What Is DawgPath?

DawgPath is a web application that brings together a collection of data products that can help you discover majors that align with your interests & goals, understand more about the courses you are planning to take, and give you better information for working on your academic journey with an adviser. There are 2 primary views Course and Major.

Course

The course view gives you a detailed look at a specific course. To find a course search for the course abbreviation + code, or course title in the search bar. If you don't see the course you are looking for right away try selecting the 'Course' filter or selecting the campus that course is offered at.

Course Grade Distribution

The course grade distribution shows the the number of students who achieved a certain GPA in the given course, looking at the last 5 years of course grades. You can view the data in a table format using the toggle in the top left. Only courses that have had seven or more students per offering will display the grade distribution.

Course Outcome Index (COI)

The COI provides insight into how challenging a course may be. Lower numbers indicate that the class had fewer students earning credit than predicted. Numbers in the middle of the scale indicate a course that is typical at the UW. Positive numbers indicate that the class had more students earning credit than predicted. The COI score is calculated by using a model to predict how well students will do in a class, then comparing the predictions with actual grade outcomes. Keep in mind that this score is just a prediction and may not be your actual experience. Using the toggle selections you can explore how the course compares to other classes in that major, and other majors at the UW. Learn more about how the COI works read our write up here.

Prerequisite Map

The pre-requisite map shows the courses that are pre-requisites for the course you are looking at, and all of the courses that course is a pre-requisite for. You can view the data in a table format using the toggle in the top left. This data only includes pre-requisites that are UW Courses, it will not include things like placement tests.

Concurrent Courses

The Concurrent Courses feature displays the courses most commonly taken by students at the same time as the course you are looking at, in the past 2 years. For an explanation of what the Gateway/Bottleneck icon indicates, please see the Common Courses section below.

 

Major

The major view gives you a detailed look at a specific major. To find a major search for the major name, or keywords that describe the major. If you don't see the major you are looking for right away try selecting the 'Major' filter or selecting the campus that major is offered at.

Declared Major Grade Distribution

The Declared Major Grade Distribution shows the cumulative GPA of each student in that major at the time they either declared, or were accepted into it if Capacity-Constrained. You can select wheter you would like to view the data for the past 2 or 5 years.

Common Courses

The Common Courses feature displays the top 10 most commonly taken courses for the major you are looking at. Additionally there is a badge that indicates if the course is a Gateway Course or a Bottleneck Course:

• Gateway Course: A gateway course is one that is early in a student's career and is either necessary for their degree or is an important prerequisite to many other courses. These courses are sometimes hard to register for due to the demand. Additionally, these are generally larger-sized courses with many enrollments. Learn about the process of identifying gateway courses (PDF).
• Bottleneck Course: A bottleneck course is one that can be major specific, difficult to register for, and is necessary for a student's completion of their major requirements. These courses may not be offered frequently and are prerequisites for other courses.
  Learn about the process of identifying bottleneck courses (PDF).

Topically Similar Majors

The Topically Similar Majors feature uses the various sources of course data available to analyze and determine commonalities in themes, topics, and subject matter. The order of majors is randomized and is not an indication of which majors are more similar. Similarity is not calculated based on career outcome. If a major has multiple degree options available they will be displayed under the parent major, which can be expanded by clicking on the arrow. You can also filter by Campus and Admission Type. For more infomtation about how Topically Similar Majors are Calculated see this article.