Mathematics Majors & Degrees

When you study mathematics at Westmont you actively participate in your learning and work closely with both students and professors.

You belong to a supportive community of mathematicians becoming fluent in the language of the natural world. You look beyond numbers and formulas to abstract patterns, using your imagination and stretching your creativity. As you develop deeper understanding of the fundamentals of mathematics, you’ll become a well-educated and well-rounded person. Through your classes and work on research projects, you’ll gain knowledge and skills that make you a better thinker and communicator and prepare you for interesting and rewarding careers.

 

 

Have a question about the Mathematics major?

Our Academic Administrative Assistant Susan Leyva would love to help!

sleyva@westmont.edu or (805) 565-6174

A message from the

Mathematics Department

 

 

Mathematics Career Paths

Interested in pursuing a career based on solving complex problems?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment occupations that require a strong background in math or computer science continues to grow at faster than average rates. Our graduates find jobs in many areas, including:

  • Education
  • Linguistics
  • Medicine
  • Law
  • Finance
  • Biomedical Research
  • Software Development
  • Systems Analysis
  • Operations Research
  • Government Service
  • Data Analytics

Explore Mathematics Graduates' Career Paths

Mathematics

Faculty

[Description of Mathematics & Computer Science Faculty]

Sample Schedule

B.A. in Mathematics
B.S. in Mathematics
Fall (17)
  • MA009 Calculus I (4)
  • MA015 Discrete Mathematics (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Elective (4)
  • Physical Education Activity (1)
Spring (17)
  • MA010 Calculus II (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Physical Education Activity (1)
Fall (17)
  • MA009 Calculus I (4)
  • MA015 Discrete Mathematics (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Elective (4)
  • Physical Education Activity (1)
Spring (17)
  • MA010 Calculus II (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Physical Education Activity (1)
B.A. in Mathematics
B.S. in Mathematics
Fall (17)
  • MA019 Multivariable (4)
  • CS010 Design and Implementation of Solutions (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Physical Education Activity (1)
Spring (17)
  • MA020 Linear Algebra (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Physical Education Activity (1)
Fall (17)
  • MA019 Multivariable Calculus (4)
  • CS010 Design and Implementation of Solutions (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Physical Education Activity (1)
Spring (17)
  • MA020 Linear Algebra (4)
  • CS030 Models for Problems Using Java (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Physical Education Activity (1)
B.A. in Mathematics
B.S. in Mathematics
Fall (16) - Even Years
  • MA108 Mathematical Analysis (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • General Education (4)
Spring (16)
  • Mathematics Elective (4)
  • Mathematics Elective (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Elective (4)
Fall (16) - Even Years
  • MA108 Mathematical Analysis (4)
  • Common Context GE (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • General Education (4)
Spring (16)
  • MA109 Advanced Mathematical Analysis (4)
  • Mathematics Elective (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Elective (4)

*Third and Fourth years can be swapped depending on an even or odd year.

B.A. in Mathematics
B.S. in Mathematics
Fall (16) - Odd Years
  • MA110 Modern Algebra (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Elective (4)
  • Elective (4)
Spring (14)
  • Mathematics Elective (4)
  • Mathematics Elective (4)
  • Elective (4)
  • MA180 Capstone Problem Solving (2)
Fall (16) - Odd Years
  • MA110 Modern Algebra (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • Elective (4)
  • Elective (4)
Spring (14)
  • MA111 Applied Modern Algebra (4)
  • Mathematics Elective (4)
  • Common Inquiries GE (4)
  • MA180 Capstone Problem Solving (2)

*Third and Fourth years can be swapped depending on an even or odd year.

Requirements

See the Mathematics section of the college catalog for official major and minor requirements, course descriptions, and prerequisites. Upper-division courses are offered every other year according to the following schedule:

  • Fall, even years: MA-108, MA-124
  • Spring, odd years: MA-109, MA-130, MA-155
  • Fall, odd years: MA-110, MA-136
  • Spring, even years: MA-111, MA-135, MA-140

Tutoring

If you are a community member looking for a mathematics tutor, please contact our department assistant Susan Leyva (sleyva@westmont.edu).


 

What have our Mathematics students been up to?

Events

Mathematics Field Day

Every year, Westmont students host a "Mathematics Field Day" for Santa Barbara high-school students. 

Join us for challenging and thrilling events like Chalk Talk, College Bowl, Team Exam, and Awards Banquet.

Participants get an iconic shirt like one of these.

Learn More About Math Field Day

 

Where are our Mathematics Alumni now?

Kyle Bechler ’06 works as a data scientist with CBRE in Santa Barbara. In 2015, Kyle completed his Ph.D. in statistics from UC Santa Barbara. His areas of expertise include predictive modeling, machine learning, leveraged credit, and financial modeling.

Robby Cherry ’06 earned a master’s degree in education, coached cross country and track, and worked as a substitute teacher. He now teaches mathematics at Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine, Calif., and serves as an assistant coach for cross country and track and field. He has fond memories of tea and snacks at his professors’ homes accompanied by conversations about trisecting angles.

Kristin Kidd Demmert ’06 received her nursing degree at Johns Hopkins University and works at an infertility clinic in Denver, Colo. She is earning a master’s degree in nursing. She fondly remembers hours of reviewing concepts in the math office at the chalkboard, all of the dinners together, and learning math in such a tight-knit group.

Melissa McCleod ’06 teaches middle school and high school math at an international school in China, everything from sixth-grade math to AP calculus.  Her students come from all over the world, including South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada and Turkey. Her Westmont education prepared her well for some of the questions students ask, such as, “Where exactly is pi on the number line?”

Patsy Calderon Lloyd ’01 earned a master’s degree in biostatistics at Harvard School of Public Health and works as a statistician at International Partnership for Microbicides, helping run clinical trials for HIV microbicides for women. She’s also working on a doctorate in epidemiology. She writes, “I appreciate the dedication of my professors, who were genuinely concerned that I not only learned the material they taught, but that I understood the process of learning itself. That process is usually uncomfortable; trying to stay up all night to cram new material into your brain before homework is due is usually not the way to go. My all-time favorite quote from Dr. Rosentrater: ‘Patsy, you need sleep.’”

Stephanie Earney Meriaux ’01 graduated with a degree in math and promptly left the comforts of equations for a 4,500-mile bicycle trip across the country followed by an ironman triathlon and a brief career in outdoor education working for Outward Bound and the Boojum Institute. She lives in France and uses her travel and mathematics skills as a project manager for a geographic information systems company that collects and analyzes geographic and demographic information for corporations.

Mike Petty ’06 worked for an internet communications provider and a software developer for manufacturing after finishing his degree in mathematics. He joined the staff of Youth with a Mission and works in Romania.  Mike says, “I was a little blown away when I was first introduced to non-Euclidean geometry.  But once I was given the tools and theorems to explore, it became much more exciting to wander around this place I’d never been before.”

Paige Baird Whiting ’00 spent a number of years after graduation working as a high school math teacher. She now lives in India and works for India Christian Ministries, giving children at risk a home life in the church and an education at the local, private, English-speaking school.

 

You just have to see it for yourself!

 

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