Should I major in pure math if I want to have an easy time in college?

[Anonymous]

I'm 18 and currently a senior in high school. I just got accepted into one of my top-choice colleges. Now I hate to admit this, but I'm not a very studious person. I really want to major in something that doesn't require a lot of outside studying. I keep hearing that math, more specifically pure math, is by far one of the easiest and least-demanding majors. Does math sound like a good choice for me, given my terrible study habits?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 18 and currently a senior in high school. I just got accepted into one of my top-choice colleges. Now I hate to admit this, but I'm not a very studious person. I really want to major in something that doesn't require a lot of outside studying. I keep hearing that math, more specifically pure math, is by far one of the easiest and least-demanding majors. Does math sound like a good choice for me, given my terrible study habits?

Are you good at math?

[Anonymous]

Is this a joke/troll post? Pure math is extremely challenging, and I say this as a person who breezed through HS math and got 5s on AP Calc AB/BC/Stats. It's not rote memorization in the slightest but being able to think in numerous, extremely abstract dimensions and having a very proof-oriented mindset is not something that can easily be learned.

I took pure math courses and applied math courses in an elite college and the pure math ones were 10x harder.

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine was a math major and she thought it was "easy" in that she wasn't doing research or writing case studies like some other majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 18 and currently a senior in high school. I just got accepted into one of my top-choice colleges. Now I hate to admit this, but I'm not a very studious person. I really want to major in something that doesn't require a lot of outside studying. I keep hearing that math, more specifically pure math, is by far one of the easiest and least-demanding majors. Does math sound like a good choice for me, given my terrible study habits?

Are you good at math?

I wouldn't say I'm terrific at high school math. I'm taking AP Calculus AB right now and I have a B.

[Anonymous]

Do something easier like nuclear engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 18 and currently a senior in high school. I just got accepted into one of my top-choice colleges. Now I hate to admit this, but I'm not a very studious person. I really want to major in something that doesn't require a lot of outside studying. I keep hearing that math, more specifically pure math, is by far one of the easiest and least-demanding majors. Does math sound like a good choice for me, given my terrible study habits?

Are you good at math?

I wouldn't say I'm terrific at high school math. I'm taking AP Calculus AB right now and I have a B.

What do you plan to do with your math degree....go to law school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A friend of mine was a math major and she thought it was "easy" in that she wasn't doing research or writing case studies like some other majors.

At my school, all math majors were expected to do a graduate level research project for their thesis, take seminars and research circles to dive into math papers, and type up lengthy LaTeX proofs in response to questions (which is the math equivalent of writing papers in a discipline). Most also did summer REUs to conduct research. Williams posts senior theses publicly for their math majors (they're considered one of the premier undergrad math schools) and you can see what they look like: https://unbound.williams.edu/theses/islandora/search?islandora_solr_search_navigation=0&f%5B0%5D=mods_name_corporate_department_authority_marcrelator_namePart_ms%3A%22Mathematics%22

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do something easier like nuclear engineering.

+1 I have also heard that the aerospace engineering major is quite forgiving in terms of workload and rigor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do something easier like nuclear engineering.

+1 I have also heard that the aerospace engineering major is quite forgiving in terms of workload and rigor.

I actually was an aerospace engineering major.
The math majors worked much harder than I did. Or they just enjoyed studying more.

[Anonymous]

You're silly, OP. Go with your subjects of interest and then they won't seem so burdensome. If it's math, it's math. Just a warning, though: if your high school hasn't insisted on developing critical thinking strategies for math, you'll have a hard time in a top tier college - the level is absolutely not the same!

[Anonymous]

Easy time at college?

Not for Math majors.

Seriously. You have got to be the dumbest Math major ever.

If you want an easy time you need to study

Sports Education
Sports Therapy
Dance
Hotel Management

and all the other completely dumb subjects.

[Anonymous]

Forget what is easiest now and think what will make you happiest later. You will have a long work life in front of you. When you enjoy it, it is not work. So think about the work you can do (you WILL have to work) where it will be most energizing, exciting, and rewarding for you.

Then, if you need to have a specific kind of training for that type of job, make sure you study that now. If ultimately you decide what you want to do is something where your college major won't really matter (let's say real estate investment), then go ahead and choose the college major where you can enjoy yourself more.

[Anonymous]

Math is only "easy" in that their are few required courses. You get to pick your pain, but don't let anyone tell you there won't be plenty.

[Anonymous]

Math is not easy. Through sophomore year, it is straightforward: you solve the problems, you follow the rules and you are done.

Then you move on to real analysis, and it is easy and takes a lot of study. Then, you move on to classes with names that sound like elementary school math - measure, for example, and classes where you redo algebra right. That stuff is anything but easy. The text books are short, and the hours of work are long.