The standard entry point into math courses at Vanderbilt is calculus. Read information about choosing a calculus course or preparing to take a calculus course. Outside of class we have an active, welcoming Math Club and offer Undergraduate Seminars that are accessible to students taking calculus. You can also read about the wide range of career options available to math majors.

Generally, you should let the waitlist process work itself out. The department’s policy is to try not to slow down students’ progress. We do not want to prevent you from enrolling in math courses that are prerequisites for other (math or non-math) courses because of an enrollment limit. We will therefore routinely enroll students beyond the limit in such courses. Because we teach a large number of students over a large number of sections, we want to make the process as equitable as possible, so individual instructors do NOT have the ability to enroll you in a closed class.

To request to be added to a closed class, you will need to see the director of undergraduate studies in person. They will do the best they can to find a section that fits in your academic schedule (they cannot schedule around work or personal schedules). However, they may not be able to accommodate time or instructor preferences.

Only the director of undergraduate studies can override prerequisites. Instructors CANNOT override prerequisites. To be consistent, the only situation in which prerequisites will be overridden is when you have taken an equivalent course at an accredited college that offers a bachelor’s degree in math but were not able to transfer the credit to Vanderbilt.

The standard entry point into math courses at Vanderbilt is calculus. Read information about choosing a calculus course or preparing to take a calculus course.

Our general advice is to take the next math course for which you satisfy the prerequisites. If your course was not eligible for transfer credit, we recommend you repeat your high school course at Vanderbilt. MATH 2300 is the standard multivariate calculus course and MATH 2600 would be an appropriate linear algebra course. Another option for eligible students would be MATH 2500. See the Calculus Preparation page for more details.

MATH 1200-1201 is intended to be a terminal, one-year calculus sequence. Students who decide to take more math after completing MATH 1201 should enroll in MATH 1301 in preparation to take MATH 2300. Due to the duplication of material in 1201 and 1301, only three credit hours will be earned for MATH 1301. You will need to contact the director of undergraduate studies in order to register for MATH 1301 due to the duplication of credit.

MATH 1100 is intended to be a terminal, one-semester calculus course. Students who decide to take one more semester of calculus after completing MATH 1100 will need to enroll in either MATH 1200 or MATH 1300. In both cases there will be a loss of credit. You will need to contact the director of undergraduate studies in order to register due to the duplication of credit.

You will need to identify the faculty member you would like to work with and contact them to discuss the project you are interested in. If you would like to receive credit for the independent study, your advisor should contact the  Director of Undergraduate Studies before the end of the Open Enrollment Period with a description the project and the number of credit hours requested (1-3). The request will only be approved if you have completed at least four math courses numbered 2800 or above. As a rule of thumb, you should plan on spending four hours per week (including meeting with your faculty mentor) per credit hour.

For help with specific questions about course content, you should attend instructor and/or TA office hours. The Department of Mathematics provides tutored study halls for calculus courses four evenings per week, Vanderbilt’s Tutoring Services offers free tutoring by appointment for select courses, and there is a list of paid tutors available in the Math office.

The Department of Mathematics participates in the Credit By Examination policy outlined in the Undergraduate Catalog. The exams are actual final exams, so the exams are available during the final exam period in courses that offer comprehensive, in-class final exams with instructor approval. At least one month before the final exam, you should obtain a Credit By Exam form from the Office of Academic Services in your home school and bring it to the director of undergraduate studies to determine if an exam is available, pay the associated fees, and bring the form back to the director of undergraduate studies to find out when the exam is offered. After you take the exam and the exam has been graded, the director of undergraduate studies will contact you. You will then come to the math office and either accept the grade received or turn down the credit.

Please see the many career paths available to math majors.

College of Arts and Science students must wait until their sophomore year to declare a major. The choice of a major should be based on subjects you both enjoy and are reasonably good at. To determine if math is an appropriate major for you, you should wait until you have taken a few math courses before declaring a math major. Also, since the Department of Mathematics lets math majors choose their adviser from among the permanent faculty, taking some math courses before declaring a math major will expose you to a variety of faculty whom you might ask to be your adviser. If you have any questions or need advice in the meantime, you should contact the director of undergraduate studies.

First, decide which math major track you would like to declare (Standard, Applied, or Honors). Next, fill out an online major declaration form (including the track) and list a preferred faculty member (if any) to be your adviser.

The Department of Mathematics has an active actuarial program. The course entry point is MATH 3650, which has a corequisite of MATH 2810/2820. You should also research Verification by Educational Experience requirements of the SOA to see which Vanderbilt courses have been approved to satisfy those requirements. In addition, you should consider joining the Actuarial Science Club. Learn more about the actuarial profession.

There are some standard chemistry and economics courses that are routinely approved. For other courses, you should contact the director of undergraduate studies for pre-approval before you take the courses. Generally, courses need to have non-trivial math prerequisites to obtain approval. After completing both courses, contact the DUS so the requirement can be marked as satisfied.

The Honors track math major was designed with graduate school preparation in mind. You don’t have to declare an Honors track math major in order to go to graduate school, but it is a good outline for course selection. To get an idea of the level of courses in graduate school, you should consider taking one or two courses at the 4000-level.

If you are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in math, but got a late start or had a rocky start, you may consider the 4+1 B.A./M.A. program.

Before the beginning of each semester, a link to the TA application is sent to the Vanderbilt email addresses of all declared math majors. Simply fill out the application completely and submit it by the deadline indicated to be considered.

Many REUs receive financial support from the National Science Foundation. Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to receive financial support from these programs. Other students may be eligible to attend these REUs without financial support or should investigate other funding sources or REUs outside the U.S.

The 4+1 program allows you to complete a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in five years by beginning to take graduate courses during your senior (fourth) year. Read more about the program.

You are a good candidate for the program if:

• You want a master’s degree to get a job in industry or teach at the high school level.
• You want to pursue a Ph.D. in math, but got a late or rocky start.
• You want to establish a solid mathematical foundation to pursue a Ph.D. in another technical field.

During your junior year.

Application information for the 4+1 program can be found here.

Reach out to either the director of undergraduate studies or the director of graduate studies for more information.

Contact the Office of Undergraduate Education in your home school and visit the Academic Regulations Transfer Credit page.

Yes. Read the policy for transfer credit.

Yes. Read the policy on transfer credit.