Advice to Math Majors on Fulfilling Core Requirements

Core requirements account for 60 of the 120 credit hours needed for graduation. There are three sources of these requirements, with significant overlap between the three sources:

1. System wide (see the Undergraduate Bulletin ).
   
   
   • Area A   (ESSENTIAL SKILLS: 9-10 hours)
   • Area B   (INSTITUTIONAL OPTIONS: 4-5 hours)
   • Area C   (HUMANITIES/FINE ARTS: 6 hours)
   • Area D   (SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS AND TECHNOLOGY: 10-11 hours)
   • Area E   (SOCIAL SCIENCES: 12 hours)
   • Area F   (COURSES RELATED TO THE PROGRAM OF STUDY: 18 hours)
   
   
2. Franklin College Requirements :
   
   
   • M   multiculturalism
   • L   foreign language
   • H   general humanities
   • S   science: physical and biological
   
   
3. Departmental (as in the Bulletin ):
   
   
   • preferred courses for Core Area D and constraints on Area F choices.

Math majors will automatically fulfill the "basic math skills" requirement of Area A. Three free elective hours will result if this is met by advanced placement or a course used in another core area.

Students should meet with their A&S advisers to plan their coursework for the first two years. In particular, A&S advisors are the best source of information concerning Core Areas B, C, and E, and the Franklin College Requirements M, L and H.

The mathematics curriculum relates only to Core Areas D and F. For math majors, it is easiest to think of these as a single unit consisting of 8 courses. This will typically break down as follows:

• 4 courses in foreign language and calculus / Differential Equations
• 1 course in biological science (with lab)
• 1 course in physical science (with lab) [CSCI cannot be used here.]
• 2 additional courses chosen from the set {PHYS 1211, PHYS 1212, CSCI 1301, CSCI 1302, CSCI 2670, CSCI 2720}.

We recommend that you do more than the minimum in the last category. There are several reasons for this:

1. these courses provide opportunities to broaden and apply your mathematics experience;
2. they prepare you for upper division courses to be used in satisfying the "39 hour rule ";
3. they add an extra dimension to your employability after graduation.

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