Math vs. Statistics major

[maize]

My almost 15 year old is starting to talk about college majors. I know things could change several times over the next few years but I figure it is never too early to gather information and explore options.

Right now she wants to double major in math and Arabic. We looked at the major planning sheets for one college and were talking about what she would need to do to fit in a double major, starting with accumulating some credits in high school (she has got a jump start on the Arabic already and will have her first college credit by the end of this year).

Anyway, we ended up comparing the math and statistics majors and now she thinks she may be interested in statistics. I didn't go past first year college classes in either math or statistics so I don't know much about the difference in emphasis and maybe employment options. 

Can anyone tell me what some possible advantages/disadvantages of each might be? 

Edited August 2, 2018 by maize

[Crimson Wife]

One of my good friends from high school did a statistics minor and went into bioinformatics. I tend to think of stats as a more applied major while math is more theoretical but that may just be the folks I know. 

[Sunshine State Sue]

I am one of 8 sibs and 5 of us majored in math.  Here is what we all did:

1. worked in commercial real estate (not sure how math came into it) before she had kids and became a SAHM for good

2. worked as a programmer before she had kids and became a SAHM then became a bookkeeper part-time when her kids were older (doesn't pay as well she tells me)

3. worked as a systems analyst (he says bad things about BA math major job opportunities), then got an MS in Industrial Engineering/Operations Research and worked for AT&T/Bell Labs/Lucent and continues through lots of company acquisitions

4. I double majored in math and CS and have worked as a programmer ever since.  Eventually, got an MS in Industrial Engineering/Operations Research and have worked in the travel industry for 29+ years

5. Works in insurance/actuarial stuff

If I had a do over, I think I'd love statistics.  I would imagine there would be some overlap in the beginning.  Here is an old WSJ article about statistics jobs.

 

 

[Kassia]

49 minutes ago, Sue in St Pete said:

 

2. worked as a programmer before she had kids and became a SAHM then became a bookkeeper part-time when her kids were older (doesn't pay as well she tells me)

3. worked as a systems analyst (he says bad things about BA math major job opportunities), then got an MS in Industrial Engineering/Operations Research and worked for AT&T/Bell Labs/Lucent and continues through lots of company acquisitions

4. I double majored in math and CS and have worked as a programmer ever since.  Eventually, got an MS in Industrial Engineering/Operations Research and have worked in the travel industry for 29+ years

 

 

 

 

For #2 and #3, did they have a major or minor in CS?  

#3  says BA is bad (that's good to know) but BS alone is okay?  Or would you recommend another major/minor to go along with it?

 

[Sunshine State Sue]

14 minutes ago, Kassia said:

For #2 and #3, did they have a major or minor in CS?  

#3  says BA is bad (that's good to know) but BS alone is okay?  Or would you recommend another major/minor to go along with it?

Neither #2 nor #3 had a major or minor in CS.  #2 who worked as a programmer graduated in 1979 when computers were still young and math was close enough I guess.  We're very logical folks.

The university we attended did not have a BS in math, only BA.  He did not think that a bachelor's in math held many job opportunities.  I think he struggled in a job he didn't like for 3 years and couldn't really find anything else to jump to with his degree so went for the MS in IE.  Maybe better jobs in math need a PHD?  Not sure.  Certainly #5 has done fine.

I would recommend a major/minor to go along with a math degree unless you are planning the PHD route.  But, I am no expert either.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Sue in St Pete

[8filltheheart]

I would also investigate what double majoring vs major/minoring means. My Dd will not declare French or Russian as majors bc they are in a different college than accounting/business and the gen ed requirements are different. She can still take whatever language classes she wants. She is just avoiding the additional gen ed courses bc she doesn't have room to fit them in even entering at 400 level language plus 30 cr hrs toward her degree.

[Frances]

I have a Master’s degree in Statistics, but didn’t major in either math or statistics in undergrad, although I took lots of math and computer science classes. Personally, I never even considered a math major because it is the application of analytical skills that most interests me, not pure or theoretical mathematics. And I didn’t finish my PhD in statistics because it eventually became just all math with no applications. 

