Which is better? USYD (1 Viewer)

[Cryptical]

Hi all,

I was wondering which degree you would think is better for a student who's high performing in maths (4U), but wants to do more business like finance in Uni?

They are both at USYD and both require a 98 ATAR, but one is a bach/bach (4 years), and the other a bach/masters (4.5 years).
They also have a year in industry (I THINK)

Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Advanced) but only under the Dalyell program for that 98 ATAR
https://sydney.edu.au/courses/cours...nd-bachelor-of-advanced-studies-advanced.html

Bachelor of Science and Master of Mathematical Sciences
https://sydney.edu.au/courses/cours...ence-and-master-of-mathematical-sciences.html

What do you think the advantages/disadvantages of each program?

Thanks,
Cryptical

 

[sida1049]

I remember sitting an honours session for maths a couple of months ago, and they mentioned that currently, they're haven't gotten confirmation on the Master of Mathematical Sciences being subsidised (i.e. Commonwealth Supported Place). Unless if they've explicitly fixed this before you enrol, from a financial standpoint, it's safer to do an undergrads then an honours, rather than the masters degree.

Also, if you want to take finance units, you 100% should go for B. Sci with advanced studies, since that allows you to take units (or even major) from other faculties outside of science. The same flexibility is not available under the masters degree.

Regarding the one year industry, I don't think this is really an advantage. 1. you don't know this for sure, 2. if it's a part of your degree, there's a chance you're not paid for your work and is probably bureaucratic, and 3. you're better off going after paid internships during your summer breaks, which many finance and trading companies offer to maths and comp sci majors.

Btw this is a personal opinion, but if you're interested in mathematical finance, you're very likely to be better off avoiding any unit offered by the commerce faculty (e.g. standard finance units for business students), and study some computer science and/or statistics (alongside with your maths major, of course). Having more programming or statistical analysis knowledge is way more useful than your typical business finance courses, and it's far easier to self-study finance (if necessary) than it is to self-study comp sci or statistics. (Often, finance/trading companies will train you the finance knowledge anyway, so what they're really looking for is your capability in more technical pursuits.)

 

[blyatman]

It really depends what you want to do as a career. Is Business/Finance your primary goal/degree? Or is just a side major taken out of interest?

If it's the former, then it'd make more sense to combine with an actual degree in Business/Finance rather than just having a major in it (assuming it's no more than 1 extra year). It'll also be difficult to take a bus/fin subjects if you do the Master's degree. If you want to specialise in math, then it'd more sense to just do an honours year with it, since honours is typically seen as better than a masters for most of the traditional science majors.

Again, in the end, it really depends on what industry you'd like to head into.