A lot of questions about Advanced Maths vs. Commerce in my double degree (1 Viewer)

[confusedandconfused]

Hi,
Sorry if this is an inappropriate section to post in (but I posted here since it was about two different fields.)

I have a lot of questions about Advanced Maths and Commerce which I should have asked... a year ago. I jumped into the degree with high hopes I'd enjoy the Commerce part.

Currently, I'm a first year student in my second semester in a B Actuarial Studies/B Commerce degree and I'm thinking about changing the Commerce part to Advanced Mathematics.

Reasons why I'm thinking of this:
- Satisfaction whenever I do Maths
- I don't necessarily enjoy my Commerce units (just like a 'meh' feeling whenever doing it)

Reasons why I'm thinking of not going with this:
- Job opportunities (I believe having a Commerce degree would have much more synergy with my Actuarial Studies degree)
- A good thing to fall back on (since it's relatively hard to get an actuarial job)
- Unsure if the majors I pick for Maths will be of good use industrially (in particular, Pure Maths)
- Unsure if the majors (or Adv. Maths overall) will synergise well with Actuarial Studies


Current questions I have so far:
1. If I were to change from Commerce to Adv. Maths, which major would be best suited with an Actuarial Studies degree?
I would assume it'd go from Statistics >= Applied Maths (not sure if they overlap a lot with Statistics?) > Pure

2. Would switching to Adv. Maths even give me a change to work in the Finance industry in the case I don't land an Actuarial job? (I was planning to major in Finance)

3. Does a Statistics major and Applied major overlap a lot? (Or does Applied have a broader range of fields?)

4. Since I worry about job opportunities, would it just be easier for me to take the Commerce part?

I might have a few more questions but can't remember them currently.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[si2136]

It all depends on what you want to work as. Generally, if you want to be an Actuary, just that degree would be fine.
2. Since you were planning to major in Finance, there is a change in roles, depending on the pathway in which you take. However, generally trading roles are really hard to get, so to be realistic, there's not going to be much change, but it all depends on your major.
3. They're very different. Research them.
4. Commerce is overrated. Same as actuary. Maths isn't.

Why don't you like your Commerce Units?

 

[confusedandconfused]

It all depends on what you want to work as. Generally, if you want to be an Actuary, just that degree would be fine.
2. Since you were planning to major in Finance, there is a change in roles, depending on the pathway in which you take. However, generally trading roles are really hard to get, so to be realistic, there's not going to be much change, but it all depends on your major.
3. They're very different. Research them.
4. Commerce is overrated. Same as actuary. Maths isn't.

Why don't you like your Commerce Units?

Unsure. I find it a bit bland and I don't have much motivation when studying it

 

[si2136]

Unsure. I find it a bit bland and I don't have much motivation when studying it

You'll find it hard to work in a finance industry then if you don't have a quant/stat role.

 

[confusedandconfused]

You'll find it hard to work in a finance industry then if you don't have a quant/stat role.

Yeah I've realised this too late.
Wondering if anyone with past experience could also answer? Would greatly appreciate advice

 

[4025808]

I'd say having a statistics major can open you up to many more opportunities, particularly in data science, data analytics, Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW Department of Health, government departments and organisations (where statistics is needed), media organisations, cancer council, areas where medical research requires statistical analysis. These are some of the many opportunities you can grab outside of commerce/business related fields, if you didn't think about those.

Also since you're in UNSW, I suggest you take MATH2871 for sure - there's a work experience program you can apply for while you're completing that course - can get you some work experience related to SAS.

As for your questions:

1. Actuarial studies degree I'd say best goes along with statistics, but also maybe applied maths. Not so much pure but you can do it for interest.

2. Yes it would, provided that you can show your knowledge of finance, i.e. network in society events, do some research and what not.

3. There's a large range for both statistics fields (bayesian inference, stochastic processes, inference, statistics applied to market/social research) and applied mathematics (this one has computing, optimization, maths for education, biomathematics, etc.) so either way there's lots of things you can study or do research on. Many things may overlap but afaik out of the 3rd year applied maths courses I have done, none of them overlapped with statistics courses (but some statistics courses overlap with each other).

4. I'd now say for you, keep the commerce degree and do a normal science degree instead of the adv. maths one. For one I'd say that actuarial jobs are very hard to get these days (400+ people competing for only around 40 positions or less), and that an actuarial degree only gets you into actuarial, maybe finance and all the generalist consulting roles (+ investment banking, if you're good enough). Whereas in a commerce degree, you can major in accounting, finance, HRM, marketing, etc. So more choices to pick out of to extend your reach, since graduate market is so over-saturated anyway. As for having a normal science degree, you have more flexibility and can choose to do lower courses (instead of higher), can choose not to do honours year (which is compulsory for adv. maths students) and can choose to double major or triple major even.

Just my 2c.

 

[leehuan]

triple major

Eww lol

 

[confusedandconfused]

I'd say having a statistics major can open you up to many more opportunities, particularly in data science, data analytics, Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW Department of Health, government departments and organisations (where statistics is needed), media organisations, cancer council, areas where medical research requires statistical analysis. These are some of the many opportunities you can grab outside of commerce/business related fields, if you didn't think about those.

