Math major? Where does it lead?

[Anonymous]

My high schooler has no idea what she wants to major in, and is getting worried because she's seeing all her friends pick their paths. She's always been an excellent student, and takes the most advanced courses in most topics without breaking a sweat. By graduation, she will have taken 14 APs, and some math class beyond multivariable. But she tells me that most of her subjects aren't really leading to an interest for college. The subject she most likes is math and the activities she most likes to do are creative writing and digital art.

Could she do a math major? What does that lead to?

[Anonymous]

She sounds a lot like my current senior, who is applying to colleges as an applied math major. He has no idea what he wants to do professionally but loves math (and, like your kid, art). Applied math programs often have tracks, e.g., biology, economics, statistics, etc., which allow students to narrow in on interests and professional paths. I also think a math major is like a humanities major (I mean this in a positive way) in that it teaches you how to think and can then be applied across a number of fields/professions.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the above. I was a math major and became an actuary. My son was a math major and ended up in strategy consulting, now working on AI related issues.

[Anonymous]

If they are passionless, just do economics degree. You’ll be better trained for whatever job you end up in than with a mathematics degree.

[Anonymous]

Game design, interactive media, digital media, UX/UI/HCI, Data/Info Visualization, Digital research

[Anonymous]

My daughter's roommate was a math major at W&M. She now is a very well compensated actuary in NYC.

[Anonymous]

My high schooler and your high schooler appear to be twins. I tell her she doesn't have to decide on a career path in high school, but it makes sense to put down math or applied math as a possible major on college applications because of the accelerated math coursework. Mine also enjoys writing creative fiction, but it wouldn't make as much sense to put that as a major because she doesn't do any official activities related to writing, such as working for the student paper. However, that doesn't rule out writing as a future major or career path once she is in college. Mine also does a lot of digital art and animation, but again, not in any official activity.

When you say most of her classes aren't really leading to an interest for college, does that mean she isn't interested in any of the classes or that she enjoys many topics equally? Mine can see herself enjoying many different paths, which makes it hard to choose right now, but I imagine that in college it will be clearer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My high schooler has no idea what she wants to major in, and is getting worried because she's seeing all her friends pick their paths. She's always been an excellent student, and takes the most advanced courses in most topics without breaking a sweat. By graduation, she will have taken 14 APs, and some math class beyond multivariable. But she tells me that most of her subjects aren't really leading to an interest for college. The subject she most likes is math and the activities she most likes to do are creative writing and digital art.

Could she do a math major? What does that lead to?

Google and ChatGPT likely have suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they are passionless, just do economics degree. You’ll be better trained for whatever job you end up in than with a mathematics degree.

I agree. Math majors often end up having to learn a lot of extra skills unrelated to their major (for a job) that can be tiresome while getting your 4 year degree.

[Anonymous]

My DD is the same as yours, although she isn't struggling as much to figure out what she is most interested in (I hope you don't read this as a criticism of your DD; high schoolers shouldn't be expected to know that yet). She has a niche passion that she is applying for, but there are a limited number of schools that have this degree, and math would be her fallback option. I found this thread from a year ago helpful

Reasonable Careers for Math Majors: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1216798.page

Good luck to your DD! I wish I liked math 1/2 as much as my DD does.

[Anonymous]

She should plan to be a math major and then she can double major and whatever she finds herself interested in when she is in college. She sounds great, and the fact that she has taken classes beyond multivariable is impressive!

[Anonymous]

Ultimately mathematics leads to infinity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My high schooler and your high schooler appear to be twins. I tell her she doesn't have to decide on a career path in high school, but it makes sense to put down math or applied math as a possible major on college applications because of the accelerated math coursework. Mine also enjoys writing creative fiction, but it wouldn't make as much sense to put that as a major because she doesn't do any official activities related to writing, such as working for the student paper. However, that doesn't rule out writing as a future major or career path once she is in college. Mine also does a lot of digital art and animation, but again, not in any official activity.

When you say most of her classes aren't really leading to an interest for college, does that mean she isn't interested in any of the classes or that she enjoys many topics equally? Mine can see herself enjoying many different paths, which makes it hard to choose right now, but I imagine that in college it will be clearer.

OP here. Wait... I just remembered she said last weekend that she would love to work at IKEA, and manage one of their stores

It's not that she hates any subject, but she doesn't love the way they're taught, and that frustrates her. She finds everything easy and boring (she does have mild ADHD). In all her classes except math, she reads in class, because she can follow the class with half an ear, even in her AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My high schooler and your high schooler appear to be twins. I tell her she doesn't have to decide on a career path in high school, but it makes sense to put down math or applied math as a possible major on college applications because of the accelerated math coursework. Mine also enjoys writing creative fiction, but it wouldn't make as much sense to put that as a major because she doesn't do any official activities related to writing, such as working for the student paper. However, that doesn't rule out writing as a future major or career path once she is in college. Mine also does a lot of digital art and animation, but again, not in any official activity.

When you say most of her classes aren't really leading to an interest for college, does that mean she isn't interested in any of the classes or that she enjoys many topics equally? Mine can see herself enjoying many different paths, which makes it hard to choose right now, but I imagine that in college it will be clearer.

OP here. Wait... I just remembered she said last weekend that she would love to work at IKEA, and manage one of their stores

It's not that she hates any subject, but she doesn't love the way they're taught, and that frustrates her. She finds everything easy and boring (she does have mild ADHD). In all her classes except math, she reads in class, because she can follow the class with half an ear, even in her AP classes.

Supply chain management is not just something IKEA does very well. It is also a major. One that requires math.

[Anonymous]

I was exactly your dd in college. Since she doesn’t have a specific idea of what she wants to do, why not a liberal arts school? That will kind of buy her time to see what she really likes in college and wants to major in. I ended up dual majoring in math and economics and went into investment banking. That wasn’t at all what I would have picked had I been forced to pick a major or a specific college within a university when applying to colleges.