Look at degree requirements. Check traditionally which classes fill up quickly. You can look at course schedules from last Fall if you want to see which classes tend to be full.
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I have a relative who took courses the summer before starting at UCLA. Your son doesn’t need orientation to sign up for summer courses.
The two of you should be working together on this. Have him look at what prep courses are required for his major. See which courses have openings over the summer and read Rate My Professor or BruinWalk to see which professors/courses are more rigorous.
While summer session is short, he will have the benefit of focusing on just one course rather than three or four.
Other than the cluster, I recommend spacing out GEs so they make tough quarters a little lighter. I told my kids that, if at all possible, plan to take your most rigorous courses during winter quarter. Fall quarter has a lot of welcome back activities and the first few weeks fly by because so much is happening. Before you know it, you’re taking midterms. Winter quarter you are in your groove. It has shorter days, colder weather and fewer social activities. Spring tends to start off well, but with the longer days, warmer weather and lots of social activities, it is more difficult to focus at the end of the quarter. For those living in the dorms, it is tough to pack up for move out while studying for finals.
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We had reached out the department counselor for prep course and understand what he needs for Fall, probably Math 32A, one Stats course and one GE course. Thanks for the advice for winter courses, we didn’t know that.
As for GE courses, dept counselor said need check with the College counselor for the requirement. He will do his homework to research the summer GE courses, and see which one he is interested and check availability, some had been fully filled.
Thanks everyone. 
Math 32A has Math 31A as a pre-req. Have him go through the courses (pre-req and major courses) and write down pre-reqs for the required courses. It will help him map what order to take the courses.
From the department website:
Incoming first-year and transfer students may be admitted as Statistics and Data Science pre-majors on acceptance to UCLA. Pre-major students must apply for the major after completing Statistics 20, and one course from Statistics 10 through 15, with grades of C or better, and an overall grade-point average of 2.5. Any student who meets the pre-major requirements may declare the major with the undergraduate student services adviser through Message Center.
To me, it looks like taking Stats 20 and one course from Stats 10-15 might be a good choice over the summer. Granted, I know nothing about these particular courses so he needs to research them.
Stats 20 has an enforced requisite of one course from course 10, 12, 13, 15, Economics 11, 41, or Psychology 100A, or score of 4 or higher on AP Statistics. Meanwhile Stats 10 has no pre-reqs.
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AP Calculus BC get score 5, he can skip math 31A and 31B.
Stats 10 lecture 1 is full, lecture 3 has 11 spots. Stats 13 and Stats 20 are still available. He is waiting for admission office/registrar office to confirm he can waive stats 10 when he took another similar college summer Stats course after official transcript was sent.
That’s why it is hard to decide what to take at this time.
Unless he has a decent programming background already, I wouldn’t rush into STATS 20 on his own the first summer. It’s the sort of course where working together on the programming might be helpful. I know my S23 has said that intro programming courses are viewed as a lot of work (he’s waited to take his intro programming course to do his math and physics pre-requisites first). Maybe one of the intro STAT courses would be better (STAT 15 if offered?).
Taking a math class will be tricky if he’s waiting for a Calc BC AP score (you need 5 to get credit for both 31A and 31B). I’d be reluctant to move to 32A before knowing if you have to retake 31B.
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Sigh, probably take a GE course is better, so many uncertainties for now.
You could pick STAT 10 plus a GE in the same session and then make sure you have a backup GE lined up that has plenty of spots if you find out STAT 10 can be waived.
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Here is a PDF of GE requirements by school. They have specific categories.
When you search for classes online, you can narrow it by category.
I would take one GE class and one stats class.
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I’m an UCLA alum.
My son got into UCLA.
Your son looks to be better prepared for college than most people I know.
Instead of saying what classes your kid should take for the summer before school starts, I would rather advise you to just tell him to enjoy the summer. There are better ways to spent 6 weeks and $5-8K than summer school at UCLA.
I get he wants to jump right in, but having worked literally all my life, I would say, there will probably never be another time your son will enjoy an almost 4 months of break after this. 8 units is really nothing, he can easily squeeze that in the first year.
Sometimes boredom from 4 months of vacation will get you super motivated to start school in Fall.
Really, just enjoy this as a luxury.
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FYI - My kid is in the same major and he was advised at orientation last summer not to take Stats 20 right away.
ETA: apologies I meant to reply all, not to you directly.
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Thank you so much for all the recommendations, appreciate it. 
I will let him decide what he wants to do this 4-month summer break. I feel like work hard for 4-year high school is already too much.
Right.
Personally I think UCLA summer school would have been helpful last year to audition for admission. Now that he is in, he has nothing to prove anymore.
Remind him once school starts, he will focus on finding research, job, or internships in the next three summers to come that will definitely keep him occupied. This summer, really just enjoy the free time. It may never happen happen again for a long long time.
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However, the summer session can be useful to find a group of friends in advance of the madness of freshman week. A couple of my S’s friends did that and stayed close to the people they met in summer session. And my S’s closest friend was someone in his orientation group.
Especially when going to a college on the quarter system like UCLA, the summer before college is very, very long and many HS friends will be starting college in mid-August leaving you on your own for another 5 weeks (which is worth thinking about when you are deciding between the first and second six week sessions). Despite taking an overseas trip and having a job, that summer stretched on and on for my my older S and I think he would have appreciated having something else to do. Conversely my younger S is perfectly happy to sleep in most of the day and play computer games most of the night.
Its not about having anything to prove but about having a less pressured introduction to college. Its also great to be the person who knows where everything is and how it works during freshman week.
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Most of my closest friends were ones I met during orientation. I met more in the dorms once school started.
I do agree that summer was looong since classes didn’t start until the last Thursday of September. But that is the luxury of youth.
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Also I still got lost by Spring quarter not being able to find one of the largest lecture halls on campus. After spending 8 years and getting two degrees from UCLA, the last time I went with S24 for a tour, I was still finding (old) things that are new to me.
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I second what others have said about having a break during the summer. Most of these kids had grueling HS and college application years. My S23 was pretty burned out by his second semester of senior year and needed the laziness of summer. He did have a part time job but it was only about 6-8 hours/week.
Another reason to take the summer break is because for many kids, the madness starts back up almost immediately in their Frosh year - which we were not ready for. Club rush for business/consulting, premed, engineering projects/teams, frats/sorority and many other ECs at UCLA are quite competitive. My S23 spent an inordinate amount of time applying for and interviewing for various consulting clubs that was really time consuming. Rushing is similar. We thought he could just ease into college but he ended up writing more essays and applications in a really short amount of time that he described as just as stressful as college apps.
Let me be clear that not everyone falls into this application frenzy for 1st quarter - I don’t think it was most but plenty do. My son and both of his roommates applied for numerous competitive business or premed clubs during 1st quarter. One of my his roomies even rushed a very competitive frat 1st quarter and felt that he barely had time for school. Many other Frosh do it during their second quarter.
This was something we weren’t prepared for that we wish we were mentally ready for in advance.
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Good to know that. We think about summer class for the reason of fast transition to know more about the school. Take 1 or 2 GE courses may help him have an idea of the workload and meet some new friends.
He also heard it is very competitive for the freshman to join clubs and other EC. He will try his best. If get it, it is great; if no, don’t take it seriously. I hope him enjoy his 4-year college life there.
Hi,
I’m interested in applying for the parents council. Is it possible to connect via email? I just have a few questions before I submit the application.
Thank you!