Double Major in Mathematics/Applied Mathematics & Economics
A Double Major is a single degree programme in which a student satisfies the requirements of two majors, a primary major and a second major. Double Majors are conceived as an opportunity for students to broaden their knowledge and capacities with a significant degree of depth by pursuing a second major alongside their primary major. By acquiring an additional set of skills, students are well-placed for multiple career options. A second major consist of at least 48 MCs of modules.
For students admitted in 2013/14 or earlier:
- up to 8 MCs can be counted also towards the Faculty/Major/Minor requirements; and
- at least 16 MCs must be at Level 3000.
For students admitted in 2014/15 or later:
- up to 16 MCs can be counted also towards the Faculty/Major/Minor requirements (Note: for counting towards a Minor, only a maximum of 8 MCs are allowed); and
- at least 16 MCs must be at Level 3000.
Students who complete a Double Major successfully will receive one degree scroll, for the primary major only. The second major will be recorded in the transcript.
The disciplines of Mathematics and Economics closely relate to and are natural complements of each other. On one hand, mathematical methods are indispensable to the development of economic theory and analysis. On the other hand, economics has provided a variety of important problems for mathematics such as those in optimization and operations research.
In this double major, students learn both the theory and applications of modern economics within advanced mathematical frameworks. The training that students receive ranges from probability theory through numerical analysis to economic analysis, computational as well as optimization techniques which are much sought after in the complex world of business and industry.
Graduates have been employed in a variety of areas, including banking and finance, and government. Many have also gone onto graduate study in areas such as statistics, economics, decision science and quantitative finance.
To provide an additional and more streamlined avenue for students of one department to do a second major in the other department, the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Economics have come together to jointly promote the Double Major in Economics and Mathematics, within the Double Major Programme framework of NUS.
Admission Requirements
Candidates may apply for admission in one of the following ways:
Applicants may select the Double Major in Economics and Mathematics course option when applying via the
online admission application portal during the University Admissions Exercise. Admission is based on academic merit as well as open competition among all eligible applicants. Please visit the Office of Admissions’ website to check the admission requirements for this double major programme.
As this is a structured double major programme, the following modules have been identified to allow for double-counting between the two majors:
- Any two modules (or up to 8MCs) from MA1101R, MA1102R, MA2108, or MA3110.
Each department will call for applications in June every year, which will open to its own students beginning their second year in August of the same year. Students should apply for the double major programme through their home department and must satisfy the following conditions:
- Year 1 students reading first major in Mathematics or Applied Mathematics or Economics; and
- Obtained a CAP of at least 3.50 at the end of the first year of study in NUS; and
- Passed four qualifying modules in the first year.
Qualifying Modules
For Science students who are reading primary major in Mathematics or Applied Mathematics and applying to read second major in Economics:
- MA1101R Linear Algebra I
- MA1102R Calculus
- MA2216/ST2131 Probability
- EC1301 Principles of Economics
For Arts & Social Sciences students who are reading primary major in Economics and applying to read second major in Mathematics:
- MA1101R Linear Algebra I
- MA1102R Calculus
- EC2101 Microeconomics I
- EC2102 Macroeconomics I
Students admitted to read this double major will proceed to fulfil the respective second major requirements from semester 1 of their second year. Science students should refer to the requirements for second major in EC
while Arts & Social Sciences students should refer to the requirements for second major in MA.
Application Schedule
For AY2020/21 admission exercise:
- Application Closing Date - 5pm, 10 July 2020
- Result of Application - 17 July 2020
Arts & Social Sciences students
Science students
- Save past semesters' results in one PDF file (using your name as the file name, e.g. John_Nash and with max file size at 2MB for uploading with application);
- Log in to LumiNUS (requires login with valid NUSNET ID)
- Select Module Search tab
- Find a Module > enter "MATMAEC" & Module Type > select "Non-Academic Modules"
- From search results, look for "MATMAEC" > Sign Up > select "Yes"
- Go to My Modules tab > select "MATMAEC" module
- Select Survey in the module > select Application for Double Major in Mathematics/Applied Mathematics and Economics > complete all questions + upload PDF file + click FINISH SURVEY to complete application submission.
Students who decide much later to read a second major in Mathematics or Economics may still do so by applying to the programme host department directly before the end of their 5th semester in NUS. Under this application mode, non-Science students who wish to read a second major offered by Science will have to first complete at least two-thirds of the corresponding minor requirements before applying to the department offering the second major.