Hey guys! I’m interested in becoming a math professor at a university. I know I’ll need to get my Ph.D in math but I was wondering…for my undergrad bachelor’s degree do I need to get it in pure mathematics or is it cool if I get it in math with a concentration in subject matter preparation (teaching)? Thanks!
It is HARD to get into Math Ph.D. programs. Do a math major (pure or applied).
As long as the math education major would allow you to complete all the same classes as a math major would, there’s nothing wrong with doing the additional classes to prepare for licensure as a teacher. Just make sure you are focusing first and foremost on doing the things necessary to prepare for the PhD in math.
I’d also encourage you to do a lot of reading and Internet searching on the academic job market and what it means to be a professor.
You absolutely need to take all the required courses for for a mathematics major. This is what Ph.D. programs expect as a background for their applicants. Furthermore, you need to have significant research experience so if you can add in the courses for a high school teaching credential (I assume that is what you intend), then go ahead, however, these courses are not going to be of much help in getting into a graduate program.
By the way, you’re probably better off just getting TA experience than taking education classes. Just do well in your calculus classes, ask your professor to recommend you, fill out a form at most places, and you can be a TA.
It maybe ok, but is probably worthless to grad school. Heck, it might even be a negative if you forgo other upper division math electives to take education-style courses instead. (The latter are generally much less rigorous.)
Yeah, OP, it didn’t occur to me that you might want the education classes in preparation for being a professor. (I thought you wanted them as a backup so you could teach high school math in case you decided not to go to graduate school later.) You don’t need education classes to be a professor, and they will be largely useless to any graduate program you apply to. The math classes are way way way more important.
Unless of course you want to teach Math Ed (in which case you would most likely be doing your PhD and then teaching in an education department rather than a math one - you might still end up teaching some straight math courses depending on the college, though, but it would be ancillary to your main role).