Careers in Math

According to whenwilliusemath.com, a quantitative financial market analyst usually comes from mathematics or physics backgrounds rather than finance related fields. In another category of the business/finance field, stockbrokers use algebra and geometry to calculate how many shares of a stock a client can buy. Besides using math to do basic calculations, stockbrokers also use more complex concepts like PE Ratio, Alpha, and Beta to find out if a stock is overpriced or to find out what the risk level is if investing in certain stocks. (I had to look this up, but a PE Ratio is the price/earnings ratio that determines how expensive a stock is.) Apparently, game theory is also a useful math concept to know if you are a stockbroker most likely because it helps you analyze economic situations. People in the computer science field use graph theory and combinatorics, which are both principles that we learned about in Motion and Mechanics class.

Under the section Math in Real Life, I chose to read the category about Business Schools and mathematics. According to whenwilliusemath.com, mathematics majors frequently outscore other majors in the graduate business school entrance exam, and being a math major is actually a really good preparation for getting your MBA. According to Dmitri Kuksov, a professor at the Olin School of Business, "math... is possibly the best undergraduate background to get into business schools" (whenwilliusemath.com). Steven Wheelwright, a former professor at the Harvard Business School, stated that math teaches the problem solving and analysis skills needed in order to succeed in the business world, especially in areas that involve data analysis and statistics (whenwilliusemath.com). Reading this article makes me, as a business major, wonder if I should switch to a math undergrad major before applying to a graduate business school.