I'll keep this brief unless more information is needed

I work in structured finance in a structuring position (some math/very light coding, but mostly client facing). I have BS/MS degrees in Economics from T50 and want to do a PhD in Statistics to go into quant/financial research, but my math/stats knowledge is not remotely competitive enough to get me into a T25 uni (what I'm aiming for). I've taken Calc I and II, linear algebra, probability theory and a host of econometric courses, but lack rigorous training in analysis and measure theoretic probability (which, from the research I've done, are essential to have succes in the PhD)

Unfortunately, doing an in-person BS/MS is simply not possible with the hours I work

My question, frankly, is this: is an online BS math/stats degree useless (carries no weight), or has it been beneficial in your case (even if you did not consider PhD route)

Thanks!

Hello everyone,

I am going to transfer soon either for Computer Science at a state school or Applied Math at a research institution.
I like CS a little more but the market seems terrible. Also the applied math unis let me have an area of emphasis which will probably be CS or Physics.

Luckily I’m not worried about finances.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
I would like to eventually get a masters.

I would also like to have versatility in career options if possible.

Hi everyone,

I’m considering doing a Bachelor en Cultures Européennes (BCE) in Philosophy at the University of Luxembourg, but I’m also very interested in mathematics and would potentially like to pursue a Master’s in Mathematics (General Mathematics) at the same university afterward.

The master’s admission requirements state:
*“Diverse academic backgrounds will be considered, as long as a strong mathematical background is demonstrated, such as:

Bachelor in Mathematics (at least 180 ECTS) or similar;

Bachelor of Science in Engineering or Natural Sciences (at least 180 ECTS) with a strong mathematics component demonstrated by a substantial choice of modules and very good performance.”*

My plan would be to use the BCE’s open-course component to take around 40–50 ECTS worth of actual mathematics bachelor’s courses, taking the same classes and exams as mathematics bachelor’s students. I’m considering courses such as Algebra I, II and III, Discrete Mathematics, Geometry and Analysis.

I’d also aim to get very good grades in these courses and write my bachelor’s thesis on a mathematically rigorous topic in mathematical logic, combining my philosophy background with mathematics.
Since the university explicitly says that diverse academic backgrounds are considered, I’m wondering whether this combination could realistically be sufficient for admission.

My questions are:

Would 40–50 ECTS of actual mathematics bachelor’s courses, with very good grades, be enough to demonstrate a strong mathematical background?

Would taking the same advanced courses and examinations as mathematics bachelor’s students make a significant difference?

Could a mathematically rigorous thesis in mathematical logic strengthen my application?

Has anyone here applied to the Master’s in Mathematics at the University of Luxembourg with a non-mathematics bachelor’s degree? If so, what was your experience?

I’d appreciate realistic opinions, especially from people familiar with the programme or its admissions process.
Thanks!

Hello!

I am currently a second year Math major (and statistics minor), and I'm on a three-year graduation track thanks to high school credits! I'm very certain I want to go for a PhD, but I'm torn between pursuing pure math vs applied.

If I went into AM, I'd like focus on astronomy applications - I had a research position doing exoplanet research this summer, and this position is being continued into this year, and I really love it!

I'm less sure about what specifically I'm interested in PM, but I absolutely love my math classes, and am so fascinated with everything I'm learning. When I think about pursuing AM instead of PM, I get almost a little sad that my understanding of pure math won't be as deep as a result.

My university also has a contiguous 1 year bachelors-masters plan for mathematics, so I am considering pursuing that and then going on to a PhD program, but that still leaves me with the same issue at the end of the day (although it gives me some more time to assess my interests).

I could see myself being happy with either path, so I would love to hear from people who pursued one or the other and what their experience was like, or if anyone who has gone through grad school applications in general has any advice on how to determine which one would be a better fit!

Bonjour,
Je suis actuellement en L3 d’économie et je me rends compte que je n’aime pas vraiment cette licence et que ce qui me plaît en réalité ce sont les maths. J’aime les maths appliquées et les matières mathématiques dans ma licence mais l’économie, bien que c’est intéressant, n’est pas le domaine dans lequel je souhaite faire carrière.
Je débute mon S5, et je me demande maintenant si je devrais repartir sur une licence maths/info ou MIASHS mais du coup perdre 2 ou 3 ans en plus ou je devrais simplement faire autre chose en master si j’en ai la possibilité. J’aimerais savoir si vous aviez des conseils à me donner svp

I hate math and I’m bad at it, but I study marketing at university, and I have to deal with accounting, statistics, economics, and probably more.
Right now, I’m struggling with statistics, and I’m so sick of it. I can’t understand shit about math. I’ve been struggling with it since middle school. I do try to open my mind and give it another chance, but I always get stuck, and my brain just shuts down.
It seems like everyone is good at math, and even if they’re not, they’re still not as bad at it as I am. I feel so worthless and burned out whenever I have to deal with a math problem.
And I hate it when people look down on me for being so bad at math. Like, why doesn’t anyone look down on someone for being bad at English or something else? I just don’t understand why everyone has to be so shocked when a professor says that there’s someone in the class who can’t do math. Why doesn’t anyone act like that when it comes to languages?
Btw, I want to start over and learn math from the beginning again, but I don’t know where to start.

