For someone that doesn’t have a definite career path in mind (other than wanting to have the option to work internationally), which of the following would leave me with the most opportunities? I’m a University of North Carolina student
BS in Mathematical Decision Sciences and MS in Operations Research
BS in Mathematical Decision Sciences and BA in Economics
BS in Mathematical Decision Sciences and BA in Mathematics
BS in Mathematical Decision Sciences, minor in Mathematics, and MS in Operations Research
I’m planning on minoring in Spanish no matter what I do
Any thoughts or opinions would be very helpful.
The question is not about the number of opportunities, because the opportunities are virtually limitless with any of those degrees (and with most degrees). The question is about the opportunities that you want.
Do you want to be a quantitative economist or a financier? Do you want to do business research and help businesses optimize their processes? Do you want to do more mathematical or statistical analysis, perhaps as an actuary? A lot of the skills and technique you learn in these fields can be overlapping (economics is a bit different, but still closely related). The difference is often content. The theoretical classes in an economics BA, for example, will be quite different from those of a operations research MS. Economics isn’t just “math-plus” - it’s a social science, and you’ll learn social science research principles and read social science theory alongside learning econometrics. Do you want to do that?
If you don’t know what you want to do, but you know that you want to major in MDS, right now just major in MDS. I checked out the major and that alone will open a lot of doors for you (including the potential to work internationally, if you want).
I don’t see the point of double majoring or minoring in math. If you want to take additional math classes, just take them as electives. I also don’t think a minor (or double major) in math will add anything if you eventually want to get an MS in OR because the MDS major sounds like great preparation for an operations research MS anyway.
Adding a minor or a major in economics could potentially be satisfying, if you are into economics. I suggest that you take the introductory course for majors (whatever the first class econ majors take at your university - it’s probably intro to micro or intro to macro) and see how you like it.