Difficulty of Mathematics Major?

I realize that, but I have nothing else to give as a benchmark for my aptitude in mathematics. I have a 4.0 and a very strong work ethic so I think I could pull it off. Maybe I'm just a naive undergrad though.

There is a reason why people switch from conceptually challenging fields like physics and math to more "time-consuming" like law. If you also think that there's not a shit ton of memorization involved in math then you're in for a surprise.

Shit OP, I forgot probability. But probability theory is standard in a mathematics curriculum so just be sure to take it.

>a major that amounts to solving fun puzzles all the time
Maybe you should reconsider if you really math is all fun puzzles. You should take a look at an analysis or topology first course, you'll realize just how much of it is juggling definitions and doing verifications.

You're a naive undergrad. If your goal is to become a MD, stay where you are. Math won't help your goal and won't be enjoyable all the time (in fact, it will be more frustrating most of the time) throughout your "math major for fun".

Thanks for the advice friend. I think I probably go to a school with a less rigorous math program than yours (state school in Mississippi that emphasizes the liberal arts and soft sciences more than STEM), from what I've heard from other students in the math department it's pretty chill. But I'll definitely give my classes a lot of respect and time as you suggest.

What makes you think she's Russian? She's Californian

it's easy if you're smart
and by "easy" i mean "you will be able to solve all problems presented to you in your classes if you spend hours working on them."
have fun with your hard work

I'm the user you're replying.
You're most likely to be into applied math if this is true.

You can also take another year to get a dual major in Premed/Math, but you have to think on your financial resources as well.
IMO you should just get the minor so it looks solid for the MD, since staying that much time in school and having a premed/math is too much time consuming and you won't use that much math on your career of medicine.
Yes, you can do medical research if you do take the dual major, but there is a time for everything.

Also once you're in MD, you WILL HAVE to learn a lot of IMPORTANT stuff, by this time you won't remember that much math either way, since you will need to focus on chemistry and biology for the rest of your life too.

Again, this is something you gotta think about it OP.

>What makes you think
shitposting involves no thinking, user

That doesn't sound all that different from what I'm already doing for premed desu. I study constantly, I don't party as much as some of my friends, but I don't mind it because I enjoy learning and beating the shit out of my brainlet peers on tests.

I highly recommend not switching to math. It's going to be a dramatically different type of work than you're use to and it's probably quite different than what you're expecting. It can end up being incredibly mentally draining once you get into the actual math major-only classes.

Do it as a hobby. Pick a different major that you'll have an easier time getting good grades in. Math isn't something that you can always study yourself into getting A's if you don't have the talent.

Perhaps you can minor and audit some major-only classes like probability or real analysis (RA will give you the best idea of what math majors do). That way you get the best of both worlds and the option to join the major later if you feel like it's a good fit.

That being said, it doesn't directly give you skills that are employable but it does give you a lot of tools that are applicable in almost every worthwhile field that can be a huge help. For example, number theory is super useful for some CS stuff, like fully understanding certain encryption techniques. Set theory and proof writing are quite helpful for algorithm analysis. Differential equations are useful for understanding tons of stuff and for modeling certain things. Complex analysis is surprisingly helpful. I regret not studying topology because I know that has a lot of application for CS. Etc...

You don't have to major in premed silly lol. You just have to take and do well in a few extra classes. After this year I'll basically be done with everything I need on that end, as well as all of my gen eds, all that will be left is classes for whatever major I end up deciding on. I'm pretty autistic about scheduling and I project that I'm actually going to have a ton of time left over to pretty much major in whatever I want without much pressure for loading up any semesters with tons of hours in order to graduate on time. And I can always take summer classes in the even that I start to get behind. Money isn't really an issue for me fortunately.

And I realize that math is not going to be useful for my medical career aside from some basic stats, but since when is aesthetic pleasure not a valid reason to study math? It's not like studying botany will be any more useful to me than studying topology.

Thanks for the advice though.

>You're really going to need the biology and chemistry courses for premed
- 1 year of general chemistry and 1 year of organic chemistry
- 1 year of biology
That's all you need dude. Not a huge time commitment.

>I will graduate with honors so it has been easy for me
What made it easy for you do you suppose? Are you very diligent when it comes to studying or do you just have a Will Hunting level of math intellect?

