<p>I think I want to major in applied math, maybe coupled with economics. In case I just decide on just applied math, I am wondering what types of careers I can expect to have at some point. I know there is a wide range, but I'd like to get an idea of what CC parents have done with their applied math degrees. I like being hands on and don't want to sit behind a desk (not saying this is what APMTH majors do, I have no idea). </p>
<p>I came into college wanting to be an engineer (MechE or EE). I don't like biology, chemistry, or programming, but I told my self I would "suck it up" and get through those classes. However, I'm taking biology and chemistry now and it just affirms what I already knew. That I actually hate bio/chem. I don't want to have to suffer through more classes and be miserable. I don't want it to seem like I'm "giving up", but that's how I feel sometimes. Now that I'm actually in college I can get a better idea of what I like/dislike and what my "dream careers" actually entail. My main problem is that I can like one thing but also hate it---that's how I am with math. I wish I had a clear passion like others seem to have; they enjoy the classes they have to take. </p>
<p>I'm just confused because I have only four years (it is a lot, but different majors require different numbers of classes and I have to have an idea of that soon). </p>
<p>Any advice, information, etc is greatly appreciated. Thank you!</p>
<p>Finance, Actuary, Agronomy, Public Health, Political consulting, Transportation planning… there are thousands of things you can do with a background in applied math.</p>
<p>What are YOU interested in? Most of the fields that require a degree in applied math use the concepts and then require you to apply the analytical tools to another content discipline. So if you’re mapping disease transmission for the CDC you’ll want to learn about how viruses move among populations (but you’ll be developing algorithms that build on skills you already know. If you’re estimating the impact of inflation on the price of oil three years from now, you’ll need to master different content areas. </p>
<p>I’m not sure. I have been looking around for internships and ways to get involved, but they require more knowledge than what I have. I will email specific professors after looking at their projects and choose which ones interest me. A big thing that’s having me confused is that I don’t have any experience with * anything *. So I don’t know 1 what’s out there and what I can do and 2 what actually doing a certain thing is like (and would be like for the rest of my life).</p>
<p>I have a friend whose son is doing something in cyber security relating to the financial sector with an applied math degree. He was not a CS or programming major.</p>
<p>Do an on-line search for SIAM and join as a student: it can be free if your school has a chapter. The association has lots of links and job listings, which may give you some ideas. AMA also has lots of links on its site. </p>
<p>The Applied Physics Lab in Maryland has lots of different jobs and internships that want math majors. You might take a look at those.</p>
<p>blossom-- yes, I read. I read Stephen King and other related thriller books. I don’t read the newspaper; there have been lots of things that I’ve read/heard about that strike em as interesting or “that’d be cool to do” but nothing in an area that I actually want to pursue. ie I saw a video of a guy who created an interactive keyboard that is projected onto any surface. I think that’s awesome/interesting, but I don’t want to do anything in that field. </p>
<p>boysx3-- do you know how your friend’s son ‘found out’ how he could use apmth in that area? I know there are a lot of things you can do with that degree but ‘a lot’ is broad and overwhelming.</p>
<p>colorado_mom-- I don’t really know what kinds of math topics. I am in Calc II (I’ve heard it varies between institutions, but at my college Calc II is series and differential equations (a little)). I really like integration and identities (like when you’re given an equation with different trig equations set equal to each other and you can only change one side to make it look exactly like the other). I think those are just foundational for other topics in math. </p>
<p>Erin’s Dad-- I don’t want to do programming, I have done it before and I do not enjoy it. I think I have to use Matlab for my upper div math classes; I’ve never used that before.</p>
<p>MD Mom-- Thank you. I will keep those for reference. My college doesn’t have an SIAM chapter, but I could always start one. I want to get involved in something now to get an idea, but I don’t have experience.</p>
<p>Luckily you are at a school with a great network of finance and Wall Street careers. Check into shadowing alumni and possibly doing informational interviews. Math can be handy in consulting, and that could give you exposure to different environments and variety of assignments.</p>
<p>Thanks MizzBee. I thought about that (the finance/Wall St network) and I’m not sure that’s what I want to do. I kind of want to do something “different” than that. There are lots of events hosted by JP Morgan and such so I will check out those (the ones that don’t require a certain grade status or resume of related experience).</p>
<p>CPU,
I will try to get some information for you. He is not allowed to talk much about his job…I believe he works for the Department of Homeland Security, so their website is probably a good place for you to start , as well as the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency. You also might talk to a few of your professors…they could point you in good directions, especially with regard to banks and other financial institiutions.</p>
<p>Another idea…have you taken any economics or econometrics classes yet?</p>
