Final year Applied Mathematics PhD Student

Physics PhD at Newcastle

Your questions answered by Clarissa in 2020.

“Well, I have no idea what i want to do once I leave high school. I’m getting decent grades at the moment (especially in maths I’m at a grade 8 in year 10) but I don’t know what path to take once I get to college. Any advice?” (Jessica B)

Congratulations on the amazing grades! Sounds like you’ve definitely got your options open for you. If maths is something you enjoy as well as something you’re good at, I think my advice would definitely be to try to have that as something you study. It’s so transferrable, if you can do maths you can do anything from finance to engineering to game design.

The main thing is that you’re doing something that you enjoy. Don’t feel like you have to bow to any external pressures saying that you have to study a certain thing, or that you shouldn’t study a certain thing, do what makes you happy, and everything else will follow.

If it helps, I’m coming to the end of my PhD now at 27, and honestly, still don’t know exactly what I want to do! But as you saw in my video, you can change your mind a fair amount and flit between options, you don’t have to pin yourself down just yet. So, do what makes you happy, keep your options open, and ignore people telling you that you should or shouldn’t study anything, you do you! I hope that that helps.

First year Statistics PhD Student

PhD in Pure Mathematics

PhD student, Centre for Mathematical Medicine and Biology, University of Nottingham