All students pursuing the Master of Science degree are required to pass three exams, at least two of which are the preliminary exams in the core subjects Algebra (MTH 561/562), Topology (MTH 531/532), and Analysis (MTH 533/534). The third exam must be approved by the graduate committee if it is not in one of the core subjects.

Students are given up to two years to pass these exams and are permitted to take each exam at most twice.

The preliminary exams are given in the middle of August and in the beginning of June of each academic year. Passing any of the preliminary exams enables a student to by-pass the corresponding 500-level course sequence. Incoming students are welcome to take any of the August exams prior to the start of the fall semester.

The following syllabi are intended as a rough guide. The actual contents of the exams are determined by the exam committee.

Syllabi
• Algebra
• Topology
• Analysis