[Treadstone]

I'm about to start my 4th year as an undergrad in applied mathematics. I plan on going for at least my masters after school and am looking for some career advice. I know there is A LOT of things i can do with a math degree but i would like to do something with a defense contractor or maybe softeware engineering...something to do with solving problems or building things using math. I know my question is kidna all over the place but, any ideas? Feel free to shoot me some questions to help narrow down.

Nathan

[MandrakeRoot]

A Master in applied mathematics is a very usefull diploma. There are many job opportunities having such a diploma. You can think of working for banks,insurance companies, doing research, working in some R&D department, etc...

Mandrake

[badchad]

I'm not familiar with the mathematics field, but, in the field of "sciences" (chemistry, biology etc.) they usually pay your way, and offer you a stipend to obtain a Ph.D. It's only a few years more then a master's and makes good economic sense. Of course, the field of mathematics may be entirely different.

[Treadstone]

ya i think i'd like to work in R&D somewhere.....

[e(ho0n3]

I've been told that the most lucrative field in mathematics is statistics. If your concentration is in statistics, then you're golden (if you don't believe me, ask your local statistician). Another less lucrative field (but still good) is operations research.

[bloodhound]

yes indeed. thats where all the money is (apparently) . except i don't really enjoy stats. so when it is time for me to choose my modules its a massive battle between my personal enjoyment and the career prospects.

[Treadstone]

word, operations research is pretty cool. I just took a class on linear systems in OR last semester, this fall i'm taking one of probability based OR systems...

Nathan

[Wolfman]

Accounting and then apply for the FBI. want money work for the government.

[fourier jr]

Wolfman said:

Accounting and then apply for the FBI. want money work for the government.

or coding & then apply for the FBI. (or RCMP if you're in Canada)

[Treadstone]

ya i'll have minors in computer science and chemistry

Nathan

[bloodhound]

coding ? is that another word for cryptography

[Treadstone]

i thought they were talking about programing when he said coding.....but might be cryptography....

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Wolfman said:

Accounting and then apply for the FBI. want money work for the government.

No, the NSA. They do code work.

[Treadstone]

I had breifly looked into NSA internships...they have some for math majors doing cryptology....i dont know anything about that, can anyone tell me what sort of math is used in cryptology? I was thinking lots of linear alg but i may be wrong...

Nathan

[e(ho0n3]

Cryptology is just applied number theory. You'll also need a lot of discrete maths. I suppose.

[dave]

I was looking at being an actuary; however, when I got my mark of 45% in Probability A, I thought otherwise :-p

No idea what to do now; for anyone that would like to give me suggestions, I'm going to be doing my Masters, and will be (mainly) a purist.

[bloodhound]

yeah. i will probably end up being an actuary as well. altough i dislike stats a lot nowadays. dont know what to do really. want to get into the financial section. like being an economist or something like that.

[haggy]

Coding Theory is used when sending messages over a channel with interference/noise. By incorporating sufficient "redundancy" in your messages you can ensure that the original message can be decoded/extracted even if a number of bits of information are lost during transmission of the message.

[haggy]

e(ho0n3 said:

Cryptology is just applied number theory. You'll also need a lot of discrete maths. I suppose.

A bit of knowledge of Algebra(finite fields) is useful when considering AES/Rijndael. For that matter "A bit of knowledge of Algebra" is useful, period.

[dave]

bloodhound said:

yeah. i will probably end up being an actuary as well. altough i dislike stats a lot nowadays. dont know what to do really. want to get into the financial section. like being an economist or something like that.

Same here. I wasn't really looking at it before, but I've been reading up on it and I think it'll be something that interests me. The only problem is, I haven't really done any stats and don't really have a desire to, so the entire actuary thing is out the window.

However, when I leave uni, I'm just going to get a job for a short time (maybe a year or so) with someone that pays okay until I can find out what I want to do with the degree.