If you like patterns, models, computation, proofs, networks, differential equations, or figuring out why complicated systems behave the way they do, you may already be thinking like an applied mathematician.
Applied mathematics is about using mathematical ideas to understand systems, make predictions, uncover structure, and solve problems.
Sometimes the problem comes from physics, biology, engineering, computing, economics, or data. Sometimes the mathematics becomes interesting enough that the original application is almost beside the point.
Take a messy real-world system and turn it into mathematics you can analyze, test, and improve.
Build numerical methods, simulations, and algorithms for problems that do not have neat closed-form answers.
Use differential equations to understand systems that evolve: populations, circuits, motion, interacting components, and more.
Study graphs, networks, combinatorics, algorithms, and the mathematics of systems made from connected pieces.
Work with probability, stochastic systems, uncertainty quantification, and models where the outcome is not predetermined.
Ask what solutions exist, how systems behave, and how to find the best possible choice under competing constraints.
You like abstraction, but you also want to know what it can explain.
You enjoy coding, but you are more interested in models and ideas than software for its own sake.
You like science and keep getting distracted by the equations.
You want to understand why a system behaves the way it does.
You like problems that do not immediately tell you which technique to use.
Applied mathematics can sit between departments, fields, and ways of thinking.
At Illinois Tech, you get a lot of room to make the degree your own — pick a specialization, add a minor, and follow what interests you.
SIAM is one place to meet other students, hear about research, find conferences and talks, and see where mathematics can lead beyond coursework.
SEE HOW THE DEGREE ACTUALLY WORKS ↗You don't have to know where you fit to start finding out.