Hive suggestions--please--for my mathmatic-inclined niece

[homeschoolin'mygirls]

My sister is asking me for advice, so of course I'm turning to the boards for advice. :001_smile:

My (non home schooled rising senior) niece is very much inclined towards a mathematics type career. She is a tremendous student,being very bright , hard working, and self-motivated.

She lives in a very small Central Texas town. Mathematical career exploration with her High School teachers has basically led her to a math teaching career, which is a career path she strongly does not want to go down.

She is taking CC course at the next town but they only allow HS students to take English and History. :confused: So she does not have a math professor to counsel her there.

What advice could I give my sister about how to help her daughter explore more options in this area? Can anyone recommend workshops/camps etc with an engineering/mathematics slant?

My sister's family would not be able to spend much at all , if any for an academic enrichment type camp. Niece/ family would likely qualify for almost any financial scholarship requirements, and she has a high enough GPA to be in the running for an academic scholarship. (sorry--extremely biased aunt brag)

I know this is very late to apply for any summer type camps/workshops--esp as she would need to apply for scholarships.
My sister just started talking to me, and she does not know anyone at local high school that have done camps like these.

I would appreciate any Hive advice or suggestions about both career exploration avenues and possible mathematical -engineering type workshops/camps.

Thanks
Nandell

[forty-two]

No idea about summer workshops, but my sister has a B.S. in math, so I know a bit about possible careers. Academic research is one. Actuary is another (that's what my sister does). Also, as a math degree is considered evidence that you have learned to think logically at a high level, people who can sell themselves are able to get hired as a generalist in any number of fields. If my sister had a strong interest in a field, she would have gone this route. But, as a summer research position taught her she *didn't* want to do the PhD route like she originally planned, she went with the path of least resistance - actuary. Teacher and actuary seem to be the most common careers for math majors.

HTH

[homeschoolin'mygirls]

for the suggestions.
I have to admit--I didn't even know what an Actuary is or does! But I have to say it sounds like something she might enjoy. She is very logical -both in thought and actions. Our little mini-Spock. :001_smile:

nandell

[kpupg]

... with a math education. It's so much more than just actuary and teaching. Any type of engineering requires serious math. Cryptography is a more current area also, whether in government or for business data security. Did you know that math graduates make the highest scores on the LSAT, too? Start here for a little flavor:
Sloan Career Center (http://www.careercornerstone.org/math/profiles/mathprofiles.htm)

Karen

[Kathy in Richmond]

How wonderful that your niece both enjoys math and wishes to explore careers in math!

Here is a rather comprehensive listing of summer math camp experiences:

summer math camps for high school students (http://www.ams.org/employment/mathcamps.html)

I also have a daughter with math aspirations, and she'll be attending both Canada/USA Mathcamp and the Women in Math SWIM program at Princeton this summer. She also required (and received) financial aid, but her applications were done back in February. Unfortunately, these two programs have already filled their slots for the upcoming summer, but there may be a few other programs on that list with openings still. It will indeed be even more difficult at this late date if she needs financial assistance - but it can't hurt to try:001_smile:!



Good luck - I hope she finds something!

~Kathy

[Janet in Toronto]

I can't help you on the summer opportunity front, but here's a link to the American Math Society's career page (http://www.ams.org/employment/whatmathematiciansdo.html)with lots of info on career possibilities for mathematicians.

A great branch of mathematics (the path I chose) is statistics. Here's the career page from the American Statistical Association (http://www.amstat.org/careers/index.cfm).

[homeschoolin'mygirls]

I am passing all of this on to my sister for my niece.

I'm regretful that we didn't start looking a t summer opps earlier but will check it out to see what's available.

And she now will have many options to look at with all the career info I've received.

The Hive to the rescue once again!

[Kathy in MD]

My dh was a research analyst working primarily in simulations and mathamaticians and physists were in high demand.

Economists and finacial analysts also need a strong math background.

And of course, computer scientists need good math skills