Mathematics, statistics, and operations research: these are the mathematical sciences. As a student, you may have learned a variety of mathematical techniques and been intrigued by the relationships therein. You may, however, still be uncertain about where these interests might lead. So reflect a minute on the nature of mathematics.
Mathematics offers a way to organize and comprehend the details of many kinds of problems. It appeals to those who like to organize, simplify, and expedite. Mathematics, therefore, is a favorite vocation of those who seek challenge as systematic problem solvers.
Mathematics is a tool that permeates the workings of modern society. Any time a biologist, a social scientist, an economist, or a chemist attempts to quantify some aspect of our physical or social world, this tool is used. The interrelationship between mathematics and another discipline can be the focus of a student's collegiate studies through a double major or a major and a minor.
For centuries mathematics has been more than a tool or a system for problem solving. Apart from its practicality, mathematics is appealing in and of itself. It appeals to our sense of symmetry, pattern and perfection, and it has long been studied for these reasons alone. The study of mathematics can be a satisfying endeavor in much the same sense as can the study of history, music or literature.
If any of these aspects of the nature of mathematics appeal to you, we invite you to study mathematics in our department. Faculty members in the mathematical sciences believe that our central task is to provide a quality undergraduate program for our students. Any one of us will be most happy to sit down with you and discuss our major, the options within the major, and the opportunities that our programs make available to you.
Before committing to a mathematics major, you must surely ask whether you have the "right stuff" to major in mathematics. To be honest, it won't be easy. Success will require a lot of hard work and dedication, but it will be extremely rewarding.
Your ability to succeed as a mathematics major depends predominantly upon three things: mathematical talent, mathematical background, and work habits.
A score of at least 500 on the mathematics portion of the SAT and at least a B average in your high school math courses probably indicate that you have both the talent and ability to do well in our program. But while it is true that a certain amount of mathematical talent is necessary to major in mathematics, the work habits of the prospective major are much more important than the somewhat ill-defined notion of mathematical talent. Also important is one's mathematical background. Some of our majors find themselves threshing around a bit in early courses while they fill holes in their mathematical backgrounds. Indeed some of our successful majors have retaken an early course or two while those repairs were made.
In short, because of the mix of work habits, talent, and mathematical background that contribute to success in mathematics, it may be hard to tell at the very beginning whether a mathematics major is a wise choice for you. Shortly after starting, however, we can identify a good marker. In your first 3 or 4 tries at mathematics courses, including repeats, you should begin to see a couple of A's or B's. If this happens, your mathematical future beckons; if you do not begin to see some A's or B's in the mix, you should probably look to another major.
Oral and written communication skills are also extremely valuable assets to a math major. So if you're not so sure of your mathematical talent, but you're a good all-around student with the ability to speak and write effectively, then you may become pleasantly suprised at how well you do in mathematics.
When you decide to major in mathematics, you should see the secretary in the department head's office to be assigned an advisor. As soon as possible afterwards, you should visit your advisor. At that first meeting you should discuss:
At each subsequent visit you should update your advisor about each of these three issues, and he or she will factor that information into an evolving study plan that should allow you to achieve your goals. Your advisor's participation in preparing and maintaining this study plan is essential since your advisor will have the most current information about course rotations over the next few years.
With the general plan agreed upon by you and your advisor in mind, you are faced each semester with the task of registering for classes. The best way to get all the classes you want and the best possible schedule is to take advantage of advance registration, which takes place a couple of weeks after mid-term of each semester. Your advisor will post a sign-up sheet on his/her door during the preceding week, and you should drop by to reserve a block of time in which to discuss your schedule. In the meantime, obtain a Schedule of Classes and an advisement form (available in the department office and elsewhere), and try to determine a class schedule that suits your needs. Then discuss your schedule with your advisor.
