• Approved Courses
• Cross-Registration
• Electives by Interest Area
• PhD Level Statistics Courses
• Non-Approved Courses

Approved Courses

Admittance into any course below is not guaranteed.  All courses are subject to availability. 

The approved courses listed below are available for elective credit in the M.A. in Statistics Program. (Please also review non-approved courses.) The MA Program requires the equivalent of six (3-pt) elective courses, of which at least three must be offered by the Statistics Department.  It is possible to take three (1-pt) courses to count for one (3-pt) course.  For review of the four required core courses please visit this web page. 

Each student’s Faculty Adviser must approve all courses.  A Faculty Adviser may approve a course for a particular student’s schedule to count for graduation.  However, it is suggested that the faculty adviser seek input from the MA Program Faculty Directors.  All students should confer with their Faculty Adviser prior to selecting electives each semester.  

Since new courses are coming up all the time, the MA Program has a procedure to request a new Approved Elective for all MA Statistics students. 

• The first step is to obtain the syllabus. 
• The second step is to fill out and submit the ELECTIVES APPROVAL FORM.   

Entry into any course is not guaranteed, especially regarding courses in other Schools or Departments.  Please see information about Cross Registration below.  Check the Course Directory for up-to-date information on what courses are offered each semester. 

Topics and seminar courses are generally not approved, although Topics in Modern Statistics GR5293** may be taken once as an approved elective.  Statistics courses offered in other departments, other than the ones listed below, are generally not approved.

Course Registration:  Statistics Elective Courses

Statistics Elective Courses (must complete a minimum of 3 total)

**The topics course GR5293 may only count ONCE towards the MA Program approved electives.  

Cross Registration:  Approved Courses in other Departments

Cross Registration is always at the discretion of the school, the program and the course instructor. The Statistics Department does not have any influence on allowing you into a cross registered class. Before attempting to cross register, MA Students must check in with their Faculty Adviser to ensure that it is a class they can take for credit.

Some graduate schools have their own cross registration processes. Please review the links below for information on how to cross register for those graduate schools. For schools not listed below, reach out to the specific department and inquire about their cross registration options and process.

Admittance into any course is not guaranteed.  All courses are subject to availability.  Some schools do not allow students to cross-register until the first week of classes. 

Below are links for how to cross register into the following schools:

• Math Finance
• Computer Science .
• Industrial Engineering and Operations Research . 
• Columbia Business School
  • Most courses have a prerequisite of Capital Markets “FINC B8306/ MATH G4076” or “waiver exam”.
  • Email crossreg@gsb.columbia.edu.  
• Data Science Institute, please email  datascience@columbia.edu regarding course access through their internal lottery and survey process.

MA students may register for courses at TC, as long as they get permission from TC and their adviser.

School of Public Health Courses

Notes: The courses in parentheses are pre-requisite courses.

Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR) Courses

For information on how to cross-register for Industrial Engineering and Operations Research click here.

Mathematics Courses

For information on how to cross-register for MAFN (math finance) courses, click here. 

Applied Mathematics Course

APMA 4300 – Introduction to Numerical Methods

Economics Courses

Finance and Business Economics Courses at Columbia Business School

For specific instructions on how to cross-register for classes at Columbia Business School click here (Most courses have a prerequisite of Capital Markets “FINC B8306/ MATH G4076” or “waiver exam”).

Note: most courses have a prerequisite of Capital Markets (FINC B8306/ MATH GR5280 (formerly G4076) or waiver exam). Click here for more information.

Actuarial Science Courses

Machine Learning/Data Science/Computer Science Courses

Important Note: Students may take up to two courses from the list below. Faculty advisers must be consulted for approval to take additional Machine Learning or Data Science courses outside of the Statistics Program. Students must consult with Faculty Advisers about potential overlap in Data Science/Machine Learning courses when exploring courses not on the list below. Faculty approval is required.

*MA Statistics students can register on a waitlist for Computer Science courses via SSOL during regular registration (the week before the Change of Program Period).  These courses are not open to Statistics students during pre-registration. Enrollment is determined by the CS Department and not guaranteed. 

Other

Statistics Electives by Interest Area

Below are some possible electives a student might select based upon interest area. Please note these courses are recommended as a helpful guide in course selection; however, they are not required.

Admittance into any course below is not guaranteed.  All courses are subject to availability. 

FINANCE

In addition to approved courses from the Business School, Mathematics of Finance, & Related Programs.

DATA SCIENCE SEQUENCE IN STATISTICS

*Data Science Sequence – The Data Science sequence includes GR5206 offered in the fall which is a prerequisite for GR5241 offered in the spring. Both courses are a prerequisite for the course, GR5242: Advanced Machine Learning.

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY OR PUBLIC HEALTH

In addition to approved courses from Biostatistics and Epidemiology.

ACTUARIAL SCIENCE and THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

In addition to approved courses from Economics, Actuarial Science, & the Business School.

PhD Level Courses in Statistics

Selected PhD level statistics courses may be open to MA Statistics Students only through an application process. For more information on the process and how to apply, click HERE.

Non-Approved Courses

The following courses are NOT approved for the Statistics MA degree requirement:

• 3000 level courses
• Courses offered by the Applied Analytics Program in the School of Professional Studies
• STAT GU4281 or K5281 – Theory of Interest
• STAT GU4282 – Linear Regression and Time Series Models
• STAT GR5705 – Intro to Data Science; STAT GR5701 – Prob & Statistics;  GR5703 – Stat Inference and Modeling (Courses for Data Science Institute students only)
• SIEO W4150 – Intro Prob & Stat Inference
• IEOR E4106 – Stochastic Models
• IEOR E4540 – Data Mining for Engineers
• ECON W4412 – Ad Econometrics or other 4000-level Econometrics courses
• ECON W4413 – Econometrics of Time Series
• QMSS W5067 – Natural Language Processing
• Finance 6000 – level courses
• Biostat 6000 – level courses

Many topics and seminar courses are not approved to fulfill the MA degree requirement.

Students may take such courses in addition to the ten courses required for the degree program.

For example,  COMS W4995 / COMS E6998

For courses not listed above, students should confirm with their Faculty Adviser before registering.