Honors Mathematics

Mathematics forms the cornerstone of the sciences, playing a powerful dual role as both a pure science and a tool for solving problems and modeling phenomena in other disciplines. For example, mathematics allows us to build efficient algorithms in computing, investigate rare events in financial markets, model the physical universe, develop predictions for climate science, map and study the human genome, and analyze the structure of the human brain. Mathematics draws vitality from questions arising in the natural world, as well as applications to industry and technology, and yet it is grounded in rigor and abstraction.

Requirements for the Major

Students can choose to follow the academic bulletin from the year that they were admitted or a more recent academic bulletin. For example, if you were admitted to NYU Shanghai in Fall 2019, you can choose to follow the academic bulletin 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022.

Planning the Major

Declare the Major:

The earliest students are able to declare the Honors Mathematics Major is after completion of Honors Analysis I and Honors Linear Algebra II and posting of their Spring semester freshman year grades with a cumulative GPA 3.65 or higher in all classes and in Math classes.

Graduate with the Major:

To graduate with an Honors Mathematics degree, students have to maintain a cumulative and major GPA of 3.65. If they fail to do so, they may graduate as Mathematics majors but retain the Honors designation of the individual courses they took on their transcripts.

Faculty Mentors

Faculty mentors are the leading faculty and experts in the major disciplines. Students can reach out to faculty mentors for specific questions about the major, and references for connecting with relevant discipline resources. If you have specific questions about specific fields of study within the major, you can search for faculty through the faculty directory.

 

Shengkui Ye (Undergraduate Coordinator of Mathematics)
Alejandro Ramírez (Area Head of Mathematics)
 
Math/Honors Math Major Exploration
Independent Study

Students majoring in mathematics are permitted to work on an individual basis under the supervision of a fulltime or visiting faculty member in the department if they have maintained an overall GPA of 3.0 and a GPA of 3.5 in mathematics and have a study proposal that is approved by a mathematics professor.

Senior Thesis

All students need to complete a senior thesis or an independent study course requiring a thesis.

Pedagogical Principles of the Math Curriculum

The Mathematics major is designed to give comprehensive training in both mathematics and its applications to prepare you for a career or more advanced degree programs. Courses required for the Mathematics major provide essential training and experience in analysis, algebra, differential equations, and probability theory. Mathematics elective courses cover numerous topics of pure and applied mathematics, including statistics, numerical analysis, partial differential equations, topology, differential geometry, scientific computing, mathematical finance, abstract algebra, number theory, and functional analysis.