Hey Veeky Forums, I will be brief here: I can not decide whether I want to major in Mathematics, Physics, or Comp Sci.
I have been programming for a good while now, and I really enjoy doing it. In preperation for going to college for Comp Sci though, I started studying and practicing Math really hard and frequenting this board a lot, so much to the point that I actually have realized I have a very large fondness for Math I never even knew I had.
I was always told in school I had a Math disability, truth is I never tried or care to understand it. Now that I have been trying I feel very fucking angry at myself for never having this much interest in school.
So far, I am about 85% of the way finished with my Pre-Calc studies, and I take my entry exam next month, but instead of going onto Comp Sci I am really considering doing Physics or Math.
The problem is I don't really know much about these majors.
I haven't the faintest clue what the job prospects are for these two majors, the only info I can find on them are just that most Math majors become professors or statisticians. That just sounds boring to me.
What do you Math majors out there do?
Xavier Nelson
Mathfag here. I graduated from CalTech with a near-perfect GPA and excellent references, and I haven't been able to get a decent job in the dozen or so industries I've been applying to. The competition is just insane, and so much of it is coming from overseas. I wish I'd done petroleum engineering or something along those lines.
Isaac Moore
...
Joshua Johnson
Did you not want to stay in academia? Seems like you could do quite easily with those credentials
Benjamin Brown
Math or physics is little safer than a humanities degree, unless you're Harvard/Purdue/MIT. Stick to engineering. The economy doesn't care that you know what a Banach manifold is.
Adrian Murphy
you're better off with engineering lad or physics but physics is only viable if you're going to take PhD or MSc. CS if you don't want family and dont mind living as a lower middle class
Jacob Gonzalez
>CalTech I don't think you went there.
Evan Hall
If you care more about bragging on /g/, go for math or physics, if you care about getting a good job, go comp sci.
James Harris
This is just my outlook from someone who’s a senior in pure math Math has several “concentrations” that include
Pure math – Only if you want to be an academic mathematician, you’ll need a Masters at the bare minimum unless you’re a prodigy.
Applied math – This is probably one of the most diverse field that I can think of, as you can apply math to anything, just take classes you think will help you in whatever you want. I assume the amount of jobs pool is huge for this as you’ll generally have experience with statistics, computer science coming out of this.
Statistics – The most financially rewarding math field, not sure how easy it is to get a job here, but statisticians can work with just about anyone who has data.
Teaching – Brainlet Tier and self-explanatory.
Actuary - Not very familiar with this so I couldn't say, but I assume they mess around with the stock market. So they probably also make large sums of money
Brayden Davis
OP here, to clarify I understand that if I were to go to college for a Comp Sci degree that is all I would be getting out of it. I understand completely that most people who go there are retards and can barely program when they leave.
If I were to go for Comp Sci, I would not go for the intellectual challenge of doing it, I would go just to get more job opportunities in the field I love. That is literally it. That is the only reason I would go. Just to get access to the extra 45% of jobs that require a degree.
I have thought of engineering. What do they typically do for jobs?
/g/ possesses some of the dumbest, most retarded anti-programmers I have ever fucking scene in my entire life on the internet.
Like, they are literally fucking r/progamming, only for some reason they are pretentious and condescending.
r/programming will be passive aggressive about their expressing of "Jave is le best!", but /g/ will just flat out go ballistic if you dare point out the horrible glaring ineffeciencies in regards to the JRE, and the god awful fucking issues that plague c++.
I mean for fucks sake, I even saw a 400+ reply thread of anons non-ironically talking about how fucking PHP is a fantastic backend language that will never be superseded by Flask or Django(they also like Django more than Flask, even though it is fucking retarded. Do not get me started.)
That and they don't see the logic in learning assembly or reversing or...
GOD, I fucking hate how god damned stupid they are. The epitome of fucking code monkeys, all romping around in that damn barrel over there. Sheesh.
