Career advice (peripheral)

[moby]

I'm a pure math major (finishing up my sophomore year; the only math courses I've taken so far are "pure" ones), and I do want to go to grad school (in the pure math track) and academia after that.

However:
I'm also kind of nervous and doubtful about the prospect. I'm leaning heavily towards it, but I feel like I should also explore other options before committing myself to the ideal of academia.

I'm just wondering what kind of courses/activities I should do in the event that I should eventually go into industry (if I do, it will probably be after grad school, although who knows, I might even give grad school a pass, or go for the applied track in grad school?)

There is also something else on my mind - the possibility of taking fall semester off senior year to expand my math horizons (and for a change of environment) although I'm not sure what form this will/should take. Does anyone have suggestions? Internships in industry; or just math research opportunities at other universities (how would I secure them?!); etc.

Thanks a lot.

P.S. I don't know if this is the best section to get lots of (good) advice, but I certainly hope for it.

[vict85]

[moby]

I've taken Real Analysis (2 sems), Abstract Algebra (2 sems), Complex Analysis (1 sem), Diff. Geom (1 sem), Logic (1 sem)... My grades are OK but not great. Not counting the A's for my year long honors multivariable class in freshman year, I have 3 A's and 2 B+'s so far (and 2 more grades to come).

I guess I'm leaning towards Algebra and Number Theory academically.
From an applied math perspective, although I've not taken any classes in these subjects, but I feel that combinatorics and discrete math can really get me excited. (I guess this straddles applied and pure though?)
And yeah, I'm hoping to go to one of the top grad schools (princeton, etc.) although it's a crapshoot.
I'd be elated with a place that is just off the very top tier, like UCLA.

[Gen8]

Digression

I personally feel that almost nobody in this forum wants to post or participate in the discourse (with regards to a thread created by someone) here . I really can't understand the reason behind this behavior (which appears weird). Almost no one is interested in creating threads or replying to others' queries or whatever.

I feel this section of AoPS deserves more attention than it is being given now.

[crazypianist1116]

Well I'm not surprised. The major focus on AoPS is high school (and even middle school) math competitions. If you want to know more about career paths, you can always talk to your college teachers.

[Gen8]

You must be kidding! I'm not from the USA, and I bet I'm the only person in my school who is an 'AoPSer' ; I really can't consult my teachers on a career in Math because they don't have the requisite knowledge regarding such questions, so, I have to decided to ask people in this section of AoPS. I hope this section of AoPS becomes active again.