<p>thank you. I wanted to intern with the CIA since early high school; I checked their site in Mid october and the application was already closed. I will check those other depts websites. I’m not sure that I want to work with a bank/financial institution but there are lots of events for me to attend and see if that interests me. I see that homeland security has a program for high school and current college students that I will look into. </p>
<p>I am thinking about taking the intro to economics course next year. I think I want to couple applied math and economics. That’s a popular route here according to the econ dept (I had a meeting with them, and also with the engineering dept earlier in the year. i will talk to career services and the applied math department soon).</p>
<p>I can’t think of that many jobs related to math/econ that do not require you to be behind a desk. I am not certain what you mean when you say you don’t like sitting behind a desk. Do you mean you would like to do something working with your hands? Or do you mean you don’t want sitting behind a desk 9-5 and would like some variety - travel, working with people (marketing, service industry).</p>
<p>We just hired a young lady with an engineering degree. She was working at an insurance company company in finance. She hated it because she had a well defined work (couldn’t do more or less), she didn’t have much interaction with other people and she worked in a cube all day. She is working in finance at our company now, but our comapny’s atmosphere is more relaxed because it is a tech company. She still sits behind a desk, but she is given more leeways to get involved in projects. The place is kind of crazy (think people shooting foose balls).</p>
<p>We also hired someone with a math/econ degree. He is an analysts (not a programmer) who is going to do more marketing. He is going to have to know our technology platform, but he is not going to have to do programming. He is being trained to give presentations to our clients, so he will be doing more travelling.</p>
<p>Most entry level jobs do not require any particular major. It is more important if you have a certain aptitude and have the right kind of personality for a job. In school, do you like long term projects or do you prefer exams? Do you like working with people or are you more of a loner? Do you like to work something which is well defined or do you like to be more agile? Do you work well under pressure?</p>
<p>When D1 was in high school, I had her shadow few of my friends to see if she would like to do what they do. CPU - you have a lot of alumni network at your disposal. Why don’t you contact them to set up some informal meetings? You could see if you could shadow them over the breaks. They may lead to real internships.</p>
<p>CPU - This is an oversimplification… but my observation is… </p>
<ul>
<li><p>engineers like (or endure) calculus and enjoy problem solving</p></li>
<li><p>mathematicians enjoy higher level math with proofs and abstract concepts, sometimes without any practical application</p></li>
</ul>
<p>No no–the OP specifically said applied math. This is very different from a math major. One involves numbers; the other involves greek letters. At my school, math was in Arts & Sciences; applied math was in the School of Engineering.</p>
<p>I was an applied math major as an undergraduate. Econ minor, although focused on econometrics. Got a M.S. in statistics, ended up as an actuary. I never once considered majoring in pure math–never been a theory person. </p>
<p>Other kids in my graduate department went into things like limnology (specifically–Department of Natural Resources-type water quality studies), biostatistics (fascinating and very topical field–one friend is involved in designing/collecting data/drawing conclusions on many major cancer studies around the world), quality control (process optimization/. . . ). If you enjoy the statistics classes you take, it’s <em>extremely</em> practical.</p>
<p>Read the newspaper. A good one, not edited to a 6th grade reading comprehension level. In any given week you will read articles about agricultural techniques using genetic modification of seeds; disease management and pandemics, air traffic control and fuel price prediction/risk management; the pending pension crisis as all the baby boomers retire with underfunded retirement plans; hydrology and clean water management; why China should or should not lift the one child rule; how India can build an efficient mass transit system; why congestion pricing has worked to alleviate traffic in central London; whether FEMA will do a better job of housing tens of thousands of displaced people in New Jersey or should it be left to the State; who should get a flu shot this year; why relaxing mortgage lending standards results in fewer people able to own a home (post 2008); what happens when a bank fails and the FDIC takes over.</p>
<p>At the core of each of these stories is someone who majored in applied math. Not to mention tracking terrorists by creating communications algorithms; modeling tsunamis and their shoreline impact; figuring out more efficient ways of supplying trucks to the troops in Afghanistan. Etc.</p>
<p>If you want to work for the CIA, start studying a “strategic language” (the list is on their website.)</p>
<p>Also look into the NSA, which is the part of the Federal government’s security apparatus that handles codebreaking, communications surveillance, and cybersecurity, among many other things. It hires a LOT of applied math (and computer science) types. It’s sort of the STEM version of the CIA, which tends to be more social-sciency.</p>
<p>Very few majors link up with specific jobs. But for a generalist major, there are few fields with more breadth and value than applied math. It could be a great start for almost any career.</p>
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At my school, math was in Arts & Sciences; applied math was in the School of Engineering.</p>