Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Education > Colleges and Universities
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-09-2010, 09:37 AM
 
Location: New York City
4,035 posts, read 10,253,685 times
Reputation: 3753

Advertisements

If you're smart enough to get a masters in math, you have far more options than being a high school teacher (not that there's anything wrong with being a high school teacher). Math is one of the hardest degrees you can get at the undergraduate level. Many companies and grad schools look for math majors simply because they're really smart. Nowadays, many people in banking and law have undergraduate math degrees.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-09-2010, 10:40 AM
 
713 posts, read 3,431,326 times
Reputation: 550
I know, most of my fellow classmates have suggested I dual major instead. It is tempting but I wonder if I could handle that much classwork. I would have to sit and study almost 24/7 Non the less, I will be meeting with my counselor today to discuss this and it is not to late to dual major if I want to but I will be 26 instead of 24 when I exit school
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-10-2010, 11:07 AM
 
Location: Paranoid State
13,044 posts, read 13,779,448 times
Reputation: 15837
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpk-nyc View Post
...Nowadays, many people in banking and law have undergraduate math degrees.
^^^ +1 ^^^

I'd suggest keeping your career options more open by including at least some science & engineering. Just one anecdote: a friend who was a math major, worked for a tech company, decided (in her 40s) to go back & take college level physics & a few other courses so she could go to law school and qualify to take the national patent bar to become a patent attorney (there are some undergraduate science prereqs to sit for the patent bar).

the point is you may change your mind about careers.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-10-2010, 11:59 PM
 
Location: San Diego
2,311 posts, read 2,817,724 times
Reputation: 893
Quote:
Originally Posted by rgomez912 View Post
Already in my Freshman year of school and have changed my major from Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Accounting and now the arrow points to Mathematics. My plan is now to get a BS in Mathematics with a minor in Education so that I can teach at the High School level and then work on getting my Masters in Mathematics as well. Any advice on this? Good or Bad or Crazy
Have you declared all these majors or changed your mind on them? Nothing wrong with teaching but a degree in pure math is pretty esoteric and similar to a degree in philosophy. If you want a good back up engineering with a math (or ed depending on your states requirements) gives a lot of back up plans. No offense, but if you've changed your mind three times by Nov what is it about teaching that you think you'll be well suited for and do you think that you're probably gonna change your mind again? I'm assuming that you haven't taken any upper level classes in any of these fields so really knowing what you're getting into at this point is pretty tough.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-11-2010, 07:50 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,659 times
Reputation: 10
I know this thread is about a month old now, but I think I'll post (my first post) in order to help individuals who are interested in majoring in math. In my experience (and from other math majors I've talked too) Math can be a hard degree to obtain a job with right out of college, in uncertain economic times; aka right now. Getting your teaching credential is surely a good idea as it opens up the possibility of working at a high school without a graduate degree.

IMPORTANT PART: If your not planning on going to graduate school, I would STRONGLY SUGGEST double majoring even though it will take maybe an extra year. Coupling a math degree, with say a degree in engineering, computer science, natural science, or what I call money science (economics/finance/accounting) will drastically increase job possibilities once you graduate.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2010, 04:01 AM
 
Location: San Diego
2,311 posts, read 2,817,724 times
Reputation: 893
Quote:
Originally Posted by YahIDontKnow View Post
I know this thread is about a month old now, but I think I'll post (my first post) in order to help individuals who are interested in majoring in math. In my experience (and from other math majors I've talked too) Math can be a hard degree to obtain a job with right out of college, in uncertain economic times; aka right now. Getting your teaching credential is surely a good idea as it opens up the possibility of working at a high school without a graduate degree.

IMPORTANT PART: If your not planning on going to graduate school, I would STRONGLY SUGGEST double majoring even though it will take maybe an extra year. Coupling a math degree, with say a degree in engineering, computer science, natural science, or what I call money science (economics/finance/accounting) will drastically increase job possibilities once you graduate.

Agreed. Pure math is a philosophy degree, but much more difficult. Degrees emphasizing applied math are much easier to find work in.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2010, 04:40 AM
 
Location: East Hampton, Ct
1 posts, read 1,636 times
Reputation: 10
Teaching mathematics requires passion for teaching. If you love mathematics and believe that everyone can learn math, I think that you will be a great maths teacher. It is common knowledge that teachers are underpaid and overworked but, who isn't these days?
The fact that you have changed you major twice and have settled on maths means that you might just be where you are meant to be. It is also advisable to take education classes like classroom management and how student learn.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-18-2010, 01:13 AM
 
713 posts, read 3,431,326 times
Reputation: 550
Well I decided to dual major in Computer Science and Mathematics I will also be taking all four Japanese classes offered at my school since I also have a desire to teach English in Japan. From what I can tell only a BA degree is needed in any field and no experience is required (unlike here in the USA lol) Pay is a lot less than here in the USA since my mother started teaching Elementary School and makes 42K while the min pay for English teachers is in the 30K range over there starting out. Also unlike here in America I would have to work 6 days a week since in Japan students go to school Monday - Saturday

Would be fun to learn a new culture and language as well but who knows five years from now if I still have the same flame in my eyes after I've spent some time in class
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Education > Colleges and Universities
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top