<p>His courses sound very useful to me. What would you prefer he take? He is studying a very useful field of study and is taking core course requirements to broaden his knowledge base. He is a FRESHMAN. At most schools, a student doesn’t even declare a major during the freshman year. He has started out very well.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>My son’s computer science program required:</p>
<p>Calc 1-3
Mathematical Statistics
2 semesters of Discrete Mathematics (including some abstract algebra)
Algorithms (essentially a math course)
Foundations (essentially a math course)</p>
<p>From Wolfram:</p>
<p>“The mathematics of modern computer science is built almost entirely on discrete math, in particular combinatorics and graph theory. This means that in order to learn the fundamental algorithms used by computer programmers, students will need a solid background in these subjects. Indeed, at most universities, a undergraduate-level course in discrete mathematics is a required part of pursuing a computer science degree.”</p>
<p>The world today runs on mathematics.</p>
<p>I know someone who got a job in management with a BS in Math, and someone else who is an Engineering Analyst with a MS in Math.</p>
<p>@LadyMontague I am in the same boat as your S. Pure mathematics can lead to a variety of careers; finance, high-tech companies (R&D), but most careers that can be accessed with pure math degrees often require cooperating with people whose expertise lie in other fields. I hope your son does know what jobs he can do with a pure math degree.</p>
<p>I had a hard time convincing my parents about letting me go to university (and grad school) in physics until I finally found out just who would hire physics majors, with or without an advanced degree, and how good job prospects were. Now my parents are pestering me about doing my thesis in condensed matter even if they let me go to grad school, thinking CM would net me a job while astrophysics/cosmology would not.</p>
<p>You have to have a thick skin on this site. Everyone is making fun at your expense, but it’s only because it appears your son is doing well academically, and is probably incredibly bright. Relax and enjoy your time with him. And, don’t come back on here to read the snarky comments. :)</p>
<p>Math majors at “fancy schmancy” schools do seem to do pretty well in jobs at graduation:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html</a></p>
<p>It wouldn’t hurt, of course, to supplement a math major with a few CS, statistics, or economics courses, but, remember, he is only a freshmen (who is doing very well in junior-level courses), so he has plenty of time to take various courses. Of course, a pure math major who does well can go on the a PhD program in math.</p>
<p>In other words, don’t worry too much at this stage.</p>
<p>A pure math major will have many career opportunities, especially if he is doing well in advanced math at a top college–but even in general.</p>
<p>Many students from the top colleges go into finance or consulting. A math degree is considered excellent preparation for these positions, especially if supplemented by some economics (as mentioned above).</p>
<p>He could go on in pure mathematics. In math, sciences, and engineering, no one who has done reasonably well as an undergrad has to pay for grad school. If your son chooses that option, he will have his tuition paid, and he will receive a stipend while he is in grad school. It is not a lot of money usually, perhaps somewhere in the ball park of $30,000 per year while he is in grad school (with tuition paid for him on top of that), but it is fine for having a student apartment, a car, and some entertainment. Admittedly, it is not easy to earn tenure as a professor of mathematics, but it is not impossible either, and the mathematicians at my university do reasonably well in terms of salary.</p>
<p>As a back-up safety career plan, he could become an actuary. Actuaries make comfortable livings (probably better than the typical math prof).</p>
<p>I am not a mathematician, but I use mathematics beyond calculus all the time. My work has really no more practical application than pure mathematics.</p>
<p>Also, while CC is full of claims about rampant grade inflation at the top colleges, and while the average GPA at the top colleges has risen in the past 40 years or so, nevertheless, most students at top colleges will not have college GPA’s that are as high as their high school GPA’s.</p>
<p>@marybee - thanks for the PM. I haven’t posted 15 times so I’m not allowed to reply. He seems to be keeping the drinking in moderation (well, he isn’t acting like an alcoholic while he’s at home), and I hope it doesn’t get worse. I’m just a bit worried because I’ve seen other people develop alcohol problems in college, and his school really does NOTHING to discourage freshmen from drinking. His RA has been known to serve alcohol to the freshmen, for chrissake. </p>
<p>@absweetmarie - he doesn’t know what he wants to do. He just figures he’ll keep take math classes unless he thinks of something else. </p>
<p>@eurekanow - I think he’s at the CT equivalent of your son’s fancy schmancy school. I don’t think it’s especially well renowned for its math department, but the university as a whole flaunts its schmanciness quite a bit. </p>
<p>To the rest of you, I suppose I may have misunderestimated the number of fields in which higher maths are relevant. I guess my worry is just that in those fields, you only need one mathematician to discover the relevant theorem, and if you aren’t lucky enough to be him, your prospects are limited. Maybe I’m wrong here, though - I admit I’ve never taken anything above calculus, so I don’t know exactly what these courses entail.
