What big math courses are there?

[Tatlidil]

So, before anything, I couldn't find any big jobs for maths that require something like a masters or a PHD.
For example, for medicine (or science) there is doctor, to be a doctor you need to do all those stuff; Bio, chem, then bachelor of science etc, and doctor is a pretty big thing, But I couldn't find anything like that for maths
If possible, can you guys tell me some of the top mathematics jobs (not exactly like engineering, more like pure mathematics)
and what course/courses I need to do to become that.
Thanks guys!

[Bucket Hat]

By 'big thing' do you mean prestige?

[Lear]

Actuary is considered quite math heavy.

[Tatlidil]

By 'big thing' do you mean prestige?

I don't know how to explain it but...
I see doctors, surgeons, Lawyers as big, I guess because they get paid a lot and require a PHD (I don't know about lawyers though)

[Tatlidil]

Actuary is considered quite math heavy.

Ooo what's an Actuary?

[RuiAce]

Where do you think the techniques used in engineering and yes, medicines come from in the first place? Pure maths helps to actually discover these techniques.

- You can use group theory to produce more advanced cryptography and error correction codes
- Many electronics literally depend on boolean algebra
- Complex analysis sees applications in electrical engineering quite often
- I took a quick google search and it looks like differential geometry actually gets used computer graphics and computer vision algorithms
- Group theory and analysis also undermine a lot of the techniques used in advanced physics (lets you study symmetries for example)
- Also, anything involving an algorithm really stems from pure maths.

[Chelsea f.c.]

I kind of want to do something like a quantitative analyst where wall street would hire top physics/maths grads I.e. phd to model risk - you need programming and stochastic calculus.

Some good mathematicians get paid more than doctors btw

Google Jim Simons... he has a money printing machine 

[Tatlidil]

Where do you think the techniques used in engineering and yes, medicines come from in the first place? Pure maths helps to actually discover these techniques.

- You can use group theory to produce more advanced cryptography and error correction codes
- Many electronics literally depend on boolean algebra
- Complex analysis sees applications in electrical engineering quite often
- I took a quick google search and it looks like differential geometry actually gets used computer graphics and computer vision algorithms
- Group theory and analysis also undermine a lot of the techniques used in advanced physics (lets you study symmetries for example)
- Also, anything involving an algorithm really stems from pure maths.

I don't know what any of that is hahahaha

[RuiAce]

I don't know what any of that is hahahaha

Nor did I, when I was in high school.

The stuff will be taught once you actually take on pure mathematics. (Or if you have the time to self learn it.) But it's still relevant to answering your question regardless.

[Lear]

Ooo what's an Actuary?

Google is your best friend, make use of it.

[Tatlidil]

[/quote]

Google is your best friend, make use of it.

Oh crap, right I didn't know that! Just kidding.
it reminds me of a meme, it was half, on both sides it had a father and his son
on the left side the son asks, "dad, who created us" and the father replies "god created us my son"
on the right side it shows the son asking the same question and instead the dad replies with "Search it up on google my son"
showing the difference between the past and present.
Don't get me wrong, It's true, I've got google right infront of me

[LifeisaConstantStruggle]

If you really like maths you can consider aiming for a degree in pure/applied maths + research itself, which opens to a lot of doors that even I might not know.
For starters, the corporate world uses a lot of financial mathematics and algorithms to make money or just understand more about the world before let's say marketing a product, or organising a given campaign.
Actuary was an example given above, which is a well-paid career where people use mathematics to evaluate risk associated with insurance and investment, and do many things like formulate and price insurance products, and assess risks related to certain events such as natural disasters.
Other applications of maths include engineering, physics, and academia, which are more well-known for the average high-schooler.
If you are really interested I would recommend reading more mathematics textbooks beyond the VCE Syllabus to see what it's all about, note that Uni maths is taught very differently, and your experiences and opinions on maths might differ when you reach that stage.
Good luck

[stolenclay]

This is the sort of question I've been thinking about for the past ~5 years or so. Apologies for the heavier tone, but here is what I think:

• I would say everything said in this thread is valid if we are talking internationally (or even just in the US and Europe). The state of affairs in Australia for work involving real maths (I think of rigour and a minor research element as staple here but to each his/her own) outside academia (i.e. not being a lecturer/researcher at a university) is absolutely abysmal. Few Australia-based jobs outside academia will require you to know advanced maths (say, equivalent to an undergraduate major at a Go8 here); those that do will usually ask of you a PhD or above, and even among these you are most likely going to be a consumer of existing mathematical content rather than making new discoveries. For example, the type of maths used in, say, Wall Street quant work or heavily computational engineering in Australia is likely not going to be new; most likely the procedures/systems/workflow are now years or decades old, and at most they need someone to operate/understand/monitor the entire workflow or implement small changes rather than design new theoretical mathematical approaches. To me personally, this detracts slightly from the real spirit of maths.
  
  
• Your idea of what a big job for maths is will change as you study more maths and mature professionally. For example, perhaps right now you don't even know what keywords to search with to bring up relevant job descriptions (at least I know I didn't, in retrospect). Perhaps you disagree with my first point above. This is all fine, but keep in mind that you still have a few years until you have to make any decision remotely resembling a career choice. Times change and so will you; just keep an eye out for what those changes are.
  
  
• I think learning how to program (backend) well is an essential skill for anyone who ever thinks they want a job with lots of maths in it.
  
  
• Statistics is a different game, and I think of it as separate from maths (at least with respect to what I've been saying above about maths). It's not as disappointing in terms of technical career prospects, but, again, Australia pales in comparison to the overseas situation.
  
  
• If you ever read something on the internet about how exciting technical field X is as a career, be sure to clarify whether they are specifically talking about Australia or not. Boy oh boy; these things are not homogeneous geographically.
  

Apologies for the rambling/preaching. If you're up for more of it then there are some posts roughly on this topic in my journal.

A short response on courses: You are honestly not going to be heavily disadvantaged if you take the most advanced maths subjects from any one Go8 university (unless you already have a specific research area you are aiming for). If you are feeling extra hardcore then you might want to consider Cambridge or Oxford in the UK.