Submatriculation is an honors program at Penn for very strong undergraduates who would like to pursue a Masters degree at the same time that they pursue their Bachelors degree. In order to enter this program in Mathematics, students need to follow the steps listed below, including the submission of an application to the graduate program (item 6 on the list). As is the case with other graduate applications, this process is by no means automatic. For additional information about this process, the interested student should also read the School of Arts & Sciences document on Submatriculation.

Admission to the program

Students are encouraged to begin the application process by the Fall semester of their junior year.

Before entering the program, students are ordinarily expected to have completed (or be finishing) two of the four courses Math 360-61 and Math 370-71 (or the equivalent), with an average grade of at least A-. Note that Math 508-09 and Math 502-03 are masters level versions of these courses; these 500 level versions can count toward the masters, but not the 300 level versions. So for students interested in submatriculating, it is better to take the 500 level versions of these courses rather than the 300 level versions.

The steps of the application process:

1. Consult an Assistant Dean for Advising in your school office to notify them of your interest in submaticulation. 
2. Contact the Graduate Chair in the Mathematics Department to express your interest in the possibility of submatriculating. In your email, you should indicate the mathematics courses you have taken beyond standard calculus classes, along with the names of the professors in those courses and your grades. If the Graduate Chair agrees that it makes sense to move forward, and agrees on a course plan, then complete the "application for submatriculation" form and obtain the signature of the Graduate Chair on this form.
3. Consult the Undergraduate Chair of the undergraduate major department (if courses are to be double counted). Get the chair's signature of approval on the "application for submatriculation" form.
4. Return the completed "application for submatriculation" to the assistant Dean mentioned in step 1. Obtain the Dean's approval to proceed.
5. Submit via email an electronic copy of the completed "application for submatriculation form" to the Graduate Division.
6. Submit an online application via CollegeNet to the Mathematics Graduate Program, indicating that you are applying as a submatriculant. You do not have to submit GRE or TOEFL scores. You should get letters of recommendation from two Penn Mathematics professors from whom you took proof-based courses. After submitting your application, send email to the Mathematics Graduate Chair.
7. Once a decision is made, you will be informed by email.

Requirements for the degree

The student must fulfill all of the requirements for a Masters degree (see the description of the The Masters Program). These requirements are: 

1. Pass the Masters Preliminary Exam(see The First Year). For submatriculants, the preliminary exam must be passed by the beginning of their senior year, before the beginning of classes. If not, they will be dropped from the program.
2. Fulfill the Masters degree course requirements.
3. Write a Masters Thesis. After passing the preliminary exam, the student should immediately begin planning for the thesis by contacting a faculty member who will serve as his or her thesis advisor.
4. Pass the Masters General Examination.

For the course requirements as many as 4 (of the total of 8) credits can be counted towards both the Bachelors degree and the Masters degree. Graduate courses completed before admission to the submatriculation program can be applied towards the Masters degree with the approval of the SAS Graduate Office. A student submatriculating into a research master’s program is expected to complete the two degrees within the normal four undergraduate years. All of the courses for the Masters degree must be taken for a grade.