<p>is it hard? how come many people do not major in math? etc..</p>
<p>I think the common sentiment is that most math or hard science majors would be capable of majoring in a humanities topic, while a miniscule percentage of humanities majors could ever succeed in a math or hard science major.</p>
<p>i herd its bery bery challengin</p>
<p>Are you interested in pure math or applied math? What are you taking in school right now? If you find yourself distasteful toward any math topic right now, even the slightly bit, I don't recommend it because I know what math majors look like and they (and their work) is not very nice.</p>
<p>Do you have a natural aptitude for math? Do your test scores reflect a strong ability? Even if you do, the leap from high school math to a college math major can be shocking. Perhaps you could take a look at some college math books (in whatever discipline you're considering) to test your reaction to that.</p>
<p>Attend one of the following camp and find out if you like. They give you a taste of higher ed. math.</p>
<p>Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics (HCSSiM)
Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists (PROMYS)
Ross Mathematics Program
Rutgers Young Scholars Program in Discrete Mathematics</p>
<p>Pure math can be very dry, and is not often directly applicable to one's outside life, so without motivation or an initial love of the subject, one will have a hard time continuing with a math major.</p>
<p>That being said, certain things in mathematics are beautiful.</p>
<p>hahhaha well now i have no clue what i want to major in</p>
<p>i mean math is my favorite subject (closely followed by apush) and i am a precalc H class with a like 98 average but im not a super math genius so i dont think id be able to handle it..=/</p>
<p>As a math major, what you will study has almost nothing to do with the math in high school or on the SAT - if you want to study stuff like that do engineering.
What I've heard of about majoring in math is that it's all about proofs and the derivation of mathematic concepts, rather than simply solving problems (i.e. the math you do in H.S. looks like basic arithmetic in comparison)</p>
<p>If you did very well in high school in advanced Math classes, you have the potential to do well as a math major, although it will be more work. It's relative. I hate memorizing, so it was easier for me to major in Math, which made more sense to me. It also depends on what you want to do with it. Math majors sometimes go into the field because they are good at Trig/Calculus, and do well in the beginning Calc classes in college. Following that, things seemed to get fuzzier and you could see the separate types of math students. The engineers diverged into Differential equations and math majors never saw them again. Some students were really good at abstract concents you get in Field/ring theory and proofs (not me). Some were more practical and needed more concrete application, such as Statistics (me). And then there is the actuarial field. You need to take a look what you plan to do with Math, although I will tell you in my experience, a lot of employers will hire you just because they will think you are intelligent. I am in the business world now, but my math background has been very helpful in cutting through the analytical side of my job and I seem to get a lot of cool projects no one else can do. Being female helped in that regard too, I think.</p>
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I think the common sentiment is that most math or hard science majors would be capable of majoring in a humanities topic, while a miniscule percentage of humanities majors could ever succeed in a math or hard science major.
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<p>Capable of majoring, yes. Capable of "succeeding"--your standard for majoring in math or hard science appears to differ--not necessarily.</p>
<p>As a recovered math major who later went to law school and have been practicing for [text garbled] years, I agree with everything susanr said except that I can't vouch first hand for the benefits of being female. (Being around females, on the other hand....)</p>
<p>johnshade, as a law student I bet you had to memorize a lot. I would have flunked out.</p>
<p>susanr - I strongly doubt you would have flunked out. Math majors and other analytical types do very well in law school from what I've seen. Figuring out logical relationships between concepts and being able to state things with precision are much more important than brute memorization.</p>
<p>wow i was looking into this exactly! my best subject is math but i really like law as well. i was thinking about doing a math major, and then in 4 yrs deciding to go to law school if i still have an interest in law. do you think this is a good idea? will my gpa be lower than the rest in my class because of the difficulty of the math department. can you suggest any schools? thanks a lot!!</p>
<p>oh and also if i choose not to go to law school.. what are some other choices after receiving my bachelors degree in math? possible careers, more schooling etc?</p>
<p>DH was a financial systems analyst before law school. Made the LSAT and law school easy. He has done well in his career because not that many lawyers have a strong math background.</p>
<p>I used to work for a major benefits consulting firm that hired math majors (actuaries, executive compensation, insurance) as well as communications types. We learned from each other.</p>
<p>Ny0rker, I have read on some of the pre-law school threads that math is a valued undergrad topic for getting into law school. The debate that I have read is that most undergrad majors are valued except for, ironically, Pre-Law. I know nothing about this, so check out those threads. </p>
<p>As far as what you can do with a Math degree, directly, the answer is 1. teach, 2. be an actuary (although an actuary friend told me the hardest math he has used on the job is a weighted average). But if you are interested in other things in addition to math, there are many uses for some one who has math skills. I run a Marketing department now. It's even applicable here. I have creative people in the department to make up for my lack of creativity, and I can shoot holes through the fluffy numbers I see. There's some value to that. Basically, go study what you love and keep an open mind. The rest will fall into place.</p>
<p>oh thank you! and what kind of math would you be doing for the most part? is it really difficult?</p>
<p>and any suggestions of minors?</p>
<p>Here's a timely piece in today's Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>that was extremely interesting ^^^</p>