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I disagree. Pure math is a better preparation for applied math grad school than the typical applied math major. Turns out that the pure math concepts developed 100 years ago - the typical 1st year PhD curriculum in pure math - are essential for most modern approaches to applied math as well. </p>
<p>Cryptography relies on algebra, signal processing on functional analysis and probability theory on measure theory. </p>
<p>An applied math major who doesn’t take the standard upper-level pure math courses will be woefully underprepared for the graduate-level work in pure math that’s necessary to make a meaningful contribution to the theory of applied mathematics.</p>