Also since you're in UNSW, I suggest you take MATH2871 for sure - there's a work experience program you can apply for while you're completing that course - can get you some work experience related to SAS.

As for your questions:

1. Actuarial studies degree I'd say best goes along with statistics, but also maybe applied maths. Not so much pure but you can do it for interest.

2. Yes it would, provided that you can show your knowledge of finance, i.e. network in society events, do some research and what not.

3. There's a large range for both statistics fields (bayesian inference, stochastic processes, inference, statistics applied to market/social research) and applied mathematics (this one has computing, optimization, maths for education, biomathematics, etc.) so either way there's lots of things you can study or do research on. Many things may overlap but afaik out of the 3rd year applied maths courses I have done, none of them overlapped with statistics courses (but some statistics courses overlap with each other).

4. I'd now say for you, keep the commerce degree and do a normal science degree instead of the adv. maths one. For one I'd say that actuarial jobs are very hard to get these days (400+ people competing for only around 40 positions or less), and that an actuarial degree only gets you into actuarial, maybe finance and all the generalist consulting roles (+ investment banking, if you're good enough). Whereas in a commerce degree, you can major in accounting, finance, HRM, marketing, etc. So more choices to pick out of to extend your reach, since graduate market is so over-saturated anyway. As for having a normal science degree, you have more flexibility and can choose to do lower courses (instead of higher), can choose not to do honours year (which is compulsory for adv. maths students) and can choose to double major or triple major even.

Just my 2c.

Thanks for this! Very informative.
For your 4th point, do you mean I should change from my current Actl/Comm to Comm/Sci.? Sorry if I misinterpreted it.

 

[Drsoccerball]

I'd say having a statistics major can open you up to many more opportunities, particularly in data science, data analytics, Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW Department of Health, government departments and organisations (where statistics is needed), media organisations, cancer council, areas where medical research requires statistical analysis. These are some of the many opportunities you can grab outside of commerce/business related fields, if you didn't think about those.

Also since you're in UNSW, I suggest you take MATH2871 for sure - there's a work experience program you can apply for while you're completing that course - can get you some work experience related to SAS.

As for your questions:

1. Actuarial studies degree I'd say best goes along with statistics, but also maybe applied maths. Not so much pure but you can do it for interest.

2. Yes it would, provided that you can show your knowledge of finance, i.e. network in society events, do some research and what not.

3. There's a large range for both statistics fields (bayesian inference, stochastic processes, inference, statistics applied to market/social research) and applied mathematics (this one has computing, optimization, maths for education, biomathematics, etc.) so either way there's lots of things you can study or do research on. Many things may overlap but afaik out of the 3rd year applied maths courses I have done, none of them overlapped with statistics courses (but some statistics courses overlap with each other).

4. I'd now say for you, keep the commerce degree and do a normal science degree instead of the adv. maths one. For one I'd say that actuarial jobs are very hard to get these days (400+ people competing for only around 40 positions or less), and that an actuarial degree only gets you into actuarial, maybe finance and all the generalist consulting roles (+ investment banking, if you're good enough). Whereas in a commerce degree, you can major in accounting, finance, HRM, marketing, etc. So more choices to pick out of to extend your reach, since graduate market is so over-saturated anyway. As for having a normal science degree, you have more flexibility and can choose to do lower courses (instead of higher), can choose not to do honours year (which is compulsory for adv. maths students) and can choose to double major or triple major even.

Just my 2c.

What can I do with pure maths lel...

 

[4025808]

Thanks for this! Very informative.
For your 4th point, do you mean I should change from my current Actl/Comm to Comm/Sci.? Sorry if I misinterpreted it.

Well, yeah, that's what I'd personally suggest. It's personally that I've done actuarial for a year myself, and the degree doesn't really teach you a lot. Also seeing that it's also a pretty specialised thus the job options are actually limited. Whereas generalist majors like mathematics, statistics, finance, accounting, etc. have easy options of moving around.

Wonder if anyone else give a counter-argument to changing to comm/sci, and just remaining in actl/sci?

What can I do with pure maths lel...

Academia brah
Or you could do quant trader when you get PhD.

 

[leehuan]

Well, yeah, that's what I'd personally suggest. It's personally that I've done actuarial for a year myself, and the degree doesn't really teach you a lot. Also seeing that it's also a pretty specialised thus the job options are actually limited. Whereas generalist majors like mathematics, statistics, finance, accounting, etc. have easy options of moving around.

Wonder if anyone else give a counter-argument to changing to comm/sci, and just remaining in actl/sci?

Adv maths still sounds more fun than normal science

 

[RenegadeMx]

What can I do with pure maths lel...

cry

 

[4025808]

Adv maths still sounds more fun than normal science

lol pls, normal science is better.

That's just my preference though. At least I didn't have to do SCIF

 

[leehuan]

lol pls, normal science is better.

That's just my preference though. At least I didn't have to do SCIF

SCIF was only cancerous because I got 84 in it please it's not even that bad


normal science... math courses without higher on them...

 

[Drsoccerball]

SCIF was only cancerous because I got 84 in it please it's not even that bad


normal science... math courses without higher on them...

scif is aids...

 

[leehuan]

scif is aids...

You did ENGG1000 that's worse.