Dilemma about choosing 2nd major (1 Viewer)

[4025808]

Stuck between deciding to major in either Chinese or Maths as additional majors to B Commerce/B Science or Arts

So basically what they have in common is that:

1. They are both WAM killers
2. They require lots of effort
3. Both majors are generally held in high regard by employers

For Chinese,

Advantages:

1. Retain my home language, since I don't speak it that often
2. Will get to meet people who are more like me

Disadvantages:

1. Won't have the support from the UNSW maths people that I know of already
2. May possibly forget the language
3. Lots of memorizing

For Maths

Advantages:

1. Don't want to lose mathematical ability, so I want to retain it
2. Will get a huge support group of first year students that I know of.

Disadvantages:

1. May not achieve that high compared with HSC, since HSC maths and uni maths are in both a different context
2. Might not understand the content as easily compared with Chinese.


I might want to work in Mainland China or Taiwan in the future, so I thought Chinese would be useful, but then again Mathematics is a really interesting subject to do. I plan to be majoring in actuarial studies.
Aiyah, dilemmas. Please give me your opinions.

 

[aya-chan]

Nothing's guaranteed to be a "WAM killer". It just depends on how much work you put in, natural ability, etc.

 

[4025808]

Nothing's guaranteed to be a "WAM killer". It just depends on how much work you put in, natural ability, etc.

well they're just considered WAM killers from most people's perspectives...

 

[Mature Lamb]

LOOK its the guy who pretty much enrolled at unsw actuarial studies when he was born!

 

[Timothy.Siu]

You can do all three.
Can't u major in Chinese in commerce?
So, You can try major in Actuarial, Chinese and Maths. in a Com/Sci degree.
If you can't/dont want to do that.
You can do Com/Sci and Diploma of Languages (Chinese) at the same time. This would take an extra year though. http://www.handbook.unsw.edu.au/undergraduate/programs/2012/3417.html

 

[4025808]

You can do all three.
Can't u major in Chinese in commerce?
So, You can try major in Actuarial, Chinese and Maths. in a Com/Sci degree.
If you can't/dont want to do that.
You can do Com/Sci and Diploma of Languages (Chinese) at the same time. This would take an extra year though. http://www.handbook.unsw.edu.au/undergraduate/programs/2012/3417.html

In a double degree, if you already have one major and want to major in one field, you often can't major in another, so that leaves 2 at maximum.

Do they actually allow for doing Com/Sci and a diploma in languages at the same time? :O because it seems like you need to overload or go to summer school a lot.

 

[Timothy.Siu]

In a double degree, if you already have one major and want to major in one field, you often can't major in another, so that leaves 2 at maximum.

Do they actually allow for doing Com/Sci and a diploma in languages at the same time? :O because it seems like you need to overload or go to summer school a lot.

ah yeah you're right about that. And sure, they should let you do diploma at the same time. It'll just take 5 years to do diploma + double degree.

 

[Timothy.Siu]

and too bad theres no diploma of math or you could do all three in 4 years.

 

[wantingtoknow]

Nothing's guaranteed to be a "WAM killer". It just depends on how much work you put in, natural ability, etc.

what this person said is true. I'm taking chinese at the moment and have been getting 80+.

 

[Shadowdude]

Maths... WAM killer?

Says who. Certainly not for me.

1. May not achieve that high compared with HSC, since HSC maths and uni maths are in both a different context
2. Might not understand the content as easily compared with Chinese.

1. You'll find that most people don't achieve that high compared to HSC because they... slack off.
2. Are you kidding me...? The concepts and content is easy to learn - 99% of the time - like the thing that pissed me off the most was multiplying matrices for the first time.

---

If you want to learn Chinese, do it in your own time if you want. You usually cannot "learn" maths in your own time. If you want to meet up with Chinese people - dude, you're at UNSW, and also join the Chinese club.

 

[Timothy.Siu]

About this wam killer stuff, I'm doing Chinese and Maths atm,
I'd say Chinese isn't too bad (for Introductory anyway), it's not too hard to get 75+
Maths i'd say is more natural talent, so it CAN be a wam killer. I'd say that Maths has a higher variance than Chinese, with the average being around the same, i.e. more spread out, lots of higher marks but lots of lower marks (fails).
Generally I think more people would say Maths would be a bigger wam killer than Chinese because of this. (It's really really hard to fail intro chinese A or B)
However, like wantingtoknow, i've been getting 80+ in Chinese but still a wam killer for me

 

[lyounamu]

^well said. I do feel that maths requires greater natural talent as it gets more complex in nature and hard work is not 100% rewarded unlike other subjects.

Maths... WAM killer?

Says who. Certainly not for me.



1. You'll find that most people don't achieve that high compared to HSC because they... slack off.
2. Are you kidding me...? The concepts and content is easy to learn - 99% of the time - like the thing that pissed me off the most was multiplying matrices for the first time.

---

If you want to learn Chinese, do it in your own time if you want. You usually cannot "learn" maths in your own time. If you want to meet up with Chinese people - dude, you're at UNSW, and also join the Chinese club.

Dude, I dont know how you amazing you are in maths but get off your high horse. You can say maths is easy AFTER experiencing some harder maths in 2nd year at its highest level.

Judging from your mark, you didnt even score high enough mark in finance which is piss easy maths. So you see? everyone has different strengths and interests and it's obvious that everyone has natural tendency to gravitate towards subjects that they feel confident and easy about.

And learning Chinese from academic perspective is way different from learning from other people in social circumstances. It gives perspectives and understanding beyond simple language skills. And what's wrong with going for a subject that is easier for that person (so the person can perhaps score higher?)

Tell me maths is easy after conquering 2nd + 3rd year maths onwards. I think only people who can say such thing are prob TS, MK, SL, BQ ...etc.

 

[deterministic]

I assume you are yet to start uni. Correct me if I am wrong.

You don't really choose your majors until second year. First year is about getting the cores done.

Do MATH1151/MATH1251 first as part of the actuarial major. If you enjoy MATH1251 and do well in it, then do maths. If not, try Chinese. Transferring between programs isn't hard.

 

[Shadowdude]

^well said. I do feel that maths requires greater natural talent as it gets more complex in nature and hard work is not 100% rewarded unlike other subjects.



Dude, I dont know how you amazing you are in maths but get off your high horse. You can say maths is easy AFTER experiencing some harder maths in 2nd year at its highest level.

Judging from your mark, you didnt even score high enough mark in finance which is piss easy maths. So you see? everyone has different strengths and interests and it's obvious that everyone has natural tendency to gravitate towards subjects that they feel confident and easy about.

And learning Chinese from academic perspective is way different from learning from other people in social circumstances. It gives perspectives and understanding beyond simple language skills. And what's wrong with going for a subject that is easier for that person (so the person can perhaps score higher?)

Tell me maths is easy after conquering 2nd + 3rd year maths onwards. I think only people who can say such thing are prob TS, MK, SL, BQ ...etc.

My mark in finance was not due to inability, but due to me not caring about the subject. But what I also meant from learning Chinese is that for example, I know the Filipino Society has free Filipino classes for its members - perhaps the Chinese society has a similar arrangement.

 

[4025808]

I assume you are yet to start uni. Correct me if I am wrong.

You don't really choose your majors until second year. First year is about getting the cores done.

Do MATH1151/MATH1251 first as part of the actuarial major. If you enjoy MATH1251 and do well in it, then do maths. If not, try Chinese. Transferring between programs isn't hard.

Yes I am about to start uni next year. I'm trying out actuarial at first to see whether or not if I like it, or if I can do it. If I get anything under 65, I'm definitely dropping actuarial.