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Awhile back I was very weak with my trigonometry so I came to this site asking for help, and it turned out the few answers I got made a huge difference. I excelled at the trigonometry section in my precalc course and now I am enrolled in calculus 1. In fact, during my break I ended up teaching myself a lot of differential and integral calculus techniques (not much theory though, which is where my current class will make the difference). After this exposure I'm more confident that I am capable of getting my degree, but I have one obstacle - credit requirements.

I transferred from a community college with no intentions to ever major in math and even no intentions to go to university, so I did not take many upper division courses. Having transferred 63 credits, it certainly makes my studies much easier and less stressful (in fact at this point I'm no longer required to take any general studies so only math courses are required of me), but unfortunately I am worried about the upper division credits required for my math major. I've completed 72 credits, with 10 more in progress (3 of which are upper division). However, a whopping 42 upper division credits is required of me after this semester.

In my case, I want to avoid taking classes that are not purely-math related because I know I will do only best dedicating my entire focus on my major-related classes. I also hate most other classes and have to force myself to endure them.

From this point on there are 21 credits worth of upper division math courses that are either already required or critical for a math major to take that I intend to take, this leaves me with another 21 credits worth of upper division courses of any subject. If I'm interpreting my major map right, I would have to take up to 5 to 6 more math courses than the average math major at my uni. This might not sound like a lot but I suspect its a huge deal at the upper-division levels (ring theory, abstract algebra, complex analysis, etc.).

What should I do? Should I suck it up and take unrelated upper division courses to avoid having so many advanced math classes - or is going all out on a pure math schedule not a bad idea?

