QuickAdmit Pathway to MSDS

The MSDS QuickAdmit offers an expedited application review for current Texas A&M seniors and recent graduates (within the last two years) seeking entry into the CSCE or ECEN tracks of the MS in Data Science.

Eligibility:

Eligibility is restricted to students at Texas A&M’s College Station campus and its branch campuses (Galveston, McAllen, Qatar) and to programs in the College of Engineering or College of Arts and Sciences. 

Applicants must have a minimum 3.0 GPA. The review is based on the undergraduate transcript in Howdy. 

NOTE: The MATH and STAT tracks of the MSDS do not offer QuickAdmit; students applying to those tracks must use the regular application. 

Application Deadlines & Fees

For current and former Texas A&M University students applying through the “Quick Admit” process, the Priority Deadline is March 1, 2026 (11:59 PM EST). Applications submitted by this date receive full consideration.

• International applicants (non-U.S. citizens or permanent residents) must apply by March 1.
• Domestic applications (US Citizens and Permanent Residents)  submitted after March 1 are reviewed on a rolling basis until August 1 (2026) or until the program is full, whichever comes first.

Application Fee

Applicants will be charged the full GraduateCAS application fee, which will be refunded to applicants who remain enrolled in the program beyond the census date of the first semester.

Students eligible for QuickAdmit who have already applied through the regular pathway should not submit a QuickAdmit application. However, the fee they were charged for their application to regular admission be refunded if they remain enrolled in the program beyond the census date of their first semester

International Student Application Requirements

Proof of English proficiency can be demonstrated by completing all years of a Bachelor’s degree or higher at a United States-accredited university. Other proof of English proficiency and test requirements can be found on the Office of Admissions website here: https://admissions.tamu.edu/international.graduate

Automatic Admission within QuickAdmit

Applicants with a GPA of 3.25 or higher from CSCE or ECEN undergraduate degree programs who apply to the allowed MSDS departmental tracks (detailed below) will be automatically admitted into the program, provided sufficient capacity remains.

Undergraduate Major	Allowed MSDS tracks for Auto-Admit
Electrical Engineering	ECEN
Computer Engineering	ECEN or CSCE
Computer Science or Computing	CSCE
Data Engineering	ECEN

College of Engineering Fast Track

Undergraduate students in the College of Engineering Fast Track program can get a head start on their MS in Data Science degree while still pursuing their bachelor’s.

How It Works:

• Take graduate-level courses in your final year in your bachelor’s
• Earn graduate credit while fulfilling undergraduate requirements through credit-by-exam
• Earn up to 9 graduate-level credit hours (three elective courses).
• Apply these credits to any MS in Data Science track after admission, subject to the Curricular Requirement to take at least three electives in the track department.
• Finish your MSDS degree in just two semesters—a full academic year.

Eligible Electives:

Currently only the Computer Science and Engineering (CSCE) department offers electives in the MS Data Science that are eligible for Fast Track. These can be taken by undergraduates in the Computer Science, Computing and Computer Engineering programs.

To learn more about requirements and how to enroll, please see the CSCE Fast Track Program details.

MSDS Electives	Paired Course
CSCE 608 Database Systems	CSCE 310 Database Systems
CSCE 625 Artificial Intelligence	CSCE 420 Artificial Intelligence
CSCE 633 Machine Learning	CSCE 421 Machine Learning
CSCE 670 Information Storage and Retrieval	CSCE 470 Information Storage and Retrieval
CSCE 671 Computer-Human Interaction	CSCE 436 Computer-Human Interaction
CSCE 679 / VIZA 676 Data Visualization	CSCE 447 / VIST 476 Data Visualization
CSCE 704 / CYBR 604 Data Analytics for Cybersecurity	CSCE 439 Data Analytics for Cybersecurity
CSCE 735 Parallel Computing	CSCE 435 Parallel Computing

Other Departments:

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department does not offer any MS Data Science electives in the College of Engineering Fast Track. The Mathematics (MATH) and Statistics (STAT) departments do not offer MS Data Science electives for dual credit in the program.

Undergraduate Majors at Texas A&M

We encourage applicants to play to their strengths by applying to the track that most closely aligns with the disciplinary background of their bachelor’s degree. Because admitted students are required to take three or more electives from their track department, admissions staff assess applicants’ preparation to succeed in those electives.

This is not a comprehensive list. Students from other degree programs with a solid foundation in computing, mathematics, statistics, and other core data science skills might be competitive for the MSDS program. See the Admissions & FAQ section for more information.