Admissions

Applications are due on January 1st.  There is no GRE requirement.

See https://www.brown.edu/academics/gradschool/apply.

ADMISSION CRITERIA

Applicants should have a solid grounding in undergraduate mathematics. Courses taken beyond calculus and linear algebra should certainly include analysis and abstract algebra and a number of others, but there is flexibility as to which others.

Admission is very competitive; there have often been over 200 applications, sometimes more than 300, leading to fewer than 25 offers of admission. No application will be ignored simply because of a low test score or a low grade. We look at the whole application. Above all, we are looking for evidence of mathematical ability, and of the kind of strong interest and motivation that, with the right support, can lead to original research and to successful completion of the PhD program.

Most applicants will have specialized (“majored” or “concentrated”) in mathematics, but this need not be the case. We welcome well-prepared applicants who have come to mathematics from another field. 

We are especially interested in achieving greater gender and racial diversity. 

GRE AND TOEFL

Brown no longer requires the General GRE.

The mathematics Subject GRE is entirely optional. (The application form might call it “recommended”, but “optional” is more accurate.)

For applicants from non-English-speaking countries an English proficiency score (TOEFL or the equivalent) is required. This does not apply to applicants who have already completed one or more years of study in an English-speaking country.