Difficulty

Moderately challenging

Share of students at each rating

Class-year breakdown needs more responses.It appears after at least two class years have 5 difficulty ratings each.

What makes this major demanding?

Worth it?

84% would recommend it

Recommend
Switched from Cognitive Science

“… I like that the major can be applied to many fields such as finance, healthcare, sports analytics, machine learning, and technology. Some classes can be challenging because they combine theory with coding, but they are rewarding if you put in the effort. UCLA also offers many opportunities for research, internships, and interdisciplinary work, which makes the major valuable for students who want flexibility after graduation.”

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Anonymous studentJunior
Recommend
Don’t recommend

“… the joy you will derive from it will be when you get maybe half a question right or when you realize the curve will bring you to a B+ despite getting a 9% on the midterm. overall, it is a useful major but if you don't enjoy the subject you will struggle quite a bit as it draws a lot of concepts from previous math classes. however, the later classes that involve regression and programming are a little more useful for future application!”

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Anonymous studentSophomore
Don’t recommend

1–2 of 4

Students’ starting certainty

More answers are needed before showing a percentage.

PositiveEnjoyment & fit

“It is very cool. I have always liked statistics and I was initially going to be a math major but I looked at the classes and switched.”

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Anonymous studentFreshman
3.0

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Student paths

How students switch into and out of Statistics

Switching in

11%of current students switched in (1 of 9 answers to this question)

1 dot = 1% of current students

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Came from

Share of switchers
Statistics

Went to

Share of leavers

What you will study and do

Curriculum and careers

Statistics is the science of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to make informed decisions. Students learn mathematical techniques, data analysis, and statistical software to solve real-world problems across various industries.

Core course themes

Introduction to Probability

Covers the fundamental concepts of probability, including probability distributions and random variables.

Statistical Inference

Focuses on methods of estimation, hypothesis testing, and confidence intervals for data analysis.

Regression Analysis

Teaches linear regression models and their applications in predicting outcomes and understanding relationships between variables.

Statistical Computing

Introduces statistical software tools used for data analysis and simulation.

Design of Experiments

Explores experimental design techniques for efficient data collection and analysis.

Multivariate Analysis

Examines techniques for analyzing data with multiple variables to uncover patterns and relationships.

Common roles

  • Data Analyst
  • Statistician
  • Biostatistician
  • Actuarial Analyst
  • Quantitative Analyst

Why salary figures are not shownSalary data appears only when its source, geography, occupation mapping, and date can be verified.

Statistics by school

Scores account for sample size
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Community

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Student reviews

19 reviews

Courses & teachingCritical

you really have to love theoretical statistics to enjoy stats at ucla. the major says "data science" but you don't learn a lot of applicable data science unless you pick up the data science engineering minor. the stats 100 series is extremely theoretical and most of the joy you will derive from it will be when you get maybe half a question right or when you realize the curve will bring you to a B+ despite getting a 9% on the midterm. overall, it is a useful major but if you don't enjoy the subject you will struggle quite a bit as it draws a lot of concepts from previous math classes. however, the later classes that involve regression and programming are a little more useful for future application!

Anonymous studentSophomore
Math
5.0/5
Writing
4.0/5
Mar 2026
Courses & teachingPositive

Statistics at UCLA is a strong major if you like math, data, and solving real-world problems. The program gives you a solid foundation in probability, statistical theory, regression, and data analysis, while also teaching practical tools like R and Python that are useful in research and industry. I like that the major can be applied to many fields such as finance, healthcare, sports analytics, machine learning, and technology. Some classes can be challenging because they combine theory with coding, but they are rewarding if you put in the effort. UCLA also offers many opportunities for research, internships, and interdisciplinary work, which makes the major valuable for students who want flexibility after graduation.

Switched from Cognitive Science

Anonymous studentJunior
Math
4.0/5
Writing
2.0/5
Apr 2026
Courses & teachingCritical

Many of the classes have difficult tests and the class averages are low. Things we learned in class aren't super applicable to the real world and we use outdated software (namely R studio)

Anonymous studentSenior
Math
5.0/5
Writing
3.0/5
Apr 2026
Difficulty & workloadMixed

In the upper division courses, the TAs and Professor Faculties are nice and genuine. They provide a decent amount of academic support, just that at certain moments the content feels draining and heavy. During most exams, the curve is incredibly high, and often many of the students study incredibly hard, get pretty bad exam scores, but the final grade is curved, which definitely ruins morale and overall dedication to the major.

Anonymous studentSophomore
Difficulty
4.0/5
Workload
4.0/5
Mar 2026
Courses & teachingPositive

The application of statistics and all the fields it can be applied to is really fascinating and fun to me. However, the theory behind it and probability-related coursework can be a little hard to understand but it's definitely important to know for a career in statistics.

Anonymous studentJunior
Math
4.0/5
Writing
2.0/5
Apr 2026
Courses & teachingCritical

Lots of new, inexperienced professors. Content is very math heavy. Major is short and is easy to pair with others for double majors

Anonymous studentGraduated
Math
5.0/5
Writing
4.0/5
Mar 2026
Courses & teachingPositive

Fun classes, a lot of math prerequisites. Stats classes are generally easy.

Anonymous studentFreshman
Math
4.0/5
Writing
3.0/5
Apr 2026
Support & communityPositive

Statistics/Data Science is a very wide major in UCLA. Many departments support statistics research projects and there are many clubs to support the major.

Anonymous studentFreshman
3.4avg
Apr 2026
Careers & next stepsPositive

It’s nothing like AP stats in high school. Very good for career prospects. Have fun. Do hw early. Go to office hours.

Anonymous studentSophomore
Career
4.0/5
Oct 2025
Careers & next stepsPositive

This major is mainly about algorithm, and lots of mathematical theory.

My research interests lies in Biostatistic, and mainly focus on clinical trials and survival analysis. In general this is a field with high demand in masters and especially Ph.D

I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in going to pharmacies or biotech industries, as it is highly paid with great career development prospects.

Anonymous studentGraduated
Career
5.0/5
Jul 2025
Enjoyment & fitPositive

It is very cool. I have always liked statistics and I was initially going to be a math major but I looked at the classes and switched.

  • Interested in Business
  • Unsure about grad school
Anonymous studentFreshman
Enjoyment
3.0/5
Oct 2026
Careers & next stepsPositive

Statistics is a great foundation for ML and AI and will help for an advanced AI career

Anonymous studentSenior
Career
4.0/5
Apr 2026
Courses & teachingPositive

statistics is a transformative major, i learned a lot about surveying and the theories behind it

Anonymous studentSophomore
Math
5.0/5
Writing
3.0/5
Mar 2026
Careers & next stepsPositive

It is a great major to learn a lot about the advanced techonologies and concepts about Statistics. I think it is very beneficial for both graduate school or in the industry.

Anonymous studentSophomore
Career
4.0/5
Mar 2026
Difficulty & workloadPositive

Very cool I believe this major is super fascinating although there is a lot of assignments and tests are sometimes harf

Anonymous studentJunior
Difficulty
5.0/5
Workload
5.0/5
Oct 2025
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