Why Should You be a Math Major? 

 

You can make a good living  

Mathematics majors have an excellent track record with finding jobs – if you look on the Internet and find salary by major surveys, you will find that math majors make highly competitive salaries.

Check out a recent job ranking, where 7 of the top 8 jobs are math related.  In fact "Mathematician" is #5!

 For salary information, see the following sites:

http://econ1.csun.edu/SalByMajor/  (from the NSF via California State University in Northridge)  

http://web.centre.edu/~econed/comparat.htm  (from Centre College in rural Kentucky)

 It isn’t that hard 

Mathematics is a challenging major, and you will need to work hard to do well.  But, as long as you are reasonably good at math and enjoy it, then it is a great choice that could lead to a variety of interesting careers. 

Math is Fun!

 

Teaching is just one career option


Many people seem to think that if you major in math, then you are only qualified to teach when you graduate.  This is far from the truth!  Mathematics is very prominent in our technological society, and a degree in math could lead to many different career paths.  In fact, a survey done by the National Science Foundation showed that twice as many math majors work in nonacademic positions as academic.  A mathematics major could lead to a career in Engineering, Business, Computer Systems, etc.  Check out a list of descriptions of math related professions, or see the following links: 

http://www.dol.gov/   (United States Department of Labor)  Look up mathematician, statistician, operations research analyst, etc.)

http://www.math.utep.edu/Newlink/career.html#occ  (from the University of Texas El Paso)

 

Here are some related sites that you might find interesting.  

http://www.math.byu.edu/pursue.html (Brigham Young University)

http://www.math.wright.edu/MS/UCB/WhyMajor.html (Wright State University)

http://www.math.uga.edu/~curr/WhyMath.html (The University of Georgia)

http://www.math.pepperdine.edu/whymajor.html (Pepperdine University))

http://webhost.math.rochester.edu/sums/discuss/msgReader$9