As I began to explore deeper into the various DS programs, I found these 4 schools with different designs of the DS curriculum. What do you project would be the minimum gpa and sat for each¿. I looked up their sites for the latest admission stats but would like to solicit your opinion… for qualitative inputs… Penn State actually offers DS from 3 different schools.
UWaterloo is very strong in all things math and computer science. I would expect their data science program to be no different. The program is just a couple of years old.
Waterloo evaluates somewhat holistically and can be as competitive as any US university for their math or engineering programs. It’s a second year entry program, which means entry is dependent on your first year grades so you wouldn’t know until the end of your first year at Waterloo whether or not you got into data science. You would apply first for math or for computer science from high school. Math is easier to get into than computer science. A 3.7 GPA and a 1400 SAT should do it for minimums, but again, they evaluate holistically.
Waterloo really practices a weeding out philosophy in the first year or two. Course averages in math and computer science hover around high 60’s.