Even though I only took one economics course in my life, I now work as an economist. I think either math or statistics will provide a very solid foundation of analytical skills for a wide variety of jobs/careers. Either way, I would highly recommend programming classes and experience, as that along with any internships will help with getting a job. And also help with knowing what direction they want for their career.

[Kassia]

10 hours ago, Frances said:

And also help with knowing what direction they want for their career.

 

Yes, this is what confuses me if dd decides on a math major with only a B.S. and no idea what she wants to do as a career.  OTOH, she's only 16.  She will most likely major in CS with a math minor or double major.  Lots to think about.  

[lmrich]

Dh majored in math. He got his master's in Electrical Engineering (with a 4.0). He writes software for energy companies. He basically self-learned computer programming. 

Many of his co-workers (back in the day) said that my dh's math knowledge and base gave him such an edge.  

That being said, dh is wicked smart. But he knows that upper level math teaches and encourages better problem solving. 

[RootAnn]

My dd#1 saw me reading this thread & thought I'd started it.  Thanks, OP!

DD#1 is considering a math major (or double major with Spanish) and a business minor. I'm hoping those pesky mandatory gen eds will help her pin down a passion and give her direction on what she wants to do with her possible future degree(s). I'm not as worried about picking a major (or changing majors) as her finding a job post-college that she enjoys that also pays the bills! 

[Arcadia]

2 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

DD#1 is considering a math major (or double major with Spanish) and a business minor. 

 

DS13 is considering double major in math and computer science with a minor or do a triple major.  He is good at statistics at a high school level but has no interest in it saying that its too boring. Abilities and interest doesn’t usually intersect for this kid.  He is interested in eventually being self employed so I am thinking he would probably do what I did and get an MBA concurrently with a postgrad, and probably do a business statistics course in MBA. 

[Kassia]

6 hours ago, RootAnn said:

 

DD#1 is considering a math major (or double major with Spanish) and a business minor. I'm hoping those pesky mandatory gen eds will help her pin down a passion and give her direction on what she wants to do with her possible future degree(s). I'm not as worried about picking a major (or changing majors) as her finding a job post-college that she enjoys that also pays the bills! 

 

This is what I'm hoping for my dd, too.  

[vonfirmath]

My husband got a Masters in Mathematics (not the teaching degree) six years ago and really struggled to find a job. AFter several years, he found a job but it does not use his Masters. I'd recommend an internship.

Edited August 7, 2018 by vonfirmath

[katilac]

On 8/3/2018 at 7:50 PM, Frances said:

 Even though I only took one economics course in my life, I now work as an economist.  

 

 

Ooh! Can you talk a little bit about what you do? Economics is one of dd's majors, but we don't know anyone who actually has that job title. 

[Frances]

2 hours ago, katilac said:

 

Ooh! Can you talk a little bit about what you do? Economics is one of dd's majors, but we don't know anyone who actually has that job title. 

I work for my state’s revenue department in our research section. I started there as an analyst and promoted to an economist. I’ve turned down further promotions. Because it is so subject matter specific, we hire primarily based on strong analytic skills with at least some programming background, even if it’s not with what we actually use. I’m not the only one without an economics degree, although it is the most common degree. The learning curve is very steep and 14 years later I’m still learning new stuff almost every day. We build,clean, and maintain databases with all of the tax and financial tax data for the state. In order to effectively use the data, we also have a deep understanding of all the particular tax programs. We use the databases to produce annual reports, but more importantly to model the effects of proposed tax law changes (how much will it raise and who specifically will it affect and in what ways), including for completely new taxes (we've had two major ones in them last five years). We work very closely with the Governor’s office, the Legislative Revenue Office (which provides all of the official revenue estimates for any tax related bills and works for the entire legislative body), and the state office that does the quarterly revenue forecasts for the state. We do quite a bit of forecasting ourself, including for smaller tax programs and particular tax breaks. We follow the legislative session very closely and that is our busy season, not tax season. We sometimes testify before legislative committees and often assist others in the agency with the preparation of materials for testimony. While much of the work is analytical and data/programming related, we also have to deal quite a bit with rules, laws, statutes, etc, so the position is especially appealing to those with additional degrees in political science or public administration.

