I found the following links helpful. Maybe you will, too!
- Are you looking for free, open-source math books? You can’t beat the price!
- The American Institute of Mathematics has a great list of free math textbooks.
- I think that OpenStax has the best books for calculus and statistics.
- There’s also a blog on this topic: http://www.openmathbook.org/.
- Not free, but reasonably-priced (like $20 or less) printed math books can be found at dover publications.
- Are you thinking about majoring in math? You should do it!
- I like what Lola Thompson (math professor at Oberlin) has to say about being a math major. There are lots of great math major blogs out there (too many to list).
- Here’s some general career info from the MAA about what you can do with a math major. Note that most W&L math majors do not go on to graduate school in math; instead, they do just about everything (including law, finance, medicine, and so on).
- W&L is a great place to major in math! The faculty are friendly, the courses are fun, and we have summer research opportunities right here on campus. Yes, you get paid to do math! You can see what my students have done in the past by checking out my student research page.
- Oh! And yes, I’m always happy to talk with you about being your adviser (for your major, your minor, an honors thesis, summer research, and so on); just stop by my office. And if for whatever reason I can’t do it (I might already have too many students, or maybe you’re interested in a different area of math), I can direct you to another one of our many enthusiastic and super-friendly math faculty members.
- There are also lots of great summer research options at different schools around the country; these are called REU’s (Research Experience for Undergraduates), and yes, they will pay you!
- Are you thinking about teaching math in high school? It can be a rewarding career.
- I spent a year teaching at a private high school in Texas before I went back to graduate school to get my PhD, and I would be happy to chat with you about it.
- For private schools, you don’t need a teaching license or an education degree.
- Some students have used recruitment agencies like Southern Teachers (located in Charlottesville!) or Carney Sandoe, while other students have contacted high schools directly. You could also check the job boards at the NAIS career center.
- Are you thinking about being an actuary? It can be a rewarding (and lucrative) career. Check out all the information on my actuary page.
- Are you thinking about going to graduate school and getting a PhD?
- Here’s some general career info from the AMS about being a mathematician, and you should also read “Useful things to know when starting graduate school” from the UC Davis Math Grad Student group.
- For mathematics and statistics, the situation is pretty good once you get a PhD. The AMS publishes detailed annual reports on the demographics, salaries, and employment status of new PhD’s. The last time I checked, a recent graduating class (2014-15) had an unemployment rate of only 6.1%.
- Also, math/stats graduate programs pay you to get your degree! Typically, you get a stipend between $20,000 and $30,000.
- There are a number of professional organizations for aspiring and current mathematicians; they all have deeply-discounted membership rates for students! We have the AMS (somewhat more research-oriented but also covers teaching), the MAA (somewhat more teaching-oriented but also covers research), SIAM (mainly applied math), the AWM (supports women in math), the NAM (supports Black mathematicians), and probably more that I just can’t think of right now.
- Here’s Bob Henderson’s interesting article on getting a PhD in physics, and how it didn’t quite work out the way he thought it would.
- Are you trying to decide which graduate program to attend? Here are a few things to keep in mind.
- Check out the department’s seminar list and faculty research pages to see if they have topics of interest to you. For example, UW-Madison (where I got my master’s degree) has regular weekly seminars, special lectures, and many areas of specialization.
- Check out the department’s list of recent PhD graduates to get a sense of where people end up. For example, UT-Austin (where I got my PhD) has an complete list of PhD graduates going back to 1883, along with some information about placement.
- Do you want to be a professor? There are many different kinds of colleges and universities where you could work; some of them are more focused on research while others are more directed towards teaching. Check out the faculty web pages at different kinds of schools to see what your job would be like (and what it would require of you). Also, the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed have the lowdown on what it’s like to work at a college or university.
- Do you want to save a life?
- You can start off with some simple things, like learning CPR and First Aid here at W&L (PE 304, offered every fall and winter) or via an online course. It’s both fun and useful!
- The W&L Outing Club occasionally offers a two-day “Wilderness First Aid” class; contact the Outing Club for details. (The best part is when you get to splint someone’s leg during class!)
- You can donate blood at one of the many local blood drives. (They have free cookies!)
- You can donate plasma and platelets (in a process called apheresis) at the Red Cross Center in Roanoke. I’ve done this dozens of times over the years, and while it takes about two hours, they have lots of great movies (and Netflix!) to watch during the process.
- You can put yourself on the bone marrow donation list. They send you this neat little swab kit (just like on CSI) to see if you’re a match with someone.
- You can make sure that you’ve signed up to be an organ donor after you die. Most states let you do this on your driver’s license. Here’s the Virginia DMV link where you can learn more (and you get the little heart on your license that says “organ donor”). You can also register directly at organdonor.gov even if you don’t have a driver’s license!
- You can find out if you qualify to be a living kidney donor. This is a big decision and a big gift, and it will quite literally save someone’s life (I donated my left kidney back in 2018; both my recipient and I are doing just fine). You can check out the National Kidney Foundation for more information, or contact your local transplant center (ours is the Strickland Transplant Center at UVa). See also donatelife.net and transplantliving.org for more, including the option to be a living liver donor: you donate only part of your liver, and the remaining part will grow back to normal size within a month or two.
- Here are some inspiring and honest stories from living kidney donors:
- Dylan Matthews at Vox.com.
- Brett Milam at the Clermont Sun (inspired by Dylan Matthew’s story).
- Missy Schwen-Ryan, who won an Olympic rowing medal in 1996, donated a kidney to her brother, and then won another Olympic medal in 2000.
- Here are some statistics on kidney donation, taken from the National Kidney Foundation website:
- There’s something like 600,000 people in the US who have end-stage renal disease (kidney failure).
- About 450,000 or so of those are on dialysis.
- Only about 100,000 of those are on the waiting list for a new kidney. (Many people are simply too sick to qualify for the waiting list).
- People spend many years on the transplant wait list; depending on blood type, the wait can be up to 5 to 7 years.
- Each year about 4,500 people die while on the wait list, and another 3,500 or so become too sick and are taken off the wait list.
- Each year about 17,000 people get a transplant; only about 5,500 or so are from living donors.