An increasing demand for mathematically skilled employees in industry and financial institutions motivated our Department to implement three professional Master's options in 1993. Between 5 and 10 students graduate from each of these options every year. The professional M.S. options are: Applied Mathematics, Financial/Industrial Mathematics, and Computational Mathematics. These options are intended to prepare students for careers in business and industry requiring mathematical expertise. In addition, the Department offers an option in Mathematics Teaching aimed primarily at preparing students to teach mathematics at the secondary and junior college levels.

All of these M.S. program options conform to the basic University requirements for the Master of Science degree as described in the Texas A&M University Graduate Catalog. These general requirements, however, are supplemented by additional Departmental requirements for each of the M.S. program options. Each program option must adhere to the following requirements:

1. Each degree plan for the M.S. must include a core of at least 18 hours of 600 level mathematics courses, with a grade point average in core courses of at least 3.0. Credits for MATH 601,684,685,691,695 may not be used to satisfy the core requirement. Math 696 may not be used to satisfy the 18 hour requirement except for those Master's options for which it is a required course.
2. Each degree plan for the M.S. must contain at least 6 hours outside the Department of Mathematics.
3. An oral final examination, given by the student's Advisory Committee, is required.

The student's advisory committee for the Master's degree should consist of no fewer than three members of the graduate faculty representative of the student's fields of study and research. The Chair (main advisor) of the committee must be from the student's major department and at least one of the other members must be from a department other than the student's major department. It's usually easiest to start off by choosing the Chair-- then the Chair can assist the student in choosing the remaining members of the committee. The duties of the committee include responsibility for the proposed degree plan, the research proposal and thesis (if the student is doing a thesis option Master's program) and the final exam.

Steps to Fulfill Master's Degree Requirements

Meet with departmental graduate advisor to plan course of study

When: before first semester registration

Establish advisory committee and submit a degree plan

When: prior to registration for a third semester excluding summer terms

If thesis is required, submit thesis proposal

When: prior to final exam and at least 14 weeks before graduation

Apply for degree; pay graduation fee

When: during first week of the final semester

Check to be sure degree program and advisory committee are all up to date

When: well before submitting request to schedule final examination

Submit request to schedule final examination

When: at least 10 working days before the exam date

If required, submit 2 approved final copies of thesis

When: see Office of Graduate Studies semester calendar for deadlines

Graduation

When: see Office of Graduate Studies semester calendar for dates