If you only want to ask if your Math Department application is complete, or if a particular item has arrived, please write to Ms. Diane Trager at trager@math.umn.edu .

We do not send out surface mail information or applications any more only because it is so easy now to get the information you require on the web.

For general information about our graduate program, please point to http://www.math.umn.edu/grad/ and see the links the appear, on the right hand side, under "How to apply to the graduate program:" especially the links "Our Application Forms", "Admission Requirements", "Application deadlines" and "GRE website". For financial assistance information, please see http://www.math.umn.edu/grad/finasstben.html

If you intend to apply for admission in Fall 2008, please do register early to take the GRE Mathematics subject exam. The TOEFL exam is also required, unless you spoke only English at home while growing up.

Please note that we have a new Master's program, Master of Financial Mathematics, see http://www.math.umn.edu/finmath/.

You can also find out much information about our campus via the main U of Minnesota website http://www.umn.edu/; and by the Graduate School website http://www.grad.umn.edu/

See especially the catalogues at: http://www.catalogs.umn.edu/grad/index.html for the general listing of all catalogues; and http://www.catalogs.umn.edu/grad/programs/g113.html for the Mathematics Department; and http://www.catalogs.umn.edu/download/TCgrad/gradintro07.pdf for the Graduate School at UMN.

Please let us know if we can be of any more help.

Here are 20 of the GRE Math Subject scores of typical incoming students accepted with financial support, beginning Fall 2005: 830 (93%), 790 (88%), 600 (44%), 880 (98%), 800 (89%), 770 (85%), 880 (98%), 590 (42%), 840 (94%), 910 (99%), 900 (99%), 820 (92%), 890 (98%), 820 (92%), 880 (98%), 890 (98%), 730 (77%), 830 (93%), 760 (83%), 650 (57%).

Generally speaking, we aim to keep admissions to those with GRE Math Subject Scores above 750, but do on occasion go below that if other factors are strong enough to compensate. Our GPAs ranged from about 3.6 to 3.9, though, again, there can be outliers.

We aim for scores above 260 for computer-based TOEFL, 620 for paper-based TOEFL. Apparently, the equivalent for internet-based TOEFL is roughly 105.

You may also wish to review http://www.math.umn.edu/grad/admission.html for our admission requirements.

Bear in mind that we look at the full application, so we don't have any specific minimum (or maximum!) for any one particular item. It is possible that strength in one area of the application can offset weakness in another. Also, there is no level for any of these scores above which an applicant is guaranteed admission.

Also, you can find a great deal of information about our program, by pointing to http://www.grad.umn.edu/programs/select_program.html?l=t then scrolling down and selecting "Mathematics", then selecting the radio button "Program Statistics" and then clicking on the "View" button.

For now, you might consider sending the scores to the Mathematics Department by FAX or regular mail, if ETS has mailed you a hardcopy notification of your results. (For FAX information, please see Q22 below.) An email message with a scan is also fine, but please send it to gradprog@math.umn.edu

Please be aware, however, that it's important to get to us any information you can about your mathematical development since you applied. In particular, it would be good to have at least one new letter of recommendation from someone who can comment on the mathematical activities in which you've been involved during that time. In some sense, the more you can make the case that you've improved over the last time you applied, the more likely it is that you'll be accepted. In particular, since most people's knowledge increases over time, if you retake the GRE Mathematics Subject test or retake TOEFL, there's a reasonable chance you would get a higher score, which would improve your chances of admission to any school to which you apply.

For your Graduate School application, you should ask them about their policies. See Q2 above for information about contacting Graduate School Admissions.

Yes, we can forward materials for you, see Q25 below.

For PhD placement, point to http://www.math.umn.edu/grad/PhDs/details.html.

For placement for graduates of MS in Mathematics with Emphasis in Mathematics Education, please point to http://www.math.umn.edu/grad/Masters/.

For Minnesota Center for Industrial Mathematics (MCIM) internship placement, please point to http://www.math.umn.edu/mcim/internships/.

If you seek graduate credit as a non-degree student, please point to
         http://onestop.umn.edu/onestop/img/assets/9061/RequestforGraduateCredit.pdf
and fill out
         REGISTRATION REQUEST FOR GRADUATE STUDENT (FOR NON-DEGREE STUDENTS)

So: If you've had a research experience that was important to you, you might mention it. If you have any mathematical publications, you might mention it. If there was a mentor with a strong influence you might mention it.

