• Score administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), such as the GRE General, GRE Subject, or TOEFL tests, should be forwarded directly by ETS to the OSU Graduate Admissions Office. The institutional code for OSU is 1592. (Please do not use the major field code). See Prerequisites for requirements on test scores for our various degrees.

• Go to the OSU Graduate Admissions' Web Page at https://www.applyweb.com/apply/osu/ and create an account. Write down your login information and keep it in a safe place.

• Enter the online application on the Graduate Applications page. Save the data you enter on the form (Pages 1-6/6). You can work on your application in several sessions. Please observe the following instructions:

  • The semester you expect to begin should be Autumn. (Page 1/6)

  • Minority Students are strongly encouraged to indicate their Ethnicity/Race as this allows us to apply for special fellowships and funding. (Page 2/6)

  • If your intended degree is a Ph.D., choose "Mathematics - Ph.D. (AU)" under Program/Plan Choice (Page 4/6). Leave the "Specialization" field blank! (The Ph.D. program has no specializations)

  • We expect admit students into the M.M.S.-degree tracks available in "Mathematical Biosciences", "Mathematics for Educators",and "Computational Sciences" starting 2012. If you like to be considered for these choose "Mathematics - M.S. (AU)" and write "Biology", "Educators", or "Computing" in the "Specialization" field. (Page 4/6) (You must choose one and only one specialization for M.S. in order to be considered).

  • In the section titled "Document Upload (Optional)" (Page 5/6) upload the following documents in PDF format:

    • Curriculum Vitae or Resume. (max three pages)

    • Letter of Purpose/Intent. (max three pages)

    • List of recent relevant and recent mathematics courses. Information should include textbooks/chapters or content description of covered material, term taken, instructor name, and grade received. At minimum this should include the courses explicitly required under Prerequisites - a comprehensive list of courses beyond general education requirements is encouraged.

    • Other PDF documents relevant to your application - but limited to 10 pages. Multiple such documents should be concatenated into one PDF file in order to allow the upload as the fourth document.

  • Our program prefers electronic submission and upload of reference letters. In the section "References" (Page 5/6) please follow instructions to have letters submitted electronically and use the Online Reference Form.

• At the end of your online application pay the application fee of $5 (five dollars).

  Please, ignore the warnings on previous pages that imply $40 or $50 fees. These will not be charged if you apply to the Mathematics programs.

• The following documents have to be sent to Graduate Admissions Office:

  • The official/original transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate institutions you attended.

  Send the above documents to

  Graduate & Professional Admissions Office
  Ohio State University
  105 Student Academic Service Building
  281 West Lane Avenue
  Columbus, Ohio 43210

• In addition to the documents uploaded through the applyweb.com online forms above the following documents are to be be sent directly to the Mathematics Department as applicable:

  • All applicants are required to send the official/original transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate institutions you attended to the department as well.

  • Additional letters of recommendation (on official letterhead) beyond the three required by the university and uploaded online, or letters that cannot be be submitted electronically. Download and use the university Reference Form. (can be edited with Adobe Reader 9 or later). If the reference letters and reference forms have been submitted electronically on the Graduate Admissions page above they do not need to be sent in.

  • Documents that you could not be uploaded via applyweb.com as described above for formatting reason, but that may still be relevant for the application.

  • Scholarly work (exceeding 10 pages) such as theses or publications. (Please keep in mind though that we receive up to 400 applications each season and will normally not be able to read longer documents).

  • If specifically requested by us copies of the GRE General, GRE Subject, and TOEFL scores. This may happen if, for some reason, we do not receive the official reports from ETS or Graduate Admissions in a timely manner.

  Send documents to:

  Graduate Recruitment Committee
  Attn: Denise Witcher
  Department of Mathematics, OSU
  231 West 18th Avenue
  Columbus, Ohio 43210-1174

The graduate program in mathematics offers both a Ph.D.-degree and an M.M.S.-degree. Each degree program is further divided into tracks and levels.

Admission into the program will be contingent on the degree intent and specialization stated in the application. Applicants to different degrees and specializations will be evaluated separately and by different recruitment criteria and committees. Particularly, students pursuing different degrees and specializations will be subject to different academic expectations and degree requirements.

Students applying in order to pursue a Ph.D.-Degree do not need to specify a specialization. Admission will be to a generic Ph.D.-degree without any official tracks or specializations.

Students who enter the program with the intention of receiving a Ph.D.-degree will be placed at the start of the first autumn semester as either Regular PhD or PhD-Track students depending on their undergraduate preparations, work during the summer program, and outcome of the first Qualifying Exams. Typically only students who already passed both exams on the first attempt are placed as Regular PhD's.

PhD-Track students have a total of two years (that is, four attempts) to pass the qualifying exams. Time expectations are relaxed compared to students on Regular PhD status, however, stipends are also about 8% lower. The instant that a PhD-Track student passes both qualifying exams he/she will be automatically moved to Regular PhD status with the respective stipend adjustments.

For more detailed information see our Ph.D.-Degree Program Page.

Students applying with the intent of receiving an Master of Mathematical Scienses (M.M.S) degree have to indicate one of the offered specialization tracks^§ in their online application (see 2.iii. of the Instructions). The evaluation of their application and placement into the program will depend on this specialization.

Currently our department offers M.M.S.-tracks for "Mathematical Biology" as well as "Mathematics for Educators". All M.M.S.-tracks are two-year terminal degrees. The list of all degrees already in place as well as those planned to start in future years is given below.

Specialization	Expected Start	Description
Math Biology	current	Information
Math for Educators	current	Information
Computational Sciences	2012	Information
Finance Math	2013	Planned

Generally, only application with a clearly indicated degree and specialization intent as described above will be given full consideration.

