Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School. Official transcripts and other paper materials which come from third-party sources must be mailed to:
LSU Graduate Admissions
114 David Boyd Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
USA
When you take the standardized tests such as the GRE or the TOEFL, you need to request that your scores be reported officially to Louisiana State University. (LSU's Institution Code is R6373, and the Code for the Mathematics Department/Major Field is 0703. Then ETS will report your scores electronically to the Graduate School.) The Mathematics Department will have electronic access to all materials submitted by and/or on behalf of a student applying to graduate study. Paper applications for graduate admission are no longer in use. You can view the relevant application fee at the Graduate School website under Frequently Asked Questions
When you fill out your application forms, please indicate under Degree Program the highest degree you are seeking in the Mathematics Department. Also repeat this information please in your Statement of Purpose. The Department uses this statement to better understand the suitability of its programs of study for your interests. Thus if you seek both an MS and a PhD, write PhD as your intended degree program. For a list of codes for the available degree programs, see the page Graduate Degrees. For example, if you seek an MS with Concentration in Finance, indicate this in your Statement of Purpose.
Applicants will be considered for assistantships and for any fellowships for which they might be eligible. Priority for financial aid goes to candidates for the PhD degree in Mathematics. However, it is common that some students seeking only an MS degree are supported as well, especially if the students are qualified to perform some teaching duties. Nearly all the Department's financial aid for first-year students is awarded to students who enroll in August, although there are occasional exceptions. The Department does not have a deadline for application. However, early application is strongly encouraged. The Department begins evaluating application files at the start of February. To assure full consideration for all available financial aid, it is advantageous to have the completed application with all supporting documents delivered by January 15. Nevertheless, late applications are welcomed and the department continues to make offers after February on a rolling basis throughout the spring semester for fall admission.
The Math Department will read your file during the first half of February and notify you by email if anything is missing and can be supplied electronically. Although it is desirable to take all required tests in advance so that the scores will have been officially reported to LSU, please do not delay your application until official score reports arrive.
Sometimes an international applicant from a country with zip codes having more digits than used in the US has difficulty filling in the zip code requested in the online form. The solution is as follows: In the space for the US zip code, simply enter 00000. To have your own zip code on the application, simply enter it after the name of your city.
LSU Graduate Admission requires scores on the GRE General Test: verbal, quantitative, and analytical (or analytical writing). LSU does not set a minimum requirement for the score itself, but submission of the scores is required. International Students must submit also a TOEFL score, which must be at least 213 on the computerized scale or else 550 on the older hand-written scale. (There is an exception to the TOEFL requirement for those international students who will have a degree from a university in an English speaking country prior to enrolling at LSU.) The minimum score for the internet based TOEFL is 79. The Graduate School will also accept the IELTS score in place of the TOEFL, with the minimum IELTS score being 6.5. The scores should be reported officially by The Educational Testing Service. Test application forms and a list of approved testing centers may be obtained from the web-site GRE or from the Graduate School or by writing to Educational Testing Service (P.O. Box 966, Princeton, New Jersey 08540). Students who are outside the U.S. may obtain application forms and information about testing centers from American embassies and consulates and offices of the U.S. Information Service. Completed application forms and examination fees must reach Educational Testing Service approximately one month in advance of the test date. Applicants should allow at least six weeks for the examination results to reach LSU and should specify on the application form that test scores be sent to the University. Please note that LSU's Institution Code is 6373, and the Code for the Mathematics Department/Major Field is 0703. We note that the the GRE website linked above includes much information about the GRE General Test. Here is another link to a free, independent online selection of sample questions for the student who is preparing to take the GRE General Test.
There is a place in the online application to provide an essay, or Statement of Purpose, which is simply an essay in your own words to tell us about your mathematical experiences, interests, and goals. Please tell us about any special experiences you have had, such as participation in REU programs, study abroad, or research projects.
It matters how you select the references whom you will invite to submit letters of recommendation online. Letters of recommendation are very important components of the application. They should be from three professors who can attest, from their own knowledge of the your work, to your readiness for graduate study in mathematics. It is best to have letters from mathematics professors who have taught you in theorem-proving courses, since these are courses that help to distinguish prospective mathematicians from users of mathematics, such as engineers. Mathematics professors who have supervised your work in special projects, such as REU projects, Senior Projects, or papers, are also excellent choices. You may submit more than three letters, but this is not needed in order to have a competitive application. Your references should upload their own letters directly to LSU's online application system. If this is impossible, letters should arrive sealed and signed across the flap of the envelope.
