Preparing for Data Science

Data Science is a very hot area of employment right now. Being a Data Scientist basically means you are a programmer and a statistician/mathematician, and you can apply the knowledge of both worlds to tasks involving large amounts of data.

Freshman Mathematics Courses

Semester
Credit
Hours

STEM Calculus I 44
STEM Calculus II 44

Honors STEM Calculus I 55
Honors STEM Calculus II 55
Honors Calculus I+II for Data Science 55

Sophomore Mathematics Courses

Semester
Credit
Hours

Differential Equations + Linear Algebra 55

General Mathematics Courses

Semester
Credit
Hours

Discrete Mathematics 44

Number Theory 44
Non-Euclidean Geometry 44

Mathematics Major Courses

Semester
Credit
Hours

Computational Abstract Algebra 44

Computational Differential Geometry 44

In order to start on a career path towards Data Science, you need all of the courses in the first two years of university calculus.

Yeah, you need all of them! Calculus I, Calculus II, Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, and Probability Theory (Calculus-Based Statistics). There are no short-cuts available if you really want to be a data scientist. You need to be both a serious mathematician and a master programmer.

There are many websites around that suggest you can get all of this mathematics knowledge just from the free MOOC courses available around the internet. This recommendation seems unrealistic - there are also lots of mathematics books available at the library and at used book stores, but trying to make your way through those math books by yourself .... that is a tall order.

Plus, if you do take the MOOC route and then you wish to actually complete a Data Science certificate or academic degree, proving that you have the requisite mathematics knowledge is ... not as convincing as having these academic courses completed and showing on a university transcript!

Here is a video on Data Science and our Distance Calculus courses course:

Preparing for Data Science with Distance Calculus

MOOCs, Academic Credits, and Distance Calculus

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Distance Calculus - Student Reviews

Rachel H.★★★★★

Posted: Jan 15, 2021

Courses Completed: Probability Theory

Dr. Curtis gave helpful and timely feedback, and made the teaching videos very engaging! The course model and associated software was easy to acclimate to.

Transferred Credits To: Cedarville University

Emma C.★★★★★

Posted: Jul 22, 2021

Courses Completed: Linear Algebra

This was a great course. Flexible and informative with a great professor. It's a great option if you need to fill a prerequisite fast or if you enjoy working at your own pace.

Transferred Credits To: University of Virginia

Andris H.★★★★★

Posted: May 3, 2020

Courses Completed: Applied Calculus

I found out from my MBA program that I needed to finish calculus before starting the MBA. They told me 3 weeks before term started! I was able to finish Applied Calculus from Distance Calculus. Definitely a great class. Thanks Distance Calculus!

Transferred Credits To: SUNY Stony Brook

Aiden B.★★★★★

Posted: Jul 29, 2026

Courses Completed: Calculus II, Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra

After completing all the math offered by my highschool, I switched over to Roger Williams for Calculus II and onward. Overall, it has been a pretty great way to understand the topics online, with transferrable college credits. The exams are not terrible, and the courses cover the vast majority (if not all) of topics covered by traditional courses, with some unique ones added to. So far, I have taken four courses, with another one or two before I graduate.

The only problem with the course is the lack of pen and paper work. This shouldn't come as a crazy surprise with an online course, but there is not much emphasis on symbolic computation. Mathematica or other software does most of the heavy computation for you. The lectures usually show how to solve the problems through paper, but those skills are rarely put into practice. Literacy Sheets act as a way to do some of that (especially with the Calculus II & III course).

All in all, this isn't a huge issue. I just memorize and practice things like double integration, Laplace, ODE solving, matrix diagonalized form, row operations, etc. With a little outside work, this resolves itself. Without Roger WIlliams, I probably would not have been able to take any of these math courses in highschool.

So overall, a great choice for highschool advanced math, especially with transferrable credits.

Email: abarger@protonmail.com

Lucas L.★★★★★

Posted: Jun 25, 2026

Courses Completed: Multivariable Calculus

The professor as well as the TAs give great feedback when you need help with problems and the videos are great at explaining concepts. Return time on work is good and the work is not too much to handle.

Transferred Credits To: University of Wisconsin

Hari K.★★★★☆

Posted: Jun 24, 2026

Courses Completed: Linear Algebra

This course gives a perspective on Linear algebra that no traditional course does. I’d say i gained much more intuition for this subject from the DC course than my friends who took traditional courses elsewhere. As a cs major, this version of learning with visualization has helped me a lot in understand ML models. However the course doesn’t have videos for the last 2 chapers so i had to self learn with the mathematica notebooks. Response times are a little slow but since it’s a remote class, i guess it’s justified. Overall amazing course and definitely take this over traditional lin alg classes.