The AMCS Masters of Arts program is intended for students who wish to go into professional careers in Applied Mathematics or wish to obtain sufficient background in Applied Mathematics to be a strong candidate for a doctoral program in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, Applied Mathematics, Mathematics, Statistics, Financial Mathematics, etc. Applicants to this program should have taken sufficiently many advanced undergraduate mathematics courses so that their interest in and aptitude for mathematics can be assessed. It typically takes two years to complete the Masters program. All graduate students require a 3.0 GPA to graduate (no exceptions).
There are two ways to complete the Masters program requirements:
- Complete ten courses. Option 1
- Complete eight courses and write a Masters thesis. Option 2
- Written Preliminary Exam
Upon entry into the Master’s program, students are required to take the Written Preliminary Exam, typically scheduled the week before classes start in the Fall semester. The coverage of the exam is in Linear Algebra, Advanced Calculus, Complex Variables, and Probability at the undergraduate level.
The exam serves as a placement exam for classes to be discussed below. The student must pass the exam before graduation. The Written Exam is offered in April and August.
- Course Requirements
A total of 8 or 10 courses are required for completion, depending on whether a Masters Thesis will be completed. The student must take courses from the following three core areas:
- Analysis: AMCS 6081/6091 (MATH 6080/6090) or MATH 5080/5090
- Numerical Analysis/Linear Algebra: AMCS 6025/6035
- Probability and Stochastic Processes: AMCS 6481/6491 (MATH 6480/6490) or AMCS 5461 (MATH 5460)
A Master’s student will typically take two courses each from the above core areas. The courses below may replace the above or be taken as preparatory courses depending on the student:
- AMCS 5141 (MATH 5140) (linear algebra)
- AMCS 5101 (MATH 5100) (complex analysis)
The rest of the course requirements are electives to be chosen depending on the interests and goals of the student. Whether a given course can be counted toward AMCS elective course credit will be decided in consultation with the Graduate Chair.
Deviations from the above may be necessary or recommended depending on the individual student; such decisions are made with the approval of the graduate chair.
- Masters Thesis and Research (optional)
The student may choose to write a Masters thesis to fulfill graduation requirements. Whether or not the student will write a Master’s thesis, the student is encouraged to contact AMCS faculty for research opportunities.
Typically, Masters students will start contacting potential AMCS faculty advisors in the Spring semester of the first year. This may lead to a research project over the summer after completion of the first year of study. In the second year, the student may continue with this project to complete a Masters thesis. The Master’s thesis will be defended in an oral exam by a two-person thesis committee that is formed with the approval of the graduate chair. It is not a requirement for master’s students to complete a thesis.