Suggestions for math major

mathprof63
Sun, 29 Jun 2014 22:23:21 +0000

@Iglooo asked: She is at an REU this summer and I would think she will do it again next summer. Is an REU more for pure math track?

No -there are REU’s focused on different topics, depending on the REU site. Here’s list from te NSF. They vary somewhat year to year depending on the funding:
REU Sites | NSF - National Science Foundation;

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On another note, the guy hired for CS at UCSD has multiple strengths. It is usually rare for a top research university like UCSD to hire a math person for CS - but in this case, he can cross over b/c theoretical computer science and math kind of blend at very high levels (as @ucbalumnus pointed out), and he is extraordinarily talented. That last part is the key. For an average Ph.D. mathematician, even from a top-tier institution, only a small/medium college that can’t find a CS Ph.D. will probably hire a math Ph.D. with some CS. Even the CS dept. in my regional university will not look at a Math Ph.D. to fill their CS positions, because they need someone with both a practical and theoretical CS background.

Many times, I have advised my math majors who like CS to double major in Math and CS or change their major to CS.