Maths student, don't know what to do with my life

It really depends on what you want to do with your life. Do you want to work in finance or do you want to work in academia or do you want to do that PhD and then see where it takes you? A PhD doesn't necessarily mean being an academic and there's plenty else you can do with it. Either way you will definitely earn enough to survive.

I'm a 4th year MMath student at a top 5 uni, and I don't know what to do with my life when I graduate. I'm on track to graduate with a strong first (80-85%), and some people in the department are recommending that I do a PhD in pure mathematics. Whilst I love maths, and that I'd probably enjoy doing research (as I am currently doing in my masters project), I don't know if I should do that or go for something which is financially more lucrative. If I did a PhD I can expect (if I received funding) about £16,000 per year. It's definitely enough for me to live on, but there's no guarantee I'll be able to get a post-doc job afterwards, not to mention that it'll be 3-4 years where I won't have the opportunity to get a job

Coming from a poor family, and having grown up with nothing, I learned to be frugal from a young age, and even today, I never spend any money on myself. I don't go on holidays, I almost never go out, and I only ever buy what is necessary to live on (essentials -- food, utility bills, toiletries, etc). In this frame of mind, I feel like I don't care what I earn as long as it is enough for me to survive on. On the other hand, that mindset could change in ten years time.

I'm applying for internships in finance at the moment to do when I've graduated, to increase my employability. While careers in finance pay very well, I don't know if I'll enjoy it unless there is a strong mathematical side to it.

Should I go on to do a PhD, earning enough to survive on but doing what I love, or should I just try to secure employment after I graduate and start saving money for the future (like funeral expenses or a house deposit)?

That's the thing though, they don't really know what to do next. the details are in the post

And it's something they need to sit down and think about and then work out where to go next. It's great that you have experience to share but that doesn't negate the fact that the OP needs to do their own thinking and make up their own mind

I'm a 4th year MMath student at a top 5 uni, and I don't know what to do with my life when I graduate. I'm on track to graduate with a strong first (80-85%), and some people in the department are recommending that I do a PhD in pure mathematics. Whilst I love maths, and that I'd probably enjoy doing research (as I am currently doing in my masters project), I don't know if I should do that or go for something which is financially more lucrative. If I did a PhD I can expect (if I received funding) about £16,000 per year. It's definitely enough for me to live on, but there's no guarantee I'll be able to get a post-doc job afterwards, not to mention that it'll be 3-4 years where I won't have the opportunity to get a job.

Coming from a poor family, and having grown up with nothing, I learned to be frugal from a young age, and even today, I never spend any money on myself. I don't go on holidays, I almost never go out, and I only ever buy what is necessary to live on (essentials -- food, utility bills, toiletries, etc). In this frame of mind, I feel like I don't care what I earn as long as it is enough for me to survive on. On the other hand, that mindset could change in ten years time.

I'm applying for internships in finance at the moment to do when I've graduated, to increase my employability. While careers in finance pay very well, I don't know if I'll enjoy it unless there is a strong mathematical side to it.

Should I go on to do a PhD, earning enough to survive on but doing what I love, or should I just try to secure employment after I graduate and start saving money for the future (like funeral expenses or a house deposit)?

It really depends on what you want to do with your life. Do you want to work in finance or do you want to work in academia or do you want to do that PhD and then see where it takes you? A PhD doesn't necessarily mean being an academic and there's plenty else you can do with it. Either way you will definitely earn enough to survive.

That's the thing though, they don't really know what to do next. the details are in the post




As a third year maths student I don't really know about phds etc but if if I were in that situation I'd think twice about a PhD unless there was an area I really wanted to study and enjoyed the challengh, I wouldn't see it as an alternative to working just to avoid work... if that makes sense.

I would say try some internships and get the actual experience before deciding whether it's what you enjoy and how much maths is actually involved and whether there's something else that might surprise you in finance that's interesting. That's my experience anyway, I'm a placement analyst at the moment and there's some statistical modelling involved as well as some coding, so it's kind of maths, though there are bits interesting other than the maths.

If you feel strongly about mathematics and really want to go on to study it further then why not do a PhD? Do whatever you want to do because you don't want to end up hating what your doing.

My main worry is employability. I don't have any relevant work experience, because (being the idiot that I am), I did maths research projects over the summer with members of staff instead of seeking out internships (which probably would have been a better use of my time). If I decided to do a PhD, I wouldn't have the time to do an internship (unless it was a part-time PhD, but I don't want to do that). I feel that in some sense, if I made it out alive to the end of my PhD, I'd be in a similar situation to the one I am now -- with lots of mathematical knowledge but no relevant work experience.

My other worry is that I'm not good enough for a PhD. My grades are good, and I have managed to do some original research in my thesis. On the other hand, I feel like I mostly got lucky thanks to my supervisor who gave me a project which I don't feel was particularly difficult. I don't know if I'll have the necessary resilience to do the same thing with a tougher workload and even more difficult problems.

My main worry is employability. I don't have any relevant work experience, because (being the idiot that I am), I did maths research projects over the summer with members of staff instead of seeking out internships (which probably would have been a better use of my time). If I decided to do a PhD, I wouldn't have the time to do an internship (unless it was a part-time PhD, but I don't want to do that). I feel that in some sense, if I made it out alive to the end of my PhD, I'd be in a similar situation to the one I am now -- with lots of mathematical knowledge but no relevant work experience.

My other worry is that I'm not good enough for a PhD. My grades are good, and I have managed to do some original research in my thesis. On the other hand, I feel like I mostly got lucky thanks to my supervisor who gave me a project which I don't feel was particularly difficult. I don't know if I'll have the necessary resilience to do the same thing with a tougher workload and even more difficult problems.

you clearly have a passion for maths and judging by your grades I would definitely recommend you do a PHD as it would be something you'd enjoy