[ML37]

     So I am really interested in taking a minor in mathematics to compliment the B.S. in chemistry that I'm currently working on. So the way my school has the minor set up is if you have taken calc I,II &III you only need to take 9 units of upper division math classes with calc III as the prerequisite. So looking over the catalog I have picked Methods in Math I&II which covers everything from introduction to liner algebra, eigen values, ODE's, vector calculus, and a long list of other things. A lot of this I have already briefly covered in calc II, III & differential equations for engineers (I took the class as part of a study abroad program), so I feel ready for these classes but they only fulfill 6 of the 9 units for the minor. What I'm struggling with is trying to decide what to take for the last class so i can submit the paperwork to the math department. The two I have narrowed it down to are Partial Differential Equations or Discrete Dynamic Systems and Chaos. Both classes sound really interesting and at the moment I have no idea what field of chemistry I want to pursue other then I want to go to grad school. Which of these two do you think would be more applicable? At the moment the Chaos class does sound more interesting but I'm not sure if it will be all that applicable compared to the PDE class. Thank you all in advanced. 

[fledarmus]

If you haven't had one somewhere along the line, a good class in Probability and Statistics would be very useful. Probably the most broadly useful in general terms for your future career beyond school.

Both of the classes you've listed sound interesting, but they are only narrowly applicable. Incredibly important if that is the field you are going into, but otherwise you probably won't ever use them again.

[ML37]

Thank you for the reply. Personally I would love to take a probability and statistics class the only problem is that is broken into a whole new minor that would require me to take 5 additional classes vs. the 3 from the math minor. Also since my school as a very large business program most of the upper division stats classes are business based. But if I could combine math and stats into a minor I would.

[Jorriss]

Thank you for the reply. Personally I would love to take a probability and statistics class the only problem is that is broken into a whole new minor that would require me to take 5 additional classes vs. the 3 from the math minor. Also since my school as a very large business program most of the upper division stats classes are business based. But if I could combine math and stats into a minor I would.

Do you want to be a physical chemist?

[ML37]

At the moment I am not really sure what field I want to pursue since I still have about two years till I finish my undergrad. I am taking my p-chem series next semester actually, so there is a possibility that I will choose that field. I'll just have to see what the next two years, then grad school hold for me.

[Jorriss]

At the moment I am not really sure what field I want to pursue since I still have about two years till I finish my undergrad. I am taking my p-chem series next semester actually, so there is a possibility that I will choose that field. I'll just have to see what the next two years, then grad school hold for me.

Ok, if you decide you want to do physical chemistry it will be worth taking those five classes over three. Many of the graduate students I meet in my graduate courses are severely behind in math and it shows.

[ML37]

So you are saying that the statistics classes are more useful then the mathematical methods classes even if the stats classes are business based?

[Jorriss]

So you are saying that the statistics classes are more useful then the mathematical methods classes even if the stats classes are business based?

What are the five classes? Can you take 3 statistics/probability courses + mathematical methods? Statistics and probability theory may be more useful anyhow though.

[ML37]

What are the five classes? Can you take 3 statistics/probability courses + mathematical methods? Statistics and probability theory may be more useful anyhow though.
[/quote]

I said earlier that the math department at my school has a minor for math and a minor for stats that are independent of each other, so no I wont be able to mix and match. My choices are either 3 math classes or 5 stats classes.

[Jorriss]

I said earlier that the math department at my school has a minor for math and a minor for stats that are independent of each other, so no I wont be able to mix and match. My choices are either 3 math classes or 5 stats classes.

Well, if you want to just do the three classes, PDEs has potential to be more useful. In practice, PDEs are not solved very often in chemistry and the ways they are solved require more advanced techniques than what one learns in a [first at least] PDE course (only two things are very useful from a standard PDE course - separation of variables and greens functions and you can self teach S. of variables very rapidly) so it won't be as useful as it seems in the long run. That being said, a course on PDEs can also introduce a lot of physics and can be very insightful. I'd say go the PDE route.

[ML37]

Thanks for the advice!