Our daughter is deciding between Beloit and a couple other schools where she’s been accepted. She intends to study Data Science.
Beloit offers an interdisciplinary program in Data Science, which sounds like something less that a full-blown major. Can anyone comment on the substance and quality of this program?
Also, any comments about the school itself are welcome. Thanks.
Beloit has a good reputation here in the upper Midwest. Regarded as similar to Carleton, Macalester, Lawrence, Grinnell etc. but a bit easier to get into due to its location. Known to have good teaching. I would be pleased if either of my kids chose it. Archeology, Museum Studies, Geology are among the standout programs. I’m not familiar with their Data Science program, so can’t speak to that.
Can you compare the curriculum vs others. It seems more math heavy of the two, which is good.
Interdisciplinary doesn’t mean that it isn’t a major. It just means that you are combining more than one traditional field. Data Science is almost always considered an interdisciplinary field. It at minimum Stats(math) + Computer Science. Many places also add in another topic (Beloit does this) to get some “real life” use cases. At any LAC, I would be mostly worried about the availability of faculty to teach. DS is a hot field and many faculty get pulled into industry by the salaries being offered. You really have to love teaching if your students are making more than you right out of school.
I’m a huge fan of Beloit. I am class of 89 and my daughter is class of 16.
The new Powerhouse building is amazing. I cant speak to the strength of that particular program but Beloit has a great track record of getting students into internships/jobs/grad schools.
Definitely feel free to message me with any questions