ADMISSION, RETENTION & GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

Mathematics Honors-in-Discipline Program
East Tennessee State University

Who may apply:

  • Entering Freshman with an ACT score of 25 or higher and a high school GPA of at least 3.2
  • ETSU students no later than first semester junior year with an overall ETSU GPA of 3.2 and Math GPA of 3.4 or higher
  • Transfer students with an overall grade point average of 3.4 or better

Application and Admission Procedures

Prospective applicants must submit:

  1. A Math Honors-in-Discipline application. The application for entering freshman can be found here. The application for transfer students can be found here.
  2. A Math Honors-in-Discipline essay. The cover sheet of the essay describing its contents can be found here.
  3. (Optional) Many prospective students choose to submit a resume or personal statement describing what math classes they have taken.

Application and essay may be submitted over the internet, by e-mail, or by post. Applications will be reviewed by the honors coordinator. In order to guarantee that you will be considered for a Honors-in-Discipline scholarship, the coordinator should receive your application no later than March 1.

Retention Requirements
Retention in the Mathematics Honors-in-Discipline program include:

  • enrollment in a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester (15 if student is awarded an Honors-in-Discipline scholarship),
  • a minimum overall GPA of 2.8 for the first 30 hours of study,
  • 3.00 for 31-45 hours completed,
  • 3.15 for 46 to 60 hours,
  • 3.25 after 60 hours.

Honors students who fail to meet these grade point average requirements may request one semester of probationary status. If the student meets the retention requirements after one semester of probation, they may remain in the Mathematics Honors Program.

Progress in the Program Requirements
Students entering the math HiD program during their freshman year are required to complete at least two honors enhanced classes (at least 6 semester hours) by the end of their sophomore year. Students entering the math HiD program during their sophomore year are required to complete at least three honors enhanced classes (at least 9 semester hours) by the end of their junior year. In addition to the Honors Thesis (MATH 4018-088) class, at least two more of the honors enhanced classes must be at the junior or senior level (3000 or 4000 level).

Students are expected to participate in other extra curricular math activites such as Math Department seminars, seminars stemming from the ETSU mathematics/biology collaborative effort, the student ETSU Mathematical Association of America (MAA) chapter, and regional math or math education meetings (of the MAA, AMS, TMATYC , or NCTM).

Graduation Requirements
To graduate as a Mathematics Honors Major, honors students

  • must have completed all major course requirements,
  • must have completed 18 hours of honors enhanced classes (including Honors Thesis),
  • must have successfully completed and publicly presented their senior Honors Thesis, and
  • must have an overall GPA of at least 3.25.