A major in math, as part of a liberal arts degree, can be a good background for many careers. Just as most history majors are not going to be "historians," most math majors will not be "mathematicians." The development of quantitative skills and analytical abilities is a good background for almost any career. However, there are also possibilities more directly tied to the math major. Just for example, what have some of our WU math majors planned on graduation?
You can get a good idea of some of the many things people with math training do by visiting the Career Profiles site maintained by the Mathematics Association of America (MAA). Also look at the Careers in Mathematics site of the American Mathematical Society (AMS). You might also find interesting the article Working Your Degree from the editors of CNN and Money Magazine.Students should also visit The Career Center (Karl Umrath Hall, Room 157, 935-5930). Among other things, The Career Center has an online database called "Career Connections" with more than 5,000 alumni who are willing to talk to students about their particular careers.
Some of the more popular options include:
Teaching Teaching mathematics is a challenging and rewarding experience for those who get excited by communicating ideas and working with people. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education site contains a lot of information, including Missouri certification requirements employment opportunities. Click here for information about the occupational outlook for teachers (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics).Students interested in secondary education should consult with the Department of Education as early as possible. (Contact Peg Finders, 314-935-8093; Dr. Marilyn Cohn, McMillan 218, 935-6780; or Madonna Riesenmy, McMillan 220, 935-6702). This is important in planning your program, since certification requirements vary from state to state and are often complex. The Education Department can also help in relating the certification requirements to specific courses at Washington University. The Department of Education also has information on the Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program.
Students interested in teaching service opportunities should contact groups such as
Teach for America and the Peace Corps.Teaching mathematics above the secondary level involves no "certification" but usually requires a graduate degree in mathematics.
Applied Mathematics Individuals trained in mathematics fill a variety of roles in industry and government. Their ability to handle quantitative problems in many different areas complements the more specialized training of the engineer. Examples of nonacademic career opportunities are maintained by the American Mathematical Society (AMS). Additional information is available from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). The Department of Labor Statistics also has information about the occupational outlook for such related work as computer science and systems analysis, operations research, and computer programming.Students interested in applied mathematics should take at least elementary background courses chosen from physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, economics and computer science. Additional concentration in some area is helpful.
Statistics A statistician is a person with training in the mathematical aspects of the collection and analysis of data. A student who has a particular interest in a special applied field of statistics such as biometrics or psychometrics should also take course work in the appropriate department. You can get ideas by browsing the career site of the American Statistical Association. You should also check out sites like the Bureau of Labor Statistics for ideas. Click here for information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about the occupational outlook for statisticians.A student who has a particular interest in a special applied field of statistics such as biometrics or psychometrics should also take course work in the appropriate department.
Actuarial Work An actuary is a person with training and experience to deal with the mathematical problems of insurance, pensions and annuities. Actuaries are employed by insurance companies, governments, labor unions, private industry and consulting firms. The actuary's basic training is in mathematics and statistics, economics, finance and accounting. Good communication skills, oral and written, are also essential. Specialized training is usually acquired while the individual is employed as an actuarial trainee. You should read comments from Prof. Spitznagel for students interested in the actuarial profession. Also look at the site Be an Actuary, maintained by the Society of Actuaries and Casualty Actuarial Society and A Career as an Actuary (from the Canadian Actuarial Society). Click here for information about the job outlook for actuaries (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Students interested in the actuarial profession usually follow the major plan "B" (Probability and Statistics) described on the Major Requirements page. Elective math courses that might be useful background for actuaries include Math 434 (Survival Analysis) and Math 475 (Statistical Computation). Courses in economics (103,104,401,402), accounting and business (finance and marketing) are useful, since the second actuarial exam covers topics in microeconomics, macroeconomics, interest theory and finance. Certainly any courses which strengthen your communication skills are also a plus.Students might also find other electives, including additional upper level probability and statistics courses.
Graduate Work in Mathematics Graduate work in mathematics may be relevant to any of the types of career options mentioned above, and it is essential for those planning academic careers in mathematics, doing teaching or research. Students planning on graduate work in mathematics should try to do the strongest possible major, particularly in theoretical areas. (This is true even if the student's main interest in graduate study is more oriented to probability and statistics, or applications.) Click here for information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about the occupational outlook for mathematicians.Such students usually follow major plan "A" (Traditional) described on the Major Requirement page. Try to get a good introduction to the major areas of modern mathematical research, (e.g., 411-412, 416, 417-418, 429-430, 493-494). If possible, consider taking some of the courses that are the starting point for our graduate program (421-422, 431-432, 441-442, 451-452). Many Ph.D. programs require a reading knowledge of two languages, often chosen from French, German or Russian; now is the time to start on that requirement.
During the spring semester of your junior year you should collect information about graduate schools you might like to apply to. One way to gather preliminary information is to look at the graduate school links on Web Pages of Interest to Math Students. Get information about the Graduate Record Examinations. You should talk to your advisor no later than the end of October in your senior year about recommendations, applications, etc. The Notices of the American Mathematical Society, available in the Mathematics Library (Cupples I, Room 15), publishes statistical reports each year about PhD's granted by American universities, fellowships and assistantships, and employment trends in mathematics. The Career Center also provides information and resources in the process of finding and applying to graduate programs.
Other Options Of course most math majors don't plan to be mathematicians. (See the summary of the plans of our majors in recent years at the time of their graduation..) Some simply find math an enjoyable field of study and recognize that a strong quantitative background can be an asset in many different fields. Each year, some of our majors go on to professional schools in unrelated areas such as medicine, law and business. Students with such plans should especially consider taking 320 (and possibly 493-494), and would probably find some work with computers helpful (1201, CS 136G or CS 265, or if you want to do more additional in computer science, CS 101-102.) Students whose primary interest is in a field such as engineering or physics should consider the "Applied" version of the major described on the page Major Requirements. If you'd like to check the occupational outlook for other fields, visit the Occupational Outlook Handbook of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.You should definitely also explore the sites on WWW Pages of Interest to Math Students.
Some of those links overlap with links on this page, but you'll find more as well.