So many math majors

[Anonymous]

Math is not a popular major at all at my kid’s school. Current sophomore so maybe it’s just the last couple years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math is not a popular major at all at my kid’s school. Current sophomore so maybe it’s just the last couple years?

must depend on the school. the math major (based on those who declared so far--current sophomores) is still very small compared to bio or econ, but it is almost double the previous years at DS's ivy. He is mechE, engineers declare at the end of first year, but has a lot of math major friends due to all taking similar classes last year.

[Anonymous]

Elite schools have open majors so you don't need to apply to a specific school or major in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a new thing? The kid from New Jersey who thought he was screwed, endless questions here for next cycle or disappointed parents from this cycle whose math kids have to go to Europe.

What is going on with math… When did it become the hottest major?

It's a way to get into tech/FAANG without the competitiveness of CS. It may be competitive, but not as competitive as CS. Students use it as a proxy.

+1

It's a great major for someone STEMy who does not want CS or engineering, but is still a technical mind. You can pair it with neuroscience (cognitive NS), psychology, data analytics, any science and have a wide variety of jobs available to you. You are developing critical thinking skills and can use the degree for many stem area jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love all of the assumption of strategy here. My kid likes math, is really good at it, isn’t interested in CS or engineering, and doesn’t know exactly what he wants to do professionally. So he plans to major in math.

I decided on my majors (including English, which was then the most popular major at my large state university—how the times have changed!) the same way. Subjects that interested me, that I had an affinity for, and that I figured I could apply to whatever career I pursued.

For every kid choosing math strategically I’m guessing there’s at least one like my kid who just likes math.

That is a good plan. As a LA major (math) he will have less requirements than most eng/CS programs, so he can likely minor in one or two areas (or double major) to provide more support to the Math/areas of interest for future careers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elite schools have open majors so you don't need to apply to a specific school or major in the first place.

lol.
So cute that you think that’s how this works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a new thing? The kid from New Jersey who thought he was screwed, endless questions here for next cycle or disappointed parents from this cycle whose math kids have to go to Europe.

What is going on with math… When did it become the hottest major?

Engineering applications outside of CS have soared to the point of being almost impossible if one wants a top15/ivy, with these schools having sub-2.5% acceptance rates for the E schools compared to the overall admit rates sub5%. Thus applying to math or physics has become the latest hot trend especially this recent cycle--there were a couple of college-counselor podcasts that encouraged math or physics as a slightly easier admit than engineering for quantitative kids who were not sure of engineering. Ivy/elites have a lot of options for interdisciplinary coursework, dual majors, minors, etc that make the job prospects for getting into tech consulting/tech industry or quantitative finance relatively similar for math/physics majors versus engineering/cs for these specific career goals. Also, most of these top schools allow transfer into engineering as long as math/physics the first year goes well. It is being used as a backdoor to E for some; for others it is a genuine interest.

So the kids who actually love math now have to compete with CS and Engineering majors looking for an easier way in? How terrible.

I’ve always been under the impression that math is for super passionate students, but I guess it’s turning careerist.

This is correct. The math professors I know are fed-up with the current crop of students. It used to be a self-selected highly motivated group. It's now swarmed with jackasses. This has nothing to do with math requiring genius, or any of the silly tropes. Students are capable of doing the work, they just aren't there because they like math, like their course, like their professors. It's just a notable change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a new thing? The kid from New Jersey who thought he was screwed, endless questions here for next cycle or disappointed parents from this cycle whose math kids have to go to Europe.

What is going on with math… When did it become the hottest major?

Engineering applications outside of CS have soared to the point of being almost impossible if one wants a top15/ivy, with these schools having sub-2.5% acceptance rates for the E schools compared to the overall admit rates sub5%. Thus applying to math or physics has become the latest hot trend especially this recent cycle--there were a couple of college-counselor podcasts that encouraged math or physics as a slightly easier admit than engineering for quantitative kids who were not sure of engineering. Ivy/elites have a lot of options for interdisciplinary coursework, dual majors, minors, etc that make the job prospects for getting into tech consulting/tech industry or quantitative finance relatively similar for math/physics majors versus engineering/cs for these specific career goals. Also, most of these top schools allow transfer into engineering as long as math/physics the first year goes well. It is being used as a backdoor to E for some; for others it is a genuine interest.

So the kids who actually love math now have to compete with CS and Engineering majors looking for an easier way in? How terrible.

I’ve always been under the impression that math is for super passionate students, but I guess it’s turning careerist.

This is correct. The math professors I know are fed-up with the current crop of students. It used to be a self-selected highly motivated group. It's now swarmed with jackasses. This has nothing to do with math requiring genius, or any of the silly tropes. Students are capable of doing the work, they just aren't there because they like math, like their course, like their professors. It's just a notable change.

Where is your kid?

[Anonymous]

I can’t imagine slogging through a math major if you didn’t really enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine slogging through a math major if you didn’t really enjoy it.

Eh. They have their eyes on the prize. Med school and law school are slogs, too, but it's a means to an end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine slogging through a math major if you didn’t really enjoy it.

+1
DH was a math major and talks how he used to spend hours in problem sets and make little progress. You have to love it so much that the constant failure and confusion doesn’t demotivate you.

[Anonymous]

DC is a dual math cs major because they love math. They said that they actually prefer math to CS. If they could get a job doing high level calc problems all day that would be their dream job. But they don't want a PhD or teach. They can do complex calc problems in their head while drunk. Total math nerd.

[Anonymous]

Mom of a math major here. He just loves math, and always has. I don’t think math is a super competitive major at his school— he’s had no trouble getting the math classes he wants, and they tend to be small classes. He’s really enjoying it. It makes me happy to hear more kids are majoring in math. I hope some of them go into teaching — we desperately need more good math teachers in this country!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mom of a math major here. He just loves math, and always has. I don’t think math is a super competitive major at his school— he’s had no trouble getting the math classes he wants, and they tend to be small classes. He’s really enjoying it. It makes me happy to hear more kids are majoring in math. I hope some of them go into teaching — we desperately need more good math teachers in this country!

Agree on needing more math teachers.

Seriously, had that one student profiled in that podcast who applied to Yale from TJ focused on being a math major - who wanted to teach in math and education’s role in social policy - I bet you they would’ve gotten in to Yale.

[Anonymous]

For data science you need CS, not just math.