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Mathematics major vs mathematics degree?

How many courses are covered from a pure mathematics degree in a typical engineering degree?

  • I am going to join University by the end of this year and so I am setting my learning agenda. I have become highly interested in math after I saw how math is the language of the Universe. But I don't want study maths solely, I also want to pursue an engineering degree. Now, I know that engineering has a loads of math courses, but will it have enough to satisfy my thirst for math? will I end up thinking like a mathematician after the engineering degree? or should I pursue a parallel self-directed math education? In short, how many pure mathematics courses does engineering cover?

  • Answer:

    Very few.  Engineering programs focus on computational aspects of mathematics, whereas a math program will focus on proofs, rigor and abstraction. If your university has an applied math program, that might be a better fit.  It's also reasonable to do your undergrad in pure math and move on to something like statistics or operations research for a master's.

Justin Rising at Quora Visit the source

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Depending on the type of engineering, you'll generally just cover the calculus sequence and some introductory courses in differential equations.  Possibly there will be some basic linear algebra or numerical analysis.  Someone trained as an engineer will likely not see any nontrivial analysis or geometry, and almost certainly won't see any algebra or topology.  Since these subjects are really the core of mathematics you can't really say that the average engineer knows any math.

Daniel McLaury

This is probably something that you'd want to talk to the academic advisor of a specific school about. At my school none of my engineering maths would count as credits for a minor in pure math, and in having no overlap it;d be very difficult to handle both (in my program on 25% of people manage to graduate from it as is). You'll get calculus 1-3, linear algebra, and some mathematical methods, and statistics. There's a lot of math, but little of it pure math. Many times my differential equations professor said "we'll skip this method because you'll never use it". So engineering maths are a little more focused than you might be looking for.

Jake Connor

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