Math major? Where does it lead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ultimately mathematics leads to infinity.

Or it’s constantly trying to get to zero but never does

You mean no matter how small epsilon is it's going below epsilon?

[Anonymous]

Math major plus Quantitative Economics minor would be a way to make a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

Lots of options.
For example, teaching. The country needs A LOT of qualified math teachers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ultimately mathematics leads to infinity.

Or it’s constantly trying to get to zero but never does

You mean no matter how small epsilon is it's going below epsilon?

Nerd humor. Only on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math major plus Quantitative Economics minor would be a way to make a lot of money.

applied math + econ is bog standard "I want to go into finance" double major. "A lot" means different things to different people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I graduated with a pure math degree in ‘18 and went into management consulting and now work in AI development as a product manager. Others I know have commonly gone the data science route or finance (quant or fundamental). Less common but still not rare is to leverage it into a programming role. I’ve also seen a lot of folks go into scientific domains (eg academic or industry research roles) but these are more specific cases that vary on your experiences and interests. At the extreme end I know individuals who now work in quantum engineering and cryptography.

I really encourage kids who love math to study it further in college. When studied at a reputable program it’s a highly rewarding and versatile discipline that can lead to terrific career outcomes.

What are some reputable programs/schools for math majors? (Leaving off the Ivies...)

[Anonymous]

A relation is a math PhD. She now works for a well known company as an in-house analyst on data driven decisionmaking. It seems like she is highly valued.

GShe is really smart on anything where quantitative answers are possible. Can use math for anything.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my math major will be working at a quantitative trading firm as a new grad next year. she'll be pulling in about 600k.

So the vast minority of mathematics graduates. There are IMO winners who don’t get quant. It’s a very niche career and not a viable option for a majority of even highly intelligent people.

I agree with this. Quant roles are brutally competitive and being "good" in math is the floor and likely wont get you the job. Also, you'd have to marry math to some level of CS/data science/LLM heavy coursework. Quant firms have a prescreening coding test and is very software engineering testing protocol focused. So if your kid doesn't enjoy that, quant jobs are not right for them.

[Anonymous]

Have her check the internet for some of the careers mentioned or even connect with people working in the fields to ask them what it's like day to day, pros/cons, responsibitlites, etc. Then she can see if any of those careers sparks an interest.... or makes her think she's not interested. Doing math in college is different than careers that may come from it.

She is obviously very bright. My DD also loves math and breezes thru, doesn't study or even do the problem sets, highest scores on tests, will surpass MV Calc in HS. She also has a robust creative side.

Ultimately the job is not just what subject you liked or found easy in HS. Maybe discuss the many factors in a job - hours, pay, location, desk/computer vs not, public facing vs working with peers vs working alone mostly, flexibility, autonomy, entrepreurial potential, govt vs private, job security, who you work with, corporate politics vs small company lonliness, repititive job vs one with new dimensions, what age group you work with, etc - maybe these thoughts will help her as she looks at careers.

Too many young people pursue a subject they liked in HS (like "math" or "chemistry") only to find that the jobs in those fields are not at all what they were expecting or hoping for. Go into this decision with eyes wide open and do due dilligence.

Your daughter needs to be intellectually challenged and she will be as she goes through higher education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have her check the internet for some of the careers mentioned or even connect with people working in the fields to ask them what it's like day to day, pros/cons, responsibitlites, etc. Then she can see if any of those careers sparks an interest.... or makes her think she's not interested. Doing math in college is different than careers that may come from it.

She is obviously very bright. My DD also loves math and breezes thru, doesn't study or even do the problem sets, highest scores on tests, will surpass MV Calc in HS. She also has a robust creative side.

Ultimately the job is not just what subject you liked or found easy in HS. Maybe discuss the many factors in a job - hours, pay, location, desk/computer vs not, public facing vs working with peers vs working alone mostly, flexibility, autonomy, entrepreurial potential, govt vs private, job security, who you work with, corporate politics vs small company lonliness, repititive job vs one with new dimensions, what age group you work with, etc - maybe these thoughts will help her as she looks at careers.

Too many young people pursue a subject they liked in HS (like "math" or "chemistry") only to find that the jobs in those fields are not at all what they were expecting or hoping for. Go into this decision with eyes wide open and do due dilligence.

Your daughter needs to be intellectually challenged and she will be as she goes through higher education.

I agree with the above. Liking math in HS or finding it "easy" isn't a reason to pursue a math major in college if you have no idea what you want to do with it. If she really doesn't know what she wants to study, she's better off applying "undecided" and being honest about using the first year+ of college to figure out where she wants to focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1 OP, are you not capable of using the Internet for this? Here's a webpage from the Association for Women in Math

https://awm-math.org/resources/careers/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have her check the internet for some of the careers mentioned or even connect with people working in the fields to ask them what it's like day to day, pros/cons, responsibitlites, etc. Then she can see if any of those careers sparks an interest.... or makes her think she's not interested. Doing math in college is different than careers that may come from it.

