How many hours would one need to complete a math bachelor?

I never had topology or a second class in abstract algebra, complex analysis or capstone classes. However, I did have a systems of ODEs class, a PDEs class, and two theoretically driven linear algebra classes. Also, instead of numerical analysis I had number theory.

It also depends on international standards.

I should say for the record that I completed an American math Bachelor's at a "pretty-good" program, and I did basically everything on that list except topology and more rigorous analysis. Yes I'm self-conscious about this since browsing Veeky Forums more regularly , but that's the reality of how to graduate over here atm.

no topology? b-but you need topology for almost anything wtf
dId you guys just take the jordan curve theorem for granted in complex analysis / ODEs?

Never took complex analysis, only real analysis was required, though I'm going back and self teaching complex. I focused mostly on differential equations. So, I had to choose 4 4xxx level classes. I chose a class on dynamical systems/systems of non-linear ODEs, a class on PDEs, a class on number theory, and a class on mathematical modeling (basically a systems biology class). We had the option to take topology as a 4xxx level course, but I never did. Our baseline classes (after calculus, multivariate calculus, intro to linear algebra/diff eq, etc.) were an introduction to logic (intro to proofs) with some focus on number theory and set theory, an introduction to abstract algebra, an introduction to linear algebra from a rigorous standpoint (I also took the continuation of this class), vector calculus, and an intro to real analysis. After that, it's do as you please within some guidelines.

That said, I wish I had taken complex analysis (the hardest math class in the department) and topology. Linear algebra II (the continuation of rigorous linear algebra) was hard as shit, I think it's usually seen as the second most difficult class in the math department at my school.

I can't think of any reason a mathematics degree would hurt job prospects.

Learning some programming? You'll probably get better offers with a math degree + CS portolio than a CS degree + portfolio

What are transferable skills for 200, Alex?

Seriously, majoring in math shows you have good analytical, quantitative, and problem solving skills. Obviously you won't be working in mathematics (unless you get a PhD), but you can do all manner of other things (law school, medical school, finance,etc.). I went into investment banking and having a math major helped because it set me apart.

Not to mention that anything STEM is better that liberal arts.

so i would have to pair a math degree with something else to have good job opportunities. a math degree alone wont cut it?

honestly none of those options sound interesting. what other options did u have when searching for jobs? i love math but im not gonna go through with it if I have trouble finding a job that appeals to me

12

I'm going into my last year of a bachelors in math. This is about right.

My university is on the quarter system and I will be finishing in year 3.

It really isn't very time consuming if it is your passion OP. If it is anything less than passion though, it will be very difficult.

Calculus x2
Vector Calculus
ODEs
PDEs
Linear Algebra x2
Proofs
Real Analysis x2
Abstract Algebra x2
Topology x2
Probability x2
Complex Analysis
Geometry
Electives x4

22 courses or 66~70 credit hours. You probably want to also take a few science/engineering courses for some applied flavor and learn some programming and CS on the side.

>Learning some programming? You'll probably get better offers with a math degree + CS portolio than a CS degree + portfolio

This.

In my case, topology was one of a few "upper electives", and the way it worked was that you had to "pick two of three" or some scheme very similar to this: between modern geometry, topology and complex analysis, for example (or frankly, whatever upper level courses were being taught in a given semester, or over a given two-year period, they changed slightly, smaller school with a small department), or some similar offering, you had to have taken most, but not necessarily all.

I expressed active interest in learning calculus during high school, but I was informed that because of how I had arranged my schedule during the first 2+ years of hs, that it would be impossible. So like many burgers, even I who actually like math, it happened that my first exposure to calculus was in my first semester of college.

My undergraduate mathematical education consisted of:

Calc I-III (one semester each, Calc III was possibly my favorite undergrad course)
Linear Algebra (I learn gaussian elimination for the first time, oh fuck me this is very useful, bits about eigenvalues/vectors toward the end which I forget, grinding determinants on a test or two but I already self-taught how to compute those, the significance of the value of the determinant, etc)
Discrete math (a smattering of logic was included here)
"Foundations" (set theory, more logic, power sets, cosets, statement of the continuum hypothesis)
Algebra (Lagrange's theorem impresses me as being useful. The faintest touching on Galois theory toward the end but we didn't drill in.)
Geometry: finite geometry, non-euclidian geometry, matrix transforms etc.
A "topics" course: this was really a way for the professor to test-drive his text on improper integrals and cauchy principal values in the first half, and do some complex analysis and exposit some techniques in the latter half - always with a view toward solving improper integrals. The text has since been published
Capstone: I give a small talk on complex variables

Those jobs are for non phd math degrees along with something else; if you want to work with pure math then get a phd instead of a bachelors

300k at least

Your usage of "instead", which connotes mutual exclusivity (especially in the phrasing you've just used), is confused and incorrect. As you of course know, the types of academic degree you've mentioned are not mutually exclusive - many if not most Ph.D graduates complete some sort of a bachelor's degree before completing the former (later) Ph.D.

An improved rephrase would be something like "If you want to work with pure math, then don't stop with a bachelor's; keep going until you complete a Ph.D."

Probability? Statistics? PDEs? Programming/modelling?

Your autism is correct, even if redundant (unless you simply intend to deter laziness)

Except that it isn't redundant, it's an improvement. Because although I am simply re-emphasizing the previously made point, there was more than a grammar-nazi non-substantive nitpick, a genuine problem with meaning in language .

Yes, by way of conversation and natural language, it's pretty easy to suppose what the other person (you?) really meant. /But the language leaves open an ambiguity/, or an absurdity.

This is an admirable "wish-list". Although I applaud your vision, this courseload is not a realistic representation of what a bachelor's degree in mathematics presently consists of in existing academia, which is ringed round by other departments, interests, money, politics, and so on. You are free to complain about this (and good on you), but departmental organization, education, graduation, time etc comprise a series of multiple variables in the real world. The idea of completing a bachelor's is to get an adult to be intelligent and conversant in a particular subject, although perhaps not an expert.

As a good, fairly high-bar example of what I am talking about in an American context, consider the MIT website's page on the various paths for a math major:

math.mit.edu/academics/undergrad/major/index.php

Investigation of these related pages will show that something like 10-15 courses are prescribed for a given undergraduate path in this area of mathematics (each resulting in the same degree, but with different bents).

You probably need to reference some oxbridge-tier standards to find what you have in mind (I leave the investigation to you as an exercise), but the point is that your high and laudable standards do not directly and practically answer the OP's question, for most.