<p>My background: I was a major in chemistry and mathematics that went on to work in the pharmaceutical industry as a chemist. I was subsequently laid off, but man o man am I sure happy now that I majored in mathematics. It has proven to be the very durable and quite useful. Right after being laid off, I was able to work as a substitute math teacher to make ends meet while applying for new jobs. I was able to find a 1 and half year temp job with at a bank doing financial analysis because of my strong background in mathematics. I was thinking about going to pharmacy school, even took the PCAT (aced it because of my math degree again), but reconsidered because of the fact that there are now way too many pharmacists. Thus I decided to go back to grad school to ride out this terrible economy (and also because I like research), and will now be working on my PhD in biomedical engineering. All of this would not have been possible without my degree in mathematics. I have been able to jump in and out of several, quite different, industries very easily.</p>
<p>Forget degrees that you think will help your kid get into a professional school like biology, accounting, marketing, etc. Professional schools are highly overrated anyway. There are now far too many lawyers, so many that in fact now even Harvard trained recent law school grads are having trouble finding jobs because of the fact that the market is absolutely saturated with JDs. Forget MBAs, tons and tons of colleges churn out MBA degrees like candy. A MBA is pretty much a dime a dozen. Good luck trying to get your kid into medical school. 90% of kids will fail, and couple that with the fact that tons of medical schools get 10,000 applications for only a 100-150 spots (only about a 1-2% acceptance rate), your kid better have something back to fall on. </p>
<p>The number of math majors at most universities is quite small every year because of its perceived level of “difficulty”. People who have very strong math skills and analytical ability are always in huge demand. A math degree with a 2nd degree or minor in something like economics, computer science, or finance is a KO combo. Even if your kid decides to go through the grinder and apply to a professional school, they can still do it with a math degree. Math degrees, above almost all other majors, are definitely one of the most versatile and most useful degrees that any university offers. Universities don’t care how employable degrees are and the fact that they may be oversaturating markets with certain degrees, all they care about is your tuition $$$. Tell your kid to study something useful that will make them employable in the future in many different industries.</p>
<p>The first two years are the easiest. The typical course of study would be Calc I/II/III, differential equations, and linear algebra, and maybe some other math course such as advanced calculus. </p>
<p>The first two years of math studies are truly not representative of what “real” math courses are really like, which you don’t get until your jr. and sr. years. The first two years of math studies are typically courses that engineering students, physics students, and econ students can be pretty good in. They are just all calculation and “solve for x” type of classes. Nothing too hard. The real deal begins when you take classes like advanced calculus (aka real analysis) or abstract algebra. These courses are the “real” type of math classes. They are NOT calculation based at all and require one to be able to write proofs. Remember those proofs you had to do in geometry in high school? Yeah, it’s sort of like that, but much harder. You have to be able to think critically, problem solving won’t get you anywhere. It’s basically just solving logic problems. If you can get passed advanced calculus you know you’re golden for pretty much any real math course.</p>
<p>But like I said, the important thing here is to see how universally applicable a math degree is. They can be employed in far more different types of industries than most other majors and YES your kid can still apply to medical and law school if they still wish with a math degree. BTW, math majors typically have some of the highest acceptance rates into medical and law schools, most likely because of the way a math degree prepares students to think logically and critically.</p>
<p>15 Years in aerospace? Good job Mrscollege. There’s no way in heck I could have gone from chemistry/pharmaceuticals to BME without my math degree. SOOOOOOOOOOO glad I have that piece of paper up on my wall right now.</p>
<p>A lot more than 10% of medical school applicants are admitted to at least one of them. After admission, very few fail. After graduation, they all get a job and generally earn a lot more than a math major.</p>
<p>Yeah, but you are talking only about APPLICANTS. Many many many students who initially do the pre-med bit never make it past organic chemistry. Many many students that make it past organic chemistry never make it past the MCAT. So yes, the failure rate of students who inititally decide to do pre-med is extremely high. They better have something else to fall back on. And like I said, YOU CAN STILL APPLY TO MED SCHOOL WITH A MATH DEGREE. In fact, math majors tend to have a very high (at least they used to last time I looked) acceptance rate. If they don’t get in, they have something rock solid to fall back on.</p>
<p>Sure you’ll earn a lot as a doctor, or even a lawyer. But you also rack up $250,000 debts with interest. The best part about advanced science and engineering degrees is that they are absolutely free. Holders of advanced degrees in math and related fields can earn extremely lucrative salaries. People with a BS in math, who also pass all the actuary exams, easily earn 6 figure salaries in the long run with much less debt from their schooling. One of my math classmates went on to work for a trading firm on the Chicago stock exchange and now earns over $200,000/yr because he is pretty good at it. It all depends on what one does. On average will a doctor and a lawyer earn more than BS math major? Of course. But there is also the years of schooling and massive amount of debt one has to rack up in order to get there.</p>
<p>Just minor in math if you want to stay in engineering. You really only need applied math courses. Don’t torture yourself with real analysis. You will still show that you have strong analytical ability on your resume with your engineering degree so you will still be able to jump back and forth between many non-traditional industries for an engineer. Take some computer science if you can.</p>
<p>What if I want to try to torture myself with real analysis? I’m planning on it in the summer, mostly to see if I’m good enough at math to be ambitious, or if I should do something safer.</p>
<p>Right now I’m trying to decide between Industrial Engineering and Computer Science… And I like Math, and I’m in my first Econ class right now but I’m liking it pretty well. I guess you would suggest CS and Math?</p>
<p>Put it this way, if you can make it through real analysis with a decent grade (A to a B-), then major in math, it is definitely right for you and you can cut it. Minor in math if you want to major in something else and take real analysis. If you pass it with a decent grade, bump up your minor to a major. You have to decide what you are good at. Engineering, CS, and Math are all good degrees that can make you very employable in more than one industry. For now, test the water out with real analysis first to see what math is really like. People are NOT kidding around when they say a well taught rigorous real analysis class makes quantum mechanics look like the boy scouts. I know, I’ve taken both.</p>
<p>Thanks, gravenewworld, for the very interesting and helpful perspective. I will pass your posts onto my D, who is thinking of biochemistry or such.</p>
<p>Let me put in a good word for statistics…anyone who likes and is good at math should consider a concentration in or major in stat. Such a degree, and especially an advanced degree, can open many doors. You may not get rich, but you’ll probably stay employed and develop skills that can translate to various sectors and professions.</p>
<p>Like all degrees and majors, you should learn what is entailed in mathematics and study that if it interests you. Math is a valuable degree in many industries, but it is not a uniquely practical course of study. I have degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering and have never been unemployed for very long. I have been able to move between various industries, including teaching programming at the local college. After his retirement as a Physicist, my father was able to work for a few years as a high school math teacher. At least where he worked they did not require a pure math degre to teach high school math.</p>
<p>Most k-12 do not offer good preparation in math. Program is constructed incorrectly and there is a lack of good teachers. Some kids either get very bored (like my D. and Granddaughter - last one actually loves math, but compalins all the time that she is bored most of the times. D. always had way too easy time to get interested in math, she likes it when it is challenging). Others somehow just do not get it, because they were told from early age that it is difficult. So current situation serves nobody, except for very few who have resources to supplement material outside of k-12 system. One got to be very interested in math, have fun with it to pursue it, otherwise they move on to something else.</p>