The personal statement is intended to reflect your own personality and it cannot be fit into any kind of template, nor is there a particular topic that we seek.

Also, we have no specific length, though one or two pages is typical. Bear in mind that the committee members who are reading your application will also be looking at many others, so a very long statement is not likely to be read as carefully as a shorter one. Concision is a virtue here.

Our staff works on almost every day that mail might be delivered and, most postal services make more than one attempt at delivery, leaving notes when they are unable to complete a delivery. There should be someone here to accept your mail, and to sign for it if necessary. I don't know of a case where an application was returned because no one was available to accept it at the Math Department.

We do recommend that you send your application materials using a postal system that allows you to track the package, even if it may cost a bit more.

For the Graduate School, their online application system will tell you which materials need to be sent, and, if you have any questions, you may contact them -- see Q2 above.

We can also copy and send on some materials if you request it -- see Q25 above.

Second, please point to http://www.math.umn.edu/grad/app_deadline.html for information about our deadlines and also about the usual timeline for decision-making. Typically we make one round of offers by 15 March and a second round by 7 April.

Please see Q49 below.

For the MS with Emphasis in Industrial and Applied Mathematics, please point to http://www.math.umn.edu/grad/indappl.html. Many students in this degree program are involved with the MCIM, see http://www.math.umn.edu/mcim/.

For the MS with Emphasis in Actuarial Science, please point to http://www.math.umn.edu/grad/actuary.html and to http://www.math.umn.edu/arb/ugrad/actuarial_program_bulletin.html#grad_act. If you're interested in Actuarial Science, you may also be interested in our Master of Financial Mathematics, and that program's website is http://www.math.umn.edu/finmath/.

If you want to find out if your Graduate School application is complete, please see Q2 above.

Please point to http://www.math.umn.edu/grad/app_deadline.html for information about our deadlines and also about the usual timeline for decision-making. Look for the bold text that reads "TIMELINE FOR DECISION-MAKING ABOUT APPLICATIONS".

Please see Q40 above.

Even if you have taken either or both of these tests in the past we recommend a retake, to update your score(s). Moreover, if you've been developing your skills in English and Mathematics, then a new score is likely to be higher and this will work in your favor.

All this is true for any graduate school to which you apply.

If a signer to that resolution is asking for an early decision (before 15 April), then please let me know, by writing to gradprog@math.umn.edu. It sometimes happens that a new admissions officer simply doesn't know about the resolution and will correct this problem if informed. I will contact the relevant person, and your identity will be kept confidential.

If it's now after 20 April, then I'm sorry, but it's unlikely that you will be accepted at Minnesota. Final notifications don't go out until late June. You may always write to ask about your departmental application -- see Q1 above.

If we do not make you an offer by 20 April, then I'm sorry, but it's unlikely that you will be accepted at Minnesota. Final notifications don't go out until late June. You may always write to ask about your departmental application -- see Q1 above.

So the timeline for notification by the Graduate School is closely tied to that of the Department, and the Department timeline is described in Q49 above.

FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: We also have in "International Reception Center", where incoming international students can stay for a few days on arrival. For information about that, please point to http://www.isss.umn.edu/new/temphousing.html . Also, for incoming international students, please see Q59 below.

It is therefore quite difficult to know what your chances will be until we're at the point of making decision. I'm sorry we can't be more definite and I hope you can be patient, keeping in mind the "April 15" resolution (see Q53).

If you intend to apply for admission in Fall 2008, please do register early to take the GRE Mathematics subject exam. The TOEFL exam is also required, unless you spoke only English at home while growing up.

Please note that we have a new Master's program, Master of Financial Mathematics, see http://www.math.umn.edu/finmath/.

You can also find out much information about our campus via the main U of Minnesota website http://www.umn.edu/; and by the Graduate School website http://www.grad.umn.edu/

See especially the catalogues at: http://www.catalogs.umn.edu/grad/index.html for the general listing of all catalogues; and http://www.catalogs.umn.edu/grad/programs/g113.html for the Mathematics Department; and http://www.catalogs.umn.edu/download/TCgrad/gradintro07.pdf for the Graduate School at UMN

Please let us know if we can be of any more help.

