Data Science
Student Affairs Newsletter
DSC Advisors
Drop-In Advising
Drop-in advising sessions are a maximum of 15 minutes and are first come, first served. You can attend drop-in advising at the HDSI Student Affairs Office.
Topics for drop-in advising with an HDSI UG Advisor can include:
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Course selection
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Academic deadlines
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Booking Courses (Enrollment)
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Hold clarification
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Resource referrals
* These advising issues can be discussed in a drop-in session or an appointment depending on the complexity of the questions.
For drop-in advising, please select the “Meet with Advisor” tab in the Virtual Advising Center (VAC).
HDSI UG Drop-in Availability:
For Fall 2026, we are offering both in-person and virtual drop-in advising as follows:
Weeks 0-2 (September 21-October 9): 15-minute drop-in advising between 2:30 pm and 5:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, first come, first served.
Weeks 3- 11 (October 12- December 11): 15-minute drop-in advising Wednesdays 9:00 am – 11:00 am and 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
As a reminder: long-term planning requires more than 15 minutes; please schedule an appointment with an advisor.
Please note that drop-in advising availability is subject to change. Please check the DSC Newsletter Site for updated hours
Appointments
Topics requiring an appointment with a HDSI UG Advisor can include:
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Academic difficulty discussion
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Declaring a major/minor
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Double major planning
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Long-term planning
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Petitions (Triton Enrollment Authorization (TEA) request, double major, minor, course substitution, course pre-authorization, financial aid appeal)
HDSI UG Advising uses Google Scheduling for scheduling appointments. Please feel free to book an appointment with one of our advisors below:
*To prepare for your advising appointment, we recommend that you draft your academic plan so that it can be reviewed during your appointment. You may use the UCSD Academic Plans and your degree audit to create your own plan using the Academic Planning Worksheet.*
Please note that appointments/preferences are offered 10 days in advance and in 30-minute increments. If there are no appointments when you go to the booking page, please return later to check for new availability. If your matter is urgent, please message us in the VAC.
Helpful Resources
How to Create Your Long Term Plan:
Here are some helpful websites when creating your academic plan:
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Academic Planning Worksheet: This link provides the worksheet of the QxQ plan above for you to fill in your coursework.
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Major Requirements: This website lists all of the requirements that need to be completed for the major.
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Academic Plans: This website offers a basic plan for incoming first-year and transfer students. This plan does not take into account any transferred or AP credit.
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Course Descriptions and Prerequisites: A description of courses and the prerequisites for each Data Science Course. You can use this website to know which courses you need to take before taking a particular course. For example, if you are going to place DSC 80 in a specific quarter, you will notice that the prerequisites for DSC 80 are DSC 30 and DSC 40A. This means DSC 30 and 40A need to be placed/completed before DSC 80. This website is also helpful if you plan on petitioning. You can read the course description and compare it to courses you have transferred and see where there may be some alignment.
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Course Offerings: Contains which quarters certain courses will be offered. Look up a course in the search bar and it will give you a tentative schedule of when the course is offered.
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Important:
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TEA's have to be approved by the add deadline.
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We cannot approve students past the add date (after Friday of Week 2).
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We cannot allow students to skip the waitlist.
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If you drop a DSC course, we cannot add you to the course, you will need to reenroll or add yourself to the waitlist. It is advised that you always prioritize your DSC courses during enrollment.
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Prerequisites:
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Prereqs are strictly enforced in the Data Science Department. If you feel that you have taken relevant material, then you can submit a course substitution petition.
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Note: Petitioning out of DSC 30 does not mean you skip DSC 10 and 20.
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Petitions:
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If you petitioned a prereq, attach the approved petition to your request for a quicker processing time.
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Ex: Approved petition for DSC 20. Include the approved DSC 20 petition to your DSC 30 TEA request.
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DSC 190:
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Registrar cannot distinguish between DSC 190s.
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If you enroll in DSC 190, you won't be able to waitlist into another DSC 190. In order to do this, you will need to contact the registrar.
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The petition system is typically used for students to request credit for courses outside of the Data Science department or from other campuses. If you feel that you have already taken relevant coursework from other campuses that can be transferred, you will need to submit a petition.
Pre-Approval Petitions:
Pre-approval petitions are designed for students who have not yet taken a course or are currently enrolled in a course (with pending or no grades yet on their Academic History), but wish for approval that it will apply toward their DSC requirements.
Major Requirement Waiver:
Major requirement waiver petitions are designed for students who are requesting to exempt themselves from a specific DSC major requirement.
Course Substitution Petitions:
Course substitution petitions are designed for students who have already successfully completed a course (with a grade of C- or better on their Academic History) and wish to use the course as a substitution for a DSC requirement.
Minor Requirement Waiver:
Minor requirement waiver petitions are designed for students who are requesting to exempt themselves from a specific DSC minor requirement.
Double Major Petitions:
Due to the new Triton Student System (TSS) implementation, students cannot change their majors or minors in TSS until later in the Fall 2026 quarter. For more information, read the TSS Project Update. Double majors will be submitted throughTSS in the future. Do not begin this process by email.
For updates and more information, please see here.