<p>I’m currently a freshman at a uni, and I’ve been doing some thinking after dabbling into Statistics. I found out that I really enjoy application of numbers and formulas, etc. It’s pretty ironic because I avoided math like a plague because I was so intimidated by it and I always stuck with social science and humanities. I’m a very visual person and I like the arrangement aspects of advertisement or how it should look. I want to somehow combine these two concentrations together. Does anyone know what majors I should be looking at? These are what I have so far:</p>
<p>My sister said that I should look into engineering, but I’m just not sure. I’m currently a Communication major right now and while my biggest plan is to work in the advertising industry, I also prefer application over theoretical works. Does anyone have suggestions? Thanks.</p>
<p>Edit: I guess I really just enjoy sitting and working with numbers. I find it fun and rewarding, but I like the creative side of me, as well.</p>
<p>Applied math, statistics should also be considered, or at least for a minor. You can’t get more abstract than pure math and some fundamental philosophy, but the more abstract part of them can be really off-putting, though there is plenty of creativity necessary.</p>
<p>Architecture and graphic design would seem like good choices to me as well. A lot of the applied subfields of computer science could be considered too. I don’t have much to add, except that I think to get people excited about science and math, we need story-tellers and artistic people who have a good understanding of the theory/abstract side of things. From reconstructing dinosaurs, no just their appearance but how they moved and behave, to solving protein folding to illustrating exoplanets, we need both the numbers and the visuals. Benoit Mandelbrot, who essentially started the whole business of fractals, was a visual thinker. Now fractals are used to generate complex figures efficiently, to keep cellphones tiny, to compress data, to understand biology from forests to trees to the veins inside your body. It’s inspired art. So there’s lots to be said about combining abstract thinking and more down to earth applications.</p>
<p>I’ve been seriously considering either Architecture or Graphic Design with a minor in Applied Statistics or Mathematics. The only thing is is that both need portfolios which I haven’t really done much with. I’m going to be meeting with my advisor soon and for guidance and preparation.</p>
<p>You might want to look into Statistics with a final goal of getting into Market Research. </p>
<p>Market Research covers a wide variety of industries, including your interests in Advertising, Communications, Graphic Design and Architecture. You won’t be designing any of these, but your research will help steer the clients toward a certain design that has better market appeal and sales rates.</p>
<p>For example, if they have 3 or 4 different designs for a project, the research you do can help determine which has the highest market appeal, sets the price, color, etc. You can also breakdown the individual product to determine things people like or dislike, which may lead to changes, redesigns, etc.</p>
<p>Lots of other applications to market research, but those are just a few that would seem to appeal to you.</p>
<p>Keep studying math, because you typically need a high levels of math to qualify for those jobs. A degree in Statistics will require 3 semesters of Calc and some additional math classes beyond that.</p>
<p>At my daughter’s school, you can major in applied math and minor in any number of things: physics, economics, etc. Another major that I looked at recently was industrial engineering. It seems to have a business component. Perhaps someone else knows more about it than I do.</p>
<p>Economics. You can take your statistical analysis and branch off into any form of social science which you are interested in. Once you get past the quantitative foundation courses they’re all social science analysis courses.</p>
<p>I am a Graphic Design major with a minor in mass communication (studies in Communication and Advertisement/PR). I think Graphic Design would be a good choice. Architecture would be too I would think. Advertisement, Communication, and PR are not too related from my experiences.</p>
<p>I’m checking out the different programs and I’ve noticed there are two different types at my school: B.Arch and BS.Arch. From my understanding, the latter seems to be more pre-professional and flexible, while the B.Arch is a certification-type thing (I believe this program leads to the M.Arch, as well). I’m really looking into the Graphic Design here, as well. So hard to choose! Both sound extremely interesting. I think I’m going to post over in the Architecture and Visual Arts forums. Thanks for all the help and suggestions!</p>
<p>Marketing is a probably great idea for working with math and advertising. However, like your sister said, engineering could be a great way to go if you like to sit and use numbers for an applied, visual purpose. Mechanical engineering uses math to apply physics to a host of things. Finite element analysis uses computers to model a lot of fascinating physics matters in materials for the design of things like cars and other mechanical items, and it combines math and some visual things for an applied purpose. This may not be your area of interest, but I think it is definitely something to look into.</p>
<p>Social sciences with a quantitative emphasis! Most of my upper level [psych</a> classes](<a href=“http://www.ccis.edu/]psych”>http://www.ccis.edu/) are largely applied statistics, but there’s also quite a lot of theory and design. You could go into quantitative psych and spend your days coming up with clever ways to quantify and compute abstract things, and teach other people how to design their studies.</p>