<p>What do math majors do after graduating? Is it better for a student that is good at math to major in engineering?</p>
<p>I’m interested in this question with a modification- for statistics. And no, this question isn’t for me lol, it’s for a friend.</p>
<p>It depends on whether you like pure or applied math. If you can find out what a pure math major can do after graduation (and even after a Ph.D.) let me know, because I sure don’t! (parent of pure math major here).</p>
<p>If you are interested in applied math and/or statistics, you can get very good jobs in investment banking, actuarial work, etc. You can also get into fields such as biostatistics, bioinformatics, sports statistics --even gambling. There’s a book whose title I’ve forgotten about some MIT undergrads besting the casinos in Las Vegas. The founder of Akamai is a prof of applied math at MIT.</p>
<p>my college roommate is a math major. She was applying for some type of internship at NASA, but ended up that she didn’t get it. she wound up interning at york international instead coming up with equations and numbers along with their programmers.</p>
<p>How do math majors compare with engineering majors?</p>
<p>In which ways?</p>
<p>You can also look into systems engineering, especially in relation to the Department of Defense and/or aerospace companies. I believe the NSA hires many with math degrees, and any of the Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) would also be interested in math majors.</p>
<p>math and engineering are kind of different tho</p>
<p>The book was called “Bringing Down The House - The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions” by Ben Mezrich.</p>
<p>Supposedly, the Las Vega casinos try to get a picture of every incoming MIT freshman. </p>
<p>I might be in the same boat as Marite. My math major son has been talking about how cool pure math is.</p>
<p>randomdad, I thought that was a pretty good book</p>
<p>A friend’s son is now working for an insurance company as an actuary. He makes great $$ for someone with a BS and six months on the job.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me the difference between pure and applied math. I have a D who is trying to decide what she would like to do with her life. She has lots of time as she is still a sophomore but doesn’t seem to be very interested in engineering and also I think she would like to look at LAC’s.</p>
<p>I’m trying to tell my H that there are more things to do other than engineering, medicine or pharmacy! </p>
<p>She seems to enjoy math much more than her science classes and loves to do puzzles and games. Not computer games though.</p>
<p>Become an Actuary. Thats what I want to do.</p>
<p>Deb:</p>
<p>If your D is a high school sophomore, there’s plenty of time for her to decide what type of math she likes best. Applied math is just that: it is applicable to a range of things: engineering, statistics, physics, economics, computer science, etc…
Pure math is for people who like math just for the heck of it, like working out proofs and are not very practical-minded, like my S :(</p>
<p>Thanks marite. I really see her as a math major but we’ll see. LOL about the pure math description!</p>
<p>My name is Mike, and I’m actually a pure math major at NYU right now. Hoepfully I can shed some light on what generally happens to high school students who think they want to be math majors.</p>
<p>When I was in middle school and high school, I participated in a lot of math competitions and math summer programs. Through these experiences, I met numerous students who really wanted to be math majors when they went to college. However, as we all graduated from high school and started college, there was a lot of divergence of what people wanted to do.</p>
<p>A large majority of the students I knew from the math community ended up majoring in engineering, computer science, physics, applied math, or other off-shoots of math (or double majoring in math and one of the above). These people are the ones that loved pure math but realized they would rather apply math to other subjects than spend the rest of their lives doing pure math. I stayed in the group of people majoring in pure math, and I made friends with a few people with similar interests here at NYU.</p>
<p>Most of us are planning on going to graduate school and then doing some combination of teaching and research afterwards. Although I probably won’t be making the $200,000 per year that some people who went into engineering will make, I’m very happy with my choice because I really like the environment I would have in academia. Getting paid to think, not having a 9-5 work day, going to conferences, and having a lot of flexability (including some summers off) is really more appealing to me than $200,000 and three or four weeks of vacation per year. Many of my friends agree with me, although I do know people who started down this road but changed their minds.</p>
<p>I have one friend who was a doctoral student at NYU (possibly in applied math, but it isn’t too relevant). She decided she didn’t want to finish her PhD and instead became an actuary. I have other friends who are considering that, as it was ranked somewhere as one of the best jobs in the country (good salary with very little stress, or something). I know some people who have done internships on Wall Street (as pure math majors), and I know someone who deals with standardized tests.</p>
<p>Wow, that was longer than I had expected (with more tangents than I had expected as well). Nevertheless, my point is that a pure math major has two options: pursue academia or don’t. Some of them make their decision as early as high school, some make it as undergraduates, and some wait until graduate school. But the fact is that being a math major does leave a lot of open paths, and there’s always a few choices for everyone no matter where they are in their education.</p>
<p>emengee, I think you hit the nail on the head, with regard to pure math. By definition, it’s not applies, so careers would be limited to academic positions – which might be wonderful, but kids may want to consider how many positions are available. A degree in math, preferably at the masters or PhD level will provide many opportunities in business, but you probably won’t sit around solving proofs all day long.</p>
<p>Well, careers aren’t exactly limited to being professors. There are many pure mathematicians who do research for the government or in the private sector, there are some pure mathematicians who work on Wall Street, there are some pure mathematicians who become actuaries, and there pure mathematicians who find other tangent careers. There are people studying pure math who could very easily apply what they’re learning to physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, or other fields. Sometimes the difference between pure and applied math is that the person is or is not applying what they’ve learned to other fields. It does not, however, mean that what they’re learning cannot be applied to other fields.</p>
<p>One can easily earn a degree in pure mathematics and get very close to the preparation needed for tangent careers of applied mathematicians. The point is that at some point they will decide between whether they want to be in academia or whether they want to do something else; if they decide they want to do something else, it would be helpful to begin taking courses in that area. However, this is not always necessary, as many companies will take on pure mathematicians and provide the additional training to bridge the gap.</p>
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By definition, don’t these careers become applied math?</p>
<p>I know two math majors. One is a doctor, and went on to medical school after earning his masters in math. The other is working on her PhD in math at MIT.</p>