You will find that in any given semester only a handful of "post-calculus" courses are offered. There is a definite rotation of these courses, which your advisor can discuss with you. Many of the upper division courses are offered only once every two years, so without proper planning, you may discover as a senior that a particular course you need to graduate won't be offered until the next year. Also, some of these rotated courses are prequisites for others. The most crucial instance of this is with MATH 3000, Introduction to Mathematical Proof, which is offered only in the winter quarter of each year and is a prerequisite for most of the upper-division courses. Thus it is imperative that you take MATH 3000 at the earliest opportunity or your entire program can be delayed by a full year.
The three options in the Mathematical Sciences major are designed to allow students to personalize their degree program in the mathematical sciences and each option has its own particular emphasis. However, within each of the options students can make choices that will allow them to seek employment across the economy and within each option students can make choices to allow them to attend graduate school in both mathematics and other disciplines. Hence choosing an option does not rigidly determine the rest of your future.
This option is most often chosen by students who intend to attend graduate school in a mathematical science. The requirements of this option ensure that the student gets the theoretical underpinnings in mathematics necessary to be successful in graduate programs in both pure and applied mathematics. In this option you will also find encouragement to develop expertise in a foreign language, a skill that is often required in doctoral programs in mathematics.
Over the years this has been the most popular of the four options. Within this option you can prepare to complete graduate study in a variety of cognate disciplines, you can complete a dual degree (a major in mathematics at Armstrong Atlantic and an engineering degree at another university), and you can prepare to seek employment across a number of sectors of the economy. This option is a particularly wise choice if you hope to complete a major or a concentration in another discipline.
The requirements of this option ensure that you complete at least one course in both probability/statistics and differential equations, ensure that you develop skills as a computer programmer, and encourage you to complete additional study in statistics, operations research, vector calculus, and other applied topics. One important feature of this option is that you are also required to develop a concentration in an area other than mathematics. The choice you make here will reflect your ambitions after completing undergraduate school. If you intend to seek employment in the banking or financial services sector of the economy, you will complete a concentration in economics. If you intend to attend medical school, you will complete a concentration in biology or chemistry. If you intend to work in an engineering-intensive work context in utilities or manufacturing, you will complete a concentration in physics and engineering.
Students who complete this option seek the T-4 credentials in secondary education (7 - 12) and usually intend to teach high school after graduation. In addition to mathematics requirements, this program includes the education courses and student teaching experiences that lead to teaching certification.
The degree requirements and sample curricula for each option.
Historically, many of Armstrong Atlantic's majors in the mathematical sciences have participated in a Dual Degree Program with an Engineering School of their choice (Georgia Tech, Auburn, Clemson, etc.). In this program the student attends Armstrong Atlantic for three years and completes general studies requirements, basic science requirements, and most of the mathematics requirements for a major in mathematical sciences under the applied mathematics option. The student then matriculates to an engineering school for two years and completes an engineering degree. When the student graduates, he or she receives not only an engineering degree from the engineering school, but also a degree from Armstrong Atlantic with a major in the mathematical sciences. Students who complete this dual-degree report that employers view this additional quantitive background very positively. (If you're interested, see Dr. Jim Brawner.)
In the Fall of each year, consider registering for MATH 4000, the Putnam Seminar. This honors problem-solving seminar climaxes with participation in the national WILLIAM LOWELL PUTNAM MATHEMATICAL COMPETITION. On the Putnam exam, we have had both spectacular success in some years and dismal doldrums in other years. However, in every year students have enjoyed and profited from the seminar.
Whether or not you Putnam in the Fall, plan on participating in the Annual Calculus Contest each Spring. This is a three hour exam punctuated by a pizza lunch provided by the department. Food and monetary prizes make this more than a good educational experience.
Another reason to concentrate on your grades is the existence of Pi Mu Epsilon. This national honorary society is available for students who excel throughout their major. Invitations to join and initiations for qualified students take place in the spring quarter.
Whether you are yet a member of Pi Mu Epsilon, please obtain a student membership to the Mathematics Association of America. This membership, which provides a monthly journal, information about careers, and reduced prices on books and meetings, is subsidized by the department. See Dr. McMillan for information and prices.
