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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I majored in math in college. It is an incredibly difficult major. Doing well requires creativity and the fortitude to deal with coming across problems that you have no idea how to solve, even after many hours of study and research.  There is also much that is stunningly beautiful, like Zermelo-Frankel set theory. If you enjoy this sort of study, the joy will help you get through much of the hard times, but if you don't, it will just be added misery.

Also, being a math major is usually lonely. I was just one of seven in my year (at a public university) majoring in math. I missed having a cohort to hang out with.

The term "pure math" makes me laugh. I know some people think it is sounds more impressive than applied math, but what is impressive is doing what you love and doing well at it.

Anyway, there really is no "pure" math, in the sense that even an abstract field of study like number theory has applications, e.g., for cryptography.

Applied math, like statistics, is generally considered easier than courses typically thought of as pure math, like topology and complex analysis.  I would certainly not think of these courses as easy As.[/quote]

Good point-all the math/stats majors are pretty lonely, everything is independent (not group) and you need to be incredibly self-motivated and the cohorts are small (and usually get smaller by the time you graduate)[/quote]

You can't get a math degree without analysis. You can't even get a stats degree without it.  [/quote]

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