Applied Mathematics

Concentrations

Concentrations

  • Applied Mathematics (APMA)
  • Applied Mathematics & Biology (APMA-Bio)
  • Applied Mathematics & Computer Science (APMA-CS)
  • Applied Mathematics & Economics (APMA-Econ)

 

Declaring APMA or APMA-Bio

  1. Fill out the declaration program plan in ASK. This is easy to change later, so it is fine if you put something that you are unsure about.
  2. Select a preferred advisor in ASK or choose Matthew Harrison if you have no preference. We try to honor advisor preferences, but we cannot always do this because we need to distribute the advising load among several faculty. If you have a strong advisor preference it can be helpful to connect with your preferred advisor before submitting your declaration.
  3. Submit your declaration in ASK and we will be in contact with you.

 

Declaring APMA-CS

  1. Decide whether you want to be advised within APMA or CS. This decision has no real bearing on your concentration (and you can change it in the future), but may be important to you if you feel more at home (or want to feel more at home) in one of the departments.
  2. If you want to be advised within CS, then follow the instructions for declaring a CS concentration here: [link] Indicate a faculty member from CS as your preferred concentration advisor, or contact Professor Thomas Doeppner to discuss the choice of concentration advisor.
  3. If you want to be advised within APMA, then follow the instructions above for declaring APMA or APMA-Bio.

 

Declaring APMA-Econ

  1. Decide whether you want to be advised within APMA or Econ. This decision has no real bearing on your concentration (and you can change it in the future), but may be important to you if you feel more at home (or want to feel more at home) in one of the departments.
  2. If you want to be advised within Econ, then follow the instructions for declaring an Econ concentration here: [link]
  3. If you want to be advised within APMA, then follow the instructions above for declaring APMA or APMA-Bio.

 

Concentration requirements

  • The official concentration requirements are detailed in the University Bulletin [link]

APMA - https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/apma/

APMA-Bio - https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/apmb/

APMA-CS - https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/apmc/

APMA-Econ - https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/apme/

  • We try to implement these in ASK as faithfully as possible, but sometimes there are requirements in the Bulletin that are not easy to implement in ASK. Please contact Matthew_Harrison@brown.edu if you find a discrepancy between the Bulletin and ASK.

 

Course substitution considerations

  • Course substitutions are approved by concentration advisors on a case-by-case basis taking into account a student’s entire course plan. Just because a course substitution is approved for one student does not mean that it will be approved for another, because those students may have different course plans.
  • For joint concentrations, concentration advisors must also confer with the other department regarding substitutions for the other department’s courses.
  • As a general rule, concentration requirements that list specific courses tend to be inflexible. The main exception to this is for calculus and linear algebra.
  • Calculus and linear algebra substitutions: If students have taken a required calculus or linear algebra course prior to matriculating at Brown and they cannot obtain transfer or AP credit for this course, then many concentration advisors will allow the calculus or linear algebra course to be replaced with a higher level APMA or Math course that builds on calculus or linear algebra, respectively, and that is not used elsewhere in the concentration. Calculus or linear algebra substitutions still require concentration advisor approval, though.

 

Writing requirements

  • University writing requirements are detailed here: [link]
  • APMA, APMA-CS, and APMA-Econ require that students satisfy both writing requirements using approved courses as detailed here: [link]
  • APMA-Bio allows students to satisfy the 2nd writing requirement using either an approved course [link] or by submitting a writing sample in accordance with the policies for other Biology concentrations. The details of how to submit a writing sample are detailed here: [link] Note that using a writing sample requires pre-approval from the concentration advisor prior to doing the writing.
  • Whenever possible, we encourage students to satisfy the 2nd writing requirement within the concentration. APMA 1971 (Independent study) is always WRIT designated. Some upper-level APMA courses and senior seminars are also WRIT designated, depending on instructor preference.

 

Honors

  • Each of the APMA-related concentrations allow exceptional students to pursue honors. 
  • The primary requirements are (1) excellence in grades, (2) completion of two independent study courses, and (3) an honors thesis describing the research done in the independent study courses. 
  • APMA honors requirements are detailed here: [link]
  • APMA-Bio students pursue honors within APMA and they should follow the requirements here: [link]
  • APMA-CS students can choose to pursue honors within either APMA or CS, but their primary thesis advisor must be in the department that they choose. The requirements for APMA honors are here: [link] The requirements for CS honors are here: [link]. Regardless of the department, APMA-CS honors students must email a copy of their thesis to Applied Math. Details are on the APMA honors page: [link]  
  • APMA-Econ students can choose to pursue honors within either APMA or Econ, but their primary thesis advisor must be in the department that they chose. The requirements for APMA honors are here: [link] The requirements for Econ honors are here: [link]. Regardless of the department, APMA-Econ honors students must email a copy of their thesis to Applied Math. Details are on the APMA honors page: [link]  
  • All honors students in APMA-related concentrations must take 2 semesters of independent study courses with their honors thesis advisor. For APMA advisors, these are APMA 1970 and APMA 1971. APMA 1971 is WRIT designated, which allows honors students to use part of their honors thesis writing to satisfy the 2nd WRIT requirement. (Note that the 2nd WRIT cannot be satisfied in the final semester, so APMA 1971 would normally be taken in the 7th semester.)

 

Double concentrations

  • Information about double concentrations can be found here: [link]
  • APMA-related concentrators are allowed at most two courses of overlap with a second concentration, excluding calculus and linear algebra.

 

Transfer credits

  • Pre-matriculation concentration credits. Courses must be approved for equivalency, but the number of courses that can be used for concentration credit is unlimited.
  • Post-matriculation concentration credits. Courses must be approved for equivalency. 
    • APMA - no limit
    • APMA-Bio - no limit
    • APMA-CS - limit of 2 (A.B.) or 3 (Sc.B.) total in the concentration [link]

APMA-Econ - limit of 2 per semester and 1 per summer [link]