And I’d like to enjoy my time with him, but he spends most of his time home with his high school friends. He brings them over to eat our food, though!
But I’ll try to relax. ;)</p>
<p>
I have no idea whether this poster is for real or not. Fairly or not, people’s antennae go up when a poster’s first foray into the site is a magnum opus such as the OP in this thread. Too often such posts turn out to be written by bored students on holiday break.</p>
<p>The simplest way to broach this concern would merely have been to post:
“I am concerned that my son will not be able to find a job with a major in pure math. What sort of career opportunities exist for these graduates?”</p>
<p>The major is fine, and certainly presents many avenues for future employment.</p>
<p>If he’s attending Yale just say so. IMO the post just comes off as silly with all this “fancy schmancy” business. I think the hoity-toity cat is out of the bag.</p>
<p>LadyMontague: There is something that I think is really important for people to understand if they are contemplating a career in math or science. That is: the frontiers of knowledge are very broad. Many grad students will reach the frontiers of knowledge in their chosen fields while they are in grad school–that is, within their particular specialty in the field, they may well be the world’s expert. For some, this will not happen until the post-doc period, and for some in well-populated areas of research, it may take even longer. However, the idea that there are only a few geniuses at the very boundaries of knowledge, discovering new things, is far from true.</p>
<p>In a way, I found it daunting to realize that in my particular area, in terms of finding out new results, it was either me or nobody. I am by no means famous! But I have discovered several new results, which had me ecstatic for several weeks after the discovery. This is not uncommon at all. Now, your son is unlikely to discover theorems at the level of Newton, Leibniz, Gauss, or Galois, but that is true of most mathematicians.</p>
<p>There is so much to be discovered! There are so many surprising things that no one has looked at! And the discoveries are literally enough to take one’s breath away! Please let your son enjoy the excitement of his field. There are plenty of safe fall-back plans from being a pure mathematician, if he needs one, and he may not need one.</p>
<p>Also, in my opinion, since your son seems to be in school “in Connecticut,” Yale grades pretty hard in some fields, and the math/science areas are in this category.</p>
<p>@bovertine - Well, “fancy schmanciness” seemed to be a bit of a theme to this thread. I figured if I didn’t continue with it, people might lose interest.</p>
<p>My inlaws said “fancy schmancy,” so I don’t hold it against the OP.</p>
<p>I just think that many of us are scratching our heads wondering when highly respected Math became a basket-weaving major?</p>
<p>I think the OP’s fear that a few mathematicians are out there proving great theorems, while the rest stand around scratching their heads, is not uncommon. In a way, the media coverage of results such as Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s last theorem tends to promote this viewpoint. There are only a few mathematical proofs that are going to wind up in the New York Times, but there is much worthwhile work that will never show up there.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Everyone that works on my floor has to be able to read, write and synthesize the math that we use and produce at the specification and development stages. The ability to do this math is assumed.</p>
<p>@QuantMech - Yes, that’s exactly it! It’s comforting to know that people who never become famous still make meaningful contributions. My son’s response to that question was always just that he plans on being one of the people who become famous!</p>
<p>Pure mathematics is a fantastic field of study. (I have far more reservation with applied mathematics, even though I am a physicist.) I have been fortunate enough to hire many Ph.D. physicists and mathematicians during the course of my career. Some of today’s leaders in computational biology, computer science, cryptoanalytics (which encompasses the higher end of cyber security) are pure mathematicians by training.</p>
<p>Your son is on a solid path for the future.</p>
<p>My son’s response to that question was always just that he plans on being one of the people who become famous!</p>
<p>and maybe he will…or maybe he won’t. An 18/19 year old really doesn’t know these things. Heck, he may decide he hates math next year. The 300/400 level classes are very different. Classes like Topology, Real Analysis, and Abstract Algebra may not end up being his thing. </p>
<p>But, if he continues and does well, I don’t think you have to worry that he’s going to end up living in your basement and becoming a mooch. Relax.</p>
<p>^^^
Speaking of higher math, you don’t really have 42,000 posts, do you mom2collegekids?</p>
<p>THat’s what it shows on my computer. If true, I bow to you, Queen Spamsalot.</p>