My daughter loves math and is amazing at it. She has no idea what she would want to do with it for a career path. She already panned engineering and thinks accounting sounds boring for a career. What can a talented math student major in that could lead to a fun career?
Data analytics is on the rise. I would check it out.
My son is similar. Look into data science and data analytics. It’s a combination of math, statistics, and computer science, plus whatever field you choose to apply it to. Many schools have started majors in it over the past few years. I don’t know where you live but look at Michigan, Case Western, Rochester, Penn State. I know some CA schools have I too, I’m. It sure which ones though. Read about the major and see what she thinks. What appeals to my S about it is that it combines math with whatever else he is interested in.
Computer science often offers natural appeal for talented math students, and could lead to a similarly appealing career.
Certain forms of philosophy may also be interesting to study:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses-listing/mathematics-and-philosophy?wssl=1
Also, why not math itself? Majors in this field can land in varied and interesting careers after graduation:
https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/departments/Home?dept=Mathematics
Math is tied into many, many fields today. I’m sure some more knowledgable will weigh in. But I thought these sounded interesting when touring colleges–Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at UNC and lots of different things they were doing in Applied Mathematics at WPI. I’m not really suggesting these specific programs and schools, but just pointing out some things that sounded cool.
Maybe you could explore Applied Math majors and info on student careers in math departments on the departmental webpages at schools you think most likely to fit financially, culturally, geographically, and otherwise.
I’ll note that STEM schools like WPI, RPI, Case Western, RIT, etc. are really making a strong push to bring more more women into their programs. It seems like WPI, for example, has been using merit money to attract female students. The school has a female president and the student body has shifted from a very large male majority to a small one in the last couple of years. Most of the Land Grant and similar state universities (i.e. NC State, Va. Tech, Michigan State, Auburn, Clemson, etc.) often have strong applied mathematics programs and mathematical specialities within other majors. Good luck!
http://bcb.unc.edu/about-curriculum/
https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/applied-mathematics-ms
https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/mathematical-sciences/research/exploring-matroid-graph
The Virginia Tech link has a video on a project to look at the impact of social media on risky behavior. This was linked from the math department.
And here’s a link to a mathematical psychology program. If that looked good to her, you could explore it at IU or google to see what other schools offer it (I have no idea).
Curious as to the reason Engineering has been ruled out. The study of Engineering in school is just the sort of “hands-on” practical math that most folks who love math enjoy (assuming they aren’t interested in the really arcane areas like number theory and real analysis). And the practice of Engineering also includes plenty of “fun” math.
Career directions (and associated college majors, in addition to math or applied math which may be suitable, or cover the area at colleges without those specific majors):
Operations research (operations research, industrial engineering, statistics)
Economics, actuarial, or (quantitative) finance (economics (preferably math-heavy), statistics)
Data science (statistics, computer science)
Statistics (statistics)
Computing (computer science)
Physics (physics)
Teaching math (add PhD for college, teaching credential for high school)
There is no end to the applications of math!!
Started in engineering studies, but went on to economics working with environmental scientists dealing with air pollution, noise management, and traffic analysis (engineering areas). Meanwhile economists and even sociologists were working on related problems with resident migration, business relocation, property values, and mobility as it related to income levels and the age of impacted populations (social science areas). Modern psychology is the newly evolving foundation for behavioral economics (see CMU’s explanation @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1J8UBmJ9qw&feature=youtu.be). Behind all of this is a lot of serious mathematics.
For data mining, check out https://www.wpi.edu/people/faculty/rundenst.
J W Forester developed at MIT modeling techniques which are still evolving (see https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/economic-science-bs).
Many years ago I had dinner with a biologist who had been knighted for his accomplishments in the biological sciences. The application of mathematical tools in Biology had evolved so much since his studies (he had three earned PhDs) that he felt lacking in this area of studies when reading the new research. The application of mathematical tools is here , BIG TIME!
Look at any problem area which interests you and drag your mathematics toolkit with you.
Checking on the latest available data on BS graduates in “Mathematical Science” at my alma mater (WPI), it was surprising to me to learn that nine graduates took jobs with an average salary of $84,000. Three of these students had double majored in Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics. Seven went on to graduated school. In Actuarial Mathematics, ten BS graduates took jobs at an average salary of $62,648. One had double majored in CS, Three went on to graduate school. None of the data in this paragraph reflects all the math background taken by all the students who graduated in engineering, science and social science areas of study.
Clearly there is a demand for teachers in this area. One of the math graduates discussed above went on to graduate school at Teachers College at Columbia University. Others went on to Illinois, Melbourne Business school and WPI. Actuary graduates went on to BU, NYU and WPI.
I’m going to post a possibly unpopular opinion here. I’m not sure what kind of math your daughter likes (does she like proofs?), but a lot of more “applied” majors don’t do much math in the math major sense (at least at the BS level).
Most engineering jobs that are available with just a BS just won’t have that much math, and especially little of the proof based math that math majors tend to like. A lot of the math done in engineering, at the BS level, is either 1) much more applied and does not really involve writing or coming up with proofs or 2) already mostly done by software. This is also true for software engineering jobs (which is fairly orthogonal to academic computer science, but likely what’d you end up in if you chose to major in CS).