We read everything you send us and we evaluate each application as a whole. We do not make decisions on artificial or simplistic bases, such as by setting a minimum score on this or that standardized test. LSU does not require the GRE Subject Test and it is not necessary. However, if you have taken the Subject Test in Mathematics, please report your score. Your Statement of Purpose is important: Use it to tell us about your mathematical interests and/or experiences and your goals in mathematics. The Graduate School's online application process has what is called a Writing Sample. This is not a required item for Mathematics. However, if you have written a student paper or project report or a student thesis, then you are welcome to upload that as a Writing Sample so that you can show us some of your work. If you do not wish to upload a writing sample, just put Not Required by Department in that space.
The Mathematics Department evaluates applications for admission and financial aid holistically. We seek applicants with strong academic preparation and motivation for graduate study in mathematics. The letters of recommendation, transcripts, and students' self--reported mathematical interests and experiences receive especially close attention.
The Department has a Graduate Committee that represents all the broadly defined research areas of the Department. The Committee reads the application files closely, paying attention to the availability in the department of suitable research areas for each applicant, and to the overall balance of the incoming class. The Department seeks a fairly even balance between international and US students, believing this provides a healthy environment for learning for both. Members of under--represented groups and minorities are enthusiastically encouraged to apply.
Prospective applicants often request information about quantifiable aspects of the standards---especially with regard to consideration for financial aid. So we report here the averages for the most recently recruited first--year class. The prospective applicant should note that this type of data is not as important as the considerations described above. Note also that averages are not the maximum or the minimum. We have included a standard deviation for most of the reported figures below. Stipends listed below are for 9 months, except for the $32,000 Board of Regents Fellowships which are for 12 months. Tuition is free, for both Graduate Assistants and Fellows. Graduate Assistants' student health insurance is subsidized, .
Our department sends its first-round offers during the month of February. The first notification of an offer should arrive by email because this is faster than paper mail. The timing is driven by the calendar-requirements of the Council of Graduate Schools of the United States. Virtually all American graduate schools belong to this Council and are pledged to obey its Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows,Trainees and Assistants. Use this link to read the Resolution. It stipulates that no university may require a decision by the student before April 15th, and that students can, by following certain procedures, change their minds up to April 15th. At the linked webpage, you will see also the list of all member universities. If you receive an offer requiring that you decide before April 15th, you should tell the Dean at your own current university about this situation. Your Dean will normally call the Dean at the other university to let them know that they apparently have a new Graduate Director in mathematics, who is not aware of the rules. This will result in a corrected offer being sent to you, acknowledging that you do have until April 15th as stipulated by the Council. The effect of this resolution is that students have time to consider the offers received during the first round before declining some of the offers (so that other students can be considered). Decisions from recipients typically arrive during March, but some recipients will not decide until early April. This means that second-round activity tends to occur during March and early April. Occasionally a late opening remains to be filled even after April 15th. It is common that there are ten applicants for each opening for financial aid. There are always more highly qualified applicants than can receive offers in the first round. Some departments make more offers than the number of actual openings, expecting some to be declined. Others, including the LSU Mathematics Department, do not offer more assistantships than the actual number of openings. The selection of first-round recipients can be so difficult that an element of luck is involved. On the other hand, recipients of first-round offers usually receive multiple offers but can accept only one. If you are waiting for an offer from a particular department, it is understood that you will email the graduate director of that department to get at least an estimate of where you stand. When you are ready to decide that a received offer is no longer your first choice among the offers you have received, you should decline it promptly by email. The reason is that deserving classmates at your university and other universities are waiting patiently for a chance to receive the offer you have declined. By observing rules of honesty and courtesy, we can do our best to maximize the fairness and efficiency of the application and offer process, which is time-consuming by its nature. Patience is required of all who are involved.
After making the offers to the first round recipients, the Department begins recommending admission also for the highest ranked remaining applicants according to the Graduate Committee's rankings. The reason for doing this in advance of offering financial aid is that when some first round offers are declined, the Graduate School will have cleared the waiting students for admission in advance, enabling subsequent offers to be made faster. This efficiency is important, especially as April 15th approaches. For international students this has a consequence that is sometimes puzzling to the applicant. When the Department recommends admission of an international student before offering financial aid, the Graduate School automatically generates a message to the applicant asking for a document called an Affidavit of Support. If you need an assistantship in order to enroll, you should wait to see whether or not we have an offer for you. We have simply recommended your admission in advance of having an opening for aid so as to be able to make a second-round offer faster. On the other hand, if you are satisfied to attend self-supporting, an appropriate Affidavit enables LSU to send you an I-20 form for a United States F--1 visa whether or not the Department comes up with an Assistantship to offer to you. It is understood however that most international students can not afford nonresident tuition without an assistantship. If you are waiting for possible second-round offers, it is important to watch your email daily for communication.