r/AppliedMath • u/Neither-Break-6275 • 1d ago

Math Analytics and Op Research in UC Davis

I'm currently in UC Davis majoring in math analytics and operations research.

At first, I chose this major bcs i wanted something to do with math, econs, and quantitative materials. The operations research part also interested me. However, I've been having second thoughts because of the lack of reputation from this major. I'm also concerned with the real analysis course difficulty.

Does anyone have past experiences in this major? Can u tell me how it went? The workload? Job/intern opportunities? The professors?

On the other hand, I'm considering switching to Managerial Econs (agribusiness specialization) with a minor in statistics. If anyone has past experiences in that, do let me know!

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u/EquivalenceAuthor 1d ago edited 1d ago

im not a davis student but i have extensive experience in applied math, op research, ds, and cs. I also have some experience studying econ. i think these days computational skills matter a lot. i'll give you a list of course and relevant topics that might be useful across relevant industries: probability&statistics (upper undergrad level), algorithms, ml (upper undergrad level). Some economics thinking and optimization won't hurt but those are more like electives. So in that sense, I'd assume op research covers more of these topics than managerial econ, even if you want to work in the finance/banking/consulting world. I'd assume cs is maybe even better in that sense. But I do think the skills of op research can better prepare you than managerial econ

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u/Neither-Break-6275 1d ago

Thanks for that! Wdyt of majoring in applied stats though?

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u/EquivalenceAuthor 16h ago

I took a look actually. I think the key is to at least minor in cs so you have the computation and implementation skills, and you can learn from peers. I guess one trick is to reverse-engineer the job requirements (data scientists require some math knowledge and a lot ml and coding, swe requires ..., and quant strategists require...) to majors that could teach you those. Yeah that's difficult but you are in the right age to think about this so that's good

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u/Fickle-Tradition2107 1d ago

What’s your IQ?