What does the major Mathematics - General cover ?

Hi jstweart,

Great question! Most high school students don't get a lot of exposure to the different areas of mathematics - partly because of curriculum design and partly because some areas require more advanced background knowledge. There are two major divisions within mathematics - pure (or theoretical) and applied. Applied mathematics can refer to statistics, or computational issues, and also focus on engineering issues. Pure mathematics has a few major subdivisions, analysis, algebra, geometry, and topology (other people might give you a slightly different list). You can read about these areas of study here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areas_of_mathematics, but they're also very broad and there are many specializations available within each division. If you have specific questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Most math major programs require that you take at least a couple courses in different sub-divisions so that you have a feel for what's out there. There is also usually some course in each major that focuses on how to write proofs and think about things abstractly (sometimes this is real analysis, sometimes it's linear algebra, it just varies by school). It's important to take this course soon in your college career, to get a feel for abstract math and also to meet the other math majors and professors who you will be working with along the way. You don't have to have settled on a sub-discipline of math when you walk in to your first class - students are often swayed (rightly so!) by the courses offered and the professors teaching the course. My advice would be to expose yourself to many different kinds of math before you choose to specialize in any single one. Good luck!

Often high schools and colleges offer statistics in a different major or course than general math. I highly suggest you look into statistics if you like math: stats is a fast-growing field with a lot of job options and relatively high pay. It's also a lot of fun!

The best way to figure out what part of math/stats you like best is to read about them online, try fun problems of your own, and see what sort of careers people have. For instance, many statisticians got their start because they love playing with sports data. Software engineers loved creating games. Theoretical mathematicians loved trying new proofs for famous problems. In short, see what's fun about the fields and give it a shot!