Applied Finance vs. Actuary vs. Economics (1 Viewer)

[Kingportable]

Hi i need some help thinking about courses, i'am really interested in working in the finance industry and this this whole "theoretical business" concept based career paths.

I am planning on going to Macquarie university and have done some research and found that its one of the best only being rated behind the university of victoria or melbourne and UNSW i think. Plus this whole idea that its a business school (partly) located in the Sydney CBD sounds like a blast and a very good opportunity.

HERE IS WHERE I NEED SOME HELP, there is plenty of business focused social science type of courses in what i have seem from Macquarie's undergraduate courses. There is Actuarial Studies, Applied Finance and Economics (btw i am not at all interested in Commerce it sounds like a waste of time and not into interests). At moment i have my eyes set on Macquarie's Applied Finance course which has an 88 ATAR cut off and more so if i could Macquarie's Applied Finance with a degree of law which is an intimidating 97 ATAR. I've been eyeing Finance with a degree of law because some people have advised me on yahoo answers that the Finance careers requires a bit of knowledge about law.

Any what do you guys think? Are there better schools that you have in mind? Are one of these courses better than another? Am i wrong about something?

 

[TheGreatest99.95]

also interested!

 

[raghusi]

I reckon applied finance/law and economics/applied finance double degrees are very good options. Only go for actuarial studies if you're genius at maths- the drop out rate is very high- 70%.

 

[Omnipotence]

It's hard to distinguish because it's still only HSC mathematics.

 

[raghusi]

well, ok i guess you could try it for a yr and see how it goes! But seriously, what I mean is whether u enjoy maths/ or maths comes easily to u/ if that's the case then by all means go for it! However, it's hard to get an actuarial job even with a Credit average/ u gotta aim for d/hd average! Not to mention passing the actuarial exams!

 

[raghusi]

lol actuarial is statistics/probability to an exponential level!

 

[raghusi]

Yeahh this is what I thought but after going to the UNSW lecture on actuarial studies i got confused because the lecturer made it seem like jobs were easy to get

lols unsw actuarial donno what they're talkin about! i know the facts after speaking to mq actuarial students( ones with D/HD AVERAGE) at mq open day! GO to mq if u wanna do actuarial!

 

[anne1010]

Yeahh this is what I thought but after going to the UNSW lecture on actuarial studies i got confused because the lecturer made it seem like jobs were easy to get

actuarial used to have the highest employment rate for graduates. but these days unis are churning out more graduates then positions available. its harder to find a job these days.
they regard 'work experience' during your holidays there very highly but its very hard to get accepted. thats why the unsw co-op program is so desirable.

 

[4025808]

Yeahh this is what I thought but after going to the UNSW lecture on actuarial studies i got confused because the lecturer made it seem like jobs were easy to get

You could get jobs that apply actuarial skills, especially in Finance, but you wouldn't be able to get a job as an actuary without D-HD avg. ie. you could do a job that requires a finance degree with an actuarial qualification

There are other fields that I have heard of, but I'm not so sure about them.

 

[raghusi]

of course- you could be a quant analyst/ or a trader at Investment banks/ prop trading firms etc but if u dislike actuarial after first yr- then finance/adv(maths) could be a very good option!

 

[raghusi]

actuarial used to have the highest employment rate for graduates. but these days unis are churning out more graduates then positions available. its harder to find a job these days.
they regard 'work experience' during your holidays there very highly but its very hard to get accepted. thats why the unsw co-op program is so desirable.

+1

 

[4025808]

of course- you could be a quant analyst/ or a trader at Investment banks/ prop trading firms etc but if u dislike actuarial after first yr- then finance/adv(maths) could be a very good option!

heh I'll probs be dropping down to teaching if I fail actuarial

oh btw just to add, if you want to find work as an actuary or to get work using actuarial skills, asia is probs the best region to go to. So much demand there because finance is expanding rapidly, especially in mainland China

 

[anne1010]

also, i think people are trying to scare you off @michaeljennings
of course a d/hd will make it easier to get a job - just like any other graduate position, but actuarial requires extensive communication skills, something which doesn't necessarily translate through just marks. a credit student may get a job over a d student for that reason.

 

[raghusi]

heh I'll probs be dropping down to teaching if I fail actuarial

oh btw just to add, if you want to find work as an actuary or to get work using actuarial skills, asia is probs the best region to go to. So much demand there because finance is expanding rapidly, especially in mainland China

that's definitely true, however, fluent mandarin is recommended in mainland China lols

 

[anne1010]

ohh i see

What is it that you are going to do/want to do at uni?

yea i think so. i wanted to do just comm but now im thinking maybe i should do the double deg with adv maths? just cause of job prospects.
my uncles an actuary so ill give him a call i think and get his inside info

 

[anne1010]

wow cool! all im interested in is job prospects lol. i think itd be cool to have a job!

haha obv its cool to have a job who wouldnt wanna have a job after 3 - 5 years of study.
but yea still dont know if its what i wanna do after school but seems to be the only thing thats catching my attention.

 

[anne1010]

yeahh i just filled out my 9 preferences, ill figure out what i wanna do after i get my atar back

hey thats what i just did. about 20 mins ago lol.
almost done and i cant wait

 

[4025808]

that's definitely true, however, fluent mandarin is recommended in mainland China lols

but im duh chinese, and imma brush up on my mandarin so that I'll be able to work in the mainland or taiwan

 

[raghusi]

but im duh chinese, and imma brush up on my mandarin so that I'll be able to work in the mainland or taiwan

good on u m8! good luck!

 

[hungwell1337]

1. there are ppl with C averages that get into actuarial

2. thing with a C average, means you will most likely have passes, which means you probably have missed actuarial exemptions, which means the firm needs to pay for you do redo that shit if they choose to hire you

3. prospects shouldnt be too bad for actl kids with C averages