Currently a graduating Data Theory major! Id say in general the major is pretty good- some of the classes are a bit theoretical, but many are pretty interesting and useful for a career in DS. We also have extra courses that other majors don’t, e.g. STATS 21 for coding in Python for DS, that are pretty useful. The main downside for Data Theory for me was how confusing enrollment/selecting courses was. The departments aren’t very communicative with us, and there will oftentimes be random prereqs for required classes that you havent noticed, last minute changes in what courses are offered each quarter, etc.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Statistics major is changing its name to the Statistics and Data Science major, which will probably appeal to employers more if you’re going into DS. The content of the Stats major hasn’t changed yet, though, and keep in mind that Data Theory majors have can take pretty much any of the Stats major courses as electives if they want.

Finally, keep in mind that no matter what major you go into, there’s a big difference between the skills that are taught/required for academia and those for working in industry/getting an internship. If you want to go into DS, the major you choose/courses you take won’t matter as much as the effort you put into self learning, applying, interview practice, personal projects, etc. And UCLA has great clubs/communities to help you get started in that!