Okay, I'm desperate for career-ish advice: enough mathematics already?

Question

I'm in university doing a B.A. in Pure Math, one year away from graduation. I've got a 4.0 gpa, near the top of my class, doing honours and all that, blah blah blah blah. The thing is: I'm not interested in doing math as a career, but I feel kind of trapped by my degree. My profs are no good for advice, because they all just went straight to grad school, and then went straight into teaching.

I mean, math is a great thing to study, but I'm not a diehard, and I don't want to be.

Any of you math grads have advice for me?

I should probably add that my degree will be a B.A. in Pure Math (Honours), and that I am not considering changing it at this point.

Answer 1

Ok. I am not a math grad but I do have some advice. With your 4.0 you can qualify if interested and desire many state and federal jobs with just a B.A. and not graduate school...FBI, CIA and stuff.

Your degree is very respected among many who do not have mathematics degrees because many of us ran from any math class we could.

Do not think your option lie just to teach math or continue it in grad school or be a professor.

Your masters degree does not neccessarily have to be in the thing you got a BA in either. For example if you were interested in Physics or Computer Science (which are very math related) and wanted to maybe further pursue that, most college you need like 15 hours of undergrad in that subject to get into the masters progam. Check the curriculum and good luck to you!

**check the career center at your school, most colleges have these and lists careers and descriptions of and what degree you need for that career.

Answer 2

I'm not a math grad, though I probably could have been except I had your attitude. I found my future in ecology and conservation biology. I'm now working on my PhD (on the side just because I want to), even though I have a good government biologist job.
Even though my answer is directed toward biology, my experience is that most other sciences (geology, physics, chemistry...) have similar policies. Most biology, ecology, zoology, etc. programs would accept you for graduate school with a math degree and you would really be in good shape if you used this year to throw in a few biology courses. The biggest grad school hurdles for biologists are math related, so you would be in better position in my opinion than almost anyone with a biology bachelor's.
Another option is business, but the math they use is rudimentary in my opinion. Most of my friends from college with math degrees are either accountants or work for the IRS - a dismal future in my opinion.

Answer 3

Your analytical skills will help you in a great variety of ways, regardless of what field you enter. You really can't ask for a better introduction to analysis than pure mathematics, can you?

You could put your facility for math to work for a great variety of possible employers. I agree with computer-related suggestions as well. I'm sure algorithms would not cause you distress.

Or, you could take Albert Einstein's advice: "If I could do it all over again, I'd have been a plumber."

[ A little later ] ^ That quote from Einstein just made me think: why not consider a trade? Technical positions like installers can make very good money with excellent benefits.

Answer 4

I'm actually a statistics major, but have many math major friends. Some work for the government as analysts. Some work as statisticians. Law Schools *LOVE* math majors because the logic that is necessary to prove Gauss-Markov (or any other theorem) is necessary in understanding and arguing complex legal matters. In NYC there are always financial houses looking for analysts with the skills you hone while studying mathematics.

Remember: You do not have to wear polyester pants for the rest of your life with chalk marks around the pockets! Resist the pocket-protector! And good luck to you, my fellow math-geek!

Answer 5

Well my mom was a math major. She went to work for Shell Oil as a Geophysical Tech. She evaluates plot data and determines the oil content in regions sampled. The Comp. Sci. idea is also good. Statistician. Anything like that. And not all of it is boring. There are actually a lot of careers that Math majors can take. Don't freak. You're doing well in your major, companies will want you. Look at career websites.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Before you stop you should know what to do next.
Do you have any other skills you can use to get a job ?
I studied electrotechnic, next math and ended up in a job where i dont use both of them yet I dont think it was a waste of time.

Answer 8

What do you think about going into computer science? It's an easy transition, and leaves you plently to do outside of academia.

Answer 9

seems to me like you should have figured all of this out a year or so ago......you're *supposed* to be decided on your major by sophomore year