Math majors Please HELP!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hi guys, I was accepted to the College of Arts and Sciences, I am so excited!!</p>

<p>Anyway, I am planning on majoring in math. I don't LOVE math but I am good at it, it's my best subject, and I also think it is a good fallback career option just in case. My career plans are to major in math (maybe applying to get a Dual Degree in Marketing from Wharton) btw, I am not planning on transferring to Wharton because I don't want to study business, I just find marketing appealing. After that, I would like to work in a technology/media company. After some years of experience, I plan on returning to my home country and starting a company in the technology or media industries. That's my ultimate dream. I do not plan on getting a Masters in Math.</p>

<p>Anyway, I've been doing a lot of research lately and I have found that A LOT of people (here in college confidential, for example) say that a math major is useless and that there isn't a good job outlook for math majors. To make things more confusing, I found an article from the WSJ where Mathematician is listed as the best job (<a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123119236117055127"&gt;http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123119236117055127&lt;/a&gt;). I don't know who to believe!! Are there good job prospects for a math major from Penn? What type of companies, especially technology/media, do you guys know that recruit at Penn? </p>

<p>Also, do you guys know how hard it is to get approved by Wharton for a Dual Degree? As I mentioned above, I'm really interested in a math and marketing degree. </p>

<p>Oh, one last question. Is the math major at Penn like an applied mathematics major, a pure math major, or a mixture of both?</p>

<p>I would be very thankful if you guys could help me with these doubts as I am very confused right now. </p>

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<p>If you are not genuinely interested in math, you will have a rough time in the math major at Penn. I have several friends who either majored in math or double majored in it. It is a very rigorous major and the core classes (analysis I and II and abstract algebra I and II are completely proof based. You can take more applied classes like complex analysis and PDEs but physics and math majors who have taken those courses say they are also heavily proof based. If you are not one who really loves math, you probably will not like the proof based courses at all.</p>

<p>It seems that the reason you are considering math is more related to employment prospects than your interests. I have my own opinions on that but I will try to give you advice regardless. I think you should strongly consider mathematical Econ. This is basically the Econ major with more math classes to give you a more quantitative background. This seems like it would be great considering your business career interests.</p>