Everything You Wanted to Know
about Graduate Study in Mathematics:
-- Questions and Answers for those who are considering
going to graduate school.
- To learn more mathematics.
- To get a better job.
- "I think I'd like to teach math."
- "I don't know what to do, so I think I'll try
grad school."
- "My parent/advisor/teacher/friend thinks I ought
to."
None of these is necessarily a bad reason
(though you want to be careful about the last one). One
all-purpose piece of advice is "Don't go to graduate
school in mathematics unless you really like
mathematics."
- Advanced Calculus/Introduction to Analysis. A
theory course in limits, continuity, and
"epsilon-delta" proofs.
- Matrices and Linear Algebra.
- Courses that stress construction of proofs by the
student (Analysis/Abstract Algebra/Topology).
- Independent reading or undergraduate research
courses or projects.
- No, not if you've taken the key courses
(described above) and have good grades. Many
mathematicians have undergraduate degrees in areas of
science or engineering.
- Ask your advisor and your mathematics teachers
about where to apply. They can usually suggest
half-a-dozen programs that are appropriate to your
interests and level of preparation.
- Write to:
-
Director of Graduate Studies
Mathematics Department
University of Your Choice
and ask for information and application forms. They
will be happy to send them.
- There are some helpful books:
Assistantships
and Graduate Fellowships in the Mathematical
Sciences contains profiles on hundreds of
programs in mathematics, computer science and
statistics. It is published annually in October, and
should be available in your mathematics department or
university library or from
-
American Mathematical Society
PO Box 1571, Annex Station
Providence, RI 02901-1571
Peterson's
Graduate Programs in the Physical Sciences and
Mathematics, Agricultural Sciences, Environment
& Natural Resources appears annually in
December. Copies are usually found in college
libraries, career placement centers, and
bookstores.
- Attend a Graduate School Fair in your region. Argonne National
Laboratory near Chicago holds one each October.
Another occurs in November at Research Triangle Park near
Raleigh, North Carolina.
- There are several things you need to do: 1.)
Complete some forms, obtained from the program
(usually, one for admission and another for financial
aid). 2.) Take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
and have the scores reported to the schools where
you're applying. Almost all programs will require the
GRE General Examination (Verbal, Quantitative, and
Analytic parts); some will ask you to take the
Subject Test in mathematics. You should take it no
later than December for enrollment the following
Fall. 3.) Get three letters of recommendation,
preferably from teachers of your advanced mathematics
courses. 4.) Have transcripts of all previous
university courses sent to the university.
- Ideally, you'd like to make requests of others
(for letters of recommendation, transcripts, and GRE
scores) before Christmas vacation and have completed
your application forms by January 1. Formal deadlines
vary by department; only a few have cut-off dates
earlier than February 1.
- In many cases, you don't pay - they pay you! Most
mathematics graduate students are supported as
Teaching Assistants (TA's), Fellowship holders, or as
Research Assistants (RA's). Of these supported
students, the overwhelming majority are TA's.
Fellowships (which have no assigned duties) are
usually held by the most outstanding students. RA's
are ordinarily advanced students; the money usually
comes from research grants awarded to their major
professor. All these awards are competitive; not
every applicant gets one.
- Enough to live on - frugally. The amounts vary;
about $13,000 for the academic year with the
possibility of additional pay in the summer. Tuition
scholarships are usually included.
- Beginners usually assist a professor who is
lecturing to a large freshman class. Ordinarily, TA's
conduct three or four discussion sections per week,
help students who ask for it, perhaps grade homework
or examinations.
- Later, TA's have more responsiblity. They may
teach their own classes (one or two sections of the
same 3-credit course). Typically, the TA's prepare
their own lectures and assignments, and may write
their own tests.
- Still more advanced students will frequently have
full responsility for teaching Calculus I, II or
III.
- Graduate programs in mathematics want students
with strong mathematical talent and the personal
qualities needed for success in a demanding field -
qualities such as commitment, willingness to work,
intellectual curiosity. Letters of recommendation,
from those who have taught the student advanced
mathematics, are very important indicators of
probable success. This is because these teachers can
compare the applicant with other students who have
gone on to graduate study. Grades are important -
especially grades in advanced math courses. Finally,
GRE scores allow some comparison of applicants from
different colleges.
- Visit the school, sit in on some classes, talk to
the faculty, and, most important, talk privately to
several graduate students. Some of the things you'd
like to know:
-
- Are the faculty really interested in students
and committed to their success?
- Do students like the department?
- What jobs do their graduates get?
- How much student/faculty and student/student
mathematical contact is there?
- The University of
Kentucky offers Master's and Ph.D degrees in both
pure and applied mathematics. The program emphasizes
frequent informal mathematical contact between students
and faculty.
- Lexington
is a city of 270,000, located in the center of a region
which is world-famous for its thoroughbred horse farms
and natural beauty.
- Visit our
graduate program introductory page for detials.
If you would like more information and application
forms you may submit a
request online. If you will be in Lexington, please feel
free to visit the department and learn about our
program. Contact the Director of Graduate Studies
to arrange an appointment.
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Mathematics
715 Patterson Office Tower
Lexington, KY 40506-0027
859 257 6808 [Graduate secretary]
859 257 4653 [Director of Graduate Studies]
800 357 1113 [toll free]
859 257 4078 [FAX]
math-dgs@ms.uky.edu
- Go to
Application Check List Page and fill out both
the application
to the Graduate School and the application to the Department of
Mathematics. Submit all documents required.
