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Expert: Daniel Mazur - 6/1/2008


Question
i just gave my o level exam with 10 subjects.now for further studies i have chosen physics ,maths and further maths as my subjects .i have to choose one more subject and am confused about it and what career to pursue. i like maths .if you could guide me .thank you.

Answer
Dear Mohammed,
seeing you are primarily interested in maths, I would suggest computer science as a good complement to the subjects you have already listed. It makes use of parts of mathematics rather different than physics, so if you take all three (maths, physics, computer science), you will get the best coverage in maths.
I am not sure, how pressing your further career decisions are. Maybe if you have 2 or more years ahead of you before college, you'd better put it off for a year or so. Majority of college math majors in my knowledge go into finances, insurances, stock trading. Those with scientific inclinations pursue more or less academic careers designing algorithms, developing software for science or implementing computational methods for physics, chemistry etc.
Let me know, if I helped or if you have further, more detailed questions.
Cheers!
Daniel

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Questions anyone (teenager, undergrad, graduate, professional) may ask on physics, mathematics or inorganic chemistry. Questions may concern subjects themselves or a possible future career in them, if you need advice on a school or hobby project, or you just came across a question that is beyond your current curriculum. I answer bare textbook problems sometimes, but I reserve the the right to redirect you to Physics-Physics section. The kind of questions I like to answer: I just started having science classes at school and they seem difficult, but I enjoy them. Where do I find more information on this, which is not in textbooks but still comprehensible to me? Just leaving high school, and I feel science is really the thing for me. Can you recommend a school and an undergrad program suitable to my inclinations? I am in my second undergraduate year in Physics. We learned the basics of universe expanding this year, the Hubble constant and all that, but invited speakers that gave talks on astrophysics in our department seemed not to agree with this model at all. Is it of any use at all? I am building a [materials research] experimental device for my masters/doctorate thesis and I have the following problem:... I have tried ..., but it still doesn't work. Where might the problem be?

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