MATCS-BS - Mathematical and Computational Science (BS)

Mathematical and Computational Science (MCS) will stop accepting students to its program on August 30, 2022. The program will remain available only to currently enrolled students who declared prior to that deadline. MCS students who change majors can NOT switch back to MCS. Students who are interested in this field of study in the future should consider the Data Science major, whose B.S. option is very similar to MCS.

The mission of the Mathematical and Computational Science (MCS) Program is to provide students with a core of mathematics basic to all the mathematical sciences and an introduction to concepts and techniques of computation, optimal decision making, probabilistic modeling, and statistical inference. The program is interdisciplinary in its focus, and students are required to complete coursework in mathematics, computer science, statistics, and management science and engineering. A biology option is offered for students interested in applications of mathematics, statistics, and computer science to the biological sciences (bioinformatics, computational biology, statistical genetics, neurosciences); and in a similar spirit, there are engineering and statistics options.

Utilizing the faculty and courses of the departments listed above, this major prepares students for graduate study or careers in the mathematical and computational sciences or in those areas of applied mathematics which center around the use of computers and are concerned with the problems of the social and management sciences. 

The MCS program offers a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical and Computational Science. Eligible students may also pursue a Bachelor of Science with Honors.

How to Declare the Major

*Please note: Mathematical and Computational Science (MCS) will stop accepting students to its program on August 30, 2022. The program will remain available only to currently enrolled students who declared prior to that deadline. MCS students who change majors can NOT switch back to MCS. Students who are interested in this field of study in the future should consider the Data Science major, whose B.S. option is very similar to MCS.*

To declare the MCS major prior to August 30, 2022, a student should use the MCS planning sheet to plan their course of study and share that document with the student services officer. They should then meet with the MCS student services officer to discuss the major and declare in Axess. Students should have taken several of the required courses prior to declaring, and they should have an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or above.

Suggested Preparation for the Major

Students ordinarily would have taken two of the required Math courses (typically Math 51, 52, or 53) and one of the required Statistics core courses (typically Stats 116 or Math 151) before declaring MCS during their freshman or sophomore year.

Course transfer credit is subject to department evaluation and to the Office of the Registrar's external credit evaluation. These courses may result in a replacement course for MCS required course or may establish placement in a higher-level course. Transfer requests must first be submitted to Student Services Center prior to being evaluated by your advisor.

Transfer Credit for MCS Declared Students

Transfer credit must be approved first by the University Registrar's Office* (and listed on your Stanford transcript), and then by the department before it can be used towards your MCS major requirements. It is the student's responsibility to compile the documents required for course transfer evaluation form.

1. Complete an MCS Course Equivalency Petition for each course and attach all necessary documentation (course description, syllabus, and unofficial transcript).

2. Submit the above documents to the student services officer in Sequoia Hall, Room 124

3. Ask the Student Services Center to send a copy of the specific course approval paperwork (Request for Transfer Credit Evaluation form) to the student services officer: Sequoia Hall, room 124 - MCS program OR by email mcs-inquiries@stanford.edu

Students in the Mathematical & Computational Science program are expected to achieve the following learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are used both in evaluating students and the undergraduate program. By the time they graduate, majors are expected to:

1. Frame questions of interest from a variety of disciplines in quantitative terms, and to identify what data types might be useful in addressing them.
   

2. Select and use appropriate modeling, inferential, and computational approaches for solving the problem at hand.  Specifically, they will be able to:  

(2a.) Justify their approach on the basis of mathematical and statistical reasoning.

(2b.) Implement the chosen strategy with computationally efficient algorithms and following modern software engineering principles. 

(2c.) Test it empirically.

(2d.) Assess its limits.

3. Convey quantitative analysis and technical results to a wide audience, effectively communicating the uncertainty associated with their conclusions, and taking care to assure the reproducibility of results.
   

4. Contribute creatively to the theoretical and/or applied frontiers of at least one of the following disciplines: statistical analysis, optimization, computation, and mathematical modeling.