Brody Wright
Yeah right dude Caltech would get you hooked on the spot especially with that performance t. Guy who wants proof
Josiah Murphy
Why don't you become a painter or an actor or something? Why do something dull like engineering?
Julian Martin
Like see, this here this is your usual /g/ thread. A retarded question asked by either a troll or a genuine retard, and people in the replies actually taking it seriously and responding with misinformed bullshit and then starting a flame war over it. The fuck is this doing on Veeky Forums?
Alright, so Pure math. What do they do? I am reading that some jobs they have involve lots of algebra, calc, trig, etc. Those were some of my favorites to do in my studies, solving and learning wise. Not everyone seems to like algebra for some reason, they think its boring, but I fucking love solving equations and manipulating them. It's comfy as fuck.
>Applied Math This sounds fucking great though. This is probably the best one you said in the post, other than Actuary.
I really like Economics too, like almost as much as I like programming, and I was considering minoring in it or majoring in it even, but I'd rather just do straight math instead.
>Painter No thanks. I only recently picked up learning how to draw and although I enjoy it, it's really only something I like doing at the end of the day when I am laying in my bed winding down. >Acting Actually in the past, I considered it. I have a knack for getting into character. Probably because I am a medically diagnosed aspie who plays pretend and goes on escapist adventures in his head when he's alone.
Jack Smith
>The problem is I don't really know much about these majors.
>generic math major: Calculus 1&2 Vector Calculus Matrix Algebra Ordinary Differential Equations Intro to Proofs Honors Real Analysis 1 Honors Abstract Algebra 1 >Electives 5~6 courses; strongly recommended are: Point-set Topology Linear Algebra 2 Honors Real Analysis 2 Honors Abstract Algebra 2 Complex Variables and/or Complex Analysis Partial Differential Equations
>I haven't the faintest clue what the job prospects are for these two majors
You can become a programmer with any major so it doesn't really matter. Learn what you want to learn.
Christopher Williams
>I would go just to get more job opportunities in the field I love. That is literally it. That is the only reason I would go. Just to get access to the extra 45% of jobs that require a degree.
There are no programming job that are exclusive to CS majors.
Blake Brown
If you want to be an interesting peron who gets all the gurls then please study pure mathematics, the only set of skills worth sacrifying oneself for
Hudson Long
I was in a similar situation, OP. Decided to pursue my math PhD. Now I can't get an academic position for shit because of all the pajeets. Thinking of blowing my brains out.
Matthew Peterson
Being a highschool teacher is pretty nice, though. It's an easy job, 20 hours a week, three months of vacation, and you can make extra bucks on the side with the tutoring.
Cameron Reyes
>Alright, so Pure math. What do they do? Math professor who does math research That's pretty much the only career in this concentration, you face risk of unemployment even with a Ph.D from what I've heard.
Henry Foster
Pure math is for autistics students, if you're only bright you have more chances with engineering or physics.
Chase White
I'm also thinking about going for my math ph.d hope i have better luck About to start my last year of undergraduate.
Grayson Wright
God damn it.
Well then I guess if I do a math major it'll be engineering or physics, if I don't go and do Comp Sci.
Well, then what do Physicists do? What is the deal with the whole Theoretical Physicist vs. Experimental Physicist? Do I get to go work at Black Mesa?
Actually working at a cool ass place like the Los Alamos National Laboratory would be fucking cool as shit.
Grayson Green
Not OP, but what is the perspective for a physics major? Wanted to do research, but there's kind of no chance for tenure.
Nicholas Bennett
I'm much more interested in pure maths than anything else, but the financial rewards and job prospects on the financial/data science side are far better than in any academic position, and I worry that you have to be a genius to actually do any sort of valuable research. Can you still get a job in the quanitative finance sector with a masters/phd in pure maths?
Hunter Miller
The mathematician easily can become a physicist and trivially so a computer scientist.
The physicist can sometimes become a mathematician and easily become a computer scientist
The computer scientist can become neither of the aforementioned but can easily become a cashier at McDonalds.