Lex_i
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    Talk to an advisor at your school, ideally a math major advisor. – Steven Gubkin Jan 14 '20 at 12:17
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    Think about how it sounds when someone tells you they only like history, and they have to force themselves to endure math. Go take an upper-level history class and figure out why it's also amazing. Then take an upper-level geology class and do the same. – Chris Cunningham Jan 14 '20 at 15:28
  • I've taken quite a few history courses. In fact, I took a course on south western history last semester. It's not that I hate the subject, it's that I hate having to take a course I'm not interested in. – Lex_i Jan 14 '20 at 17:04
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it appears to be asking for specific advice about how to proceed through a degree program. This is a question which is much better suited for an academic advisor, and is not (in my opinion) of general enough interest to be asked on a Q&A site about mathematics education. – Xander Henderson Jan 14 '20 at 17:14
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    @XanderHenderson The question is about how universities work in the U.S. You have to have "broad" education, taking courses you don't need. You have to take a specific number of courses, otherwise you are deemed not worthy of BS or MS badge, and the uni would miss on tuition money. With tuition, textbooks, dorms, parking getting more and more expensive something got to give. The market economy should work both ways, and students specializing in math should not be forced to learn history of ancient Asia. I understand that SO is not a discussion board, still I find the question relevant. – Rusty Core Jan 14 '20 at 19:43
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    @Lex_i "I transferred from a community college with no intentions to ever major in math" — why did you transfer from the community college? Did you feel that graduating a community college would not be enough to get a decent job? Were you looking for higher quality courses and teachers; were teachers and courses in the community college weak? Or did you want, um, more education? More specialized education like math, or more broad education? In the latter case I guess this is what you are getting with all the unwanted courses. I presume your perfect pathway would be a specialized math college. – Rusty Core Jan 14 '20 at 19:49
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    @RustyCore If the question is about how universities work in the US, then it really needs to be edited down to that question. As it stands, the question looks as though it is looking for personal advice, which is (1) too narrow (in my opinion) to be a good fit for the SE format and (2) too subjective and opinion-based (I nearly voted-to-close with the standard "opinion based question" text, but chose to give a more specific custom text, instead). I am not going to comment further on your incredibly cynical take on higher education and the purpose of breadth classes. – Xander Henderson Jan 14 '20 at 20:29
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    I vote to keep it open. While the guy gives his particular numbers, the situation could still be generalized to other juco transfers to math major. Moral keep open vote since I'm a second class citizen and can't really vote. The man is keeping me down. ;-) – guest Jan 14 '20 at 20:51
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    This is an easy question. I don't understand all the quibbling. There is only math. You take the math. You enjoy the math. Nuff said. – James S. Cook Jan 15 '20 at 04:31
  • this leaves me with another 21 credits worth of upper division courses of any subject --- I was faced with the problem of having to take a large number of non-science electives (long story, but basically due to foreign language requirement difficulties, I changed from BS major to BA major where a maximum of 42 credit hours (I think) could be in your major, and I had over 90 credit hours in math and around 30 in physics (even a quantum chemistry graduate course)), and so I wound up taking 30 hours in philosophy that counted even through these included a beginning graduate (continued) – Dave L Renfro Jan 15 '20 at 10:48
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    course in logic (I also had an introductory logic class, but as this served as a math elective for students at this university, it didn't count as a non-science elective) and an advanced logic class covering Godel's incompleteness theorem and a philosophy of science course, and an upper level cognitive psychology course (this complemented a philosophy of the mind course I also took). I was awful with anything that required memorizing lots of facts, and had previous bad experiences with supposedly "easy" choices others had suggested (history, classics, economics, etc.), (continued) – Dave L Renfro Jan 15 '20 at 10:59
  • but philosophy really fit me well. Indeed, I discussed possibly majoring in philosophy with the department chair my last year (I only needed a senior seminar class and one additional class from a certain area I was supposed to have two classes in but only had one class in), and he was rather shocked as he assumed I was a philosophy major from all the upper level / beginning graduate classes I had taken and how much time I spent around the department. So what I suggest is that you see if something like this could work for you, namely find something besides math that could fit your interests. – Dave L Renfro Jan 15 '20 at 10:59
  • Wow, I did not expect this many comments. Ok, I initially planned on getting a job after community college and be done. But I picked up a math textbook and actually read it in full for the first time, and it turned into something I want to keep doing. So now I'm pursuing a BS in math with intentions to land some applied math job, maybe work as an actuary or be an accountant or something of the sort. If I decided on going to grad school I would not post this question – Lex_i Jan 16 '20 at 01:42
  • I understand this question sounds personal because I gave a little background and talked about the number of credits I have and need, but that was only for contextual purposes. Boiled down, I'm asking "is it too risky to take numerous upper division classes in undergrad that are normally reserved for graduate students?" – Lex_i Jan 16 '20 at 01:43
  • "I was awful with anything that required memorizing lots of facts", @DaveLRenfro I 100% relate to this. I struggled in almost every single class that didn't have to do with my major in all my time in college because of this. When you're interested in something, learning no longer feels like "memorizing lots of facts", especially with science-based courses as they register as truth instead of fact to your brain. – Lex_i Jan 16 '20 at 01:55
  • A couple of my past comments on memorization: comment 1 AND comment 2. See also this answer about the unit circle in trigonometry. – Dave L Renfro Jan 16 '20 at 12:54
  • Take some accounting and finance classes. Don't go off and take grad school math classes. They are pretty brutal and you are not on that path. Just wait, even the regular upper div math classes can be pretty hard. Even if you don't work directly as an actuary or the like, almost every manager and office worker needs to understand financial concepts. The world has become financialized...for example Excel is the norm even for people not in the finance department. It's become like knowing how to type, now. – guest Jan 16 '20 at 17:27
  • I also recommend to take a single class in econ. May be wonderful or unpleasant. But get through at least one (and probably only one). If you can take a class that emphasized micro economics (supply and demand, actions of firms), not macro economics (more vague and a little political), that is best. Even if you end up doing or liking macro at some point, micro is foundational. – guest Jan 16 '20 at 17:31

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A lot depends on what you plan to use the bachelor's for. If you plan to go to grad school, than go crazy and take a bunch of hard upper div classes. I really caution AGAINST grad school in pure math though (for you, based on your evident aptitude level). Even for stars, this can be quite a daunting pyramid--how many of the people here are tenured profs at R1 universities? I think it will be even worse for you.

If you plan to use the bachelor's for just "having a degree" (e.g. to get sales manager versus salesman, to go "mustang" in the military, etc.), than it matters little, provided you pass.

It is also possible that you may do something intermediate to the above. Go work for the NSA or an insurance company or the like. Or want to keep your options open. There is also high school teaching--but having a bachelor's in math is plenty. You don't need to have the hardest one.

