Would like some advice on graduate programs

[trickslapper]

Hi guys, this is my first time posting on this forum. My question is about choosing a graduate program to study.

I'm a double math and CS major and to be quite honest and I'm not 100% sure on what i would like in a career. What i do know is that i have 0% interest in being a professor or working in academia. Outside of that I'm not so sure. I think i would be a great software engineer/financial analyst/statistician/other jobs in mathematics or CS.

I feel that with a bachelors in CS and teaching myself more languages there is no real need for a masters in CS(i don't know if this is true it is just how i feel personally). However, with a bachelors in math i doubt that i can get any decent jobs and, therefore I'm leaning towards earning a Masters in mathematical sciences with a concentration in statistics and i would pepper some graduate CS classes such as: Data structures, analysis of algorithms, and data mining.

I feel that in this way i can still keep CS in my academic life and have the potential to start careers from CS, Math/Stats, or even a hybrid career.

What do you guys think? would love to hear all kinds of different opinions.

Thanks!

 

[trickslapper]

anyone? I could really use some advice.

 

[Pythagorean]

Just a suggestion from a soon-to-be master of science. I'm not an academic adviser:

Find something you want to apply CS/math to (like physics, sociology, engineering,commerce, medicine, etc.) and pursue that for a master's. Or just go for applied math. Maybe you have a goal in the humanities?

IMO, you want to draw on the skillset you've invested in.

What kind of things in CS are you interested in? Databasing? GUI? Graphics? Networking? Webdev?

 

[trickslapper]

I'm interesting in algorithms/making them as efficient as possible, advanced data structures, and programming in general.

But I also like statistics/mathematics and the potential to apply them in real world situations/careers.

I guess i want to have as many career options as possible once i graduate.

 

[Pythagorean]

Me too, so I understand. But many countries have some variety of the phrase:

Master of six trades, the seventh? Hunger.

Sometimes being too opportunistic can come back to bite you. I try to walk the fine line between interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary.

 

[trickslapper]

I understand what you are saying to me.

If i had to pick i would go with an applied math major with a concentration in statistics. I do enjoy the computer science, but i already have a bachelors in it and i feel that that is enough to find an entry level job and then work my way up if i decided to go into a CS field. Plus i can always go to the library and learn more advanced things on my own.

Do you think this is a good choice pythagorean? Thanks for your advice!

 

[Pythagorean]

Going to the library and learning on your own is unrealistic (but not impossible) but there's lots of applications for applied statistics. I don't know what the job market is like right now for CS-relates jobs, so I don't know what the caveats of a BS vs. MS vs. PhD are. I certainly see a lot of positions for PhD's in CS (or a related field) with most of the jobs i look at.

I do scientific programming though, that's the market I'm more familiar with (my undergrad was in physics; I will probably do an interdisicplinary CS/psychology degree for my PhD; doing interdisciplinary physics/neuroscience for Masters)

 

[trickslapper]

well i know for sure that i can't do much with just a bachelors in math.. I think I'm going to go with a degree in mathematics and statistics.

Anyone else have any other advice?

 

[Karimspencer]

I suggest getting a Masters in CS so that way you could actually get some good jobs. I really suggest going into academia for higher paying jobs and it's mostly research and you'll need a PhD to be a professor.

 

[trickslapper]

a Masters in CS would be nice, but I'm definitely not interested in working in academia.

 

[Karimspencer]

Oh ok you can make a great living with a masters anyway for you can work in computer companies like IBM..

 

[trickslapper]

I've heard that math majors can also get jobs at places such as google, ibm, microsoft, etc. I don't know if this is true or not. What do you guys think about a program where i can earn a dual masters in math and computer science? I found a pretty good one at syracuse university.

 

[Karimspencer]

Math majors usually go into industry if they don't have a PhD but honestly I think if you want to major in Math , you're going to want to get into academia. And yes syracuse is an excellent university but very hard to get into.

 

[trickslapper]

Well, whatever math program i get into I'm going to focus very heavily in statistics (in my opinion statistics is a part of applied math). If i can't get into a dual masters program, i plan on getting into a school whose mathematics and statistics department is the same department. I would just apply to masters in statistics, but most schools don't offer graduate assistantships to MS statistics students : (.