Math degree?

by Ben

As an undergrad, I majored in computer science and minored in mathematics and electrical engineering. As a grad, I took a few math courses.

Now, only months after completing my graduate degree, I’m thinking that if I go back for another, I might want to do a master of science program in mathematics or applied mathematics. I really would like to become much deeper mathematically.

Further still, I would also like to go deeper in computer science and electrical engineering, and therein lies my problem; I have a youthful infatuation with knowledge. What is a finite-minded man with a finite span of time to do with a seemingly infinite world of knowledge at his fingertips? Right now I’m re-studying DSP material. I had an undergraduate course on this topic and I scored high marks in it, but after 3 years, I’ve forgotten most of it. I want to re-learn it more thoroughly than I learned it the first time, so it will take a long time. After that, though, what? Wavelets? Complexity theory? Real & Complex analysis? Graph theory? Brush up on advanced calculus? Matrix theory? Number theory? NP theory? Compiler construction? Statistical signal processing? Aggh. It’s all too much. I need a jack in the back of my head like they had in “The Matrix”.
In any case, I’m not sure how I would actually go about it. Would I try to do part-time schoolwork while I am employed at $work, and slowly chip away at a degree one course at a time? Would I do online work, or try to make it to classes? If I were to quit my job to do schoolwork full-time, when would I do it (I’m certainly in no financial position to do such a thing any time in the near future)?

I follow this thought process to its conclusion all the time, and it’s always the same; I pursue self-study as devotedly as possible, and hope for a golden opportunity to go back someday.