Statistics Minor

The Statistics Department will accept letter grade or credit for all minor courses for 2020-21 academic year.

The undergraduate minor in Statistics is designed to complement major degree programs primarily in the social and natural sciences. Students with an undergraduate Statistics minor should find broadened possibilities for employment. The Statistics minor provides valued preparation for professional degree studies in postgraduate academic programs.

The Statistics minor consists of a minimum of six courses with a total of at least 19 units. There are two required courses (7 units) and four qualifying or elective courses (12 or more units). All courses must be taken for a letter grade, where offered.  A 2.75 grade point average (GPA) is required for courses fulfilling the minor.

After declaring the minor in Axess, students must submit the Statistics minor form to the datasciencemajor-inquiries [at] lists.stanford.edu (Student Services Team)  via email or in person at Sequoia Hall, Room 224 before they can be approved. To access the form, log in to your Stanford account; then download the form to your desktop.

Access the Statistics Minor Form

Required Courses (both):

Stats 116: Introduction to Probability (see Note 1)

Stats 200: Introduction to Statistical Inference (see Note 2)

Qualifying Course (choose one):

Math 52: Integral Calculus of Several Variables

Stats 191: Introduction to Applied Statistics

Elective Courses

At least one of the three elective courses should be a STATS 200-level course. The remaining two elective courses may also be STATS 200-level courses. Alternatively, one or two elective courses may be approved courses in other departments. Special topics courses and seminars for undergraduates are offered from time to time by the department and these may be counted toward the elective course requirement. STATS 60/160, STATS 195, STATS 199, STATS 298, STATS 299 or any Statistics courses below the 100 level may not be counted toward the minor.

Examples of elective course sequences are:

  • STATS 202, 203, (204), emphasizing data analysis and applied statistics
  • STATS 205, 206, (207), emphasizing statistical methodology
  • STATS 206, ECON 160, (181), emphasizing economic optimization
  • STATS 206, PSYCH 156, (160), emphasizing psychology modeling and experiments
  • STATS 207, EE 264, (279), emphasizing signal processing
  • STATS 217, BIO 283, emphasizing genetic and ecologic modeling
  • STATS 217, 218, emphasizing probability and its applications
  • STATS 240, 250, emphasizing mathematical finance

Any exceptions to the list of electives must be approved by the department via the Student Services Administrator.  Note that CME 102 is not a suitable course to use in place of MATH 52 - if a student has taken CME 102, they will need to take STATS 191 to satisfy the Qualifying Course requirement.

Any changes to the initial course of study must be approved in advance by the department, as above.

Notes

  1. The Statistics department does not consider CS 109 or CME 106 equivalent to STATS 116. Stats minors who have already taken one or both courses prior to declaring may take either STATS 116 or the more advanced STATS 217 (recommended) to fulfill the requirement.
  2. STATS 200 may not be substituted or waived.

Typical paths to the minor:

Freshman: Math 21, Math 51
Sophomore: Math 52 or Stats 191 (take Stats 116 before 191)
Junior: Stats elective 1, Stats 200
Senior: Stats elective 2, Stats elective 3
Freshman: (AP Calculus), Math 51, Math 52
Sophomore: If not Math 52 then Stats 191 (take Stats 116 before 191)
Junior: Stats elective 1, Stats 200
Senior: Stats elective 2, Stats elective 3

Not sure if the Statistics minor is the right minor for you?

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Interested in a coterm program?

Much like not double counting courses in multiple majors/minors, the courses required for your undergraduate degree do not also count toward your graduate coterm program. If a given course is part of your chosen coterm program and is also required to complete the requirements for a minor, you will need to discuss appropriate higher-level, additional courses with the coterm department to satisfy the requirements of the coterm. Taking the courses for your undergrad minor does not simultaneously satisfy the requirement in your chosen graduate degree program.

Statistics minor inquiries should be addressed to the datasciencemajor-inquiries [at] lists.stanford.edu (Student Services Team) via email or in person at Sequoia Hall, Room 224.