The real world is ALL WORD PROBLEMS!!
If I had one piece of advice to give it is that most math is not number crunching. Its talking to someone about their issue, gathering information, choosing a method, setting up the problems, making sure conditions are met, then finally running the numbers, then convincing others you are right.
I usually get a phone call or an email, go to lunch, listen to a tale of woe, then get to dig in, fix the issue, write up the issue, then discuss it with the person, provide further background if they have another audience to communicate with. Sometimes I go with a much simpler approach that is wrong in some respects, but which is more easily grasped and used.
Just being good at math is not enough!! You have to be able to talk about it.
I think most intelligent people have an intuitive grasp for math, they just do not know how to communicate in mathematical terms nor do they know how to BE SURE they are right.
