Mathematics is a highly valued tool in today’s world, combining quantitative thinking, formal reasoning, and creative problem-solving. Forget the familiar “when will I ever use this in real life” idea -- math is all around us, and you’ll use it to manage personal finances or to understand climate change, sports statistics, and Google analytics. It’s also terrific preparation for a variety of careers in business, industry, the sciences, and government: Being good with numbers and logical thinking will give you a boost in a competitive job market.
As a mathematics major at Ithaca College, you’ll have plenty of one-on-one time with professors. As a sophomore, you’ll take a seminar led by various faculty members that provides a taste of advanced mathematical topics, such as dynamical systems, non-Euclidean geometries, fairness, and mathematics of climate change. During your junior year, you’ll have the opportunity to work with faculty on research projects. Some recent examples include missile tracking systems, finger games, fractal tree growth structure, and Chebyshev polynomials. In your senior year, you’ll find a faculty mentor to guide you in completing a comprehensive thesis that will culminate in a public presentation of your work. Students have completed theses in cryptology, Fourier analysis, and representation theory, to name a few.
Early on in your studies, you may want to take advantage of the free tutoring available in the math tutorial room. As an advanced mathematics major, you’ll join your peers and faculty members in staffing that room, tutoring other students. You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in or organize game nights for the campus and math days for K-12 students.
Our program prepares you for further study in math and many other fields, including biostatistics, operations research, and environmental engineering. Our graduates have gone on to study for doctorates at prestigious institutions such as Johns Hopkins and Cornell; others have taken jobs as senior systems administrators and actuaries.