Universities with innovative / interesting Math programs

College Search & Selection
1

I’ve noticed that some colleges/universities have plain “Mathematics” programs whilie others have various Math programs such as “Applied Math” “Math/Business Analytics”, “Statistical Sciences”, “Data Science”, “Math/CS” etc.

Can anyone shed light on this? My son would like to major in some sort of math, but he doesn’t know what aspect (not teaching). Which degrees are most marketable (besides the obvious Computer science, which he seems to be afraid of at this time as he knows it’s super competitive).

Also any suggestions of universities with strong math programs? He is interested in schools like Clemson, Auburn, Richmond, UNC, CU-Boulder but open to suggestions in SE and West mostly (wants nice weather or mountains or near water). Does NOT want to go in-state and we aren’t worried about cost at this point.

His PSAT math was perfect score, much better than verbal…so I the quantitative fields are stronger for him.

Thanks!

2

P.S. He is currently a Junior.
He’d also love to consider CA schools, but we are avoiding UC’s.

3

Sometimes, a plain math or applied math major has enough flexibility and elective choices to allow a student to effectively do the equivalent of one of the more specific math majors. It may be worth checking the curricular offerings at each school.

4

Yes, I know I can look at the curriculums and he could do a design-own…but really looking for a university that has made effort to make an interesting math major that is also marketable for jobs…I keep hearing about “analytics” and “data science” (which I think is more CS?) etc…but am not sure where these programs are offered.

5

Data science tends to include knowledge of statistics and CS, as well as areas of application.

6

And is Data Science more Math/stats or more CS?
If it’s a mix of all 3 - this sounds like what he is looking for.

7

Data science is basically statistics and CS, so it’s more often in CS departments but can be in math. It’s pretty hot now. Many math departments don’t have various majors but have different specializations within a math major. There are quite a few schools that offer financial math as a specialization, or actuarial. It really depends on what aspects of math he enjoys and what kind of job he’s like to have.

8

Where data science is its own major, it may specify an interdisciplinary curriculum with requirements and electives across multiple departments (including CS and statistics). For example: https://data.berkeley.edu/degrees/data-science-ba

Where such a major does not exist, students interested in it may major in statistics (or math if statistics is included in the math department) or CS, with electives in the other subject and desired areas of application.

9

Data science sounds really good…is it mostly a UC/ west coast thing?

10

I had one of those guys!

Some students do best with early-on, laser focused specialization. My son is not one of those. He is a third year math major at a school which only offers majors in broad subjects like Mathematics, CS, Economics, etc. To qualify for his degree, he’s had to take a wide range of math courses and in the process has discovered fields of mathematics that he never dreamed about when he was in high school. He’s only now reaching the point of having an idea of what sub-field he wants to pursue in graduate school. My sense is that having a broad, solid base in the field has given him confidence about the direction he’s taking.

Any math degree will be exceptionally marketable as long as there are some real world skills to go with it. As a software developer myself, I encouraged my son to take enough CS courses to give him some marketable skills. DS had an engineering internship last summer where he did a lot of applied math and programming and he did great, holding his own with engineering majors from very well known schools.

11

Only to the extent that a lot of the industry employers in the field are based here. Schools like CMU and Waterloo have some of the most exiting Data Science programs that I know of.

12

Take a look at Emory’s QTM Majors. It’s basically a combination of math, statistics, CS, and a liberal arts course of study. The idea is that math and analytics shouldn’t be studied in a vacuum, but should be applied within the context of another discipline.

13

Utah has a great math program with the top students regularly winning nationally competitive scholarships (see https://unews.utah.edu/university-of-utah-student-awarded-prestigious-churchill-scholarship-3/). They have excellent merit aid and you can’t beat the skiing and other outdoor activities nearby.

14

@yucca10 et al…What is confusing to me is that sometimes you have “Business Analytics” in the business school or “Computational Biology” in Arts&Sciences…or Math in Arts&Sciences, or possibly another version in the Engineering school. So when he declares a major…if he declares the A&S Math, then it’s harder to get into the business school later if he wants Business Analytics, for instance. It’s hard b/c he doesn’t really know what he wants to do, so he doesn’t know what major to apply to…maybe generic Math or Applied Math is the best option? I’m just worried about it being limiting if he doesn’t like the math major and decides he wants business or engineering or CS.

15

Case Western Reserve University may not be in the location he prefers, but it offers a B.S in Math and Physics degree–
http://physics.case.edu/undergraduate-programs/undergrad-degree-programs/bsdegree-mathphys/

Physics is another major that many math students consider.

CWRU also offers a Data Science and analytics Degree–
https://engineering.case.edu/eecs/academics/undergraduate-program/data-science-and-analytics

CWRU is nice because you apply to the school as a whole and so you can swap between business, Arts and Sciences and engineering up through junior year and mix and match majors.

Its a small, flexible research oriented undergrad program.

Carnegie Mellon offers some really interesting degree programs in their Dietrich school of Humanities and Social Sciences that are math oriented. I think their pure math degree is in the Mellon College of Science.
This statistics degree program includes machine learning!
http://www.stat.cmu.edu/undergraduate/majors

Purdue U in Indiana offers a fantastic Data Science degree too!
https://www.cs.purdue.edu/undergraduate/curriculum/data-science.html

I understand he might prefer U of Colorado, for location, and it is a very nice location.
but I would say CWRU, CMU and Purdue all will get him
a little stronger math education than the applied math program at U of Colorado Engineering, as applied math
is very small at CU Boulder, but growing.

Here is the applied math program at CU Boulder, its very flexible to double major–
https://www.colorado.edu/amath/

Note that he must apply and get accepted to CU Engineering to study applied math, as I understand it.

Pure math at CU Boulder is very strong as is physics, and those are in Arts and Sciences.
Physics is the single strongest department at CU Boulder, with aerospace engineering being good.
Applied math is very new and small at CU Boulder.

For applied math programs see New York University Courant Institute, Brown University and Princeton.
Those are top ranked programs compared to CU Boulder, but CU Boulder is trying hard to hire in top research scientists in the area of applied mathematics, if thats of interest.

16

Not necessarily. Wesleyan is an innovative LAC located in New England that has been dabbling in this area for a while:

https://www.wesleyan.edu/qac/certificate/index.html

17

These all sound great - thank you!
@Coloradomama @circuitrider

18

SLU’s data science program is about 1/3 math, 1/3 stat and 1/3 CS. http://cs.slu.edu/academics/undergraduate/bs-in-data-science