commerce and science (1 Viewer)

[adamsaclown]

lol great comeback

i didn't know UNSW had a TSP program... thats why I came to USYD... :S. Maybe they introduced it this year for next year. What I do know though is that USYD's Psych school still hasnt introduced Advanced units, unlike UNSW, which I believe has an advanced stream for it.

usyd has not lived up to my expectations. oh well... don't think its really such a big deal since these unis are both at the top anyway

 

[stazi]

I'm doing commerce/science at Sydney. It depends what you major in...A lot of people do financial maths/accounting. I'm doing psychology/marketing, because i had no idea what I'd rather do, so I thought hey... I'll just do both.

UNSW is better for commerce, Sydney is better for schience, but I think overall there isn't much of a difference. and UAI has nothing to do with course difficulty, its all about demand. I didn't think I was going to get into USYD because my UAI was just under the cutoff point, but because of an overall fall in demand for university places this year, the UAI fell.

Whaaaaa since when do you do marketing?

 

[llamalope]

well i WILL be doing marketing... eventually... when i finish the science part. 1st year comm subjects are split over the 3 years of the science degree

 

[stazi]

oh orsum. I'll help you with the marketing <3 marketing. I wish to sleep with it.

But now I'm disjointed about what I want to do with my life. I mean, I really love advertising/marketing etc, but I just got an offer from the Global Panel (a collaboration of world leaders (ex-presidents, ambassadors, directors of global institutions etc) trying out alternative strategies for world problems) for an internship. I didn't even apply for it (I just went to the global student panel held at usyd and got invited back for a debate with them. The internship would be at prague or berlin.
I never really considered foreign affairs before, but I do like the people I meet. It's amazing having conversations with some of the most powerful and intelligent people in the world.
But then again I might just take up the internship if it's all expenses paid (I mean who wouldn't want to spend some time in Europe ) and then continue with my marketing career path.

 

[xiao1985]

yeh the ages old battle between which uni is better, usyd or unsw...

we can throw out all our perosnal beliefs which is better... but ultimately it's the one who choose's opinion...

but hoenstly anu's alot better.... than both usyd and unsw...

 

[sikeveo]

It makes no difference, at undegraduate level anyway. Go wherever you like it.

 

[llamalope]

who'd want to live in Canberra?

 

[RanyofuKenyan?]

oh orsum. I'll help you with the marketing <3 marketing. I wish to sleep with it.

But now I'm disjointed about what I want to do with my life. I mean, I really love advertising/marketing etc, but I just got an offer from the Global Panel (a collaboration of world leaders (ex-presidents, ambassadors, directors of global institutions etc) trying out alternative strategies for world problems) for an internship. I didn't even apply for it (I just went to the global student panel held at usyd and got invited back for a debate with them. The internship would be at prague or berlin.
I never really considered foreign affairs before, but I do like the people I meet. It's amazing having conversations with some of the most powerful and intelligent people in the world.
But then again I might just take up the internship if it's all expenses paid (I mean who wouldn't want to spend some time in Europe ) and then continue with my marketing career path.

Whooooooaaaaahhhh, stas congrats. If its all expenses paid definitely go for it.

 

[§eraphim]

UNSW does have better maths programs. It's very well recognised throughout asia. Also UNSW has a TSP program.

Out of curiousity, why do you say that? UNSW certainly has top researchers but I'm not sure sure whether that filters down to undergrad level....Although, having looked at Usyd Math exams, even the Advanced level questions seem slightly easier.

IMO, Usyd's TSP maths program is a hell of a lot more organised than UNSW but UNSW is very flexible. For example, I can take any 3rd yr or postgrad/honours course I like either from UNSW or USyd.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I am interested in doing the Honours courses at USyd as part of my undergrad (cross-institutional study):

MATH4431 Advanced Option Pricing
MATH4433 Interest Rate Modelling

Q: Have ppl in ever done these Honours courses as undergrads?

