During the academic year (Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters) all supported graduate students must register for at least 10 credits. This is a University requirement, and cannot be waived except by petition to the Graduate School. In addition, there are specific registration requirements imposed by the Mathematics Department, as described below.
- Supported first year PhD students demonstrate satisfactory course performance in at least two of Autumn, Winter and Spring Quarters of the first year and satisfactory complete at least five quarters of core courses, with at least one full sequence. If you were allowed to place out of some of core classes, speak with your preliminary advisor and/or the Graduate Program Coordinator for course advice.
- Supported PhD students beyond first year are expected to register for at least ten credits of some combination of regular 500-level courses in math, applied math, or statistics; seminars for credit; Doctoral Dissertation (Math 800); and Independent Study (Math 600). Students should make sure to keep track of their degree requirements while selecting courses. (In particular, in their first two years, students should satisfactory complete a total of seven quarters of core courses.)
Courses can be added or dropped freely through the end of the first week of classes in a quarter. After the end of the first week, fees will be charged for any adds or drops. Courses may still be added during the second and third weeks, by obtaining an entry code from the Student Services Office, Padelford C-36. Courses may be dropped during the second week of classes; after the end of the second week, each student may drop only one course per year, up to the end of the seventh week of classes. For more information, see the University's web pages on Registration Eligibility, Registration Restrictions, Academic Calendar, Course Drop Periods, and Course Add Periods.
All students must meet with their advisors each quarter to discuss their course schedules for the quarter. Once you've decided on a plan, email that plan to gradmath@uw.edu and CC your preliminary advisor. This should be done by the fifth class day of the quarter.
The designated core graduate courses (algebra, analysis and manifolds) are worth 5 credits, and all other regular Math courses are worth 3 credits.
Each of the core courses has one or more 400-level alternatives that you can take instead if you are needing strengthen your background. They are as follows:
PhD students may register for any of the following to obtain the additional credit:
- Math 800 (Doctoral Dissertation). Permission of the PhD advisor must be obtained in advance of registration.
- Math 700 (Master's Thesis). Permission of the advisor must be obtained in advance of registration. Note that 9 credits of 700 are required to obtain a Master's degree with thesis.
- Math 600A (Supervised Independent Study and Research). Permission of the instructor must be obtained in advance of registration. If you wish to take a reading course with a faculty member, this is the course for which to register.
- Math 600B (Supplemental Reading and Research in Connection with a Mathematics Course). Permission of the instructor must be obtained.
- Math 600C (Independent Study). You should see your advisor before signing up for this in order to discuss a plan of independent study, which may include regular visits to the library to check out books and journal articles in your field of interest. Credit/no credit only. You will be asked to submit a short report (no more than a page) describing the activities you engaged in.
- Credit-bearing seminars. These usually carry numbers of the form 5x0, and are offered credit/no credit only. If you sign up for a credit seminar, be sure to contact the seminar organizer at the beginning of the quarter to find out what will be required for credit. Typical requirements include regular attendance, writing up one or more seminar reports, and/or giving a seminar talk. A list of currently-offered seminars will be publicized each quarter.
For courses requiring entry codes, the codes can be obtained in the Student Services Office, Padelford C-36.