Future Math that will help me in college admissions?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi guys! </p>

<p>I'm currently a freshman in High School taking AP Calculus AB/BC. Next year I will most likely take Linear Algebra/Diffy Q (it is surprisingly offered at my high school) and AP Stats. These courses will have fulfilled my math requirements for high school graduation.</p>

<p>I like math, but I am eager to do something in medicine. My question is if I should continue to take math junior and senior year (at a local college) or if I should focus on maximizing the # of AP classes I take at the high school (science, social studies, etc). </p>

<p>Remember, taking a class at the college means that it would take time away from me taking 1 or 2 classes (perhaps AP) at the high school each year. </p>

<p>So... would the 2 super hard math classes look good versus the 3 to 4 AP classes I could take instead?</p>

<p>I play 3 sports and I'm involved in many extracurricular activities, so I cannot take the math classes after school.</p>

2

<p>You could take advanced math on-line - Johns Hopkins and Stanford both offer programs that are highly respected. Then you’d have room for your sciences too.</p>

3

<p>Ok, thanks! I’d never considered taking it online over the summer…</p>

<p>Does anybody else have any recommendations? Or be able to tell me what courses might benefit me the most?</p>

4

<p>To fulfill possibly pre-med math requirements (since some/many do not accept AP credit, although some do not have any math requirements), you’ll want to take some actual college math and/or statistics courses (and get A grades in them). This will not be a problem if you major in math and/or statistics (since you will take math and statistics courses anyway, although it may be unusual to write in “real analysis” for the “calculus” requirement for some medical schools). But if you major in a less mathematical major, you will likely need to take some math and/or statistics courses anyway.</p>

<p>The usual math courses after calculus BC or freshman calculus are:</p>

<p>As a college sophomore* majoring in math, statistics, physics, chemistry, computer science, engineering, or economics: multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations</p>

<p>As a college sophomore* majoring in computer science: discrete math</p>

<p>As a college junior or senior* majoring in math: real analysis, complex analysis, intermediate linear algebra, abstract algebra, numerical analysis, mathematical logic, geometry, set theory, number theory, ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, etc…</p>

<p>As a college junior or senior* majoring in statistics: some of the above math major courses, as well as probability, statistics, linear modeling, sampling, time series, game theory, etc…</p>

<ul>
<li>Those are the normal progression; you are three years ahead if you complete calculus BC as a high school freshman.</li>
</ul>

<p>Given your ability and liking for math, you may want to major in math anyway, while taking the pre-med courses alongside. Add in some applied areas like computer science, statistics, and economics/finance and you can set up some decent backup options if you decide not to go to medical school or do not get into medical school.</p>

5

<p>Wow… thanks for the response ucbalumnus!</p>

<p>I guess if I decided medicine was not for me, or if I didn’t get into any of the med schools I apply to (which could possibly happen, you never know), then I still have a strong basis of math courses to save me.</p>

<p>I guess I will most likely take multivariable junior year, and maybe one of the courses you mentioned in ‘college junior or senior majoring in math’. I’m not sure if I’ll actually major in math, because I like science too much… but who knows ! </p>

<p>Also (this may seem stupid), but what jobs (other than the professor that teaches the classes, or a mathematician) are available for someone going extremely in-depth into math?</p>

6

<p>For the college junior or senior level courses, you would need to find a four year school to take them at, since community colleges only go up to college sophomore level courses. Also, advanced math may be less available at low selectivity four year schools, due to low student demand for such at those schools. Note also that college junior or senior level math courses tend to be heavily theory, proof, and derivation oriented, in contrast to previous math courses that will usually emphasize conceptual understanding, calculation, and application (e.g. real analysis involves rigorously proving calculus from the foundations).</p>

<p>For applied math, common job destinations include finance, computer software, and actuarial work:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/AppMath.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/AppMath.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Pure math majors seem to be more graduate school oriented, but most of the few going to jobs do similar stuff as applied math majors:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Math.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Math.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Statistics tends to favor finance and actuarial work:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Statistics.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Statistics.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Given that you are rather advanced in math, you should be able to take the pure math courses as well as courses in one or more application areas and statistics, to maximize your job and graduate school options.</p>

<p>More career surveys:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>Actually, you are four years ahead of the normal sequence if you are taking calculus BC (= college freshman calculus) as a high school freshman, but it is likely that a large percentage of math majors will have completed calculus BC as high school seniors, so you would not necessarily be four years ahead of most other math majors.</p>

8

<p>ok, I guess it would be in my best interest to definitely take math for the remainder of high school</p>

<p>I will definitely take into consideration of majoring in math because it does leave me with some good backup options in case something goes wrong, and I’m already pretty advanced in math. </p>

<p>And thanks for the careers you provided in the links. Sadly, I don’t see myself doing most of those jobs, but my opinion might change later.</p>

<p>About being 4 years ahead, that (I’m guessing) is in comparison to the freshman who is in Algebra 1, or the senior in Pre-Calc. My guess is that these people most likely don’t have a high-interest in math (not saying it isn’t possible), and they are most likely going to major in something else. I would imagine someone majoring in math to be at least 2 years (again, not always) ahead of the normal sequence. Therefore, making me 2 years ahead of them. </p>

<p>Anyways, thanks for the excellent response! It has me thinking more about my future in math and another possible major. LoL, Is there a way I can ‘friend’ you or something?</p>