Best courses to take in college for data science?

I'm interested in data science and wondering which courses I should aim for once I start college. Are there specific classes that are critical for data science?

Absolutely, data science is a multidisciplinary field, encompassing elements of computer science, statistics, and subject-specific knowledge. Here are some essential courses you might want to consider:

- Introductory Programming: This is usually a course about Python or Java programming, which are commonly used in data science. It will give you the skills to write and understand code, a critical aspect of data exploration, processing, and modeling.

- Advanced Programming: It's important to take courses covering specific libraries and tools used in data science such as R programming, and the data science libraries of Python such as numpy, pandas, seaborn, and matplotlib.

- Statistics and Probability: Data Science involves making sense of numerical data, therefore, a good foundation in statistics and probability is important. Topics might include probability distributions, sampling, hypothesis testing, and regression.

- Linear Algebra and Calculus: These are crucial mathematical foundations for data science and will come in handy especially when you are dealing with algorithms.

- Databases: You should consider courses that cover different types of databases (SQL, NoSQL,) and how to interact with them, as well as courses on how to work with large data sets.

- Machine Learning: A crucial part of many data science projects involves using machine learning algorithms. This course will cover concepts like supervised learning, unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, and the development and tuning of different types of models.

- Data Visualization: Visualizing data is an important part of data science. This course will teach you how to generate graphics and dashboards which can assist in understanding trends and patterns, and communicate findings to others.

Remember, it's not just about doing the courses – you'll want to gain plenty of practical experience too. Consider gaining experience through internships and extracurricular activities. These will give you chances to apply your skills on actual projects. Good luck!