Really good at math--what major?

<p>Hi. I am going to be attending the honors college at UCF, and i am trying to decide on a major.</p>

<p>I am very good at math:
SAT MATH: 790
AP CALC AB: 4
AP CALC BC: PENDING</p>

<p>I have always been very good at math. I have good problem solving skills. I'm decent in reading, but A LOT better at math. 570 in SAT READING.</p>

<p>I am trying to figure out what major will suit me best. Right now my major is Finance/Accounting, but im still thinking about Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and other math involved majors. Do you guys have any suggestions? (I don't want to be a math teacher)
THANK YOU!!</p>

<p>Before you think about your major, perhaps think about what sort of work you see yourself doing after college. You don’t want to teach math…one down…what DO you want to do?</p>

<p>I know Math majors who do actuarial work and others who do sales work. Once you have a better idea on what you want to do, the major should be easier to determine.</p>

<p>Well that is my problem, lol. I am good at problem solving, analyzing, etc. I like solving math problems. I am good with economics too. I can do math in my head. I just dont know what major will best suit me. I don’t think im interested in insurance stuff, but i really dont know!</p>

<p>have you considered engineering?</p>

<p>How about stock market analysis/financial consulting/banking?<br>
Insurance actuary stuff is actually really fascinating (trying to predict the future)
Do you want to work with people or by yourself? Many math folks are introverts and the degree to which a future career depends on networking or other social relations may be a way to decide between them.</p>

<p>I’m more of an introvert. Stock Market Analysis may be ok for me. But i feel like i would be good in mathematics major </p>

<p>Have you tried out programming?</p>

<p>UCF has a mathematical economics concentration in the math department. You could major in that and add a minor in accounting or finance.</p>

<p>@geo1113 can you explain that major briefly? thank you!</p>

<p>Mathematical economics majors are designed for people who want to study Economics at the PhD level. It may not be best if you don’t want to go to grad school.</p>

<p>If you want to do something that involves higher level math, you won’t like Accounting. Accounting doesn’t even use Calculus, so your AP Calc BC credit will go to waste.</p>

<p>Applied Mathematics is a good major. Or Engineering, which is basically applied math and physics.</p>

<p>Mathematical economics is the application of mathematical and statistical techniques to study economic phenomenon, both practical and theoretical. It gives you a chance to develop your analytical skills which are useful in many fields. Among those fields are investment banking, business analysis, marketing research, actuarial science, credit analysis, and financial analysis (which is why I mentioned adding a finance or accounting minor).</p>

<p>And contrary to what Jacob said, the study of mathematical economics is not limited to those who want to study econ at the PhD level as I mentioned some fields above. Actually mathematical economics is a form of applied mathematics. </p>

<p>wow that seems like something i should do. maybe that and finance as minor?</p>

<p>@geo1113 may i ask how you know so much lol</p>

<p>It is a definite possibility. And it does make sense to consider all the possibilities. I mentioned the minors based on your original idea of acct/finance and the mention of stock market analyst. But you do want to keep in mind that applied math is a general category so you should go through the catalog and see the different subcategories. Also, others have mentioned engineering. I do think you should look at a couple of the majors to see if anything is of interest, perhaps industrial engineering.</p>

<p>I’d go with engineering. Just my opinion.</p>

<p>I think out of the math majors I know very well:
X is switching his major to finance.
Y is going to graduate school after Applied Mathematics to get a master’s in Computer Science.
Z is going for an MBA/Engineering master’s.
S is going to graduate school for Master’s in Pure Math, but she’s going to teach high school.
K is going to do the same as S.
J is going to get his credential and teach HS.
E is going to get his credential and teach HS.</p>

<p>I think a majority of math majors at my university have no idea what they’re going to do as they mostly switched from aerospace engineering into mathematics. </p>

<p>I am going to be doing Aerospace & Mechanical engineering Master’s after I’m done this spring with Applied Mathematics/Statistics. I did some stock market analysis as an internship but that stuff can get pretty boring.</p>

<p>I’m going to say you probably need more training after a bachelor’s in math.</p>

<p>What do you mean by “really good at math”? Being a good number cruncher is a very different thing than excelling at writing proofs. Are you familiar with proofs? Have you picked up a textbook on introductory real analysis, such as Spivavk’s Calculus? If any of this sounds foreign to you, then you’re a number cruncher, which is not meant to demean you, but that your skills and talents may be suited for a natural science/engineering rather than pure math. Applied math might be more to your liking, as its a major dedicated to the intricacies of number crunching.</p>

<p>Pure math might be something you might not enjoy, so pick up the above book I suggested to you and try to work through it. That will give you a feel if pure math is the right major for you. Oh, and don’t expect to become anything other than a teacher or a professor with a pure math degree. No one outside of academia is going to pay you to construct proofs, which is pretty much the only skill you pick up as a pure math major. In other words, it’s not a very employable degree. </p>

<p>well i’ve always been in advanced, i can do math in my head (not THAT good, but people are sometimes like how did you do that!?), 790 on sat…i see what you mean though. i dont want to be a teacher. but my problem is idont know what i want to do so im just looking for opinions</p>

<p>shaun, I am 58 years old. That is how I know a lot. But the really important thing is that I know less now than I did when I was 20 years old.</p>

<p>If you’re really good in math and you think you’re good working with computers, you should try Computer Science. You can apply Game Theory, Fuzzy Theory, Ring Theory, into making really good computer programs or computer hardware. Right now, computers can’t do much other than put things on a screen. I want computers to really put me in a 3-D dimension, just like real life is. Maybe quantum computing can do it, or maybe particle computing.</p>