- #1
centennial
- 3
- 0
(typo: title should be Feeling, not Feelings. Whoops)
Hi there,
I'm a second-year student at a highly ranked private liberal arts school and I am pursuing a BA in Math. Once I graduate, I want to pursue a PhD in either Math or CS. I obviously don't know exactly what I want to focus on, but Combinatorics was awesome and I have a fondness for Automata/Formal Langauge Theory in CS (and curiosity of subjects like Cryptanalysis and Information Theory).
However. I'm facing some serious conceptual difficulties in Real Analysis. For some reason, I just have a really hard time even applying basic techniques (epsilon-delta proofs, etc.). I was also quite bad at Calculus. I have a 3.0 Math GPA and about a 3.4 overall GPA. Compared to peers at my school, a 3.0 isn't actually that bad, but it looks terrible on my transcript. My math grades have been strictly improving since my first semester, but I don't think I can maintain that this semester.
I guess in short I'm just having an identity crisis. I really, really love math, and I'm quite good at *some* kinds of it, but unfortunately not all of it. I feel like I'm pushing myself into a little corner where if I don't get into a graduate program, I'm screwed--although I love computer science, I don't enjoy coding and although I love math, I don't like the kind of math I would do as an actuary/other applied math job. I feel awkwardly trapped between these two disciplines, and not very well-rounded in either.
Do you guys have any advice or reassurance?
Thanks.
Hi there,
I'm a second-year student at a highly ranked private liberal arts school and I am pursuing a BA in Math. Once I graduate, I want to pursue a PhD in either Math or CS. I obviously don't know exactly what I want to focus on, but Combinatorics was awesome and I have a fondness for Automata/Formal Langauge Theory in CS (and curiosity of subjects like Cryptanalysis and Information Theory).
However. I'm facing some serious conceptual difficulties in Real Analysis. For some reason, I just have a really hard time even applying basic techniques (epsilon-delta proofs, etc.). I was also quite bad at Calculus. I have a 3.0 Math GPA and about a 3.4 overall GPA. Compared to peers at my school, a 3.0 isn't actually that bad, but it looks terrible on my transcript. My math grades have been strictly improving since my first semester, but I don't think I can maintain that this semester.
I guess in short I'm just having an identity crisis. I really, really love math, and I'm quite good at *some* kinds of it, but unfortunately not all of it. I feel like I'm pushing myself into a little corner where if I don't get into a graduate program, I'm screwed--although I love computer science, I don't enjoy coding and although I love math, I don't like the kind of math I would do as an actuary/other applied math job. I feel awkwardly trapped between these two disciplines, and not very well-rounded in either.
Do you guys have any advice or reassurance?
Thanks.
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