It sounds like your daughter quite possibly has realized the above already, which I’d guess is why she panned engineering and accounting (?). It’s a bit hard to come up with good recommendations that don’t involve going to grad school (at least for a master’s, possibly for a PhD, though that has a serious opportunity cost). So here are some thoughts / recommendations:
- Computer science, at the right school, is pretty close to math. It’s proof-y and theoretical and the good classes involve a lot of the stuff that a math major would like. But you’ll likely also have to take more applied programming classes and nitty gritty systems classes - I know some math majors who hated this stuff. At the BS level, software engineering pays well but usually involves little math and your daughter may get bored, unless she’s lucky enough to land a job with a R&D flavor, which is hard with just a BS. But it pays well - 100-150k out of college.
You can also decide to get a PhD in computer science, which opens up more math-y jobs that pay very well. Though, if your daughter wants to go the PhD route, I’d likely recommend doing a PhD in applied math or pure math instead - you’ll still be able to get most of the jobs that a CS PhD can, but you’ll also have more additional options.
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Applied math at a good school would be a good mix of applied classes and proof based classes - you’d likely have to take real analysis, which is an important class for future work in both applied and pure math (I wouldn’t call it arcane like one poster did above). You could go into various careers with an applied math major pretty easily - software engineering, data science, actuarial work, etc. These are high paying jobs, but it’s again questionable whether your daughter would like the work or the environment.
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Pure math - which would involve mostly proofs in the junior and senior years. The exit options are more or less the same as applied math.
For both 2 and 3, going for a master’s degree or PhD would open up more interesting jobs, although it’s not necessary - you can get a high paying job fairly easily with just a BS in applied or pure math, though it might not be a math-y job.
Personally, I’d recommend studying either applied math (in which case she should definitely also take proof based classes like real analysis and abstract algebra) or studying pure math. I’d also take a few statistics and computer science classes on the side to keep those options open (learning some CS and programming is useful, regardless of where she ends up). Additionally, I’d recommend getting involved in research as early as possible to keep the graduate school option open. I’d maybe spend one summer working in an industry internship though, so she does have some practical experience if she decides to choose industry over grad school.
I’d recommend that she take real analysis and abstract algebra regardless of what path she chooses though - those are really fundamental math classes that change the way you think and are gateways to more interesting material.
We live in Florida and have the Florida prepay and most likely free tuition with bright futures. So, needless to say she will be staying in Florida. UF, FSU or UCF. Anyone have opinions of those schools. She also loves glamour, fashion, make up, etc… and LOVES her AICE business class. Wondering if math, business and glamour intersect somewhere? Lol. Thank you all for your input.
I am currently a math major so I will tell you what career options I have been either told about or am looking into. You have many options such as finance (which many math majors get jobs in even without finance backgrounds), actuary (with the proper exams), many other business and Econ jobs love math majors as well even without a business or Econ major but probably need an internship, statistician, quantitative analyst (prob need phd), college prof (masters or phd depending on college), high school teacher, or mathematical researcher if you get a phd (my current career goal as well). You can inbox me if your daughter has any more questions about the math major or careers for math majors.
Sounds like she may be interested in fashion marketing research using data science?
I’m a math and CS double major graduating in May, and I’ve always loved math. I will be going into cryptology and computer/network security. My school only has a pure math major, but with my electives, I tailored it more as a discrete math major with courses relevant to my career path (number theory, probability theory, statistical theory, numerical analysis, coding theory & crypto). The government hires a lot of math majors and gives them fun and hard problems to solve.
@Jenwyman30
Glamour, fashion & design come together at schools of design. Many majors in the design world are more in the BA direction than the BS direction. Given your daughter’s abilities/interest in both math and fashion, you may want to locate schools in Florida which are strong in both areas. Select a university which is strong in their BS programs and in design. Graphic arts can can also be very strong in the math and computer science directions. The answer may be studies that lead to market research as suggested above by “yucca10.” You can takes a data science direction (strong in math) and apply it to the fashion industry as suggested by “yucca10.”
Found this listing on the internet. Check it out @ http://www.fashionschoolsusa.com/states/florida/fashion-design.
@Luminouzz
“Luminouzz” raises a valid question. Is her math interest focused in the theoretical direction or in the application direction? The very best schools understand that the two eventually interface and teach their courses in a more open ended manner so they give the necessary foundation to build more theory. My first exam in GS in economics resulted in my filling two blue books with one proof that the seven assumptions stated in the questions could, in fact, hold simultaneously. It was fun, but took up the entire hour. It seems we were not supposed to question the assumptions, but something had told me they would not hold. I HAD TO answer my self-generated problem. Eventually this leads to a better economist. I was wrong, but I proved it!
Select carefully and you too can have fun!
Sometimes the reason people love math is that they are good at it and they like the idea of being better than their classmates at something. Others truly love math, particularly when no one is looking. It is worthwhile to know in which category the OP’s daughter falls in order to give the best advice. If she falls in the latter group, I suggest she major in math with plans for graduate school. If it is the former, quantitative majors with an applied math bent would be more suitable.
Don’t discount engineering. Industrial Engineering can be math heavy, especially if electives are used wisely. CS and additional math courses complement the industrial engineering curriculum. Alternatively, one can take business courses to go along with the major. One can go in many different directions from there.
I think it’s both. She likes it because she is good at it but also thinks it’s fun.
I have a BS in Math and an MBA. I work in data analytics and love it.
I have a EE degree, and I am convinced it was 90% Math. What about a pure Math major, with a minor or emphasis is something specific like Big Data or Analytics. From my own Son’s program at his college, he can get a CS degree, and to minor in Math only requires one additional course, as there is so much overlap.