<p>I also find this thread interesting. My S is a college freshman in the Integrated Science Program at NU. Most of the students going through this program major in ISP and one other major … could be math, one of the sciences. Some choose something really different, like anthropology. S is pretty good at math and thinking now his second major may be physics, or perhaps even economics (he’s taking a class in micro right now.) </p>
<p>I’m thinking if he does add on economics, he might have strongly options if he decides not to go to grad school in the sciences … he could try going striaght into industry, or maybe to law school and become a patent attorney. Lots of ISPers end up in med school, but he has no interest in that.</p>
<p>All of these fabulous options are open to him because of his skill set in mathematics. He doesn’t fall far from the tree. H is a mathematic professor, and I’m a financial analyst (so I cover the applied, “real world” side, LOL!)</p>
<p>Why should I have majored in math? I was never any good in it. I failed accounting and moved from my major from business to history. Unlike others I find no beauty or elegance in mathematics. Now history, that’s a subject loaded with beauty and meaning, and that’s what I devoted myself to. It taught me critical analysis and gave me a better understanding of the world around me and why countries, and people, act the way that they do. It is substantially more satisfying and meaningful than trying to figure our which of those stupid trains would arrive first. It also lead me to a great and satisfying career. </p>
<p>Concur, majoring in mathematics is certainly not for everyone. However, for those who find it their passion, it is, indeed, beautiful. My H was not planning on majoring in it. He was thinking about genetics. Then he arrived at college and found that higher level math is, indeed, not so much the “stupid trains/cookbook” stuff from HS, but way, way beyond it.</p>
<p>He gave math a chance and well, for him the mathematics professor, the rest is history.</p>
<p>ETA: Pun intended, tied to prior post above.</p>
<p>Wife parlayed her math and computer science degrees (completed in 3 years) into an actuary career. Here’s another vote for having math + something else if possible. Her programming skills definitely helped in her career. Her familiarity with archaic languages like COBOL, Fortran, and Pascal has come in handy when dealing with legacy systems at insurance companies.</p>
<p>S (now HS junior) says he wants to major in engineering, which is essentially “math + something else”, but I would definitely encourage a math major as a fallback option if he doesn’t like engineering.</p>
<p>And I find this thread encouraging, as S is a math/CS major. He is having trouble with those pesky humanities requirements, but when he finishes, he will be quite employable. :)</p>
<p>Wow nothing would make me want to major in math like my mom or dad saying some stranger on the internet said so? My main problem is that the title of this thread seems to imply that the parents should decide for the kids…(Not that I know whether or not the same thread exists somewhere else. It’s pretty old)</p>
<p>I considered a major in Math last semester when I was completely unsure what I wanted to do with my undergrad years. I’ve always been good at math to the point that I lost points for doing problems in my head or for suggesting an alternative the teacher didn’t understand. Or to the fact that the teacher cared more about showing correct work or doing some unrelated project (this happened in Calc I in college too) that I lost points for lack of interest.
I could have done it, sure. Probably more easily than what I’m doing now. I would have gotten a job too. But I would have not cared about what I do, which would have sucked.</p>
<p>S is a math major in order to support his CS skills. Is doing decently well in the math major, but rocks the socks in programming and theory. Mommusic, S made more money this summer at his internship than I have made year-to-date. Was pretty sobering for both of us, but also comforting that he could indeed support himself after graduation!</p>
<p>Gina, your mom and dad are on the internet, listening to strangers, precisely to hear other opinions on topics which they are not experts themselves. That’s a large part of why the internet exists. Savvy users should be able to weed out the valuable info from the rubbish.</p>
<p>And parents should not decide on a major for their kids, but they absolutely should give their valuable input–even if steering toward or away from a major. Like it or not, parents have experience and knowledge that you don’t.</p>
<p>This stranger on the internet is telling you that math is a great major that can open doors to many lucrative and/or satisfying careers–if you really enjoy math.</p>
<p>First, to get something out of the way. There is nothing wrong with a thread detailing the perks of a certain major, IMO. Personally I think there should be more of them to avoid having to answer the same questions on this forum.</p>
<p>And the title of the thread was not “Suggest your kid major in math” it was “Get your kid to major in mathematics now!” This implies that parents have more than a suggestive power. And I know a lot of parents who do. I know a few kids who’s parents said they would only pay for school if they majored in either engineering or biology/chemistry as a pre-med students. These kids hate their classes, their parents, and are generally unhappy.