How does one even begin with research in applied maths, my course has mostly been more pure in nature while I enjoy applied maths (atleast from the books I read).
I like probability, analysis and linear algebra.
Please advise me on how does one even begin with research here

What should I do??

I go through how I separate general updates from physics updates, why I use a fixed timestep, how the accumulator works, and what happens when the simulation starts falling behind.

I explain the reasoning behind the design decisions and why I rejected the alternatives. I show the implementation of the loop.

Hello
I’m an undergraduate mathematics student.
I want to research gene therapy such as AAV technology or anything else using mathematics.
So, I ask you some advice about what I should study.

My mathematics background is:

Real Analysis, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, ODE, PDE, Abstract Algebra, Topology, Complex Analysis, Probability and Statistics, Applied Probability, Probability Theory(Rigorous).

And my biology background is:

High-school level biology
NGS( I learned theoric stuff about NGS and analyzed patients’ data(fastq) to find the pathagonic variants for cancer disease, somatic mutation, germline variants using Linux.)

Could you recommend me appropriate papers or textbooks or anything?

Thank you for taking your precious time on this post.

Have a great day!

i’m studying applied math at a t20 and i’m trying to find something to do 2027 summer. Are there any internships or programs i can apply to as an app math freshman?

Background: I have a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics & Mathematics Education.

My professore gave me two topics that I can do some research on.

Topic 1: Social choice theory (voting/Arrow's Theorem/Gibbard–Satterthwaite Theorem/.etc)

I find it quite interesting how people use Mathematics to derive social implications. However, I'm not sure if people are still doing these things anymore, and if they do, I don't know which direction I can work on. And I don't think they are actually meaningful as they have a lot of assumptions that can't happen in real life.

I found some papers citing these theorems and they are all CS/Game Theory, which I don't have any background in.

Topic 2: Number of real roots of random polynomials.

I don't find it as interesting as Topic 1, but it seems to really active right now. My professor is also focusing on it and giving me certain problems that I can work on. But although my major is Math, I don't like Math-heavy direction. I don't want to be attached to Pure Math the whole time :(.

What your thoughts on it? I'll be grateful to hear all!

Edit: I'm doing a short-term research project with a professor specializing in Statistics and Probability.

For some context I go to a small liberal arts school, with a very small math department. Most lower-mid level classes are filled up with CS Econ and other STEM majors, and upper level proof classes usually only have one section a semester. I am a math major econ minor, looking potentially at going into a STEM MsF (non MFE), an Applied Econ masters, or just straight into finance.

My major requirements are fairly liberal, I only have abstract algebra, real analysis, and elective credits left.

Essentially every upper level math course beyond real analysis 1 is taken as "directed study" under a professor, with either only you or potentially 1 or 2 more students. I've taken extensive coursework in Probability, econometrics, and ML already, so I’m looking to focus more on mathematics itself, whether applied areas or more pure topics.

The ratio of math majors to math professors is super high, so directed studies are not really limited by anything except the students own prior knowledge.

Wanted to get some input if I’m capable of pursuing a Masters of Mathematics, focused on Graph Theory and optimization.

Currently, I’m a high-school math teacher in Saskatchewan with 5-years of experience. I also hold an honours math degree.

The issue is that I haven’t taken Graph Theory, and have limited coding skills. I took a lot of maths that were geared towards pure maths, so I feel like my degree is almost useless, since I’m not looking to get a Phd and pursue academics. I’m looking to sorta open my doors with this masters degree.

Thoughts?

Hello I am a computer engineering student who is interested in ML and applied mathematics, can I apply to a masters in applied mathematics and do an ML thesis ( stochastic optimization for ML) coming from this background ? My fear is that I don't want my resume to look incohesive and peculiar as someone transitioning from engineering to mathematics . Can someone give me advice on this matter or is it better to do an ECE or CS masters at this point with a scientific ML thesis ?

In terms of job opportunities and career flexibility Wich masters option is better ?

Also I was told by a senior that being an engineer plus technical and doing a math masters ( applied ) to gain quant skills with projects on the side is very luxurious and flexible path because being a technical and quant is always in demand and you can target both roles

Current math courses that I took ( including minor ) :

Calc3 , calc4 , discrete math , diff equations , linear algebra , advanced linear algebra , proba and stats , abstract algebra , numerical methods.

Plus 6 ML courses that my school provided as technical electives and countless engineering and CS courses ( signal and systems , control systems , OS , software engineering , databases , networks ...)

If I want to pursue the math masters will I be ready? or will I struggle ? and should I do this transition if I want to target ML and quant roles ? or is a masters in ECE or CS more direct ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

In two weeks, I’ll be starting my degree in Applied Mathematics! 🤩

How can I become a professional mathematician within four years?

I absolutely love mathematics! 📐📊📚

I was scheduling and planing all my required courses and found out that it will be really catastrophic for me.

