Frequently Asked Questions

Mathematics and statistics are used in connection with just about everything—medicine, finance, music, sports, movies, weather, among many other fields. Employers need people with good analytical skills. Mathematics is well respected as a pre-professional major and as business preparation, especially for students considering the best medical, law and business schools.

The BA/MA program gives a student both a BA and a MA degree with fewer credits than required for obtaining the two degrees separately. There are several BA/MA programs because the BA may be in mathematics or statistics, and the MA may be in pure mathematics, applied mathematics, statistics or mathematics teacher education. Each BA/MA program requires a major, the General Education Requirement, and a master’s sequence.

Although there are no assistantships, graduate students have the opportunity of teaching a course in the department as adjunct lecturers.

The department supports external internships as well as internships at Hunter in various departments such as geography, political science and psychology. For now, it is expected that students will receive credit for such internships. Contact an advisor for more information.

Currently, Hunter College has the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Catalyst Scholarship Program in which students receive a stipend and have the opportunity of participating in research projects with full-time faculty mentors. Yearly, talented students are encouraged to apply for a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program.

The Math Placement Test (MPT) is conducted remotely and in person with a proctor through the Testing Center. Read about math milestones, preparing for the test, and scheduling at the Testing Center.

Advising may be done by email. When you email an advisor, be sure to include a topic in the “Subject” field. Email without an identifiable source and email without a subject are usually not opened. The email addresses for the departmental advisors can be found on the advising page of this site.

You must see a departmental advisor. Bring your Hunter transcript, a description of the course transferred and descriptions of its prerequisites. If your schedule does not allow you to see an advisor during office hours, leave the necessary documents in the department office, room E919, to be picked up later.

It is expected that you take all your math/stat courses at Hunter. The department’s rotation schedule tells you how often courses are given so that you can plan ahead. If it becomes necessary for you take a course elsewhere, the course must have the same prerequisites as the Hunter course. You need a permit approved by a departmental advisor. Permits for CUNY campuses are now handled online in CUNY’s e-permit system.

Students “exempt from the math proficiency test” are exempt only from those parts of the test required for admission to Hunter. (The test is called the COMPASS Math Test.) These students may register for MATH 100, MATH 102, or STAT 110 provided that one of these is the mathematics course they need.

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics uses the remaining parts of the COMPASS Math Test to place students in its other entry-level math/stat courses, such as MATH 101, MATH 104, MATH 125, MATH 150, STAT 113, STAT 212, and STAT 213. If you wish to register for one of these courses, you must have the prerequisite for the course—the prerequisite is either a preceding course or placement by the COMPASS Math Test.

Even though you are eligible to take MATH 101, you should not register for MATH 101 unless you need the course for your program of study. Is MATH 101 a prerequisite for a course that you need to take? Note that MATH 101 does not count toward the General Education Requirement (GER).

You can keep trying to register in case spaces become available. There are no waiting lists to register for closed sections. If a section allows overtallies, you must wait until the first meeting of the class. On the first day of classes, access the overtally form on this website, go to the class, and see if the instructor is willing to sign it. If you obtain a signature, submit the form. Overtallying is left to the discretion of the instructor. Departmental advisors are not allowed to overtally.

Yes. Overtallies are not allowed in STAT 113 and STAT 214 because these courses require computer terminals.