Majors

Important: 

The Department of Mathematics changed its degree requirements starting in the Fall of 2020.  Students who matriculated to SMU in the Fall of 2020 or later must follow the 'new' major requirements, whereas students who matriculated prior to the Fall of 2020 must follow the 'old' major requirements.  These differ substantially, so please make sure to refer to the correct section below!

"New" degree requirements (post-Fall 2020)

Starting in the Fall of 2020, the department's two degree options are aimed at distinctly different audiences:

The Bachelor of Arts is designed for students who seek mathematical training as a part of a broad liberal arts program, with the aim of pursuing careers in other fields such as engineering, business, medicine, teaching, and government. It is particularly attractive when combined with another field as a second major, and to this end, the department allows up to two courses from an outside department with significant mathematical content to count toward the B.A. in Mathematics.

The Bachelor of Science provides comprehensive training in modern methods of applied and computational mathematics, and reflects contemporary trends by incorporating mathematical modeling as well as computer science and statistics. This degree is designed for students who are planning careers involving analytical problem solving in industry, laboratories, or academia, and is recommended for any student considering graduate school in mathematical science.  

Updates about "computational mathematics" concentration of the B.S. major 

  • The two required courses Math 4316 and Math 4317 are merged with the three elective courses Math 4315, Math 4370, and Math 4377 as five elective courses. Students can take any three out of these five to satisfy the B.S. on "computational mathematics" degree requirement. 

  • The three core computational mathematics courses Math 4315, Math 4316, and Math 4317 are parallel with each addressing a different aspect of scientific computing. Students can take these courses without following any specific orders (See ). 

"Old" degree requirements (pre-Fall 2020)

Prior to the Fall 2020, the B.A. and B.S. degrees differ only the requirement of two science courses in the B.S..  Therefore, most students would choose to pursue the B.S.. Regardless of the degree chosen, all students must pick a "track," and we recommend the following choices: 

  • For students *not* double-majoring in the Lyle School of engineering, choose "Pure" or "Applied/Numerical"

  • Students with a double major in engineering (ME, EE, CEE) choose the "Engineering" track.

  • Students with a double major in Computer science choose the "Computer Science" track.

  • Students with a double major in EMIS choose the "Operations Research" track.

Additional Dedman College Requirements

Finally, to complete a major in any department within Dedman College, students must:

  • attain a minimum cumulative G.P.A. of 2.00 on all major coursework attempted at SMU;

  • receive a grade of at least C- in all courses taken in fulfillment of the major requirements;

  • complete a minimum of 18 hours of advanced major coursework (i.e. 3000+ courses) in residence.

To declare Mathematics as your first major, you must work with your pre-major advisor.  To declare Mathematics as a second or third major, you just need to complete the major declaration form and send it to Dedman Academic Services. Once you receive the major declaration confirmation, you may inform Professor Geng by an email.  

Please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies (currently Professor Weihua Geng) for questions.