The title might be misleading, so let me explain more.
I’m a 2nd year student majoring in CS. This semester I am taking Object Oriented Programming and Data Structures (Java Programming) and honestly I do not like it at all. I did well on the prerequisite class (Intro to Java), but I did not find it interesting either. A simple assignment on Inheritance just… baffles hell out of me. However, I am really interested in Math. I like Calculus and Differential Equations classes. Solving Math problems is just more fun to me.
I’m thinking about changing my major to Applied Math. But seeing lots of Math major doing CS as a minor makes me worried. If I go the Applied Math route, how employable would it be, compared to Math+CS combo?
If you get a math degree, unless you teach high school math you’re probably going to spend most of your time sitting in front of a computer.
Any interest in a major like Computational Math or Data Science? I have a CS degree and found a lot of the classes monotonous as hell. If I had to do it all over again and the degrees existed when I was going to school, I probably would have gone for a more applied CS degree like Computational Math, Computational Linguistics, Computational Biology, or Data Science.
@simba9 My school has Comp Math, but it’s almost the same as CS, because there’s only a couple of classes that make a difference between the two degrees. And Comp Math requires some programming classes too
Well, there are also finance and actuarial type of jobs (see http://www.beanactuary.com ), though some knowledge of computing (as well as statistics, economics, and finance) will help for those jobs.
Data science is a huge area with hundreds of thousands of jobs. Not all are programming but some will require a masters or PhD. If you want a PhD, I think math is a BETTER undergrad major than a run of the mill CS degree, but take the basics of CS so you understand enough to write code, is important. Data Science is not coding, read job descriptions in Indeed under data science to learn more. Look at top applied math programs at Brown U, or NYU Courant Institute and see where their graduates land. There are lots of math jobs like bioinformatics, and data science, that are not straight “coding” and will be a lot more interesting for you I bet. Try taking science classes, if you want to get into computational biology or chemistry, or if you might want to major in physics? You will need a PhD in applied math to get the best jobs. Computational physics is another option, if you like math. Again, need a PhD for the best jobs.
Here is a career website on applied mathematics careers:
My undergrad major was Computational Math and you end up with close to a minor in CS by default. If you go the Data Science route, you will end up with a de-facto CS minor.
On top of ALL of that…
No Math, Statistics or Physics major should leave their campus without a minor in CS.