We also do quite a bit of internal work for the agency and work with staff of all the major tax programs. We provide analytical support and also lead major projects to examine audit selection, collection strategies, performance measures, the tax gap, effects of federal tax reform, etc. We also work on lots of smaller projects, sometimes with other state agencies, examing things such as earned income tax credit usage, impact of tax related ballot measures, effects of changing the minimum wage, etc. We do a fair amount of writing in addition to analytical work.

Probably the biggest downside to my job is much of the time is spent sitting in front of a computer screen. We are a very collaborative group, but even meetings are sedentary. The things I like best are the wide variety of work, it’s rarely boring and I’m always learning, and we are allowed very flexible schedules with very little overtime. The benefits are also excellent.

At least in my state, there are internship opportunities in state government for those with analytical degrees who are interested in working for the state. Our office doesn’t do them due to privacy issues with the data we use, but our Legslative Revenue Office regularly has them, and I’ve also met interns when meeting with other state agency staff. If your daughter has any interest in this type of government work, I’d encourage her to look for opportunities at the city, county, state, or federal level to see if that career path interests her.

[katilac]

29 minutes ago, Frances said:

I work for my state’s revenue department in our research section.  

 

 

Thank you so much! 

Edited to add: sent to dd and she says "awesome!" and of course thank you. 

Edited August 11, 2018 by katilac

[chiguirre]

On ‎8‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 9:08 PM, maize said:

My almost 15 year old is starting to talk about college majors. I know things could change several times over the next few years but I figure it is never too early to gather information and explore options.

Right now she wants to double major in math and Arabic. We looked at the major planning sheets for one college and were talking about what she would need to do to fit in a double major, starting with accumulating some credits in high school (she has got a jump start on the Arabic already and will have her first college credit by the end of this year).

Anyway, we ended up comparing the math and statistics majors and now she thinks she may be interested in statistics. I didn't go past first year college classes in either math or statistics so I don't know much about the difference in emphasis and maybe employment options. 

Can anyone tell me what some possible advantages/disadvantages of each might be? 

Trinqueta is considering math and statistics as possible majors or minors. One thing I've found looking at Texas schools is that statistics is rarely offered as a separate undergrad major. It seems to be a graduate degree. That might be changing since TAMU just started offering a separate statistics undergrad degree. They're department is quite highly ranked so they might be a trend setter. Of course, there are plenty of statistics courses available to undergrads, but it's rarely a separate degree. Some schools also offer an interdisciplinary certificate that combines the more theoretical stat classes with applications in econ, biology or CS.

I've only looked at Texas schools for now so I'm not sure if they're representative of the whole country or not.

[katilac]

1 hour ago, chiguirre said:

 Of course, there are plenty of statistics courses available to undergrads, but it's rarely a separate degree. Some schools also offer an interdisciplinary certificate that combines the more theoretical stat classes with applications in econ, biology or CS.

 

 

 

Even if a school does not offer a certificate of that type, econ/CS with lots of stats is a great way to go, and Relevant Coursework is a common heading for recent grad resumes. 

My dd's econ major is actually called Economics and Computational Analysis, which is a mouthful but a good descriptor. 

[vonfirmath]

On 8/10/2018 at 5:06 PM, katilac said:

 

Ooh! Can you talk a little bit about what you do? Economics is one of dd's majors, but we don't know anyone who actually has that job title. 

 

I'm interested too. My husband's bachelor's was Economics but after he had trouble getting a job, he went back and got the Masters in Math.

[Sunshine State Sue]

My bil majored in math and economics.  He makes big bucks managing retirement funds for a few companies.

My niece (his dd) just graduated 2 years ago as a math major, maybe economics as well.  She works with big data now.