I'm currently in year 11 and have to figure out what I would like to do in university. I'm extremely confused and am not set on anything. I've considered medicine and actuarial studies but don't know much about either. Could someone please explain them, in terms of job description, universities that offer them, prerequisites and ATAR cutoffs. Thankyou
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Need help!! (1 Viewer)
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astroman
Well-Known Member
You should first understand what your strengths and weaknesses are. If you are more into mathematics/sciences i would suggest going into fields such as engineering, acturial studies or science, whereas if you enjoy more english/humanities/commercial studies, then degrees such as law or commerce are great for you.
If you are considering medicine you should be doing a UMAT and aiming for a pretty high atar, (98+) to get a chance of getting into bMed. Similarly actuarial studies is also a very popular course offered in nearly all universities and a simple google search will show you the cut-offs.
As for prerequisites, there are none (in most courses), but rather assumed knowledge. This means that you should have prior knowledge but it is not compulsory, so you can undertake bridging courses if you would like to learn what you may of missed. So for assumed knowledge for medicine look at somethings like:
- chemistry
- biology
- english (preferably adv)
- math
And for actuarial studies
- at least look at 2u but 3u+ is highly recommended.
To learn about acturial studies visit these links:
http://www.asb.unsw.edu.au/schools/actuarialstudies/aboutactuarialstudies/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/u/PS/careers.html
To learn about medicine visit these links:
http://med.unsw.edu.au/
http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/
http://www.uws.edu.au/medicine/som
An entire list of atar cut-offs is here:
http://www.uac.edu.au/documents/atar/2013-main-cutoffs.pdf
acturial studies
ANU - 95 atar
UNSW - 97
medicine
UNSW - 96+
USYD - 99.95
Actuary jobs:
Risk Management
Statistician
Portfolio Analysis
Management Consulting
Actuary
Scientific Publishing
Software Development
Investment Fund Management
Insurance Analyst
Marketing
Financial Consulting
Academic Research
Quantitative Analysis
Teaching or Lecturing
Computer Graphics
Public Service
Defence Research
Air Traffic Control
Business Planning
Technical Consulting
Operations Research
Airline Scheduling
Industrial Modelling
Algorithm Development
Artificial Intelligence
Pattern Recognition
Environmental Research
Meteorology
Economic Forecasting
medicine jobs:
varies.
Its prelim years at the moment so don't stress too much about career prospects. Ask around a lot and talk with your careers advisor to suggest what you may be suitable for. As i mentioned before choose degrees according to interests and talent and not solely on demand or salary opportunities because you don't want to waste 3-8 years of your life at uni with a degree you don't enjoy. So at the moment just do your research, visit uni open days and ask anyone all your questions and i am sure it will clear things up greatly.
If there was something beyond 4u, I'd recommend that (particularly HARDER 3u probability/series and sequences)
people who didn't get E4 for 4u, or didn't do 4u struggle with the math component often underestimating the difficulty
where's macquarie? also atar is highly correlated with obtaining exemptions,
lecturer told me 90% of students who got 96~ atar do not get all exemptions whilst only 10% of students who got 99+ do not get all exemptions
Do actuarial studies if:
you are very strong at maths, expecting 95+ 3u and 92+ 4u
good at harder probability/insane series and sequences/convergence/statistics
interested in finance
have nothing else to do
Last edited:
Kymren
Member
You've got a year to decide. don't worry to much.
I'm in year 12 and still don't really know what I want to do.
I'm in year 12 and still don't really know what I want to do.
Please, stay on topic guys.
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There are several students like you...even me when I was going to join a college. Do not think for a short goal like completing degree....many will say that check your strength or weak areas and go with the strong subject that you have....that is not reality, College is entirely different then school.
Focus for future:- You want o become a doctor, an engineer or want to plan your own business or want to go into IT field. Once you plan your objective then proceed backward that what do you need to achieve that. I know several students who were not good in Math but now working with top giant It companies in designing, graphics where Math is not required. So Plan that way...good luck
Focus for future:- You want o become a doctor, an engineer or want to plan your own business or want to go into IT field. Once you plan your objective then proceed backward that what do you need to achieve that. I know several students who were not good in Math but now working with top giant It companies in designing, graphics where Math is not required. So Plan that way...good luck