Mathematics Minor

What is a mathematics minor?

You can find the full description here, but roughly it boils down to

  • Math 171 (Calc 1),
  • Three courses (\(\ge\) 10 hours) at Math 172 (Calc 2) or higher,
  • Two 300-level courses (\(\ge\) 8 hours1) not counted above.

Below are some popular paths to a mathematics minor for students in programs that include a number of mathematics and/or statistics courses as cognates.

Depending on the cognates required for your major and what courses you have already taken, the answer might be just one or two more courses.

How do I add a minor in Workday?

See our FAQ for answers to this and similar questions.

If you have already taken…

… the Engineering cognates (Math 171, 172, 271, 231, and Stat 241)

All you need is 8 hours of 300-level mathematics or statistics courses to get a mathematics minor. You can see the full list of courses here, but here are a few that are popular for engineering students.

Math 333 Partial Diff. Eq. Ordinary differential equations assume things are spatially uniform. But this is not true for heat flow, vibrating membranes, transport, etc.
Math 335 Numerical Analysis Understand the algorithms associated with computational mathematics so it isn’t all a “black box.”
Math 365 Complex Variables What happens in calculus when a variable is complex-valued? Applications inculdes digital filtering, steady-state air flow, electrostatics, conformal mapping, transforms, …
Math 385 Topics Topics vary.
Stat 343 Probability and Statistics Probability for statistics. Learn the mathematical foundations of statistics with applications.
Stat 385 Topics Topics vary.

… the CS Plus or BCS cognates (Math 171, 251, 252, Stat 243 or 343)

CS Plus majors have some options regarding their mathematics and statistics course. Students wanting to get a mathematics minor should choose to take Math 171, Math 172, and Stat 243, since these courses meet requirements for both the major and the minor. After taking those courses (and Math 251 and 252, which are also required), students will need 8 hours of 300-level mathematics or statistics courses to complete the minor.

The BCS also requires one of Math 172, 255, Stat 245, 341, or 344, all of which count towards the Mathematics minor. That totals 12 hours of the 18 hours needed for the minor. To complete the minor, take an additional 6-8 hours and make sure you have 8 hours at the 300-level.

You can see the full list of courses here, but here are a few that are popular for computer science students.

Math 312 Logic/Computability
Math 335 Numerical Analysis
Math 355 Adv Linear Algebra
Stat 341 Bayesian Statistics
Stat 343 Probability and Statistics
Stat 344 Mathematical Statistics

Footnotes

  1. This could require more than 2 courses if some are 2-hour courses.↩︎