Except for that last step, none of this process is handled by the Mathematics Department, and so questions about this should really go to the Graduate School (see Q2 above). In particular, while we're very sympathetic to concerns you may have about this, we have no ability in the Math Department to expedite your I-20, nor can we really give a timeline for when your I-20 will be ready. On the other hand, we do make every effort, once it's ready.

Incoming students are assigned an initial advisor by the DGS (Director of Graduate Studies), with some effort made to match the advisor to the student interests. This advisor will guide you through the Preliminary Written exams and related coursework, which typically takes about two years. These exams and courses cover our core material. As a result, it's perhaps most important for the initial advisor to have a good understanding of the requirements, and not so important that he or she is a specialist in your areas of interest.

After completing Prelim Written exams, Mathematics graduate students are expected to find a new (interim) advisor who will work with them in their area of specialty until they complete the Preliminary Oral exam, which typically happens toward the end of the third or fourth year. Then they may choose to change advisors once more, to the final advisor, who guides them to the end of the degree. For most students, the interim advisor is also their final advisor, but there are a few who do have three advisors during their stay at Minnesota.

Of course, if problems arise, students are always free to seek a new advisor at any time. This is extremely rare, and is to be avoided if at all possible, as it may cause difficulties in keeping to our progress timelines.

It is a condition of our TA offers that the student arrive before the start of IT Talk. If, for any reason, you find that you must miss the beginning, then we will need to renegotiate with you and this is done on a case-by-case basis. Typically, we try to be flexible about this, and, typically, there is only some reduction in your IT Talk stipend. However, please do your absolute best to ensure that you can be here in time for the beginning of this important orientation event.

See also Q82 below.

So there's some pressure to become a good teacher, but it's a balanced approach.

IT Talk is a part of the International TA (ITA) program which is run by the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). You can read more about the ITA program at http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/graduate/itap/index.html. You can read about the ITA program's coursework (which includes IT Talk) at http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/graduate/itap/courses/index.html. Finally you can get information about IT Talk itself at http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/graduate/itap/courses/ittalk/index.html

Please see also Q69 above and Q82 below.

For the courses offered in a given semester, please click here. Then select the semester of choice and "Mathematics - MATH". Then click on "View".

Your best source of information here would be Graduate School Admissions and ISSS, and their contact information appears in Q2 and Q59 above.

See also Q69 and Q70 above. See also Q86 and Q90 below.

Finally, the Graduate Assistant Office can often help with questions about benefits. See Q89 below for information about how to reach them.

Second, if you did not grow up speaking English as the primary language in your home when you grew up, then you're required to take IT Talk, the international student orientation. (You can find information about IT Talk in Q69, Q70 and Q82 above.) So you'll need to arrive *before* the first date of IT Talk.

Usually the window of time between the earliest date of arrival (based on the I-20) and the first day of IT Talk, is very small, and possibly less than 48 hours. So you may have to time your arrival very carefully.

If you do decide to take light-rail, you can find information about it at http://www.metrotransit.org/rail/, with a more detailed map at http://www.metrotransit.org/rail/station_detail.asp. Your trip will be northbound, or "up" on these two maps.

At the airport you can find the light-rail system by following signs, or by asking. You'll want to get off at the Cedar-Riverside Station and you'll need to find your way from there to the Washington Avenue bridge.

The Cedar-Riverside Station is the fuzzy red dot just south of Currie Park at http://metrotransit.com/rail/stations/05_cedar.asp, and you can also see, on that map, "Anderson Hall", which is located just south of "Washington Ave SE".

The Washington Avenue bridge is just north of Anderson Hall, see http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/AndH/AndH-map.html You'll be traveling eastbound or "right" on this map. After crossing the bridge you can get to Vincent Hall, by examining the map http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/VinH/VinH-map.html. Note that Washington Avenue runs along the bottom of that map.

Also, do review Q58, for information about housing. If you're an international student, you may wish to head to the "International Reception Center".

For RA appointments, there are also three appointment levels RA I, RA II and RA III, and they have exactly the same transition points as TA I, TA II and TA III. The salary levels for TAs and RAs are the same; RAs earn neither more nor less than TAs at the same level.

Master's students with TAships or RAships are always at the TA/RA I level.

In 2007-8,
         the TA/RA I salary is $15,148 ($19.42/hr),
         the TA/RA II salary is $15,506 ($19.88/hr) and
         the TA/RA III salary is $15,740 ($20.18/hr).