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College of Liberal Arts
University of Mississippi

Mathematics Course Suggestions (BA)

BA General Education Requirement: 3 credit hours (1 course)

Courses that meet the mathematics requirement are those at the 100 level or above except for MATH 245 and MATH 246.

Students whose ACT subtest score in mathematics is less than 19 (SAT 450 or less; SATR 490 or less) are required to enroll in an appropriate developmental mathematics course during the first semester of enrollment and to remain in the course until receiving a passing grade or until passing the placement exam administered by the Department of Developmental Studies.

Those students who only need 3 hours of math credit for a Bachelor of Arts degree should take MATH 115: Elementary Statistics or MATH 120: Quantitative Reasoning. Depending on how successful a student was in high school algebra or trigonometry, he/she might take MATH 121 or MATH 123 even if calculus is not on the horizon.

After completing MATH 261 with a grade of C or higher, students may not receive credit for MATH 121, 125, or 267.

MATH 115. Elementary Statistics. This course will provide students with a basic understanding of the proper statistical techniques used to estimate population parameters. These techniques include ways of setting up a well-defined study, methods for organizing and displaying data, and how to summarize data by using descriptive statistics. In addition, students will learn the basic concepts of probability and probability distributions as well as how to create confidence intervals and complete hypothesis tests. The non- online sections meet twice weekly, with other work completed in a mathematics lab. Prerequisite: Minimum ACT mathematics score of 19 (SAT 450 or SATR 510); or ACT mathematics score of 17 (SAT 410 or SATR 470) or mathematics score of 18 (SAT 430 or SATR 500) and ALEKS PPL score of 30; or the successful completion of DS 099, if required.

MATH 120. Quantitative Reasoning is a course meant to help students with “everyday” math. One of the topics is personal finance (mortgages, car loans, retirement accounts, etc.), and another topic is basic statistical reasoning. The course wouldn’t go into the same depth of statistics as Math 115, but it should teach students to read a newspaper article with stats. Other topics include basic set theory and logic. Prerequisite: Minimum ACT mathematics score of 19 (SAT 450 or SATR 510); or ACT mathematics score of 17 (SAT 410 or SATR 470 460) or mathematics score of 18 (SAT 430 or SATR 500 490) and ALEKS PPL score of 30; or the successful completion of DS 099, if required.

MATH 121. College Algebra. In this course, students will learn how to solve types of equations such as linear, quadratic, higher-order, rational, radical, exponential, and logarithmic equations. Students will also solve linear, polynomial, and rational inequalities. Other topics include the algebra of functions (including polynomial, rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions), the graphs of some of these functions, and solving systems of equations in two variables. The non-online sections meet twice weekly, with other work to be completed in the Jackson Avenue Center Mathematics Lab. Prerequisite: Minimum ACT mathematics score of 19 (SAT 450 or SATR 510); or ACT mathematics score of 17 (SAT 410 or SATR 470) or mathematics score of 18 (SAT 430 or SATR 500) and ALEKS PPL score of 46; or the successful completion of DS 099, if required.

MATH 123. Trigonometry. In this course, students will learn to work with angles in degree and radian measure, write the ratio definitions of the six trigonometric functions, evaluate trigonometric functions of special angles, sketch graphs of trigonometric functions, verify trigonometric identities, solve trigonometric equations, solve triangles by a variety of methods, and solve application problems using trigonometric functions and identities. Prerequisite: Minimum ACT mathematics score of 19 (SAT 450 or SATR 510); or ACT mathematics score of 17 (SAT 410 or SATR 470) or mathematics score of 18 (SAT 430 or SATR 500) and ALEKS PPL score of 61; or Math 121; or the successful completion of DS 099, if required.

MATH 125. Basic Mathematics for Science and Engineering. An algebraic and trigonometric preparation for MATH 261. This is a rigorous course for students who need an algebra refresher. The trig part of the course serves as a sufficient introduction to the subject for those students who did not take a high school trigonometry class. Note that the course cannot be booked if Math 261 has been completed with a grade of C or better. Prerequisite: minimum ACT mathematics score of 19 (SAT 450 or SATR 510); or ACT mathematics score of 17 (SAT 410 or SATR 470) or mathematics score of 18 (SAT 430 or SATR 500) and ALEKS PPL score of 61; or Math 121; or the successful completion of DS 099, if required.

MATH 261. Unified Calculus and Analytic Geometry. The first course in a four-term calculus sequence for engineering and science majors. Topics include limits, continuity, and differentiation of functions of one real variable. Differentiation rules, derivatives as rates of change, implicit differentiation, the mean and extreme value theorems, L’Hospital’s rule, optimization problems, higher order derivatives, graphing functions, antiderivatives. After completing Math 261 with a C or higher, students may not receive credit for Math 121, Math 125, or Math 267. Prerequisite: Minimum ACT mathematics score of 24 (SAT 560 or SATR 580); or B minimum in Math 121 and 123; or B minimum in Math 125; or ACT mathematics score of 17 (SAT 410 or SATR 470) or 18 (SAT 430 or SATR 500)and ALEKS PPL score of 76.