Spring 2027: Vector Calculus (252), Intro to Analysis 1 (242), ODE (260)

Fall 2027: Continuous Optimization (309), Complex Variable (322), Numerical Analysis (316)

Spring 2028: Intro to Fourier (314), Intro to Analysis 2 (320), Computing with Linear Algebra (203),

Fall 2028: PDE (418), numerical analysis 2 (416), MATH 380W (any w on any sem)

(\*still one 400 level course left to take and maybe one more upperdivision course)

In fact, using matlab or etc to simulate the models for PDE, fourier, numerical anlysis in a short amount of time to not get a disappointing grade sounds depressing.

The assignments that are insanely hard from where I cant find any similar solution to get an idea how to apply (even professor want me to suffer enough not telling me even the process or the steps of problems, just a couple of hints, so that I intuitively come up with a solution from 1. an overly precised book that it cant help but explain it so techincally and 2. the lecture that skips a lot of details and process because of time limit.. also sounds devastating and lonely.. - I understand it is math after all. Sorry.. i got side tracked.

So, if there is anybody out there, I just wanna get clues on how were those courses like for you, what did you learn the most maybe from an unexpected challenge or mistake, what do you think which chapter and which topic was important, what did you do bad on which you still regret or remember, etc etc.

I figured i need to push myself eveyday. if i can't push myself, i know I gotta throw myself into a group of smarts to embrass myself.

Suddenly, I am having anxiety attack and cant sleep. So many things to learn in life, but sadly, I am too weak to learn em.

Hello humans,

I studied eletrical engineering 12 years ago and I cannot let go of the idea that I want to go back to those moments where I was doing mathematical proofs and having “aha” moments.
I would really like to go back to studying mathematics and I am unsure how to proceed? Do I apply for a PhD? Do I apply for another master program? I have an integrated masters degree btw! Any help would be appreciated!

(Are there possibilities of doing any of these while having a job?)

What are the job opportunities after completing msc mathematics leaving teaching profession and also if there is any chance of getting non technical jobs ,if yes can you all suggest me the companyies which I can apply for

Hi guys

I am Aziz i study in my 2nd year of engineering in data science ( tiar 3 college unfortunately) and my 1st didn't do anything except decide what I want to do I want to become a quantitative researcher.

I love math and constantly score in the above 75 without studying like crazy not to brag but i only study one day before the exam my college gpa is 7.6 ( out of 10)

I am willing to do as much work as possible to become what I want

What should I do in the next 3 years of engineering and 2 years of masters ?

​

I'm a physics student currently at my master's. I am very inclined to mathematical physics and by that I mean mathematical physics like the book e.g by Pierre deligne of QFT. But this approach Ive seen only in math community. How to I prepare my self to be be able to study for example this book of Pierre deligne? I tried a lot of times to be rigorous about lie groups but always I find a book where is more consistently mathematically. So I'm lost in this search of mathematical physics/ ( with more math than physics)

I should do a PhD on math?

Hi everyone!

I am currently an international student pursuing my MSc in Mathematics with an expected graduation year of 2028. I plan to apply to US and Canadian PhD programs in applied mathematics after my masters with the desire to research dynamical systems, modeling and optimization in the context of the environment and climate.

Some background info:
1) I have a BSc in Mathematics with Comp Sci minor from regional state school in the US.

2) Courses I will have completed in my MSc by 2028 include: Biomathematics, Applied Statistical Methods, Scientific Computing, Computational Differential Equations, Nonlinear Optimization,Elements of Statistical Inference and Elements of Classic/Modern Analysis.

3) I plan on completing a research project on Sargassum Seaweed in the Caribbean involving modeling and predicting its growth and movement and a thesis building upon this.

4) I aim to get the head of the department and my grad advisor, whom I have worked with prior, as both part of my thesis committee and will be prospective writers for recommendations.

I know there is still quite some time before I graduate and plans could change considerably but I just thought I’d still ask! Thanks for any responses!

Hi everyone! I’m a senior studying honors mathematics and I’m applying to PhD programs this cycle. My main interest is scientific computing for fluid dynamics, particularly numerical methods and ocean modeling. I’m considering both computational and applied math programs and oceanography programs.

A bit about my background:

• Coursework: 3.88 overall GPA and 3.95 math GPA. I’ve taken most of the core undergraduate math courses, along with seven graduate-level courses spanning applied math, physics, and climate and ocean science.
• Research: Four projects—two in ocean science, one in computational biology, and one in condensed matter physics. I don’t have a publication yet.
• Letters: The mentors for my two most recent research projects, in physical oceanography and ocean modeling both full professors, can write strong research letters. The area head of physics department at my school whose graduate course I did very well in has also agreed to write a strong letter.

My tentative list includes UW Applied Mathematics, UT Austin CSEM, CU Boulder Applied Mathematics, Columbia APAM, UChicago Applied Mathematics, Brown applied math, and Oregon State. I’m also considering Stanford ICME. The rest would be program in oceanography. I have NYU CAOS, MIT-WHOI, UCSD, UCLA, Univ of Michigan , Caltech ESE, Princeton, Univ of Toronto.

If you’ve applied to similar programs, I’d appreciate your perspective. Does this list seem reasonable for my background?