my calculus teacher often stops what he's doing in class and goes into a rant about all the real-world applications of calculus and how important math is. other teachers do this sometimes too, but he's recently starting talking about how there is a huge job market for math majors, but not as big for liberal arts majors. how much truth is there to this?
I was not a math major, but I can almost say for sure that the market for them would be good. Jobs could include Actuaries, Engineers, Business Analysts and other fields that could include 'number-crunching', such as Financial/Marketing analysis.
Even Math teachers are more in demand than most of the others.
I am sure that there are many more disciplines that this area could roll into.
The advice I would give is to speak to a Career Coordinatoor (not just an academic advisor). In addition to your initial question, ask what a suitable minor could be (Business area, Economics, etc...).
As long as you specialize in the right part of math, there is a big demand for you (don't ask me what to specialize in). All kinds of companies hire math majors. Car companies, accounting firms, just about anything you can think of. As an engineering major, I can say the only book that has been useful to me in any other class is my calculus book. No other book that I have kept has helped me out as much as this one has (I realize that does not do anything to help with the math major job thing). If you like math, obviously you are good at it if you are taking calculus in high school, then engineering might be a good choice for you. At least the people in calc at my high school were top of the class (not pre-calc, but the real deal). If you want to run well and take it seriously, careful on your college decision though. Don't pick a school just because of an easy engineering program just so you can run, unless you are a stud, but there are some that would make it nearly impossible to run and others that would make it slightly easier just and still give a good education. Anyway, that is my slightly drunken ramble.
to be sucessful post collegiate as a math major you would basically have to specialize in a smaller aspect of math. engineering is a huge field right now. a calculus major could probably find a reasonable job doing theoretical work for the private industry if a) they are damn good at it, and b) they specialized in it in graduate school.
thanks to everyone who replied. i'm a high school senior and i was recently accepted early to the university of virginia. i was thinking about economics as a major (strong at UVA). i'm doing well in calculus but did horrible in chemistry, i just didn't get it and i hated it, so i don't know if engineering would work out.
If you wanna do serious economics you need math. I'm not talking about single variable calculus here, I mean real math. If you're good at calc more power to you. Why don't you throw in a math major or minor on top of your econ major? But first make sure you like econ, how many classes in it have you taken? You don't need chemistry to be an economist or a mathematician. Except I think financial derivatives have some connection to thermodynamic formulas, but that's just some tangent my math advisor went off on.
...but if you're not good at math, then just remember the Supply/Demand/price chart. That will get you through Econ I.
If you are willing to get your master's degree, there are almost limitless career paths you can take with a BA/BS in math & not just engineering, econ or stats either. I'm a math major going into architecture, but I know people who have gone on to do hydrology/environmental science, all kinds of business applications, military service, topology, etc... Besides talking to your advisor, you should go online to different colleges sites & research what kind of jobs their math students have gotten; see if there are any which appeal to you. The advantage of a math degree is that you are not locked into one specific job for the rest of your life. Are you in HS in VA? I know you have early admission at UVa, but you should look into Va Tech- their applied math program is ranked higher than UVa's.
I hope that no one is pressuring you to pick a college major at this point in your life. Ideally, you should go to a school where you have some freedom to sample the intellectual wares, and then pick a major that really excites you. Don't simply focus on the marketability of a particular major. You would probably be surprised at how many highly successful people, in a wide variety of careers, majored in allegedly "unmarketable" things like philosophy when they were in college.
On the otherhand though, what good does a masters degree and big chuck of debt for life do when you can't find a decent paying job. Have a plan. College is an investment.
Most people go through college thinking that they could graduate with some bogus major and still find a decent job. Not true. Look at all those folks who have degrees but still work at your local private shoe store. Don't become an Al Bundy.
I teach Advanced Placement Statistics at the high school where I'm also the XC/distance coach. At a workshop I attended this past summer, a professor at the University of Wisconsin/Madison talked about how students would love to stay around Madison after graduation but can't find a job. He then mentioned that every year, the University Hospital has to hire biostatisticians from foreign countries because so few Americans have the background, which is an undergrad degree which includes both math and statistics and a master's degree in biostatistics. The biostatistician helps the medical research team assess the validity of their studies and performs much valuable work behind the scenes of medical research. This is one of many careers where a background in math or statistics can lead.
Don't worry so much about chemistry knocking you out of engineering. You take very little chemistry in electrical, electronic, or computer engineering. If you do well in math, chase it! You'd be amazed at the number of people who are inept at math (even pretty fundamental stuff). If you want employment, make sure that you have a skill that's needed but that not a lot of folks pursue.
(FYI: I'm a college prof. and an electrical engineer)
Biostatistics is one of the hottest fields right now and still will be when you get out. No shortage of jobs, one of the few areas they can't fill right now. The chemistry/biology requirements aren't outrageous, and I guarantee there are more/better jobs waiting for you than in economics (everybody wants to do that).
Be advised:
If you have any aspirations whatsoever of getting a Masters/Doctorate in economics a very strong math background is a prerequisite. I BS in economics will require some math in college, but surprisingly enough you will need additional math to go further in this field. Some school may accept you into their advanced degree program, but a BS in math will be a huge feather in your cap.
With a solid math/econ background, I found it quite easy to get a good job in a bad economy.
I have been to two colleges in mechanical engineering, and both of them have dropped chemistry from their program. It really isn't a very big deal. Just don't go into chemical engineering. I think civil's use it a little bit more too because of the soil and environmental work they do.
UVa is a great school, so you'll be able to get a job with almost any major. Take classes you like (you're more likely to do well in those anyway). Coming out of college, many people have such poor quantitative skills that employers really like math majors. Math/econ double is very desirable or do a BS in econ. Take some liberal arts classes too though to be "well rounded." Art history has a lot of hot girls - you'll be out numbered by about 50-1.
Just to add to the Math/Econ combo - a college running buddy of mine did the Math/Econ combo and made up for not being recruited out of HS for running by being seriously wooed (full scholarship etc.) out of undergrad by Econ grad programs.
Also, have a friend who had no computer programming experience but was a math major and had several offers for development work - companies willing to teach the programming as the math majors would learn it so quickly. He also was recruited out of undergrad math program by Wall Street firms - big money but literally sleeping at the office (100+ hrs per week) so he turned it down.
thanks everyone, please keep posting if you have any comments. my high school in NJ doesn't offer any real economics courses, so last spring i found a history teacher who has an undergrad degree in econ, and this year i'm doing an indpt study for the college board ap exams in micro and macro. i'm enjoying it so that's why i was thinking of econ as a major, and possibly math as a minor.