Career Opportunities for Mathematics Majo

Where Are Students Getting Internships and Jobs?

(March 2016) Three actuarial students are taking jobs or internships at Sun Life Insurance in Wellseley. Two are going to the Hanover, two to Liberty Mutual, and one to the Hartford. One senior accepted a job at Goldman Sachs in New York. Other actuarial students have internships at Mass Mutual and Towers Watson. Two students in applied math are going to Epic (Health Software) in Madison, WI. One student has an internship at United Health and another at Chase Bank (in New York). One junior will be working at State Street this summer. A recent alum has been accepted to the Epidemiology Masters Program at Johns Hopkins. A senior in pure math has been accepted to the PhD programs at Michigan State and UConn. Two current seniors will be enrolling in our own Applied Math Masters Program and one in our PhD program. An applied math sophomore is taking an internship and co-op position at Air Worldwide doing weather modeling. An actuarial junior is taking an internship and co-op position at John Hancock. A sophomore has just been accepted to an internship at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC-San Diego and a junior double majoring in chemistry to one at UC Merced. Another student will be doing an REU at the University of Maryland this summer. A senior, also majoring in chemistry, will attend Columbia's MD-PhD program in the fall. A junior in applied math and statistics will do an internship at 2Is, an Engineering and Software Services company in Walpole, MA. A sophmore will do an internship at Fidelity Investments in asset management. A junior is taking a part-time job for the summer at REMI focusing on economic modeling.

General Recommendations for all Career Paths

In the past half century there has been a great increase in the importance of mathematics to our society. The need for trained mathematicians at all levels is on the rise as the use of computers and automation has spread to almost all sectors of our economy. Nowadays, technological, engineering and business problems are often of such complexity that they require a high level of mathematical treatment. Whereas in the past advanced mathematics was generally restricted to the physical sciences and engineering, today there is an ever growing demand for mathematical expertise in the biological and social sciences, as well as in finance and business management and the burgeoning field of data science.

Common Career Paths for Mathematics and Statistics Majors

In the course of his or her undergraduate studies, each student will naturally develop some preferences for the various subfields of mathematics or statistics, and those interests will largely determine the student's choice of concentration within the major. Another element in this choice is the range of opportunities that the concentration presents for a subsequent career. While there is no fixed list of occupations that follow from a major in mathematics or statistics, the most common career paths of graduating students fall into some broad categories. The Department has designed the concentrations (and course requirements for each concentration) to help students prepare for a career in one of these main categories.

Here, in an unordered list, are some of the main career categories:Actuarial science.Data science.Information technology and computing.Business, management, consulting.Teaching at the elementary or secondary school level.Graduate study in mathematics or statistics, especially for an academic career.Graduate study in applied mathematics or statistics, for a career in industry, business or government.Graduate study in an interdisciplinary field related to the mathematical and statistical sciences.

Specific Recommendations Within the Career Categories

Actuarial Science

Actuaries are business executives who use mathematical and statistical skills to define, analyze, and solve complex problems arising in the insurance and pension fields. They create and manage programs to reduce the financial impact of events such as illness, accidents, unemployment, or premature death. Actuaries must understand the entire operation of the insurance and pension fields because their evaluations often influence company policies and practices. Besides good command financial markets, tax and insurance law, regulatory requirements, accounting, and so forth, an actuary must have solid background in applied mathematics and statistics.

Professional status is attained through fellowship in one of two actuarial societies (CAS or SOA). Fellowship is earned, and most of the theoretical training is provided, by passing a series of rigorous examinations sponsored by the societies. Please see our departmental Actuarial Program webpage.