Ok so I have 59 weeks left before I graduate with my bachelor of science in secondary math education. I will become a high/middle school teacher for math. The math courses I am completing in this program consist of

elementary number theory
elementary linear algebra
intro to abstract algebra
modern geometries
transition to adv math (proof writing)
discrete math structures (proof writing again + some more simple principles etc)

i have come to realize that these classes are okay, but nothing special since I go to a community college & its only a teach prep program.

I am not sure what I can do afterwards....I feel as though I am really good at math, and want to do something in math besides JUST teach. I do want to teach, but not forever, at least not in pub education. It seems as though becoming a prof @ a uni is very tough these days, considering most are tenured for life.

Anyways, I want to find some master programs, but I am not sure what to pursue....
I thought about applied mathematics, but I do not have many science/financial classes on my transcript...so I feel as though that might hinder me.
I thought about pure mathematics, but I do not see it being applicable besides teaching more, yet all I can do with this is teach at a community college, and im not too fond of that either

I know most "high-paying" careers require lots of mathematical skills, but I am just not 100% sure where I should take it =/

anyone have some insight?

have you looked into actuary, data modeling, risk analysis? you can also pursue computer professions (programming, warehousing, etc)

yea i have read about actuary. but imo, i think computers will kill that career possibility. Not sure what I would do with data modeling/risk analysis.

Also, just today in my discrete class my prof went over a "simple" programming problem, and it just seemed so boring and tedious. He may have just made it seem harder than it was tbh though. What about warehousing? I think i am somewhat great at keeping things organized (inventory etc). I have worked at a supermarket for 7 years, since I was 16, and I was an asst. manager @ 18 for grocery. So I had to lots of stuff organized, and I wanted things to be efficient & optimal. It was just a shitty grocery chain. I am in the competitor now, and it is a much bigger company, more stable etc, but moving up does not seem like it will happen. Too political and too much brown nosing, which I do not want to do. I do my job very well, top performer imo, and have even show quite a bit of entrepreneurship by picking up a part-time job through one of our vendors.

I think a bit of my frustration is, I am looking for some "quick-fix" too many income/lifestyle and I know it will not come out of nowhere, but it just seems more difficult than it should be.

This post was edited by Duckling on Oct 21 2014 09:12pm

i was actually referring to data warehousing

i was also going to suggest something like OLAP, but maybe you're not interested in that either (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLAP_cube)

if problem solving is tedious/boring for you, then i wouldn't bother looking into CS fields.

This post was edited by carteblanche on Oct 21 2014 10:08pm

Might seem a bit out there but you could think about Investment banking/prop trading?
Always after maths wizards (some programming skills would be nice)

You would need to be very interested in the markets;) finance related maths is still maths (shouldn't hinder you)

This post was edited by Branket on Oct 25 2014 05:24am

This should be kind of obvious, but learn to program. Programming is very logical and analytical, just like math. And I think having the ability to program will undoubtedly open up new avenues for you no matter what you choose to do in life. Hell, even if you do go on to be a teacher. My math teacher in high school is the one that taught the AP Computer Science course (although she admittedly knew very little about programming herself...)

See, I thought about getting a masters in Applied Math so I can do things like this. I feel as though I'll be very marketable this way. My only concern is that I worry they may not want me without experience in their sector. While math is important in their sector, it is still not all that matters. I have read online of people with math degrees, but find it difficult to get work because of lack of experience in a specific field.




Yes I see it is, I have been having some people show me it/explain to me. Seems very "mathy" I need to practice on my own in order to using in my teaching. I know it will be excellent. It is a shame I have a shitty teacher prep program @ mycollege that is not teaching how to do this myself. It is so important for students to learn math this way....

I have also though of pursuing a computer engineering degree after I get my teaching degree. Not sure though as to what I want to do as a computer engineer. I just know it is in high-demand and that is going to be an elite job for quite some time.