As you near graduation, you and your advisor should:
discuss whether you should sign up for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the Law School Achievement Test (LSAT) or the Medical College Achievement Test (MCAT);
prepare an application for graduation (two semesters before graduation).
In order to graduate with a major in the mathematical sciences, one must take the Major Field Achievement Test in mathematics. The exam is important to you personally and to the program as a whole. The results of the test are regularly circulated to the faculty members and are often referenced in letters of recommendation and other communication about graduates. More importantly, the exam is a tool that is used both locally and at the state level to evaluate our program. Your success on the test affects our reputation, and the strong reputation of our program is an asset not only to the college, but to graduates of the program as they move from one location to another.
Should you have time to review for the test, be aware that much of the content is based on your study of calculus and linear algebra (and to a lesser extent, abstract algebra). There are a few questions from each of your undergraduate courses, but the bulk of the questions are related to the courses with which you began your studies.
However, whatever your efforts in preparing for the test, it is important to remember that the test is a problem-solving test. Often times the question itself contains the information necessary to solve it, even if the topic itself is not one that you have studied. Careful thought will often make the answers to the questions quite obvious.
Many students share a common misconception of the relationship between college degree and job. They have a vision that the various college majors are somehow neatly aligned with the various jobs in our economy in a tidy one-to-one correspondence. In fact, very much the opposite is true. The U.S. Department of Labor identifies several thousand job descriptions for persons possessing a college degree, but even large mega-universities offer only a few hundred degrees.
Certainly there are instances in which the Tidy Model is almost valid. Most (but certainly not all) Certified Public Accountants came through accounting programs, most (but certainly not all) aeronautical engineers came through engineering programs. However, for many jobs in our economy (including those hundreds of yet-to-be-created jobs that will exist in five to ten years), the set of intellectual skills obtained in the degree are more important than the name of the degree. For this reason, both historically, and in the present, a degree in mathematics has been a powerful tool in finding jobs across the whole of the economy. Employers understand or can be made to understand that a mathematics major has well-developed skills in problem solving, in analysis, and in reading and writing technical material. These skills are useful in a wide variety of job contexts and many college graduates are deficient in these skills.
Despite the previous discussion debunking the Tidy Model, there are three niches in our economy in which this model works for mathematics majors. That is, there are three kinds of jobs in which the usual required educational preparation is the mathematics major.
Despite the existence of some "pigeon holes" in our economy that "belong" to majors in the mathematics sciences, the majority of majors find jobs that do not match a "pigeon hole". Although the variety of jobs found defy classification, they often are found in the insurance industry, the banking industry, the utilities industry, manufacturing, and government. Jobs in the business side of technical industry and jobs that interface with engineering or data processing staffs are among those that mathematics majors might seek. New or "emerging" jobs may well be pursued by mathematicians because of the learning skills they have developed in their discipline. For example, for twenty years the computer science profession was run by mathematicians because as the technology emerged they were among the few college graduates who had the intellectual skills to deal with the new technology.
One important way to enhance one's entrance into the job market as well as prepare for the rapidly changing job market of the twenty-first century is graduate school. Not only can one do graduate study in traditional mathematical sciences, but there are numerous graduate opportunities in areas of application of mathematics and in professional schools.
Master's level students in the traditional mathematical sciences, mathematics, statistics, and operations research, are highly recruited for the business and government laboratories mentioned above. Salaries compare favorably with salaries for master's level applicants in engineering and computer science. Completing a Ph.D. in one of these disciplines offers higher level research opportunities as well as entry to the very satisfying (but only moderately financially rewarding) profession of college teaching.
Largely unrecognized opportunities can be obtained by completing graduate work in an application area such as:
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Environmental Science |
Economics |
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Meteorology |
Public Administration |
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Geodesy |
Industrial Engineering |
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Oceanography |
Ecology |
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Biostatistics |
Urban Planning |
Graduate level work in each of these areas is very dependent on quantitative techniques. However, undergraduates from many majors do not have the background to learn these techniques. For this reason these graduate programs actively recruit mathematics majors. Obviously, completing such a masters program opens new career opportunities.
