Updates and Thoughts on Accredited Classes, MOOC's, and General Education Requirements

It's certainly been an interesting academic year from August 2012 to May 2013. I've been quite engrossed in my final two semesters of simultaneously pursuing both my A.S. in Math/Physics and my B.A. in Mathematical Sciences. Now as I approach the end of my fourth full semester of returning to the academic world (in addition to the Summer 2012 eight-week term), there are decisions to be made, schedules to be planned, and milestones to celebrate.

Since I haven't been actively blogging lately, let's begin by recapping my classes over the past nine months:

• Fall 2012
• Calculus III
• Physics II
• Linear Algebra
• Mathematical Statistics I
• Spring 2013
• Discrete Mathematics
• Differential Equations
• Abstract Algebra
• Advanced Calculus

With the completion of the Spring 2013 semester this coming month, I will graduate with my A.S. in Math/Physics from the local community college. That's the first major academic milestone in my life since "deciding to go back and finish my degree" in the autumn of 2011. It's certainly something I'm very proud of, but it's also a step towards my larger goals.

The next step in the process is completing my B.A. in Mathematical Sciences, which I should complete in exactly one more year (the upcoming Summer 2013 semester, followed by two full term semesters). In order to do this, I need to be sure that all of the requirements beyond the math courses are fulfilled. There are currently four general education requirements that I need to complete, which luckily can all be plugged up by community college courses over this coming summer (and with one CLEP test).

I had hoped to pursue a couple of Coursera MOOC courses in May/June, but sadly it looks like they will need to fall by the wayside as I pursue accredited coursework instead. It's no doubt the wise decision to make, so my interest in both Biostatistics and Machine Learning will have to wait at least a while longer.

While I will be taking 17 credits this summer, I'll be able to dial back to 8-12 credits in each of the two following semesters. Here's what my rough schedule looks like for the next 12 months:

• Summer 2013
• Contemporary Biology
• Microeconomics
• Art History
• Topics in Number Theory
• Statistical Methods
• Fall 2013
• Geometry
• Operations Research Methods
• Electives (3-8 credits) *
• Spring 2014
• Mathematical Statistics II *
• Elective (3-4 credits) *

Note: * denotes where I have some freedom to choose when I want to take courses. I will need another 8 or so credits between Fall and Spring, and could feasibly complete my degree in the Fall if I forego Mathematical Statistics II in favor of another non-math course.

So, that's a summary of pretty much everything I know right now as far as my education goes. Before long, I'm going to have to make a decision on at least the general path I want to tread after my B.A. is complete. Should I continue on with my dream to pursue a PhD and teach math at the university level, or should I pursue an applied career such as Actuarial Science, Machine Learning, Biostatistics, etc.? Time will tell!