Anyone taken higher level math courses?

Here's my situation:

I decided I wanted to be a math professor, I wanted a low stress, high demand, decent paying job, so i figured why not major in mathematics.

Well here I am, a junior, studying for calc III finals... and it's "HARD." I'm starting to doubt if i have the math ability to BE a math major.

So now i feel like i'm totatly screwed. I don't have any liberal arts credits beyond the general education req, so i can't switch to that. I don't have any engineering courses, so i can't do that. I don't even have physics 1 yet so i can't do any science courses... uhg!

Do the higher level math courses slow down any? Calc 2 and 3 have been INSANE it just keeps coming and now i'm trying to get ready for the final and really thinking i've made a terrible career choice......kinda worried here. Oh ya i started college late too, i'm 21 and can't afford to go all the way to the beginning in another major

Low stress....

Actually, if you are talking about being a mathematics prof, I don't believe that it's a low stress job at all. It is very difficult, if not impossible to get a tenure track position. It's a very very stressful job!

If you do manage to get the job, you still have to get tenure, get grants, do research projects, blah blah blah. Yes, there is a high demand, in that LOTS of people want to be math profs.

go to link removed and take a look at some math prof stories.

good luck!

Dang! So i'm pretty much in trouble ... I guess i could become an engineer

I'm so far behind though ....

Its been a while for me but going through and completing my degree in engineering I can tell you that the math does not get any easier. In my junior, senior, and super senior years (yes - did the 5 year plan...) I was taking courses involving partial differential equations, linear algebra, and vector calculus. Some of that coursework was very tough for me. Maybe you will have a better time at it but I did think things were easier in the beginning calculus courses.

I have been a work-study student at my college ever since I became a permanent U.S. resident, and I have been very involved with graduate admissions at my part-time job...

Let me tell you that what graduate schools look for is someone who knows what they want in life, someone who has chosen a path and pursues it with passion.

Whatever you do, keep in mind that changing majors so late will not look good in admissions counselor's eyes (or those of overworked student assistants like me I am also very worried about this because I radically switched majors after my freshman year, and didn't start out with very good grades even after that because I still was not sure about what I wanted to do... I'm on track for the 5 year plan too

But you will be much more miserable if you end up pursuing a career you resent, and chances are you will not be especially successful at anything you don't like doing.

I have to disagree with SimoneTiger. I don't think it's too late to switch if you're not happy. At your age, 18,19,20, you don't really know what subjects you're interested in until you've taken a few classes. tons of times, people start out in one major, and realize that it's not right for them. It happens all the time. The admissions people and profs do tend to understand that. However, more than 1-2 changes can be looked upon a bit harshly.

In fact, I know a man who didn't get into med school as a result. He started a PhD program, realized halfway through that he actually wanted to be a doctor, but figured, he should finish the PhD. Anyways, when he finished, and applied for the MD, he was rejected from every school! They told him, if you wanted to do an MD, you should have dropped out of the PhD program. Instead, it looks like you have no direction in life. (the good news is, when he applied the next year, he got into med schools, once he revised his personal statement.)

I'm in grad school, and i know tons of people who started off in one field, and wound up in something totally different. Like they had to take an extracirricular class, found they really loved that subject, and then switched majors.

Don't worry - take out a few extra loans.

Talk to some profs. Have you thought about being an actuary with your math major? Good money. I know a woman who's an actuary. she loves it.

I think you should go to a career fair. Also, go to a career center. From now on, start asking people - profs and random people you meet, what they do, and how they got into it. It can help you decide what you want to do with your life.

good luck!

Annie does bring up a good point. If you are not happy with what you are doing then just switch. It also is true that you can look at the possibilities with having a math degree with being a professor at a college .

This may not be on point but just so you know, my degree is in electrical engineering and I work now in the field of IT / networking in a public school. My "dream" back in the day was to work in power systems engineering for some type of utility but the jobs were not there at the time. The thing is many concepts I learned in those classes made for a good fit in trying to design and troubleshoot things where I work. Would I have considered working in a place like this when I was in college - probably not. But now this seems like the best place to be. So you don't know sometimes.

One thing you may want to consider with a doctorate math degree is teaching in a secondary school. Its not as prestigious perhaps as being a professor and you need to take additional couresowrk in eduaction to get your teaching certification but where I work teachers with doctorates who are department chairs with enough time on the job can make up to six figures at the top of the scale (starting out you make quite an amount less of course but the starting salary is real good if you have the credentials). And you get the summers off unlike me.... Something to think about perhaps.

I think it's not too late to switch major too. But don't switch just because 1 course is hard. Do you have the same difficulties in other math courses like algebra, graph theory, optimization, or maybe stats? I think getting a Ph.D and eventually becoming a prof doesn't mean you have to be good at everything (just don't flunk all those ), you just need to be good at your area of research. Also, have you thought of computer science? I started off with math and now I'm a cs major. It can involve a lot of mathematical proofs too. I also have some friends who switched into statistics and going the actuary route.

Find out what the career options are if you continue with your degree, and if you can get the credits transferred if you switch into engineering, etc. Talk with different program advisors too, some of them are very helpful.

I'm so far behind though ....

It's never too late.

Well these are the grades i've gotten thus far:

intermed. algebra: A

College algebra: A

Trig: B

Pre-calc

Calc 1 : B

Calc 2: B

Diff. Eq.

Calc 3: probably B

seems like it's getting harder and harder to maintain the grade though... I am taking advanced calc next fall(multivariable i guess) and i'm really doubting if i had the skill to go further.. if it keeps getting harder i won't be able to keep up.

What kind of jobs are there in computer science? I don't want to sit in a cubicle ...

I remember when I was an undergrad, (not too long ago), I saw a set of books, something like "Great jobs for xxxxx majors." Each book was about 200 pages long. They had different books for chem majors, history majors, math majors, etc. Go look them up.