Equally unrecognized is the value of mathematics as a degree preparing one for study at a professional school such as law or medicine. A major in mathematics (with two or three upper level courses in the humanities or social sciences with heavy writing components) would be excellent preparation for the LSAT and law school. A mathematics major complemented by a minimum number of biology and chemistry courses can be used to gain admission to medical school. Indeed, one of our alumni left for medical school at the University of Georgia very recently.
A common misconception of college students is that the hard work is done when the college degree is completed - that with diploma in hand, finding a job is easy. For a small minority of students this is the case; good luck and development of contacts while in school make the transition from academic world to employment very easy. For other students, however, even those in high-demand, high-tech areas, there is additional work to be done to find the first job. However, if the student stays relaxed and open to learning, it can be enjoyable work and can prepare one for similar tasks throughout his or her working years.
Disclaimer: Finding a job is a very personal task. Each person brings a special set of resources to the task, and every person has a different set of good fortune and bad fortune in the process. Hence this document does not purport to be a "how-to" manual but just a description of some first steps. After the first steps have been taken, the candidate should have learned enough to design their own second steps.
Note: After you have designed your second steps and they have worked, let us know. We will include your wisdom in subsequent versions of this document.
Preparation for looking for a job begins long before a resume is prepared and distributed. Any one of the following activities and interests can enhance a student's chances of success when the time comes to find a job.
MAKING GOOD GRADES. One cannot emphasize enough the importance of pushing the limits on success in the classroom. Good grades give prospective employers their first evidence that they will get an excellent employee rather than a just adequate employee. Good grades speak to the employer about the student's work habits, ability to set priorities, and sense of responsibility.
INCREASING WRITTEN AND ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS. Persons who are interested in technical areas are often not blessed with excellent communication skills. Hence, even moderate communication skills are especially prized by employers of technical persons. There are many routes to sharpening these skills:
Giving special attention in your required courses to assignments that require writing and/or discussion;
Taking every opportunity in your involvements in the community (student organizations, church, civic groups) to practice writing and speaking effectively.
PART-TIME OR SUMMER EMPLOYMENT IN BUSINESS OR INDUSTRY where a large number of professionals are employed. If you work as you complete your college degree, you should as quickly as possible try to find work in a technical location. The Mathematics Department has a limited number of internship positions (see Dr. Mark Budden) about which you should inquire. If such a position is not available for you, seek employment where you will get experience and make contacts useful for someone who intends to develop a career as a professional. However, it is essential that you not allow your work to interfere with your efforts to make the very best grades you can!!!
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OUT-OF-CLASS OPPORTUNITIES. Lectures in the departmental weekly colloquium and subsidized student memberships in the MAA give access to information about the world of science and mathematics and ideas about careers that are not part of standard classroom fare. Participation on the Putnam team gives good resume material. Beyond these specifics, strong participation creates a stronger department which enhances the program from which you will ultimately graduate.
Above all, be a learner: Although we have suggested some first steps, you will need to supply the second steps. From unsuccessful interviews, learn how to give better interviews; learn something about the industry that will allow you to be more specific in subsequent interviews. From your contacts in one geographical area, develop a new strategy to use in approaching a new geographical area. Remember that the average American changes employment seven times during his/her working career. Everything that you learn now about the process of finding a job will probably be useful in the future.
A valuable addition to any student's resume is the completion of an internship. Although we do not have an abundance of internships in mathematics, we do have special internships arise from time to time. If you are interested in an internship, please give your name to Dr. Mark Budden, our coordinator of internships.
The department employs about a dozen students to staff a mathematics tutorial laboratory for freshman-level and developmental studies mathematics students. Students wishing to tutor should have excellent mathematical abilities and good communication skills. The department also maintains a list of private tutors for people seeking personal tutorial assistance.