Im going to be a senior and I’ve recently decided on an Applied Math major because I enjoy math a lot and from what I understand, its a major that can take you into a lot of careers! Which is nice because I know I want to use math in my career and likely computer science but I havent decided on a specific career. The problem is that certain schools I am interested in don’t offer applied math, only pure. Do I toss those schools out or still apply to them for their pure math degrees? I am mainly concerned about the employability / lack thereof of pure math majors because I feel as if the skills are not highly valued by employers. Opinions? Thank you so much
If careers in computing are of interest to you, then you can take computer science courses for your electives, regardless of whether your school’s math major offers specific pure or applied versions. Just make sure that there is a good selection of CS (and math) courses.
Other common career directions for math majors are finance and actuarial (take statistics, economics, and finance electives; see http://www.beanactuary.com ), operations research, and high school teaching (look into teaching credential requirements in your state).
The name of your degree doesn’t matter. My major is called “mathematics” and not “applied mathematics,” but my school offers lots of classes that focus on the applications of math. When I choose my electives, I can take whatever mix of theoretical and applied classes that I want.
(For the record, computer science classes might not count toward your math degree requirements. My degree only requires “technical electives” that need to be classes in the math department. I’m able to take computer science classes, but they don’t fulfill any requirements.)