Stanford University

Math Major

Official Requirements:

Departmental Requirements for the Math Major:

The official requirements can be found on our Bulletin page

Math Major Checklist

Math Major Declaration Form

Note: The CR/NC policy from the 2020-21 academic year does not extend beyond Summer 2021. From Autumn 2021 onwards all courses towards the Math major must be taken for a letter grade.

Students may take 1 course CR/NC towards the elective requirements.

  1. 57 units of Math courses taken for a letter grade reduced by the number of 200-level graduate Math courses.
  2. At least 8 Math courses above Math 63CM/63DM.
    • The above letter grade policy does not apply for courses taken in Spring 2020 and the 2020-2021 academic year due to COVID-19. Please see the official requirements.
    • If a student has 10 units of AP Calculus BC, and has completed either the Math 50 or Math 60CM/DM series, this leaves a remaining of 8 Math Department courses above Math 63CM/DM. Math 56 can be counted towards the major requirements
    • Note: For students whose Math course experience at the 100-level or in Math 56 straddles the transition to 4 units from 3, the figure of 57 will be further reduced by the number of 100-level courses below the 190’s taken prior to Autumn 2022.
  3. AP Calculus credit can be counted towards the requirement.
  4. Math 56 may count towards the 8 courses.
  5. Stats 116 (no longer offered), Stats 118, Phil 151, and Phil 152 are viewed as Math Department courses and can count towards this completion requirement. No other courses outside the Math Department can count in this way. There are no exceptions to this for any reason. (Stats 117 is a pre-approved elective, see list below.)
  6. Math Q courses can be counted towards the requirement.
  7. Math 193, and Math 198 do not count towards the major or minor.
  8. Math majors may use Math 193X towards their elective requirements.
  9. If a student is planning on using a cross-listed course towards the major or minor that is not the Math cross-listing, contact the Student Services Specialist with the course name. 
  10. 32 units, reduced by the number of 200-level graduate Math courses, must be taken from Stanford.
  11. Only Math 50/60CM/60DM series and first-year calculus can be double counted toward any other major or minor.
  1. Four courses of electives is required for the Math major.
  2. Math Department courses numbered Math 101 and above can be used as electives.
  3. In addition, there are approved out-of-department electives that can be used as electives. See the table in the next section to see these approved courses.
  4. Math 199 may only be counted towards electives, not towards the core Math courses.
  5. One of these courses may count as CR/NC.
    • The above letter grade policy does not apply for courses taken in Spring 2020 and the 2020-2021 academic year due to COVID-19. Please see the official requirements.

Petition for an Elective: 

A course that uses a lot of numbers or basic algebra doesn’t necessarily qualify as an elective for the Math major. There must be a certain level of Math that is used throughout the course (e.g., at least Math 21 or above) that demonstrated by course material such as exams, or a course website. For example: A Computer Science course that's primary focus is on coding, or a natural science course that is primarily focused on lab experiments does not qualify. See the table of pre-approved elective courses in the next section for a sense of this.

If you would like to petition for a class to count as an elective, please be prepared to provide either course material (such as exams or problem sets with solutions) or a course website which gives a clear indication about the level of Math used throughout the course. You can submit your petition using the link below.

Petition for an Elective 

The table of courses below are automatically approved to be applied towards the elective courses of math-related courses allowed for the major.

  1. This list is not exclusive. The courses listed within the link at the red button above are what we commonly see majors take. If other courses are high enough in math content, they are likely to be approved.
  2. Primarily only undergraduate courses are included here, but many graduate courses may also be used.
  3. Please contact the Student Services Specialist well in advance of graduation (ideally by fall quarter of your senior year) if you have questions about the usability of courses not on this list.

Department

 

Courses

Astronautics & Aeronautics:100, 218
Biology141
Bioengineering101
Chemistry:151, 153, 171, 153, 171, 153, 171, 173, 175
Classics:136
Computer Science:103, 109, 121, 129, 148, 154, 154N, 157, 161, 166, 167, 168, 205L, 221, 228, 229, 229T/M, 230, 233, 234, 235, 250, 251, 254, 255, 256, 259Q, 261, 265, 267, 268, 269Q, 354, 355
Computational and Mathematical Sciences:108
Economics:50, 51, 52, 102A/B/C, 103, 111, 136, 137, 140, 160, 162, 180, 181, 182, 202, 203, 204, 284
Electrical Engineering:14, 15, 30, 60, 62, 263, 274, 276A, 364A, 364B, 376A, 387
Engineering:14, 15, 30, 60, 62
Earth Systems Science:246A
Management Science & Engineering:111, 112, 121, 135, 145, 211, 220, 226, 232H, 245A, 245B, 310
Music:

320, 423*, 424

*MUSIC 423: Limit of 3 units.

Philosophy:

150/250, 151*, 152*, 154/254, 159, 162**

*PHIL 151 & PHIL 152: May count towards either the 49 math units or 15 elective units requirement, but not both.

**PHIL 162: If you take PHIL 162 as of 08/01/2018, it can only count as a pre-approved elective. It is no longer cross-listed with Math 162.

Physics:

14N, 41*, 43*, 45, 61*, 70, 71 (formerly 63), 81 (formerly 65), 100, 104, 107, 108, 110, 112, 113, 120, 121, 130, 131, 134, 160, 161, 170, 171, 172, 210-269, 330. 

*The grading basis for these courses is Satisfactory/No Credit. At most one can count toward the elective requirement.

Physics AP credit does not count toward the elective requirement. 

Statistics:

110, 116*, 117, 118*, 141, 160, 191, 200, 203, 205, 206, 207, 213, 217, 218, 229, 231, 240, 270, 271, 305A, 315B, 318, 376A

*STATS 116 (no longer offered), STATS 118: Count as Math courses. May count towards either the 57 math units or elective requirement, but not both.

One WIM (Writing in the Major) course is a University requirement for the major and must be taken for a letter grade. The WIM course is part of the Math major units.

  • The Math WIM courses to choose from are: Math 101, Math 109, Math 110, Math 120, and Math 171.