 

[xiao1985]

hey seraphim: u doing financial math or sth related?! cuz ur signiture sure sounds that way =p

again there are adv and dis adv for both unsw and usyd... a decade old debte i think already

usyd has horrible timetables... usually it's at daytime, so there's no chance to go to usyd and have a full time job, regarldess if u go part time uni or wut eva
usyd's postgrad level (apparently) is not as good as unsw

unsw has horrible degree flexiblity (ie if u want to overload, u have to talk to dean, have ur grades assessed etc etc), normally u are only allowed 2 majors in a combine, one for each degree...
unsw has horrible timetable system (as i heard, at least for commerce faculty), u don't get ur actual tt until the first wk of uni

sigh, how envy u pplz can do major research in holi... T.T wish i was good enough to do that...

 

[Super Pig]

Hey Seraphim I just saw your signature on the Usyd financial maths program. I did the Advanced Option Pricing course as a third year undergrad, a fairly intense but very interesting course. I was allowed to do so because I did the third year financial maths unit during my second year. Peter Buchen is the one to contact if you are interested. He usually goes through the necessary backgrounds in the first few weeks of the course. As far as I know the entry requirement is quite flexible. The Interest Rate Modelling course will not be offered next year unless a new lecturer is found (the original lecturer moved into the hedge fund industry).

 

[§eraphim]

hey seraphim: u doing financial math or sth related?! cuz ur signiture sure sounds that way =p

again there are adv and dis adv for both unsw and usyd... a decade old debte i think already

usyd has horrible timetables... usually it's at daytime, so there's no chance to go to usyd and have a full time job, regarldess if u go part time uni or wut eva
usyd's postgrad level (apparently) is not as good as unsw

unsw has horrible degree flexiblity (ie if u want to overload, u have to talk to dean, have ur grades assessed etc etc), normally u are only allowed 2 majors in a combine, one for each degree...
unsw has horrible timetable system (as i heard, at least for commerce faculty), u don't get ur actual tt until the first wk of uni

sigh, how envy u pplz can do major research in holi... T.T wish i was good enough to do that...

yes, im majoring in finance, applied math & stats.

i initially wanted to take some postgrad subjects in mathematical finance at UNSW but it wont fit. the structure at unsw is definitely better but its just a little too theoretical for me. the subjects are ordered as follows:

- Stochastic Processes
- Probability & Measure Theory (analysis and measure theory are yucky)
- Intro to Stochastic Analysis
- discrete time financial modelling (binomial model + other stuff)
- continuos time financial modelling (black-scholes etc)
- term structure modelling
- stochastic differential eqns

unsw also have maret rutkowski who is a world leader in credit risk so all in all unsw is better. but usyd's fin math subjects better suit me as an undegrad.

anywayz, many of these issues are academic. from next yr, there will be joint unsw-usyd math subjects (postgrad level).

i dont mind daytime classes. its even better for me =) as i will have a lot of gaps. are these postgrad classes negotiated or arranged in advance by the central timetabling authorities? (at unsw, small classes are negotiated with the lecturers)

actually, unsw is very flexible as long u go straight to the top guy. as long as u have permission from the lecturer and ur grades are good enough, u can do any math subject u like with minimal fuss (the maths dept take care of it). the issue of majors is usually considered on a case-by-case basis for combined degrees. for instance, i plan to get a math and stats major. also, the usyd degree is a yr longer which means another 8 electives which can easily convert all those wasted 1st yr core subjects into majors. so you're not really comparing apples with apples.

the commerce & Economics tas system (tutorial allocation system) is actually a very fair and equitable system. there is no need to rush into putting in ur preferences as they are allocated by the computer. however, this is being phased out as of this yr in favour of a more centralised timetabling system which imo has its pros and cons.

xiao, arent u on TSP? so u did all ur research stuff over the yr (instead of us doing it in the holidays)

 

[§eraphim]

Hey Seraphim I just saw your signature on the Usyd financial maths program. I did the Advanced Option Pricing course as a third year undergrad, a fairly intense but very interesting course. I was allowed to do so because I did the third year financial maths unit during my second year. Peter Buchen is the one to contact if you are interested. He usually goes through the necessary backgrounds in the first few weeks of the course. As far as I know the entry requirement is quite flexible. The Interest Rate Modelling course will not be offered next year unless a new lecturer is found (the original lecturer moved into the hedge fund industry).

i plan to do these in 2007 and am looking at good courses which would best prepare me for math4331 and 4333.

im thinking of doing stochastic processes (which may possibly include some stochastic calculus up to 1st order SDEs), a PDEs course (more applied. eg fourier transforms, etc) and a subject in continuous optimisation methods (i dont plan to do anything related to discrete optimisation, ie, linear programming). do u think these will be sufficient?

