Civil Engineering math?

What are some good strategies/tips, for switching to applied math grad programs, for someone who has had undergrad major in Civil Engineering?

• I'm looking more for Univ.-search related advice, rather than profile related advice, since my profile is pretty much set and there is not much scope for change now. My undergraduate thesis, although in Structural Engineering, was a fairly mathematical one, and I have taken a couple of math courses during my undergraduate study. I am currently working as a business analyst.

• Answer:

  It depends on your career goals, post math grad program. Mathematics covers a huge range of topics. Some math departments include probability and statistics as well. If you favor applied mathematics (applied math), particularly with regards to business or engineering, you can look at programs that are strong in applied math, operations research, and/or computational science (scientific computing) and computational engineering. If you can write decent computer programs, numerical computational techniques based on vector calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra can open many doors of opportunity for you. This range from computer-aided design and computer-aided engineering to computational drug design. A very promising area of interest to you may include nonlinear model order reduction (NMOR, or nonlinear MOR). MOR has been used in many areas of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and civil engineering. So, you can tap into your interest in math and background in civil engineering to tackle problems in NMOR. If you like optimization, focus on non-discrete/nonlinear optimization techniques to exploit your engineering background. Regardless of whether you learn discrete or non-discrete optimization techniques, they can be applied in operations research, which is helpful in business and financial analysis (or computational finance). If you are willing to pick up other common engineering skills and knowledge, such as control engineering/systems and signal processing, you can look at math programs that focus on dynamical systems and transform techniques (such as wavelet transforms). These skills can be applied to financial engineering. If you like discrete math, think about programs in theoretical computer science (TCS) too. A Ph.D. in TCS can open up doors for you in corporate research labs in IT companies, such as Microsoft Research, IBM Research, and Google Research. So, a TCS Ph.D. would certain  appear better than a math Ph.D.. As for pure mathematics, you may seriously want to re-examine your career goals and interests. Are you seriously passionate about pure math? Do you want to spend 4-10 years working on a pure math Ph.D.? Do you want to slog through 1-3 postdoc positions with the hope of landing a faculty position of your liking? What kind of high education institution do you want to join? A research university? Comprehensive university (that has no research programs). 4-year college/university? Community college or equivalent? Or do you want to use that to move into something else, such as financial analysis or Big Data? If so, are there less painful ways of doing so? Do you have the tenacity/endurance to help you get to where you wanna be? Would you also be willing to relocate to another country to take up opportunities abroad, if things don't pan out in your country? As for statistics programs, the emergence of job opportunities in "Big Data" would serve you well. A similar coverage for pure and applied statistics can be inferred from the coverage for math programs. In any case, do consider preparing for and taking the GRE Subject test in mathematics. As for specific programs, you should match programs with your specific interests. E.g., do a literature review or survey of your research interest (say model order reduction, MOR), and determine a list of universities that offer math (or related) degree programs in MOR.