Students who have been admitted with Ph.D.-degree intent will be able to earn a general M.S.-degree in mathematics without further specialization within their academic progression.

However, applications which indicate an M.S.-degree intent but do not specify any of the offered specialization tracks will very likely not be considered.

Students who earn a terminal M.M.S.-degree in one of the offered specialization tracks are welcome to apply to the Ph.D.-program through the regular graduate application process, usually in their second year. This is the only path to enter the Ph.D.-program from the M.M.S.-program.

The following are university-wide minimum requirements that are almost never negotiable.

• Four-year undergraduate baccalaureate (or higher) degree from an accredited college or university with an undergraduate accumulative GPA equal or greater 3.0. (or 75 percentile of grade scale).

• Minimum TOEFL score is 550 points (or equivalent) for foreign students from non-English speaking countries. This is waived for students who earned a BS/BA degree or higher degree from an U.S. institution.

• GRE General Exam Scores are required if an applicant wants to compete for fellowship support or if in order to petition for exemption from the GPA and accreditation rules in 1. There are no minimum score requirements.

• All international students whose native language is not English are required to submit scores for the GRE General Test, regardless of intended degree.

• The GRE General Test can be waived for domestic students. However, students who do not take the GRE General Test will not be eligible to compete for University Fellowships.

• All students applying with Ph.D.-degree intent have to take and submit scores for the GRE Subject Test in Mathematics in order to be considered.

• The GRE Subject Test Score maybe be waived for Ph.D. applicants who recently earned an M.S./M.A.-degree in mathematics and whose M.S.-level work is strong enough. Nevertheless, also these applicants are strongly encouraged to supply the Math Subject Test scores.

• The GRE Subject Test Scores are not required for M.M.S.-applicants for any of the current specialization tracks. If available submission of subject test scores are, nevertheless, of useful to consider.

• Ph.D applicants should have a solid background (at least one year) in Real Analysis (such as our Math 651-653 sequence) as well as Abstract and Linear Algebra (such as our Math 670-672 sequence). Additional courses in advanced mathematics (such as topology) are desirable but no particular topics are required.

• M.M.S. applicants for any specialization track should have a solid math major undergraduate education. the Bio-Math and Computational Math specialization should have successfully passed undergraduate courses in the following subjects:

  • Calculus (one year)

  • Mutlivariable Calculus

  • Linear Algebra

  In addition, students applying for the Math Biology specialization should have taken a basic course in Differential Equations.

  Applicants for the Math for Educators specialization should have taken additional courses in core mathematics.

  Applicants for the Computational Science specialization should have further classes in applied mathematics as well as a background in a physical or engineering science.

• The Ph.D. Program has no specialization tracks and no particular specialization is expected at the time of application. Applicants should leave the specialization field in the online application blank. Applicants can express specialized interests in their letters of intent.

• Applicants to the M.M.S. Program have to decide on one of the offered specializations (Math Biology, Math for Educators, Computational Science) and indicate the specialization in their application as described in the Instructions .

  Prior background in the respective specialization is not required. However, applicants should have a demonstrable interest in the chosen specialization.

Below an overview over the types of financial support offered by the department and university. All types of support include tuition costs in addition to stipends that well exceed the university's Estimated Graduate Costs. Costs of living in Columbus are generally below national average. In order to estimate what an OSU Ph.D.-entry salary translates to at your location go to Compare Cost of Living and enter your current location as "Destination".

• Graduate Teaching Associateships (GTA)

  The majority of mathematics graduate students received GTAs. Stipends for Ph.D. students entering in 2010 was $17,775 for a nine-month appointment. Salary for students at M.S.-level (M.S.-students or Ph.D.-Track students) are about 8% lower, but are adjusted to Ph.D.-level pay upon passing the qualifying exams.

  The work load of teaching associates involves 6 hours per week of student contact, plus preparation and grading. GTA positions are renewable depending on the progress of the student.

• University Fellowships

  In addition to GTA positions the university offers competitive University Fellowships to domestic and international applicants with excellent academic records. University Fellowships extend over a twelve month period without any teaching obligation. Stipends are traditionally supplemented by the department so that they equal GTA salaries at the same level. Awards vary between one and three years.

• Graduate Enrichment Fellowships (GE)

  GE fellowships are also competitive awards offered by the university with similar stipend amounts. Domestic students from traditionally underrepresented groups are eligible and encouraged to apply.

• Headstart Fellowships

  Each new graduate student at Ohio State is encouraged to accept an initial Headstart Summer Fellowship, which carried a stipend of at least $260 per week for summer of 2011.

• Tuition Waivers

  All of the GTA and Fellowship positions above include automatic fee waivers of all instructional tuition fees. For students until candidacy this covers all courses on campus, for students after candidacy all academically relevant courses.

• Advanced Support

  Depending on current funding and academic progress students in later years can be supported on departmental Special Graduate Assignments (SGA) or Graduate Research Associateships (GRA) which allow support during individual semesters without teaching. Moreover, the university offers highly competitive and prestigious Presidential Fellowships which allow students to focus entirely on their dissertations.

The department will start screening application late December and start the full review process early January. First offers may be made as early as late January. We hope to have the bulk of our admission offers decided on by early March although later decisions are possible.

In order to check the status and completeness of your records at OSU Graduate Admissions check the University Application Status (not applicable for pre-applications).

All graduate students at the Mathematics Department are admitted for the autumn semester. We do not admit students for any other semesters into any program.

All incoming students are required to participate in the Headstart program which begin in mid August and takes place in the five weeks before the first day of classes. The program carries a stipend of at least $260 per week and health insurance coverage.

International students are required to immediately apply for visas once they are admitted in order to make sure the visas are available in time before the Headstart program. International students may delay their arrival until 30 days before the start of classes in order to conform with visa requirements.