Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I apply to the program (without a teaching assistantship)?

• Apply on-line at the Auburn University Graduate School to enter the graduate program.

• Send to the department

  1. a list of the universities you have attended with the degrees you obtained and
  2. a list of the math classes you have taken with the grade you obtained; and
  3. 3 letters of recommendation.

  Send them all to:
  
  Professor Ulrich Albrecht
  Graduate Program Officer
  Department of Mathematics and Statistics
  221 Parker Hall
  Auburn University, AL 36849-5310
  USA

How do I apply for a Teaching Assistantship?

There are three steps:

1. Apply on-line at the Auburn University Graduate School to enter the graduate program.
2. Apply for a Teaching Assistantship (TA) by completing the form.
3. The TA application process requires three (3) letters of recommendation that can be sent directly to the Department: Professor Ulrich Albrecht; Graduate Program Officer; Department of Mathematics & Statistics; 221 Parker Hall; Auburn University, AL 36849-5310, USA.

By what date do I need to apply for a TA?

While we accept applications year-round, we strongly advise prospective students to apply for Fall admission, especially if financial support is an issue.  New teaching assistantships are rarely available in the Spring and never in the Summer.  Moreover, most of our graduate-level courses are taught in year-long sequences starting in the Fall; and extensive orientation sessions for new students are offered at the beginning of the Fall semester, but not at other times during the year.  Applications for Fall admission are screened in February; admission and financial-support decisions are usually finalized in early March.  To receive full consideration, applications need to be complete by January 31.

What are the benefits of a TA?

• Graduate students with TAs receive a full tuition waiver for up to 40 hours in a master's program (the degree requires 30 hours to be taken) and up to 80 hours in a PhD program (the degree requires 60 hours to be taken).
• TAs are paid based on the amount of teaching they are asked to do. Currently, TAs receive over $11,000, but often may do additional teaching to be able to receive around $16,000.
• TAs receive training in good pedagogical approaches to teaching.

Do I need to take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE)?

All applicants must take the GRE and have the official test results sent to the Graduate School, but the subject test is NOT required.

Do international students need to take the English tests?

International students with a degree from an American or Canadian university in a province other than Quebec do not need to take the TOEFL.

Auburn does require the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to be taken. (Successful international applicants must score at least 550 on the TOEFL paper version (pBT), 213 on the computer version (cBT), and 79 on the internet version (iBT). Additionally, successful applicants must score minimums of 16 on the listening, reading, speaking, and writing components of the iBT. Auburn University's ETS institution code is 1005.)

We will accept a TOEFL score providing Auburn University receives an official copy from ETS before the expiration date of your test.

Auburn will also accept a 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam.

International graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) must have a minimum score of 50 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) to be eligible to teach at Auburn.  New GTAs are expected to achieve this qualification within a year of arriving at Auburn.  A score of at least 23 on the speaking section of the iBT TOEFL is accepted as equivalent qualification.  Alternatively, this requirement may be met by completing the course INTL-1820, Classroom Communication Skills for International GTAs, with an acceptable grade.

See also the webpage for the Auburn University Graduate School.

What websites have helpful information?

A listing of faculty and their interests is available, and a listing of the courses available at Auburn can be found at the Auburn Bulletin.

Do you offer any Research Assistantships?

From time to time, faculty members have grants that can pay graduate students, but they are usually reserved for students engaged in their doctoral research.

What areas of research might I study at Auburn?

The internationally known faculty of around fifty (50) professors work in areas of applied mathematics, pure mathematics, and statistics; some pursue interdisciplinary mathematics. Specifically, areas studied include

• algebra (representation theory of groups and Lie algebras, abelian groups, homological algebra, invariant theory);
• analysis (real and complex analysis, harmonic analysis, approximation theory, wavelets);
• discrete mathematics (graph theory, design theory, coding theory);
• differential equations
• ODEs (nonlinear oscillators, neural networks, stochastic equations, equations in Banach spaces)
• PDEs (elliptic and parabolic equations, reaction-diffusion systems, applications in climate modeling, biology, and fluid dynamics);
• dynamical systems (monotone and skew-product flows, complex dynamics, symbolic and lattice dynamics);
• fluid dynamics (Navier-Stokes equations, magnetohydrodynamics, applications in materials processing);
• geometry;
• linear and multilinear algebra;
• numerical analysis and computation (numerical and computational linear algebra, numerical and computational PDEs, finite-element and finite-difference methods, applications in fluid dynamics, elasticity, chemistry, geology, and biology);
• probability and stochastic processes;
• set theory (including logic);
• statistics;
• topology (continuum theory, set-theoretic topology, algebraic topology).