Can I Major in Math?

<p>Im a senior in college currently applying to colleges as a proprespective Economics major, but recentlly up until this year i had no interest in math. In fact I hated math I got a C in geometry, B in algerbra 2, and B in precalc and knew that math was not my calling. But this year I decided to take AP Calculus AB and really started to enjoy myself in the class. This is the first time i had a math teacher that really taught and I finally understood math. I had taken the sat last year and gotten a 640 on the math section, took the test this year and got a 720 (I got 2 questions wrong; 80 points for 2 questions :( .) I feel like im getting better at math and I got really interested in it, but im concerened that i dont possess the intelligence to major in math. I was hoping someone math majors here would share their stories with me, were you always good at math or did you have to work for it?</p>

<p>I am not a math major, but I am a high school senior hopefully going into engineering with a solid background in math, so let me give you some advice. I was never that great at math by nature, but I was blessed with a wonderful teacher who taught me excellently. If you are doing well in Calculus, then you might have an aptitude for it. Don’t let your initial experiences with math stop you, but be aware of one thing - you may have holes. Judging by your lower grades in previous math classes, something wasn’t taught well enough for you to catch on, so beware. You could find yourself in higher level math classes and realize you don’t understand something you <em>should</em> know already. If that happens, you need to be willing to admit that and find someone to help you fill in your gaps in your learning, be it your teacher, a tutor, etc. </p>

<p>That’s a great SAT Math score, a lot higher than I got on it. (And I’m acing Calculus!) </p>

<p>A lot of people have to work for it. You don’t have to be that genius whiz kid to be good at math, not if you are willing to work your nether region off. (And trust me, I have one of those kids in my family, so I know how it works. If you know people like that, swallow your pride and ask for help. If it’s obvious to them, they might be able to help you get it.)</p>

<p>Best wishes!</p>

<p>I am not a math major, but I am done with lower division calculus. I am potentially looking at applied math or computer science – I’m currently a college freshman. </p>

<p>In grade school, I was decent in math. Then I continued in getting mostly As/Bs up until precalculus/calculus. For some reason, I really struggled with those subjects and ended up getting B-/C+ in precalc and Ds in calculus. But then the year with calculus, I worked really hard, and did not fail the AP test (I got a 4 but considering my struggles I think that is something). Calculus really started to click for me, and I improved my grades in further math. </p>

<p>I ended up only being able to get a 700 on the math section on the SAT; I don’t think you should worry too much. Maybe it would help us to know your current grade in your BC Calc class? And also I’m a little confused – do you want to major in economics or math? For economics, I could be mistaken, but I don’t think you need much math beyond calculus. But for math, obviously it’s not just calculus. </p>

<p>I received a B last quarter in my Calc AB (didn’t take BC), and this marking period I’m on track to receive an A. Yes, I am a prospective economics major and i knew that i would have to take math courses up to linear algebra and advanced stats, but I was also wondering if I should double major or even just skip economics and major in math alone. I’ve heard that many graduate schools for economics rather their prospective students be math majors then economics majors as much of the graduate school work require a great deal of math. That’s where this question came from. </p>

<p>I’m a junior in college majoring in math w/ CS – I can say the math major is definitely doable, but you should have a solid background in the lower-level subjects like HS algebra before proceeding. I also recommend taking a proof-based course early on, since writing solid proofs is essential.</p>

<p>For an economics major, you probably won’t need much math beyond multi-variable calculus (as it is widely used in economics), and statistics.</p>

<p>I’m a senior mathematics student at a top 10 math department in the nation and doing fine despite the fact my Math SAT back in HS was only a 600ish. I don’t understand how a 700+ math SAT in any way would possibly discourage anyone from majoring in math. I will say that I made all A’s in math from grade school through high school (ending at calc AB). My math GPA is currently sitting at a 3.2 while my overall gpa is a 3.08. I consider myself good at math but I’m no expert and there’s very clearly non-math majors in my classes that are better at math than me. I did a two semester calc 1-3 sequence (accelerated) and then most of my courses since then have built off of calculus concepts quite a bit. The proof courses are undoubtedly much different than any high school course I’ve taken.</p>

<p>There’s never any guarantees that anyone out of high school would be successful as a math major but if you’re talking about whether or not there’s a respectable chance, I think that even making B’s in calc AB would not rule you out of that chance. I will say that my math department is huge and I have tons of freedom for which math courses I take for my degree as well as which professors I take and when I take the math classes. As a result, I’ve been able to specifically choose math classes that have either an average workload or less. Only maybe two of my math classes that I’ll have taken upon graduating will have been exclusively math majors. Most of my math classes (even the upper division) are only 30% math majors. Engineering, Physics, and Computer Science students make up a large percentage of my math classes. I don’t know if other schools will be like that.</p>

<p>Math majors have a very wide variety of career outcomes and tons of them end up working in something math-related that is kinda similar but not directly related to their math degree. I personally think it’s extremely important to think about what you would want to do with a math degree rather than just majoring in math because you like math. It could be that you’d be better off in majoring in something math-related or it could be the math major is what you want. I’m a believer you don’t want to end up with some career path indirectly related to your degree and then feel like you’d be more competent there had you instead majored in ____.</p>

<p>I think after a certain amount of intelligence that it will depend upon your personality. Personally, I’m going back to school in aerospace engineering because interests change. I thought when I came into college that I would be a physicist, period. I didn’t and I got my degree in Applied Mathematics & Statistics. I’m working as a programmer right now, which uses almost zero math beyond developmental math skills (add, subtract, multiply, divide). However, it is very logic heavy, and I think as a math major you will develop the analytical skills to reason at the highest levels. It didn’t take long for me to get promoted and I don’t expect that my next promotion is going to be that far off. </p>

<p>There will always be people who are less smart, about smart as you, and more smart than you. I met a lot of highly intelligent people. I also met a lot of people who were probably quite smart but not smart enough to finish the major. A friend of mine who dragged his grades in the mud in Real Analysis/Real Analysis 2 dropped out of the major and is earning A’s no problem in finance classes. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, a majority of the math majors I graduated had no idea what they were going to do with their degree. Some were banking on becoming actuaries…I wouldn’t commit to it. It’s good money after graduation, but it’s a significant amount of work so you better have your heart into it. Teaching is also another option. Again, you better have your heart in it or you’ll get burnt out. If you’re really at the top of your game as a math major, you can get work for a defense contractor. I wanted to be prepared when I graduated, so I was applying to jobs left and right, going to career workshops, graduate school and professional fairs, resume critics, networking events, etc. I had someone very interested in me at graduation, but he never made me an offer after the interview. After I graduated college, I started working at a software company with zero knowledge about programming. I know a good amount now and I’ve created and fixed a lot of software in my short three/four months I’ve been working. They decided to start hiring math majors. Funny thing is, the only other “math person” I know that is working at my company came from my university’s sister school. Everyone else did computer engineering, computer science, or electrical engineering that is a programmer there. Some of the VP’s told me they were quite impressed with me completing a math major. </p>

<p>FYI, I wouldn’t look at the SAT as a predictor of success in a math major. I think many of my classmates SAT’s were comparable, but I think it definitely comes down to willpower after that. When the going gets hard, do you give up? I think it also depends on how you test. Most of the time, I had more trouble with long assignments. Test time, they were still hard problems, but my brain was working quicker to solve problems. </p>