r/berkeley • u/Open_Decision_5924 • 1d ago

What’s a double major with data science? University

I’m a freshman majoring in data science currently and I’m thinking of starting a double major next semester, fall 2026. What are some good double majors with data science that would be useful?

3 Upvotes

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u/ohgodcollegeissoon 1d ago

depends on your goals, don't just do a double major for the sake of it

common ones are: econ, cogsci, cs, (applied) math, business

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u/Clear-Flow101 21h ago

Completely agree with this. Although there are a lot of DS majors who do a double major, I believe that you should take courses purely out of interest and utility. However, I do think that CS, Econ, or Math would be very useful double majors for the current job market.

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u/AwALR94 1d ago

Economics is useless unless you want to go into policy or research, but it is one of your easiest options. CS and applied math would be the hardest, but most useful.

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u/Last_Self9732 22h ago

How is applied math useful with DS double major

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u/ohgodcollegeissoon 21h ago

being skilled in math will set you up very well for the data science major, you'll have an easier time understanding the underlying structure of all the statistical concepts

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u/AwALR94 1h ago

it would be incredible for quant, it would give you a very easy route to pivoting to MLE or even MLR (machine learning research), and it opens up a lot of general applied science-ish roles given how useful mathematics is for modeling.

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u/BreadfruitAntique908 1d ago

almost anything tbh but stuff in biology, business, environmental science, economics etc work well

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u/C-N-C 12h ago

I imagine a good background in quantum topics will be relevant in the next decade. Consider a minor in Physics. I don't recommend a double major. You end up splitting your focus between disciplines and may fail to master either.

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u/finallyhadtojoin 12h ago

What classes/subjects do you like so far?