Also my parents respect me enough to be able to trust me to make my own decisions. They also recognize that by the time a person is old enough to choose a major they are old enough to decide what they like. I asked my mother for her opinion on my major and she said, “Well what would make you happy?” not what would make you money, not well the internet told me…If anything she would say, here take a look at this thread. Because her interpretation of the information matters very little in regards to my life and interests.</p>
<p>Gina, if I was the OP, I would have chosen a different way of presenting the topic of this thread. I believe there are certain majors, math being one, where consistently liking it/being passionate about it is very important. There are too many links in the chain of knowledge in mathematics to “take a break” from it for awhile and hope to be successful at it. There is more of a core body of knowledge in math that must be absorbed. </p>
<p>As for my S, he’s been liking science and math for a very long time. We’re hoping it kicks into gear as a passion at college, now that he’s in a program that’s very interdisciplinary in its approach. We didn’t suggest he go that way. He said he wanted to, and I tried to find him a program that met those needs, and his other stated need which was that he didn’t want, for undergrad, to go to a tech school (e.g. MIT, CalTech) as he wanted to interact with other students not focused on STEM. And we respected that, too, although he really threw down the gauntlet of a challenge to research where that could be found. Not that many places, it turns out. Happily, Northwestern U is one and he’s there.</p>
<p>I really wanted to major in math but my guidance counselor (back in the 70s) made it seem like the only careers I could hope to have, were as an actuary or a teacher. So I became an architect and then also went back for an accounting degree. Still wishing I had studied math.</p>
<p>Anyways…S2 is currently a math major, freshman in college. He’s currently only taking one math course, which he enjoys, and is looking forward to more upper-level courses. Over break he also expressed an interest in sociology. Sociology!!! What a mix.</p>
<p>S1 is just about finished with an engineering degree and earned a math minor fairly early on (and is also working on a CS minor). Guess we’re just a math-oriented family.</p>
<p>archiemom–math and sociology is a great combination! Too often sociologists are driven by their instincts, cultural/political bias, or whatnot. The field needs rigor!</p>
<p>^^Thanks for the encouragement!^^ At the time I had to take a deep breath while visions of a down economy and a liberal arts major flashed before my eyes ;).</p>
<p>I share the concern expressed by some others–I would hate for parents to read a thread like this and push a kid who isn’t interested in math into a math major. I see that all too much already with parents pushing their kids to be premeds or engineers, even if that isn’t really where their strengths lie.</p>
<p>A person can be successful in life after graduating with just about any major, and if success includes happiness and fulfillment, it is much more likely to result from a field of study the student really likes. I would much rather my kid be a happy junior high school PE teacher than a miserable neurosurgeon.</p>
<p>I fail to see how people on this thread are tying to make students major in math. What I’ve seen is people posting about how math is a good general field to enter and can work with other fields. It beats the “I want to major in business and make lots of money” posts. I do think the thread title was unfortunate.</p>
<p>Hunt: As a high school teacher, I see the opposite. Kids who want to go into medicine, engineering or the sciences, and they struggle big time with mathematics. Their SAT math scores are low. They had difficulty understanding chemistry or physics. They know that math/science is not a strength, but they insist that they will be a doctor or an engineer. I never discourage a student. I let them learn the truth when they are in college.</p>
<p>Hunt, it is important to play to one’s strengths in choosing jobs and majors, so pushing someone who is not good at math to be a math major or minor would be unwise. But, as someone who studied a lot of math, I think that the OP is correct that abstract math starting with a good linear algebra class and beyond – real analysis and algebra as examples – are great training for the mind. However, these courses are actually reasonably hard. </p>
<p>Like an earlier poster, math skill seems to run in my family. When my father was inducted into the National Academy of Science in theoretical physics, another physicist/NAS member said to me that my father was considered a virtuoso mathematician among physicists (a scary thought). I was modestly good (PhD in an applied math field). Recently my son was thinking about studying behavioral economics and I suggested to him that he take a lot of math – if he wants to get a PhD in economics, mathematical skills are value extremely highly and if he wants to get a job, a Math/Econ major from an elite school causes one to believe with higher confidence that a kid is smart than an Econ major from the same school. As I told him, I don’t think he really needs to major in math, but can get the benefit by studying a fair bit of math and applied math. I don’t usually don’t use math now in the career I’ve carved out but my training definitely helped me. The training still helps me develop new ideas that are intellectually sound and practically useful. My daughter, with ADHD held at bay with Ritalin, is discovering that she is pretty good at high school math.</p>
<p>If you like math and are good at it, OP’s advice is pretty sound. But those are two big if’s. I’d prefer not to push my kids into a field that they didn’t like. But, to OP’s point,I always feel a bit uncomfortable reading on CC about parents on CC who push their kids toward very career-specific undergraduate degrees and kids who say that they want to be an X (typically without any knowledge of what an X really does other than make a lot of money or have job security) and thus do an X major because I fear that some of these degrees may prepare people for jobs that at some point cease to exist and their college training may not give them as many tools to adapt.</p>
<p>Fair point, archiemom, although I think learning how to think beats very specific training like an undergraduate business degree (e.g., an undergraduate degree in marketing or communications) as a general rule (note engineering strikes me as different because engineering courses teach you a way of problem-solving and thinking). One of my college roommates was an English major and later was CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Another was a sociology / anthropology major, I believe, and is now dean of a major law school. An English and psychology major are both doctors, one is head of a med school department. Another English major runs a significant part of a large national charitable organization. The sole engineer, interestingly enough, is unemployed.</p>
:)</p>