Hello, everyone! To start things off, I’ve known for quite some time (around the 8th grade) that I want to major in Math. It’s always been a passion of mine, and I plan on starting my math degree at Duke this fall. Recently, however, I realized that Math majors (assuming they aren’t titans of academia) don’t make very much money. My plan was to apply for a double major in ECE and Math, and then pursue a PhD in Math for grad school. That way, if it turns out that I’m unhappy with my life in academia, I can always utilize my degree in ECE for job security. Is this a common practice? And if so, does it usually work out for students? In all honesty, I have practically no passion for ECE, but I don’t want to limit my future job opportunities.
Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to read/respond to this.
Also, I’m completely open to switching ECE to some other form of engineering. I heard that ECE was very math-intensive, though, which would complement my double major in Mathematics nicely.
Voluminous requirements for ECE may make it difficult to fit everything into your four year schedule, although it you have AP credit for lower level courses, that may make it easier. It depends on the college.
What may be easier to fit into a four year schedule is math + (non-engineering-based) CS majors, or math major plus elective courses in CS (without having to chase requirements). Again, it depends on the college. Some areas of math and CS overlap considerably (e.g. cryptography with algebra and number theory, CS theory).
However, if you have no passion for ECE, then it seems like a bad idea to use it as your backup for job and career prospects. Would you be more interested in other potential job and career backups like:
Specific areas of CS that are math-heavy like cryptography.
@ucbalumnus That’s actually a very good point - I’ve considered becoming an actuary by double majoring in Math & Econ. I’ll most likely avoid the CS major simply because the market (from what I understand, at least) has become oversaturated with CS degrees. I’m interested in theoretical math for the most part, which is a shame, because most math-related jobs that earn decent money are applying math to economics, CS, etc.
I will double what some one else said that actuaries are well paid and are math majors. I have heard math majors offered jobs at Nasa and some computer companies. I don’t know enough about that but do know enough to say its much more marketable and well paying than a liberal arts degree. I know they are desperate for math teachers, not that its well paid.
I’d recommend taking some CS classes (especially the more theoretical classes like data structures and algorithms) even if you don’t major in it. The bottom end of the market for programmers has become oversaturated, yes, but honestly the bottom end does not have much to do with actual CS (which is a branch of math). Also, there are still high end programming jobs in interesting areas (machine learning, computer graphics, etc) that are math intensive and could be worth considering (you’d be quite attractive in those areas with a graduate degree in math).
As the above poster said, actuaries also are paid fairly well and it would be easy to transition into an actuarial career path after an undergrad math degree. You’re right that most math related jobs that earn decent money are mostly applied math, but there are some very interesting research-y positions in industry that are available with a PhD in math (research positions in quantitative finance companies, working in the research departments of large technology / engineering companies, and some government research jobs). If you want to do keep doing research-y math after graduate school, I’d start looking at what research positions are available for mathematicians in industry and what kind of specialties they’re hiring for. From what I’ve heard, specializing in something that’s in demand in industry during your PhD makes it a lot easier to get a research job doing math in industry.
Regarding engineering, some areas of electrical engineering and industrial engineering are math (and statistics) intensive. Operations research, which is similar to industrial engineering but often offered as a non-engineering major or subarea of math or statistics, may also be of interest to you.
Math majors can make pretty good money. It is one of the most lucrative career fields. It just depends on what they do. Math majors come out of college making, on average, around $43K (much higher than most fields) and experienced college grads with a math major average $75-80K.
In addition to operations researcher and actuary, other roles that math majors can take on (with the right coursework) are informaticist, statistician, financial/economic/investment analyst, epidemiology, applied mathematician, metereologist, market researcher, and survey researcher. Math majors also take on all sorts of roles, both technical and non-technical, that aren’t directly related to their math skills but use the logical thinking and reasoning skills they’ve learned as a math major.
Remember that the important component of job opportunities is not quantity but quality. It makes no sense to have thousands of job opportunities in ECE if you hate every single one of them. Everybody can’t be an engineer or computer scientist! There are so many other roles we need in society. It’s far better to have a lot of high-quality career options that actually appeal to you. And, if you really love math, you can get very good at what you do and be in high demand.
No. If you have a PhD in math, you don’t really need to worry about job opportunities…you’ll have lots. The unemployment rate for PhDs in general is very, very low, even though most don’t go into academia.
I think that to do well in any engineering field you need to be pretty committed to it. On the other hand, knowing a little CS can be useful for a math major.
I know some people who majored in Math and did very well with it (including being able to put some $$ away over the years). However, the ones that I know focused on the applied side of math. You might want to take a look at Operations Research and at least know what it is (for me, as a Math undergrad major, I decided that Operations Research was “way cool” once I understood what it is). Econometrics, AI, cryptography, and data mining are other areas that come to mind.
It sounds like the OP has already decided, but a couple of additional thoughts:
ECE is a Pratt major. It sounds like the OP applied to Trinity. A double major in math and EVE would require transferring to Pratt (not impossible, but not trivial) and also starting the Pratt 1st year curriculum (which is a broad engineering base) right away. This is doable, but requires a high degree of commitment and planning, and is not very flexible.
Duke IS very flexible about majors, minors and certificates. Some of the minors and certificate that might complement a math major include:
@renaissancedad I was admitted to Pratt under the BME major, but I plan on switching over to Trinity unless I find that I have a passion for ECE. Also, thanks so much for the advice regarding certificates/double majors. I’ve been thinking about pursuing an Economics minor, considering Duke’s intimate connection to Wall Street.
Unemployment rates are good for measuring the overall health of the economy. For anything else, they’re the most overused and abused statistic. You can be counted as employed as long as you have some job, any job, even if you’re a part time adjunct at a CC, consulting 10 hours a week, or a barista at Starbucks.
@roethlisburger This is a very good point. I’m not an economist by any stretch of the imagination, but from what I understand, underemployment is a colossal issue that skews the unemployment rate. Do you have any suggestions as to where I can find accurate statistics regarding math PhDs?