If you have not already done so, I strongly recommend to take a calculus-based (check on this) general physics class. Don't need to go any further. But this is really key application area you should know if you ever teach math in high school or college. Drives me crazy to see sooper smart peeps here that don't know this (major reasons for them having their jobs!).

[Edit: see comments below on chemistry...can be unpleasant.] Similarly, but not as critical would be to do a first year course in chemistry. There are a lot of applications of algebra in chemistry (stoichiometry, equilibrium, baby thermo, kinetics).

Some other classes outside of math that may be useful (but check the book/teacher to make sure you will enjoy it): economics and technical writing. If you could pick up a decent accounting class that would be useful also. The vast majority of college educated people encounter money things on the job, even if they are not financial analysts or in the finance department. It's good to have had some exposure to basics of balance sheet and income statement (and ideally to NPV or "engineering economics").

Within math (if the former suggestions just make you lose heart), consider some applied topics: design of experiments, operations research, etc. Yeah, it's not the pure math you wanted but at least closer than my previous suggestions. And won't be so wicked hard as taking a slew of upper division or baby grad school math topics simultaneously. Also more useful.

I would also make sure to take a class in ODEs and a class in PDEs. Shocks me to find people here who are math Ph.D.s and never took this stuff. The normal, calculational emphasis, class is fine. You don't need to take the most theoretical one (bad idea for first viewing). I would also avoid classes with too heavy an emphasis on computers, numeric estimation, or linear algebra. (Nothing wrong with any of those three...it's just that "enriched" classes like this usually seem harder and have more issues than just the standard fifty to hundred year old stereotypical class.) Also stay away from any diffyQs class with too much emphasis on modeling or applications. (Little bit is fine, but learn the stuff in basic equations first, versus with a lot of physical interpretation. Would you want to take a high school algebra class that started with word problems versus with the equations?)

guest
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  • I agree with physics suggestion but not chem. I hated chemistry. I think almost anyone who loves math will love physics. (I could certainly be wrong...) – Sue VanHattum Jan 14 '20 at 21:11
  • Yeah...chemistry can be miserable. I actually think it is extremely useful but NOT for the chemical content. For the massive amount of "algebra word problem" content. Very similar to business analysis in a way. Have to weed past the spinach and translate into equations and than transform back into spinach. But many, many people struggle with it. It is the most hated freshman class. So caution. And yes, physiocs rocks. If you liked calculus, you'll like zoics. It's so intuitive. – guest Jan 14 '20 at 21:14
  • Do you mind expanding on what do you mean by "general physics" as unis are different. For example, here is one, "General Physics I, sometimes referred to as "University Physics" in other universities, is calculus-based course covering kinematics, Newton's laws, energy, momentum, rotational motion, and oscillations. The second section of General Physics I covers the electric field, Gauss's law, electric potential, capacitance, DC circuits, RC circuits, magnetic field, Faraday's law, inductance, LR circuits, AC circuits, and Maxwell's equations." So, only mechanics and electricity. – Rusty Core Jan 14 '20 at 21:56
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    Um...the standard calc based two-semester physics course that every engineering major (and many non engineering majors) take(s). I can't recall if that is called general or university. But basically AP Physics C, NOT AP Physics B (which is really a high school class). First semester should be mechanics. Second semester is E&M. – guest Jan 14 '20 at 22:01
  • Imagine some grey haired crew cut guy from the 1950s with a copy of Halliday and Resnick. OK? Um...that class. ;-) – guest Jan 14 '20 at 22:02
  • I hated chemistry as well, thankfully I won't have to take it as I have a credit in it from my transfers. Not sure if I'd like physics since I've never given it a shot. I just might take your advice one of these semesters. – Lex_i Jan 16 '20 at 01:52
  • Physics should be done. (A) It is likely you like it, as it is a lot of word problem math (few concepts too but not as detailed as chem, history, bio, etc.). (B) It REINFORCES trigonometry and calculus. (C) If you ever teach math in the future, the vast majority of your students will going through trig and calculus in order to support physics class. You should know where they are headed. Kills me to hear some real analysis or abstract algebra sooper duper Ph.D. not know even the most basic things about this topic that motivates vast amount of his (usually) engineering major students. – guest Jan 16 '20 at 17:23