Advising. Usually, a student prepares a long-range plan and declares a first major in mathematics through the Premajor Advising Center; the student is then assigned an official faculty advisor by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. First majors are required to meet with their advisors each semester during the registration interval. The student and advisor should work together to ensure that the program of study is consistent with the student's interests and professional goals.
A student who has declared a second major or a minor in mathematics will receive formal advising in the department of his or her first major; however second majors and minors and students considering a degree in mathematics may see the Director of Undergraduate Studies for advice or for referral to an appropriate member of the mathematics faculty. A second major or a minor in mathematics (or a change of major or minor) may be declared in the Office of the Registrar.
Choosing courses. Every mathematics major must take one course in abstract algebra (Mathematics 121 or Mathematics 200) and one course in advanced calculus (Mathematics 139 or Mathematics 203). To avoid conflicts during the final semesters of a major's program, these courses should be taken as early as practicable. An essential part of these courses is proving mathematical theorems. Students with little exposure to proofs should probably take the 100-level version of these courses, possibly prefacing them with Mathematics 120S (see paragraph below). Students who are comfortable with abstract ideas, and especially those students who are contemplating graduate work in mathematics, should consider taking the 200-level courses. The remaining courses may be chosen from both pure and applied areas of mathematics.
Mathematics 120S is a half-course recommended for prospective mathematics majors who feel the need to improve skills in logical reasoning and theorem-proving before taking Mathematics 121 and 139. Ideally, Mathematics 120S should be taken before the junior year and concurrently with Mathematics 103 or Mathematics 104. Students working toward the A.B. degree who do not take Mathematics 120S will usually fulfill their major requirements by taking at least seven full courses in mathematics numbered above 111.
There have been some recent changes in the mathematics major requirements, so it should be noted that ``Students are responsible for meeting the requirements of a major as stated in the bulletin for the year in which they matriculated in Trinity College, although students have the option of meeting requirements in the major changed subsequent to the student's matriculation'' (see page 21 of the 1996-97 undergraduate Bulletin.)
Probability and statistics courses. The standard sequence in probability and statistics is Mathematics 135-136. Mathematics 135 covers the basics of probability and Mathematics 136 covers statistics, building on the material in Mathematics 135. Those desiring a further course in probability should select Mathematics 216; a further course in statistics is Mathematics 217.
The Institute of Statistics and Decision Sciences (ISDS) offers a number of courses in statistics at various levels for students of varied mathematics backgrounds. Usually, such courses cannot be counted for mathematics major or minor credit unless they are cross-listed in the Department of Mathematics. The Director of Undergraduate Studies may approve certain statistics courses numbered above 200 for credit, but usually only courses that have a prerequisite of Mathematics 136 or its equivalent will be considered.