Waivers for Remedial Courses

Each conditionally admitted student must pass the DATA 200, 201 or 202 waiver tests listed in their admission letter, or the corresponding DATA 200, 201 or 202 class. Each of these courses are offered each semester. A student who fails these tests can not take another waiver test in any future semester. A student who fails one of these tests must enroll in the corresponding DATA 200, 201 or 202 course.

Conditionally admitted students may skip this test if they already know they want to enroll in the corresponding DATA 200, DATA 201 or DATA 202 course. The status of a student who has passed the Waiver Test or passed the corresponding DATA 200, DATA 201 or DATA 202 class will be changed from “Conditionally Classified” to “Classified” at the end of the semester.

  • DATA 200: Computational Programming for Data Analytics is a remedial course in addition to the 10 required courses of the MSDA degree. As a remedial course, DATA 200 does not count towards earning your degree. This course will cost the same as a 3-credit course.

  • DATA 201: Database Technologies for Data Analytics is a remedial course in addition to the 10 required courses of the MSDA degree. As a remedial course, DATA 201 does not count towards earning your degree. This course will cost the same as a 3-credit course.

  • DATA 202: Mathematics for Applied Data Science is a remedial course in addition to the 10 required courses of the MSDA degree. As a remedial course, DATA 200 does not count towards earning your degree. This course will cost the same as a 3-credit course. 

The DATA 200, 201 and 202 waiver test aims to verify and validate a student’s competency in the DATA 200, 201 and 202 topics described in the SJSU Catalog

  • The DATA 200 waiver test validates your competency in computational thinking and problem-solving with Python. Test questions are selected from data structures, algorithms, iterations, functions, standard libraries, functional programming, object-oriented programming, applications to data processing, data analytics, data visualization, and database manipulation.
  • The DATA 201 waiver test validates your competency in database technologies for data analytics. Test questions are selected from file organization and storage structure, database system architecture, entity relationship model, normalization techniques, SQL, relational algebra, storage organization, query processing and concurrent control.
  • The DATA 202 waiver test validates your competency in mathematical and statistical methods for applied data science. Test questions are selected from calculus, probability, descriptive statistics. and linear algebra, and Python programming for numerical implementation of mathematical and statistical methods.

All tests are closed book and closed note. Only pens, pencils and erasers are allowed to be on the table. Each student must also present a government-issued identification with a photo.

The DATA 200, 201, and 202 Waiver Tests will be offered before the second week of Fall and Spring semesters. In order to take this test, a student must (1) indicate “Intent to Enroll” via Next Steps and (2) RSVP to the department test notice when posted.