Fuck really?
OK, I thought it was more like almost dual majoring in Bio/Chem.

Then yeah, you can do it OP, but I recommend you to get into Applied Math because of that good salary just for Bachelors.
But you OP said
>but since when is aesthetic pleasure not a valid reason to study math?
U-Uh OP, you have taken a proof class, right?
If not just go to the Applied Math path, if yes and liked it then go for Pure Math but do not expect that much career options other than teaching, Math PhD student on food stamps, or working for the Feds or Google on cryptography.

I guess no worries on major, but you gotta think on what math path you'll take.

I would say it comes down to 3 things:

1) I seem to be smart. I understand 90% of the material the first time it is shown to me and the other 10% I fix because (unlike most of my peers) I ask the professor to explain further every time I do not understand something. Then there is a 1% of times when I still do not understand after the professor expanded but then I fix this 1% by exploring after the class the theorem/definition I did not understand.

2) I came in with a lot of crucial previous knowledge. A lot of the other students I met had never written a proof before university. This makes sense because most high schools do not teach that aspect of math so to learn it you need to advance on your own or get special tutors (like the ones Olympiad participants get) that teach proofs. My professors made an effort to teach the idea of rigorous proofs in the first year but basically, if you are not comfortable with proofs then you will be playing catch up because they will teach you to write proofs not by telling you some mystical theory about proof writing, but by asking you to write them. I had already undergone the period when I was shit at logic which meant I was able to quickly excel at my first semester classes. I already knew logic so I just concentrate on learning the actual material. Also knowing programming gave me a boost because if a professor gives homework like "Find all triples of integers such that they satisfy..." then I can write a program that finds like 100 examples, I can then use that to help myself to find the pattern and then I can make a conjecture and write a proof.

3) I study a lot. There are many books and a big enough subset of these books come with solved problems so I can do problems and compare. As I said before I stay about 3 hours at the library after class but even after getting home I usually keep studying.

high school math is not even comparable to major math, don't do it "for fun"
i had to say this even though i believe this is bait

Yea this is all that's required by 99% of med schools pretty much. There are some additional classes that are strongly suggested but you don't have to major in a life science or anything.

grasping material quickly (relative to your peers especially) is neither a measure of intelligence, nor aptitude.

it is far more a measure of the difficulty of the material you are quickly grasping than of your ability to quickly grasp material.

as we increase the complexity of the material we will absolutely see a decrease in your time to grasp said material.

but with low values of complexity, we would clearly see you quickly grasping material, just as any fish can swim in water.

and when it comes to fucking biology, im sorry kid, but thats about as simple as it gets. youre collecting stamps. i could seduce your entire degree program to bed with a stack of flash cards.

and considering you willingly express youve had a thorough exposure (relative to your peers) to the material being provided to be grasped, id say whatever concept you presently have of your intelligence is completely without foundation as thus far you have yet to encounter a genuine intellectual structure that requires you to develop from first principles your own understandings, and, from these, verifiable conclusions.

which, given your history of writing programs to solve your homework problems (a massive theoretical crutch that i swear to our god annihilates any chance you have of developing even a modicum of critical thinking capability outside of your immensely domain dependent environment for measuring whatever the fuck it is you are implying is "success"), further confirms the suspicion i am raising which is that within the confines of the petri dish you call home you may have the freedom to deem yourself as "intelligent" (the value of which even in that environment is FULLY QUESTIONABLE), but beyond that infinitely small container (and perhaps even within), you are :(just for your understanding: sic): less than 0.

At an interdisciplinary symposium, one of our Math professors told the audience (of STEM faculty and students) that if he had known how much memorisation was required in Math, he would have become a Biology major. It was a fckn hoot.

kek, where do you people come up with this shit

>i could seduce your entire degree program to bed with a stack of flash cards
as a biology major
10/10

this post is unrivaled in its smugness and condescension. well done

>studying math is not time-consuming
Oh boy, imagine the sheer horror this guy will experience if he ever decides to actually switch majors.

If you want to go to med school, you probably shouldn't switch. I'd say that more upper-level biology and physiology courses would do you better for med school than doing a degree in math. Also, you want to keep the GPA as high as possible, and I'd guess that would be easier in a biology major than a math major.

I didn't say that it wasn't time-consuming, I said that it might be less time-consuming than studying biology