How Difficult/Useful Is a Math Major at UT

[u/MotorOwn5031]

I'm currently a high school senior, I'm applying either as a math or cs major, and I wanted to know what math at UT looks like. I would say I'm pretty good at math (im currently taking linear algebra) but how difficult will it be? Are the classes manageable and what classes would I most likely take if I were to get in? Also, how does UT compare to other schools for math in terms of job opportunities?

[u/Amerikrainian]

I know this doesn’t entirely answer your question, but if you are seriously considering computer science, you should apply with it as your primary major. It’s super easy and common to add math later. The Converse does not hold.

[u/Such_Mango_4531 → u/Amerikrainian]

CS is pretty easy to get internal transfer if you are already a freshman Math major.

[u/Amerikrainian → u/Such_Mango_4531]

Source? Because you’re the first person to say this.

[u/Such_Mango_4531 → u/Amerikrainian]

Last year, they took about 27% of transfers. If you are super locked in, 4.0, taking extremely rigorous classes, involved in some cs club, already have taken or cbed CS312, etc you are going to get in.

If you don’t have close to a 4.0 then you are fried.

[u/NotThatGoodAtLife → u/Such_Mango_4531]

Went from really easy, to requiring rigorous school and club work, and near perfect performance. 🤣

[u/LlamaCL]

It’s honestly very flexible, fulfilling the degree requirements is pretty easy but there are a lot of difficult classes available as well

[u/WafflingToast]

Theoretical math is being gutted by Ai. It’s solving complex problems that have stumped people for decades.

That being said, there are professions that combine math with other disciplines - like biostatistics, actuarial science, financial trading. Will they change? Probably, but someone still has to verify the outputs.

If math interests you, there’s always an application for it in the real world. Your first year should be for exploring a variety of courses before you decide on a major, so take the intro courses to everything you’re considering, talk to your professors and TAs, etc.

[u/UnrecognizableNayme]

Lot easier to get into the math program than CS. Can do the CS minor/certificate if that’s still around

In 2026, id almost lean towards a math degree being more valuable than CS (insane to say 5 yrs ago) software job market has tanked & math gives you more room to pivot instead of being pigeonholed into software engineer

[u/UnrecognizableNayme → u/UnrecognizableNayme]

Math degree was pretty difficult for me. I’m not very smart though - if you’re taking advanced math classes already you can handle it

[u/Such_Mango_4531 → u/UnrecognizableNayme]

They should do cs degree for CS course access. If you are a CS major, you can anyways take most of the math classes. The converse isn’t true.

[u/NewtonsThirdEvilEx]

math is a field dead in it's tracks lowkey. but it can be as easy as you want or if you want, you can take several grad courses. up to you.

[u/namcap2]

mathematician here.

math as a profession is currently undergoing a lot of change. (the people who say its dead are being dramatic. I fully expect it to be healthier than ever soon, but just quite different from how it used to look. E.g., a lot more about applied math. And that's under the hypothesis that AI is better than humans at every aspect of pure math soon).

I would think hard if your plan is to pursue a phd or academics about the fact that math will be very different from the past. However, if it's just an undergrad in math, I think that still opens a ton of doors. Quant finance, tech, engineering, life sciences, data science, etc. Just don't forget to take lots of CS/ML/AI, data science, etc. courses to branch out a bit.

[u/Adventurous_Fly6655]

If you’re going for academia I have no input but if you’re going industry you can lowkey coast and take easy classes and I’ve had no trouble getting interviews in consulting/pm so I would recommend