So I have always had this question about getting into a Math major, what can you do with an american Math degree? I say this because in my country, everyone who studies Math is supposed to be a teacher or a professor, and there is nothing else beyond that. Besides, I have never EVER seen someone with a math major from my country in a different field that wasn’t related to education.
You can work for a quant hedge fund and make a zillion dollars. I’m pretty sure you need a graduate degree.
I’m sure there are plenty of other math career paths and I’m certainly not urging you to go to Wall St. But it’s one option.
Some non-generic types of jobs for math majors:
University/college faculty (after PhD).
High school math teacher (after teaching credential).
Finance or actuarial (choose appropriate electives).
Computing (choose appropriate electives).
Operations research and logistics (choose appropriate electives).
You can’t do a lot with just a math degree (For example, working at a hedge fund typically requires an advanced degree and programming skills, and they care about the prestige of your school.) You will have more opportunities if you combine it with something like statistics, computer science, actuarial exams, a master’s degree in a related field, etc. An above-average knowledge of math will enhance these pursuits, but ultimately the best reason to major in math is that you like math.
Apart from going into academia, there are lots of options for pure math majors:
- Finance
- Actuarial jobs
- Management consulting
- Law/Medical School
- Data Science
- General business careers
- With additional courses in computer science or economics:
Designing algorithms, computer graphics, think-tanks, etc.
(Do note however that getting a job in coveted positions in Finance and Consulting is extremely difficult if you are not from Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/MIT or other similar colleges)
Having a Math major on your resume is a great signalling mechanism; It instantly tells a potential employer that you must be very intelligent, hardworking and passionate about studying a subject that does not have an immediately obvious career path.