 

[xiao1985]

hehe seraphim... yeh i was in tsp in 2nd year... but 2nd year was hectic for me... overloading in both sem, also have a part time job + all tutoring, drained me big time... didn't have time for anything else...

and my grades were slippin as well... sadly i have to overload in my 3rd year if i am to go ahead with my 2 major in sci degree...

financial maths is alot fun... but the sem exam i got killed majorly... didn't expect them to pull such hardcore stuff at the end...
(well also cuz i was slackin off alot... cuz i started playing *cough* s th*cough*)

the tutorial allocation from commerce faculty, well from the other friend of mine who work at the same place as me, is rather unhappy, cause he's working part time and he won't be able to fix a date for his working days until 2nd wk into semester...

but then again, point taken... unsw has good lecturers... but still that didn't sway my love of usyd =p


btw peter bunchun imo is a good lecturer... he was tutor for my financial maths...

 

[§eraphim]

btw peter bunchun is good ...

i concur. i read one of his papers called the "quientessential option pricing formula". man, that was a really nifty way of valuing any exotic option (in discrete time anywayz =D).

btw are all TSP guys receiving some kind of scholarship?

 

[§eraphim]

Hey Seraphim I just saw your signature on the Usyd financial maths program. I did the Advanced Option Pricing course as a third year undergrad, a fairly intense but very interesting course. I was allowed to do so because I did the third year financial maths unit during my second year. Peter Buchen is the one to contact if you are interested. He usually goes through the necessary backgrounds in the first few weeks of the course. As far as I know the entry requirement is quite flexible. The Interest Rate Modelling course will not be offered next year unless a new lecturer is found (the original lecturer moved into the hedge fund industry).

do u mind sending me all the stuff u have by email on the option pricing and interest rate modelling courses? i'd like to learn more about these courses before i enrol in them.

also, is there a large computing component? Is MATLAB used in the assignments?

my email is hongjiren2000 AT yahoo DOT com

 

[xiao1985]

no... tsp get like a luncheon.. but tha'ts it, almost...

oh u get the opporutnity of doing tsp stuff... and being called a tsp student...
and *string of swear words* @ my result...

 

[stazi]

no... tsp get like a luncheon.. but tha'ts it, almost...

oh u get the opporutnity of doing tsp stuff... and being called a tsp student...
and *string of swear words* @ my result...

you forgot to mention your result.

 

[Super Pig]

do u mind sending me all the stuff u have by email on the option pricing and interest rate modelling courses? i'd like to learn more about these courses before i enrol in them.

also, is there a large computing component? Is MATLAB used in the assignments?

my email is hongjiren2000 AT yahoo DOT com

Hehe I am afraid Peter hands out everything in paper form only, no electronic material at all. Perhaps I can scan the content pages of his lecture notes for you if you want. There is a pretty detailed course description on the usyd maths website if I remember correctly.

The "ideal" preparation for these honours courses is the following:
1. Some knowledge of the binomial model and introductory Black Scholes;
2. A PDE course which hopefully talks a bit about Green's Functions;
3. A course on measure theory would be helpful in understanding martingales;
4. A course on stochastic processes, a touch on stochastic DE's would be great but not essential.

Note that "ideal" is the keyword here. I only did the 1st point above before I took the course, and I seemed to have coped fine. There was no Matlab when I did the course, but Peter tends to update his syllabus quite regularly, putting in new stuff every now and then. So Matlab could well be in there. Due to the 4cp->6cp changes in 2006, he's going to put some of the 4th year stuff into 3rd year, so I suspect the course will be a bit tougher in 2007.

Hehe the fancy all-in-one pricing formula was cooked up by Peter and one of his honours students a few years ago. I once thought they might get a Nobel Prize for that Somehow they couldn't get it published, which is exactly what happened to Black and Scholes's paper. Apparently some of the banks are using it though, it's pretty efficient on computers. It's hell of a mess doing it by hand

 

[xiao1985]

darn... out of the 4, i know abt .25 in total... =(

no financial maths for me =(