For the MS Degree

Applicants are expected to have completed 10 semester-hours of undergraduate calculus ( 640:151-152 and 640:251 if taken at Rutgers, or equivalent), a senior-level rigorous statistical methods course ( 960:401 or 960:484 if taken at Rutgers, or equivalent), and a course in linear algebra ( 640:250 if taken at Rutgers, or equivalent) . Students lacking these prerequisites may be asked to take additional courses that will not generally count toward the MS degree, except that at the discretion of the program director, credit for 960:484 or 960:495 may be counted among the thirty credits necessary for graduation.

Students finding themselves without such a course might see a sample pdf sample 484 syllabus (35 KB) , with readings. Students wishing to complete the Data Mining option should note that one of the courses required for this option but offered by Computer Science has as a prerequisite 198:344; this course in turn has as its prerequisites an undergraduate course in probability and an additional computer science course.

For the PhD Degree

Successful applicants to the PhD program generally have a significantly deeper math background than required for the MS degree; a course in real variables ( 640:411 if taken at Rutgers, or equivalent) is generally required prior to admission. Students who lack this background may be asked to take additional courses that will not generally count toward the PhD degree.

Coursework listed on transcripts submitted by students for admission often list successful coursework meeting the prerequisites of Rutgers courses. However, Rutgers' automated registration system doesn't have the capacity to recognize equivalents to Rutgers prerequisites taken at other universities, since copies of student non-Rutgers transcripts aren't parsed by the registrar's computer in a way that automates the process of matching other university's courses to Rutgers prerequisites. On request from a student, the graduate director will review these transcripts manually and request that the registrar consider prerequisites as having been met.