Should I major in theoretical mathematics or applied mathematics in undergraduate?
I've taken both theoretical and applied math courses, but I was wondering what the different prospects in terms of career paths there are from one versus the other? #career #career-path #mathematics #undergraduate #applied-mathematics #theoretical
2 answers
Hans Ziqiu Li
Hans Ziqiu’s Answer
If you plan to go into industry after you graduate, applied mathematics is better than theoretical mathematics in my opinion. Theoretical mathematics relies heavily on proofs - it is good if you plan on going to graduate school. Applied mathematics on the other hand, includes courses like statistics, probability, machine learning (at least from my school's curriculum) which is good if you want to go into industry immediately afterwards and become a machine learning engineer or data scientist.
Lisa G. Ullman
Lisa G.’s Answer
If you like what you see on the website you should know that you need to be a self starter as an actuary, so you can pass the exams required to get the credentials while you are also working in a business environment. But you don't have to go to school beyond an undergraduate degree to get these credentials.