fulfill a requirement or prerequisite for a number of graduate programs. Statistics 224 and 324 require one semester of calculus and are designed to provide an introduction to statistical methods for students in engineering.
Statistics 371 is an additional introductory course primarily for students interested in the biological sciences; Statistics 571 is a more advanced version designed mainly for graduate students in the agricultural and life sciences, although it is also suitable for especially motivated undergraduate students. Statistics 541 provides an introduction to statistical methods for students interested in the medical sciences. Statistics 441 is for students in pharmacy.
At the intermediate and advanced levels there is a wide range of courses either for students who wish to pursue statistics as an undergraduate or graduate major or for students who wish to gain further insight into their own area through additional statistical training. In particular, either of the two one-year course sequences, Statistics 309-310 and 311-312, provides an introduction to mathematical statistics for students who have completed three semesters of calculus. The latter sequence is targeted for students in engineering; other students are encouraged to focus on 309-310. The remaining statistics department courses provide in-depth exposures to various special methods of statistics such as regression analysis, design and analysis of experiments, survey sampling, multivariate analysis, and categorical data analysis. These courses generally require completion of an introductory or mathematical statistics course.
In addition to the general degree requirements, a major in statistics must complete:
At least 20 credits in statistics above 302. These credits must include Statistics 309, 310 or equivalents, 424 and other courses from Statistics 333, 349, 351, 411, 421, 426, 456, and 641. (The undergraduate advisor can approve substitutions under appropriate circumstances.)
At least 3 additional credits from Comp Sci 302, 412, or 525.
At least 6 additional credits from the courses Math 340, 443*, 475, 521*, 522*, 629, and 632
*courses recommended
At least 12 credits in an approved (by the student's advisor) area of concentration of application.
An individual course can be used to fulfill only one of the above three requirements. To be accepted as a major, a student must have completed a basic calculus sequence (Math 221-222-234 or equivalent) with at least a 2.0 GPA.
All students must fulfill the L&S requirement of at least 15 credits of upper-level work in the major completed in residence. Courses that count toward this requirement are Statistics 309, 310, 333, 349, 351, 411, 421, 424, 426, 431, 456, 632, and 641
To be considered for acceptance into Honors in the Major in Statistics, a student must have completed Math 221, 222, and 234 (or equivalent) with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher in these three courses. Listed below are the requirements for Honors in the Major in Statistics.
Students should be aware that Honors in the Major is still under development, and thus should not assume that the requirements specified in this catalog are complete or fully described. Students should check with the department's major advisor at least once a year to make sure that requirements have not been modified, as well as to seek guidance about planning the best possible Honors in the Major curriculum that reflects their special interests. Students who pursue Honors in the Major must also earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3 in all course work taken at UW-Madison at the time of graduation.