Am I daydreaming? Handbook says we can do easier maths for 1st year Actuarial Studies (1 Viewer)

[bikapika]

Many people suggest that Maths for Actuarial Studies and Finance is the hardest maths 1st year undergraduate course in Australia which really throws ppl off. Well if you read the Handbook carefully, YOU DONT HAVE TO DO IT!

See http://www.handbook.unsw.edu.au/undergraduate/plans/2007/ACTLBD3502.html

At the Plan outline section, it says:

Note: The actuarial studies major requires students to substitute the below approved Mathematics courses in place of core required courses ECON1202 Quantitative Methods A and ECON1203 Quantitative Methods B

• MATH1131 Mathematics 1A OR MATH1151 for Actuarial Studies and Finance 1A
• MATH1231 Higher Mathematics 1B OR MATH1251 Maths for Actuarial Studies & Finance 1B

You can still do Mathematics 1A and Higher Mathematics 1B in stead of the "hardest" maths for actuarial studies and finance. I have confirmed that both easier maths satisfy requirements for 2nd year actuarial courses.

Maths 1A only requires 100+ combine in HSC Maths and Maths ex1, which is a joke for ppl who do Maths Ex2. Plus you have much higher chance to get d/hd which may help you to keep your scholarships that require good academic record.

What Im worrying about is that:

Are you disadvantaged in 2nd year actuarial studies courses for doing easier maths in 1st year?

Please answer my question actuarial students, thank you very much!

 

[chucknthem]

Re: Am I daydreaming? Handbook says we can do easier maths for 1st year Actuarial Stu

they might have screwed up on the handbook there. why would you take 1131 1A and then try to take 1241 1B(as it should be for higher math not 1231) or 1251 1B? you'd be severely disadvantaged. and very few people get high distinctions in math 1131, most of them go to the 1141 class.

 

[bikapika]

Re: Am I daydreaming? Handbook says we can do easier maths for 1st year Actuarial Stu

the thing is, by doing easier maths, you will have much more time to focus on other subjects.

Will you be disadvantaged in 2nd year but?

 

[bikapika]

(1) They give out alot less Ds and HDs for easier subjects, so your chances of getting one aren't any better if you take the easier option.

(2) There is a reason why they have a special subject for actuaries - the other two don't prepare you as well for second year. I did 1141 and 1241 in first year (since I'm a Science student and we're not allowed to do 1151 and 1251). In second year I did notice that those who did 1151 and 1251 had definitely seen more maths than we did, eg multiple integrals, plus more stats, I think. They also do Matlab rather than Maple.

As to how much of a disadvantage this is, you'd have to ask either Seraphim or Affinity, who float around on these forums from time to time. Personally, I think not doing Matlab would probably be the biggest problem, but then, I'm not an actuarial student.

(3) You are paying for this education: do you really want to get 15% less value for every dollar you spend on it, which is about the difference in the amount of content that they will teach you in the easier courses.

You convinced me with (3)

Lol im just worried that i may not be able to accumulate 180 marks with ex1 maths and ex2 maths since i didnt try my best in maths this year T_T So its very likely that i may have to start with an easier maths. Am i that much disadvanataged for not working hard in yr12?

 

[velox]

Re: Am I daydreaming? Handbook says we can do easier maths for 1st year Actuarial Stu

You convinced me with (3)

Lol im just worried that i may not be able to accumulate 180 marks with ex1 maths and ex2 maths since i didnt try my best in maths this year T_T So its very likely that i may have to start with an easier maths. Am i that much disadvanataged for not working hard in yr12?

UNSW don't care about the accumulating 180 marks. Im sure they will let you do it anyway. UNSW Maths department is quite flexible and you can enrol online without any hassles. Last time I checked anyway.

 

[bikapika]

Re: Am I daydreaming? Handbook says we can do easier maths for 1st year Actuarial Stu

The HSC marks listed in the handbook are only a guide, they are not pre-requisites.

!!!!!! I love you man mwah

Im actually 70% confident that i can get 180+, its just there is 30% chance of not getting 180+ since i didnt do as well as what i expected during the exams (made a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot of stupid mistakes + dreaming of the new girl who just came to year 11 gosh shes so hot full blonde + blue eyes + other attractive qualities)

Personally, I think university maths is far more interesting than the stuff you do in the HSC, so you may find that you are more motivated to study it.

Thats what i wana to hear actually 4u maths is the only subject that i enjoy to study instead of forcing myself to study -0- so im pretty sure that actuarial studies is my way lol its just during this year i prioritised some other stuff over studies thats all.

 

[schmeichung]

Re: Am I daydreaming? Handbook says we can do easier maths for 1st year Actuarial Stu

you can even do qma qmb to study actuarial, but of course math1151,math1251 will give u an insight how much work u have to do in actl subjects, to be honest i dont see much correlation between math1151,1251 and actls..being able to do well in math doesnt mean u will do well in actl, and vice verse

math1151,math1251 were never prerequisite for actuarial..

 

[milton]

Re: Am I daydreaming? Handbook says we can do easier maths for 1st year Actuarial Stu

sure, you could do math1131 , 1141 or even qma, qmb.
but that will probably mean you would have a do quite a bit of catching up later on since there IS a reason theres a course specially designed for actuarial/finance.

technically, you only need 2u maths to get into a BCom at UNSW, some ppl studying actuarial have only done 3u, its simply a matter of slightly more work later on rather than earlier.

and 1141,1241 and 1151,1251 share about 80% of the content anyway. they even give us the same calculus book.

 

[§eraphim]

It's recommended for 2 main reasons:

1) You need to learn more maths (than usual) to prepare for actuarial courses. Traditionally the actuarial exams were usually taken by those working and who had already finished a Maths degree, so these are shortcut subjects. I think the UK Institute of Actuaries has a syllabus for its maths bridging program, and from what I recall the UNSW maths courses follow it very closely.

2) It's a chance to know your competition. Remember, Actuarial has a high dropout rate for a reason (such as the intense competition) so it's good to do prelim subjects to gauge the level of competition.

 

[antimilk]

I am confused T.T
Does that mean if I want to do a combine degree of BCom(Actuarial studies) with a BSci, i can't do the harder(i.e.1151&1251) course ??