The department offers minors in Mathematics, whose requirements are a subset of the major requirements for Mathematics, and in Biomathematics, whose requirements are designed to offer students from the life science areas a quantitative education in mathematics.
A minor in mathematics requires a minimum of 31 credits. These are allocated below between core requirements and upper level mathematics/statistics elective requirements.
For all mathematics majors and minors, a common core of courses is required. These core requirements are the same for candidates for the Bachelor of Arts and for mathematics minors. Candidates for the Bachelor of Science degree must complete three additional courses for their core requirements.
After completion of the core requirements, each major or minor is required to take a certain number of additional three- or four-credit mathematics or statistics courses numbered 300 or higher. MATH 380, STAT 350 and STAT 351, designed for other majors, are not allowed to meet these requirements. MATH 432 may not be used as an upper level mathematics/statistics elective, but it may be used as a supplementary elective. Note: MATH 432 and MATH 481 are GEP writing intensive courses.
The Minor in Mathematics requires two courses as upper level mathematics/statistics elective requirements.
The department has a close working relationship with the Department of Biological Sciences in education and research and offers a minor in biomathematics. This minor consists of 30 credits from the following core courses plus, an additional 6 credit hours from electives listed below. Two of the core courses cannot be used to satisfy the requirements of any other major and none of the electives can be used to satisfy the requirements of any other major. At least 3 of the elective credits must be from the MATH courses on the list. The Undergraduate Program Director may approve alternative courses in justified individual situations upon petition by the student.
A majority of courses offered toward the minor must be completed in residence at UMBC. A grade of "C" or better must be earned in all courses and prerequisites applied toward the minor. A course taken on a P/F basis will not count toward the minor.
Students who are not planning to major in mathematics should elect the mathematics courses that fulfill their general requirements on the basis of their academic program and goals. Students whose major requires or recommends a specific mathematics course should follow that recommendation. Students whose program does not require any mathematics may wish to consider MATH 100, MATH 115 or STAT 121 as one of the courses satisfying the mathematics requirement.
Note: Before registering in any mathematics course up to MATH 151 or MATH 155, students must have completed a placement test administered by the Learning Resources Center if they have not completed the prerequisite college-level course with a "C" or better. This is normally done prior to the first semester at UMBC.
Passage of AP Calculus exams with a suitable score is considered the equivalent of MATH 150, MATH 151 or MATH 152. The AP Statistics exam with a score of 4 or 5 is equal to STAT 121.
Otherwise students must complete MATH 106 with a "C" or better. Even higher algebra skills are recommended for MATH 150 or MATH 155.
The specific courses listed as prerequisites indicate the level of maturity necessary for the course. A student who does not have a formal prerequisite for a particular course must request the consent of the instructor to take that course. Prerequisites for all mathematics courses must be satisfied with a grade of "C" or better.
All courses for major or minor requirements must be passed with a grade of "C" or better.