Application Deadlines
- Fall: August 1
- Spring: December 1
As a qualified UMBC undergraduate student, you may apply to the Accelerated Program in your junior or senior year, earning up to six credits toward a future graduate certificate or nine credits toward a future master’s degree. You will benefit by shortening the time to degree completion, experiencing the cost savings of taking graduate courses at undergraduate tuition rates, having flexible learning options (many courses taught in evening or in hybrid format), and gaining practical knowledge and skills.
At a Glance
Delivery
Hybrid
Online
Locations Offered
- UMBC Campus (Catonsville)
- Shady Grove (Rockville)
Key Benefits:
- Earn your bachelor’s and master’s or certificate in as little as five years.
- Enhance your career potential.
- Apply in the future to a UMBC graduate program with a $50 graduate fee waiver.
- Pay toward your first graduate semester with UMBC’s $1,000 Alumni Scholarship.
Accelerated Program Admissions Requirements
Requirements For Computer Science (CMSC) Students
To be eligible for the accelerated graduate certificate or master’s degree option, you must meet the following requirements:
- Have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0. If less than 3.0, admission consideration based on Graduate Program Director’s discretion.
- Be a junior or senior at UMBC, and be admitted at least one semester prior to completion of a bachelor’s degree.
- Students are required to complete UMBC’s MATH 151, CMSC 331, CMSC 341, and STAT 355 prior to starting the accelerated program.
Requirements for non-CMSC students
To be eligible for the accelerated graduate certificate or master’s degree option, you must meet the following requirements:
- Have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0. If less than 3.0, admission consideration based on Graduate Program Director’s discretion.
- Be a junior or senior at UMBC, and be admitted at least one semester prior to completion of a bachelor’s degree.
- Students are required to complete the following UMBC courses before applying:
- Statistics (STAT 351, STAT 355, or equivalent)
- Calculus (MATH 151 or equivalent)
- Programming (CMSC 201, or IS 147 or equivalent)
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Accelerated Program Application Process
All accelerated program application materials will be submitted through UMBC’s Docusign
- Complete the Graduate School Accelerated Program Application Form.
- Catonsville campus interest lists Renee Eisenhuth, reisen@umbc.edu, as the Graduate Program Coordinator and Masoud Saroush, masoud.soroush@umbc.edu, as the Graduate Program Director.
- Shady Grove campus interest lists Kris Kaarid, kkaarid1@umbc.edu, as the Graduate Program Coordinator and Muhammad Ali Yousuf, maliyou1@umbc.edu, as the Graduate Program Director.
- Attach your unofficial undergraduate transcripts to the Docusign form.
- If you are a transfer student or completed the prerequisites at a different institution, include transcripts from the previous institutions you attended.
- Optional: Obtain and attach recommendation letters. Recommendation letters are not required but may be included to support your application.
After Accelerated Program Admission
Once admitted to the Accelerated Program, review the course schedule and complete the Approval for Undergraduates to Take Courses for Graduate Credit form to request permission to enroll in the graduate-level courses you plan to take in your first semester as an Accelerated Program student. This form must be resubmitted each semester you plan to take graduate-level courses as an undergraduate.
One semester prior to the completion of your bachelor’s degree, submit an application to the Graduate School. The Graduate School application fee is waived for Accelerated Program students (contact the Graduate School if you do not have the fee waiver code).
Once admitted to the Graduate School, complete the Graduate School’s Credit Transfer form to transfer the graduate-level courses you took as an undergraduate to the graduate program. You may transfer up to six credits toward a graduate certificate or up to nine credits toward a master’s degree. Only graduate courses completed with a B or higher are eligible to be transferred.
How it Works
- As an undergraduate student in the Accelerated Program, you may take six to nine graduate-level credits that may be double-counted toward your undergraduate degree.
- Review your course selections with your undergraduate advisor to ensure the graduate-level courses will count toward your undergraduate degree.
- The following courses are eligible for undergraduates in the Accelerated Program to complete:
The goal of this class is to give students an introduction to and hands on experience with all phases of the data science process using real data and modern tools. Topics that will be covered include data formats, loading, and cleaning; data storage in relational and non-relational stores; data governance, data analysis using supervised and unsupervised learning using R and similar tools, and sound evaluation methods; data visualization; and scaling up with cluster computing, MapReduce, Hadoop, and Spark.
Prerequisite: Enrollment in the Data Science program. Other students may be admitted with instructor permission.
This course provides a broad introduction to the practical side of machine-learning and data analysis. This course examines the end-to-end processing pipeline for extracting and identifying useful features that best represent data, a few of the most important machine algorithms, and evaluating their performance for modeling data. Topics covered include decision trees, logistic regression, linear discriminant analysis, linear and non-linear regression, basic functions, support vector machines, neural networks, Bayesian networks, bias/variance theory, ensemble methods, clustering, evaluation methodologies, and experiment design.
Prerequisite: DATA 601: Introduction to Data Science and enrollment in the Data Science program. Non-Data Science students may be permitted with instructor permission.
Data science relies heavily on the principles of probability theory and inferential statistics for extracting meaningful insight from complex datasets. DATA 608 introduces students to the essential concepts and tools of probability theory and statistics that form the backbone of data-driven decision-making processes. The course emphasizes a combination of theoretical tools, and application-oriented analysis to enable students to utilize statistical methods effectively in real-world data science scenarios.
This course introduces students to the essential concepts and tools of probability theory and statistics that form the backbone of data-driven decision-making processes. The course emphasizes a combination of theoretical tools, and application-oriented analysis to enable students to utilize statistical methods effectively in real-world data science scenarios.
This course consists of two major parts. In the first part, the key concepts of probability theory such as the probability space, different distribution functions, probability mass functions and densities, random variables, variance and covariance, expectation values and moments, conditional probability, independence, Bayes formula, laws of large numbers, and the central limit theorem are introduced. In the second part of the course, the basic concepts of statistical inference are covered.
| Semester | Data Science Core Courses | Additional Courses |
|---|---|---|
| Fall of final Undergraduate Year | DATA 601 | Undergraduate Courses |
| Spring of final Undergraduate Year | DATA 602 , DATA 608 | Undergraduate Courses |
| Fall of first Graduate Year | DATA 603, DATA 604, and DATA 605/611 | Pathway Course 1 |
| Spring of first Graduate Year | DATA 606 | Pathway Course 2, Pathway Course 3 |
Accelerated Program Academic Standards
Once admitted to the Accelerated Program, you must maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher. If you earn a C or lower in a graduate-level course while in the Accelerated Program, that course cannot be transferred to a master’s degree or graduate certificate. You may be removed from the Accelerated Program if your GPA falls below 3.0, if you receive more than two C grades, or if you receive any D or F grade. Consult your undergraduate advisor to determine if any grades received in graduate-level courses will affect your ability to complete your undergraduate degree.
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