Admission Requirements

Admission normally requires completion of the GRE or MAT with acceptable scores. Successful applicants typically have combined GRE scores of 291 or above or MAT scores of 402 or greater.

Applicant must

1. have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college;
2. have an acceptable grade point average for all college work taken;
3. have completed 21 semester hours of college-level mathematics (including calculus), with at least 9 hours of mathematics beyond calculus.

Application Procedures

All application materials are to be submitted to the College of Graduate Studies.

Applicant must

1. submit application with the appropriate application fee (online at www.mtsu.edu/graduate/apply.php). Once this initial application has been accepted, the applicant will receive directions on how to enter the graduate portal to be able to submit other materials.
2. submit official scores on the GRE or MAT;
3. submit official transcripts of all previous college work.
4. have two recommendation forms submitted, one by a reference who has served as applicant’s instructor in an institution of higher education and the second by a reference who has interacted professionally with applicant. Students interested in teaching or obtaining a graduate teaching assistantship should submit one reference which speaks to their potential to teach. NOTE: Letters of recommendation are not required; however, students choosing to submit letters should email them to Carmen.Bucka@mtsu.edu.
5. describe professional goals in 500 words or less and how this program would help to meet those goals.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Science in Mathematics with a concentration in Pure and Applied Mathematics includes non-thesis and thesis options. Students electing the non-thesis option must successfully complete a written comprehensive examination, which may be taken no more than twice. Students electing the thesis option must enroll in at least 3 hours of Thesis Research (MATH 6640) and publish a thesis with the graduate school. The non-thesis option requires completion of 36 credit hours. The thesis option requires completion of 36-42 credit hours. In addition, at most thirty percent of the total credit hours in the program may be at the 5000-level, and no more than two special problems courses can apply toward the degree.

Curriculum: Mathematics, Pure and Applied Mathematics Concentration

The following illustrates the minimum coursework requirements. In addition, a maximum of 9 hours of thesis research may be required to fulfill degree requirements.