Admissions
The graduate program in mathematics provides students with an outstanding education in math, research, and teaching. Our faculty include world-renowned researchers that run leading first-rate research groups covering a wide array of mathematical specialties.
Program Highlights | Applying | Contact
Program Highlights
- The Department of Mathematics has a distinguished international faculty, three of whom were invited to speak at the International Congress of Mathematicians.
- The department has a variety of research groups: geometric group theory, geometry/topology, approximation theory, number theory, non-commutative geometry, operator algebras, gravitation and waves, mathematical biology, partial differential equations, and graph theory.
- The stimulating research environment is supported by an ongoing program that attracts visiting scholars from institutions around the world and hosts several major conferences a year.
- The Department of Mathematics has approximately 25 research faculty and 25 resident graduate students. It is large enough to support a wide range of courses, but small enough for students to receive individual attention from faculty members.
- Graduate students are given one to two years of training to teach at the college level. After that period, they generally serve as TAs and eventually instructors in calculus classes. This opportunity provides valuable experience in communication, even for students who do not pursue careers in academia.
- Our graduate students are very successful in securing jobs.
- Nashville offers the amenities of a large city and the friendliness of a small town.
Graduate Student Teaching
First-year graduate students participate in a weekly teaching seminar and conduct tutored study halls for calculus.
Second and third-year students serve as TAs. Responsibilities include attending class meetings, conducting a weekly recitation section, holding office hours, and grading papers.
Fourth and fifth-year students with good teaching evaluations and strong recommendations from their faculty mentors are assigned to teach a first-year calculus course.
Facilities
As an R1 institution, Vanderbilt’s libraries are among the top research libraries in the nation, home to more than eight million items, including print publications, microfilm items, and digital collections.
The mathematics collection is housed in the Sarah Shannon Science and Engineering Library, conveniently located in the math building. This collection is excellent, both in books and access to electronic resources, including e-journals and online databases such as MathSciNet and Web of Science. Items not available locally can be borrowed through interlibrary loan, which is free of charge to graduate students.
Computational resources available to graduate students include access to the university’s large cluster and desktop computers equipped with computer algebra software and LaTeX. Graduate students may use these facilities freely for research, writing, and teaching.
Furthermore, the graduate students’ office suite is a newly renovated state-of-the-art facility.
Housing
Ample private housing is available within walking distance of the campus. The Office of Housing and Residential Education maintains an off-campus housing referral service.
Applying to the Program
The application cycle for Fall 2025 matriculation is now closed.
Applications should be made online and can be accessed through Vanderbilt’s Graduate School. Your application will simultaneously be sent to the Department of Mathematics.
In the event you are unable to apply online, please send an email message to apply@vanderbilt.edu and request a copy of the application. A printable version of the application form will then be sent to you as an email attachment.
Below is a list of required information and materials you will need to complete your application. You may begin an application at any time and fill in the missing information when it becomes available.
- GRE General Test scores (no minimum score required): The GRE General Test is optional.
- GRE Mathematics Subject Test score (no minimum score required): The GRE Mathematics Subject Test is optional.
- Letters of recommendation (minimum of three letters required)
- Transcripts
- Statement of purpose
- TOEFL score is required of all applicants who have not received a degree from an English-speaking university. (The minimum acceptable score is 89.) Read more details about the English language proficiency requirement.
We look forward to reading your application!
Application fees and waivers
Applications to our graduate program ordinarily require an application fee. Some fee waivers are available to U.S. citizens/permanent residents via the Graduate School directly. The math department also has a limited number of additional fee waivers available upon request. Please email mathgrad@vanderbilt.edu to request a waiver. We will assume if you are asking for a fee waiver from the department that you are not eligible for the fee waiver offered by the Graduate School or have been denied that waiver.
Note: Please do not send tax return documents or any other documents showing sensitive or confidential personal information such as your social security number.
Contact
For further information, please contact:
Anna Marie Bohmann
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Mathematics, 1326 Stevenson Center
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, U.S.A.
mathgrad@vanderbilt.edu
Telephone: (615) 322-6672
Fax: (615) 343-0215