Mathematics Stack Exchange
Mathematics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [career-development]

Questions on mathematical career development. Keep in mind that asking for personal advice about your individual career development is not allowed on Mathematics Stack Exchange. Also consider whether your question is more appropriate for Academia Stack Exchange.

Questions on mathematical career development. Keep in mind that asking for personal advice about your individual career development is not allowed on Mathematics Stack Exchange. Also consider whether your question is more appropriate for Academia Stack Exchange.

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Can I use my powers for good?

I hesitate to ask this question, but I read a lot of the career advice from MathOverflow and math.stackexchange, and I couldn't find anything similar. Four years after the PhD, I am pretty sure that I am going to leave academia soon. I do enjoy…
Flounderer
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How do I sell out with abstract algebra?

My plan as an undergraduate was unequivocally to be a pure mathematician, working as an algebraist as a bigshot professor at a bigshot university. I'm graduating this month, and I didn't get into where I expected to get into. My letters were great…
Samuel Handwich
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"Advice to young mathematicians"

I have been suggested to read the Advice to a Young Mathematician section of the Princeton Companion to Mathematics, the short paper Ten Lessons I wish I had been Taught by Gian-Carlo Rota, and the Career Advice section of Terence Tao's blog, and I…
Dal
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Are all mathematicians human calculators?

I asked my dad why he did not major in math he said "because he is not good at math". I think I like math, and I think I'm ok at it, but I'm not gifted or anything like that, I just like math. I think I'd like to major in math, but I see all these…
Kat
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I lost my love of math; I'm getting it back. How can I determine if math is actually right for me?

This question has been on my mind for a very long time, and I thought I'd finally ask it here. When I was 6, my dad pulled me out of school. The classes were too easy; the professors, too dull. My father had been man of philosophy his entire…
Chiefy
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String Theory: What to do?

This is going to be a relatively broad/open-ended question, so I apologize before hand if it is the wrong place to ask this. Anyways, I'm currently a 3rd year undergraduate starting to more seriously research possible grad schools. I find myself in…
Jonathan Gleason
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Mathematicians don't quit, they fade away

Edit: This question is now closed for being not related to math, but many people pointed out that becoming an actuary is one of the most viable career path for someone with skills in pure math. Noone I've ever talked to knows what mathematicians do…
Brian Rushton
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How much Math do you REALLY do in your job?

I am writing this, as I am a currently an intern at an aircraft manufactur. I am studying a mixture of engineering and applied math. During the semester I focussed on numerical courses and my applied field is CFD. Even though every mathematician…
Thomas
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Does it ever make sense NOT to go to the most prestigious graduate school you can get into?

I'm a senior undergrad at a top-ish(say, top 15) math school. I'm a solid, not stellar, student. This year I'm taking the qualifying exam grad courses in algebra and analysis and have been taken aback by the "pressure cooker" atmosphere among grad…
anonymous
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Should I be worried that I am doing well in analysis and not well in algebra?

I attend a mostly liberal arts focused university, in which I was able to test out of an "Introduction to Proofs" class and directly into "Advanced Calculus 1" (Introductory Analysis I) and I loved it. I did great in the class. I was not very…
Eric
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Research done by high-school students

I'm giving a talk soon to a group of high-school students about open problems in mathematics that high-school students could understand. To inspire them, I would like to give them examples of high-school students who have made original…
Joel Reyes Noche
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What does it take to get a job at a top 50 math program in the U.S.?

I'm a senior undergrad right at a small liberal arts college right now who is applying to math PhD programs in the U.S. I would like to eventually become a professor at a relatively good university that has a good environment for doing mathematics.…
Mehta
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Grad school with low undergrad GPA

I'm hoping to apply to grad schools this fall. I think I'm a reasonably good candidate, one aspect aside -- I have around a 2.5 undergraduate GPA in-major and failed several math classes in college. That was a few years ago. In the mean time, I…
Daniel McLaury
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I'm a teenager hoping to become a mathematician, but math isn't my forte. Is it possible?

I am a sophomore in high school and have discovered the joys of mathematics. However,due to sheer irony, at times I find the subject difficult. I am what one could label "lopsided" in my faculties, excelling in languages but always floundering with…
user125555
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Is a good GRE score enough for a non-math graduate to be accepted in a decent pure mathematics graduate program?

I have a computer engineering degree , and i have studied several mathematics courses like single variable and multiples variables calculus , complex variables , probability , numerical analysis ... etc I fell in love with mathematics after…
Akram Hassan
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