It is normal for students to spend at least one summer in an industrial internship position. Although there is no guarantee that such an internship can be arranged, faculty assist with the search and all students seeking internships in recent years have been placed. Some of the companies with which students have interned are Merrill Lynch, Union Bank of Switzerland, Bank of Nova Scotia, Credit Suisse First Boston Bank, and Cargill. The requirements for the degree are detailed below. Full semester graduate courses carry 12 units of credit, and half-semester courses carry 6 units The Mathematical Sciences Department requires every student to either take or demonstrate competency in the material of a set of core courses .
Students generally take the core courses in their first two semesters of residence.
Students are also required by the Mathematical Sciences Department to pass a Qualifying Examination , covering major and minor topics, to certify the students' preparedness to begin research. For students in the Mathematical Finance Ph.D. program, the major topic for the qualifying exam will be either stochastic processes or numerical analysis. The content of the qualifying examination, which is determined by the student and the student's advisory committee, is typically the content of four Ph.D. level courses, two in the major area and two in the minor area. The qualifying examination is normally taken in the third year of residence. Additional details on these requirements can be found in the graduate catalogue of the Mathematical Sciences Department.