<p>I'm currently a math and computer science double major. I'm at my first computer science internship and the feeling isn't as magical as I thought I would be. I'm probably jumping the gun, but if I end up not wanting to become a software engineer, how marketable is statistics or comp. math with just a bachelors? </p>
<p>If its really bad, how about a masters in statistics? I've heard a masters in math (and maybe applied math/computational math) is generally deemed useless unless your lucky enough to teach at a community college (I thought it was either bachelor's or go for the PhD). However, I thought masters in Statistics were more generally favored than the previous two mentioned. Also, is it like engineering where your company will sometimes pay for your masters, or do you usually have to pay for the masters yourself? </p>
<p>I do like programming, but I like it a lot more when I have to do some kind of math with it too. It may sound weird, but I thought software engineering would have a lot more math in it, but (from my sample of one lol!) that doesn't seem to be true. I still have a lot more computer science internship to go through, so I could change my mind, but I would like to keep something like this in the back of my head.</p>
There are very math-y computer science jobs, but those are not the internships that are typically offered to college students. (Most undergrad CS majors simply haven’t had enough math to be useful on those projects.) Have you had any math-y computer science courses like graphics or machine learning or numerical methods? You might like those. If you want to make a career in these fields, I’d highly encourage you to get a graduate degree in computer science. </p>
<p>Here are a couple of cool videos that were made by computer science grad students at Stanford: [Ron</a> Fedkiw](<a href=“http://physbam.stanford.edu/~fedkiw/]Ron”>Ron Fedkiw) All of them are physical simulations, not just animations. Very very mathy. (In fact, I am a grad student in math and considering working with that group.) Students coming out of this particular research group have gotten jobs with Disney, Google, NVIDIA, computer game companies, even NASA! </p>
<p>Long story short: there are certainly mathy programming jobs to be had if that’s what you actually want to do.</p>
<p>My undergraduate degree is in computational math and the area of computational science/engineering is gaining steam. Those jobs would use more math than most software engineering jobs. Having said that, whether you take computational math or dual-major in math/CS, make sure you take the “right” CS courses to be marketable.</p>
<p>Most computational math programs won’t give you enough CS courses to compete with the CS majors for software engineering. The cool thing about computational math as a major is that it allows you more flexibility in your selection of CS courses since you can omit the hardware courses (like computer architecture and digital circuits) and some theory courses (like automata theory). Make sure your CS courses consist of the following:</p>
<p>Object-Oriented Programming I & II (either in Java or C++)
Data Structures & Algorithms
Operating Systems
Computer Networks
Database Systems</p>
<p>Most sofware jobs (even if more mathematical) will deal with the processing (programming), distribution (networks) and storage/retrieval (databases) of data. Also all 3 of those area HAVE to run over an operating system, so that explains the courses above.</p>
<p>Analytic processing (especially with cloud computing) is gaining steam and folks can use advance statistics and computational techniques will be even more sought after. Here are a few other courses to consider:</p>
<p>Combinatorics & Graph Theory - Not that sophomore-level “discrete structures” course. This course covers deeper topics
Numerical Analysis - Probably required in your comp math program anyway
Probability - Separate course from Statistics
Mathematical Statistics - Separate course from Probability
Computational Statistics - Big for cloud computing because of the “R Language”.</p>
<p>It’s more important to take the courses than worry about the actual name of the degree.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions and sorry I took so long to reply. I was mainly talking about classes at the UNDERGRAD level. I don’t really wanna do grad school unless its like super necessary. </p>
<p>I think the question I was trying to ask was if jobs that use stuff like matlab or R or languages like that were relatively common with good pay (I know, very idealistic) for people with undergrad degrees. I ask because I thought it was implied that math isn’t really good for technical jobs (applied math) unless you went to the grad level (aka research) and that all cs majors go into software engineering.</p>
<p>That’s why I asked about statistics too. I was wondering how “computery” statistics was. I would like to get a job that’s mostly math with some programming, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>If you want a mostly math job with some number crunching that doesn’t require a graduate degree, look into actuarial science. The actuarial licensing process is set up so that you can learn most insurancy stuff while working an entry-level job. Many employers will even give you paid time off to study for the exams. </p>
<p>The other math-y field where you can easily find work with a Bachelor’s degree is engineering. </p>
<p>
It depends on your exact job. Number crunching will be very computational. Survey design, not so much. </p>
<p>While you can get an entry-level statistics job with a Bachelor’s degree, most employers will require or strongly prefer a candidate with a graduate degree for positions that carry a lot of responsibility. Unfortunately, that’s the norm for most of applied math.</p>
<p>
I am under the impression that aspiring statisticians aren’t normally sponsored by a company, but I might be wrong. (I’m a mathematician myself, not a statistician.) Some Master’s students can get TA positions to pay for all or part of their degree, but normally PhD students get priority for those positions and Master’s students can apply for whatever positions (if any) are left.</p>
<p>May I ask why you are so averse to the thought of graduate school? Do you need some time in the real world to recuperate from coursework? Are you concerned about finances? Just in case your main concern is financial, I wanted to mention that PhD students don’t normally pay for their degree. They can expect to receive a full-tuition waiver, health insurance and a stipend for living expenses. (Those stipends are upwards of $30,000/year at my university.) Some research group also do a lot of consulting for industry, which is an extra source of income. </p>
<p>Some students enroll in a PhD program and then drop out with a Master’s degree two years later. That’s another way to get a fully-funded Master’s degree.</p>
<p>I actually looked at this and thought about it for a while before answering. I think it all comes down to thinking I’m not smart enough to do math in grad school. </p>
<p>I’m still considering it, but I was just curious what my options were if I didn’t do it.</p>