<p>Hello. Sorry for the long text, but I like to try and provide lots of background stuff to make question answering easier...
Ever since I was a 7th grader, I've wanted to be a math major with the eventual hope of becoming a mathematician and attaining a Ph. D. down the road. However, now that I'm going to be a senior this upcoming fall, I have gained a few other interests, particularly chemistry. I took honors chem in my 10th grade year, absolutely loved, and owned my AP chem class this past year...most fun course I've ever taken. Back to the math, I really would love to do research and I love proofs, which I know are plentiful for math majors. I also, though,wish to actually DO stuff with the math, like real life problems, preferably with as much calculus as possible. So I was wondering since I really enjoy both the subjects, would it be wise to do a double major for those two subjects? Based on other topics, I'm entirely sure if these two fit together...any help is appreciated.</p>
<p>[Mathematical</a> chemistry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_chemistry]Mathematical”>Mathematical chemistry - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>[Mathematical</a> Chemistry](<a href=“http://www.chem.msu.su/eng/misc/babaev/match/welcome.html]Mathematical”>Mathematical Chemistry)</p>
<p>[National</a> Center for Computational Sciences Chemistry](<a href=“http://www.nccs.gov/leadership-science/chemistry/]National”>http://www.nccs.gov/leadership-science/chemistry/)</p>
<p>[Computational</a> science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_science]Computational”>Computational science - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I have a friend who double-majored in math and chemistry, so it can definitely be done. However, I highly doubt that these two majors mix or complement each other on the undergraduate level, and mathematical chemistry is a rather obscure field even for graduate school. The Wiki article zapfino linked to refers to the International Academy of Mathematical Chemistry, which has exactly 27 members in the US (~100 worldwide). For comparison, the American Chemical Society has more than 160,000 members.</p>
<p>You said that you are interested in applied mathematics. The fields that currently provide the most opportunities for that are physics, engineering, computer science and economics. </p>
<p>I would encourage you to keep an open mind about the possibility of changing your major later on. I loved gen chem and hated orgo, which marked the end of my chemistry career. Many students switch to a quantitative non-math major when they hit real analysis and abstract algebra (“abstract non-sense”).</p>
<p>I highly recommend you consider chemical engineering, as it corresponds greatly with your interests and will provide you lucrative job offers</p>
<p>Are you interested in Chemical Engineering?</p>
<p>I’ve actually been looking into chemical engineering and it looks rather interesting. I figure as long as I get to used high level calculus in whatever sort of chemistry major I pick and get to take classes like number theory, topology, etc. Perhaps and applied mathematics major to go along with chemical engineering?</p>
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You might have a hard time convincing your department head that number theory and topology should count towards an applied math major. They are about as abstract as undergraduate math will get. (There are applications of both, but they are few and far in between.)</p>
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<p>i doubt this will be beneficial. engineering is, by definition, applied physics and math. you’ll be getting all the math you need from chem e.</p>
<p>A double major in those two is going to be pretty tough. Consider, like others have said, chemical engineering. If grad school is in your future (like it is with most math/chem majors) then look into the more math-intensive fields of chemistry. ie- physical chemistry</p>
<p>what the hell are these people talking about? Physical chemistry depends heavily on the overlap between chemistry and math. particularly more theoretical. </p>
<p>Look up a thing called density functional theory (DFT). It was derived by a physicist, but the dude got the noble prize in chemistry! it allowed computers to model complex chemical molecules which is huge for chemist! im sure a drug company like pfizer would pay a lot of money for you to model a molecule before they spend weeks (and tons of chemicals) synthesizing it.
additionally, almost all forms of spectroscopy need math people to do the theory/programing. Say someone pours a bunch of chemicals into a vial and thinks they made the next big drug. how do you know what what was made? typically, a laser or some form of e&m will interact with the chemical substance, but many people need to code and do theory math to get that data onto a computer and what not. </p>
<p>esp if you are interested in theory math, signal processing for spectroscopic techniques (NMR/MRI, mass spec) can easily be a phd or research position at a university.
P.M. if you have more questions. The people above clearly dont know that much about chemistry.</p>
<p>I have a friend doing chem and math. She has been taking a bunch of the same theoretical math classes I’ve taken, like topology. However, she also takes more applied courses too, like linear algebra. There is a little overlap between the majors, like physics. Other than that though, it might be hard to cram it all in.</p>