She is obviously very bright. My DD also loves math and breezes thru, doesn't study or even do the problem sets, highest scores on tests, will surpass MV Calc in HS. She also has a robust creative side.

Ultimately the job is not just what subject you liked or found easy in HS. Maybe discuss the many factors in a job - hours, pay, location, desk/computer vs not, public facing vs working with peers vs working alone mostly, flexibility, autonomy, entrepreurial potential, govt vs private, job security, who you work with, corporate politics vs small company lonliness, repititive job vs one with new dimensions, what age group you work with, etc - maybe these thoughts will help her as she looks at careers.

Too many young people pursue a subject they liked in HS (like "math" or "chemistry") only to find that the jobs in those fields are not at all what they were expecting or hoping for. Go into this decision with eyes wide open and do due dilligence.

Your daughter needs to be intellectually challenged and she will be as she goes through higher education.

I agree with the above. Liking math in HS or finding it "easy" isn't a reason to pursue a math major in college if you have no idea what you want to do with it. If she really doesn't know what she wants to study, she's better off applying "undecided" and being honest about using the first year+ of college to figure out where she wants to focus.

Agree - just liking the subject matter now isn't enough to pursue a certain field. With careers, you need to have your "why" to keep you sustained decade after decade. All jobs get tedious after a while but the "why" keeps you going. I loved art in HS. I breezed through math in HS and college. But I didn't purse either as a career or as a major. I took studio art classes in college (and after) as well as plenty of math classes, but my "why" is I wanted to directly help other people and I wanted to be intellectually challenged. I also enjoyed science in school. So I became a doctor and 30 yrs into my career, I still love it and look forward to going to the office. I love the social interaction with patients, not being stuck at a computer all day, daily intellectual challenge, something new everyday, tangible impact, flexiibilty, and job security. The only one of these I may have consciously thought about as a young student was having a positive, tangible impact on other individuals. that is my "why" and still what keeps me going.
I do a little art as a hobby, when I have time, or do other creative pursuits here and there. As much as I love art, it would not have sustained me as a career because MY "why" would not have been satisfied.

If my "why" was to create beautiful creative pieces, then being a doctor would not have satisfied my "why" and I would be burnt out and miserable as a doctor.

At 17, the kids may not know what makes them tick, but it's not too early to start having that discussion to get them to start thinking about it. Matching "why" to your career path leads to career satisfaction.

[Anonymous]

Well. THIS is what you do with math degrees.
If you are extremely intelligent, not tailored and consulted and helicoptered into college.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/math-ken-ono-carina-hong-axiom-startup-649bc417?st=c3yfXp&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have her check the internet for some of the careers mentioned or even connect with people working in the fields to ask them what it's like day to day, pros/cons, responsibitlites, etc. Then she can see if any of those careers sparks an interest.... or makes her think she's not interested. Doing math in college is different than careers that may come from it.

She is obviously very bright. My DD also loves math and breezes thru, doesn't study or even do the problem sets, highest scores on tests, will surpass MV Calc in HS. She also has a robust creative side.

Ultimately the job is not just what subject you liked or found easy in HS. Maybe discuss the many factors in a job - hours, pay, location, desk/computer vs not, public facing vs working with peers vs working alone mostly, flexibility, autonomy, entrepreurial potential, govt vs private, job security, who you work with, corporate politics vs small company lonliness, repititive job vs one with new dimensions, what age group you work with, etc - maybe these thoughts will help her as she looks at careers.

Too many young people pursue a subject they liked in HS (like "math" or "chemistry") only to find that the jobs in those fields are not at all what they were expecting or hoping for. Go into this decision with eyes wide open and do due dilligence.

Your daughter needs to be intellectually challenged and she will be as she goes through higher education.

I agree with the above. Liking math in HS or finding it "easy" isn't a reason to pursue a math major in college if you have no idea what you want to do with it. If she really doesn't know what she wants to study, she's better off applying "undecided" and being honest about using the first year+ of college to figure out where she wants to focus.

That is exactly why I majored in math! Then went on for advanced degree because I still didn't know

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated with a pure math degree in ‘18 and went into management consulting and now work in AI development as a product manager. Others I know have commonly gone the data science route or finance (quant or fundamental). Less common but still not rare is to leverage it into a programming role. I’ve also seen a lot of folks go into scientific domains (eg academic or industry research roles) but these are more specific cases that vary on your experiences and interests. At the extreme end I know individuals who now work in quantum engineering and cryptography.

I really encourage kids who love math to study it further in college. When studied at a reputable program it’s a highly rewarding and versatile discipline that can lead to terrific career outcomes.

What are some reputable programs/schools for math majors? (Leaving off the Ivies...)

You can google ranking but if you are looking for normal schools somewhat nearby, Maryland, Penn State, and Rutgers all have great math departments.