... or at UNSW? Macquarie's science courses are said to be crap according to antoher thread floating around, and Macquarie's actuarial course is considered good. Is there some kind of balance? or something... Just give me your thoughts on the matter.
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Maths + actuarial at macquarie (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Wacky
- Start date
-=«MÄLÅÇhïtÊ»=-
Gender: MALE!!!
it's wat flyn's doing
personally i don't see the prospective job benefits from combining the 2 things...but maybe flyn can come up with his reason.
personally i don't see the prospective job benefits from combining the 2 things...but maybe flyn can come up with his reason.
SoFTuaRiaL
Active Member
maths is a brilliant back-up for ur actuarial degree, they complement each other very well ... though a better option would be stats ...
SoFTuaRiaL
Active Member
not true .... jeez, u think no one from unsw visits this page?
i do actl at unsw, and once have i ever considered transfering to maq. maq mite have a better program, but unsw graduates are more sought after in the market ...
i meant to say they complement each other ver ywell
SoFTuaRiaL
Active Member
ok, lets hear why u are combining actl with maths then?
I like maths. I like money. Actl is stats, risk management, + other money related stuff. I'm also very good at maths relative to most other people... So yes, I was planning to use it as a backup and aspire to a PhD in mathematics of some kind.
Eck, gotta change ISPs.. but anyway
Well, I was hoping for more response from the UNSW side of things,
So your thoughts are that
1. UNSW is as good if not better than mac for actuarial
2. What about maths courses? Is the macquarie maths course worse? better? I'm tempted to say worse cos I got money from UNSW school maths competition whereas Macquarie's only got Business Mathematics comp which I didn't do. Also cos on open day the woman went on about topology and the bridge problem.
Eck, gotta change ISPs.. but anyway
Well, I was hoping for more response from the UNSW side of things,
So your thoughts are that
1. UNSW is as good if not better than mac for actuarial
2. What about maths courses? Is the macquarie maths course worse? better? I'm tempted to say worse cos I got money from UNSW school maths competition whereas Macquarie's only got Business Mathematics comp which I didn't do. Also cos on open day the woman went on about topology and the bridge problem.
Is the site http://www.actuary.mq.edu.au/ down or is it my ISP?
And how is mathematics at uni different from at high school?
And how is mathematics at uni different from at high school?
ricenoodles
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the site seems to be working for me.
By the looks of the weird formula on page one of the actuarial booklet i got from mq uni open day...i would say mathematics in uni is significantly harder.
By the looks of the weird formula on page one of the actuarial booklet i got from mq uni open day...i would say mathematics in uni is significantly harder.
SoFTuaRiaL
Active Member
the school of maths at unsw has got a very strong foundation ... u can have a look at the variety of subjects they teach @ www.maths.unsw.edu.au ... if ure looking for a strong actl course, go to maq. but as u said, if ure interested in a phd/masters level maths course, unsw is the one for u
-=«MÄLÅÇhïtÊ»=-
Gender: MALE!!!
The way I see it, only the best get straight into an actuarial degree. Most grads will prolly work in financial firm and work their way up. That's why i don't see how helpful double maths is if you're gonna work for financial firm.
On the issue of mq vs actuarial. UNSW has strong marketing campaigns. But 4th yr guys have told me employment rate for unsw actuaries is ~70% and its 90+ at mq.
However, if you get a coop scholarship and find it easier to travel to unsw, i suggest you goto unsw. Just because of the experience you'd get. Otherwise mq is more sort after. If you look at the actuaries around Australasia, almost all of them are mq grads.
On the issue of mq vs actuarial. UNSW has strong marketing campaigns. But 4th yr guys have told me employment rate for unsw actuaries is ~70% and its 90+ at mq.
However, if you get a coop scholarship and find it easier to travel to unsw, i suggest you goto unsw. Just because of the experience you'd get. Otherwise mq is more sort after. If you look at the actuaries around Australasia, almost all of them are mq grads.
SoFTuaRiaL
Active Member
thats a yes to both of ur questions
redslert
yes, my actual brain
what? your saying that u have to do both B Commerce/B Science to major in act stds for UNSW??
can't you just take B Commerce WITHOUT the science to select the major in act stds??
can't you just take B Commerce WITHOUT the science to select the major in act stds??
Long-response...
- flyin' might be right. I find the courses at unsw seem straightforward, however this could just be me, since a lot of other people are having trouble. But I like the atmosphere at UNSW and the Maths side of my degree rocks! I can't comment on the teaching at Macquarie without having been there, but at UNSW, the better lecturers aren't always the best qualified ones (e.g. in maths some of the professors are boring as hell - includes one or two who're well-known internationally - whilst others who don't have PhDs are brilliant!).
- I actually do find the maths complements the actuarial, because relationships such as the Optimal (or Optional) Stopping Theorem for martingales were noted without proof in our actuarial lectures. We then spent a lecture or two proving it in maths. The net result is basically that I understand why some of the maths works, where straight commerce students don't. (another example is Ito's Lemma, which can be derived easily using several variable calculus techniques). Flyin', you'll encounter these next year (Da Monstar, in ACTL2003) most likely.
- Wacky, come to UNSW. If you're aspiring to a PhD then whilst you could probably go through MQ and be able to do a PhD, UNSW has a larger School of Mathematics and can give you more variety in terms of what you want to do a PhD in. In addition, the staff at UNSW will often have enough international contacts to be able to make recommendations on where you might want to go to do a PhD in the future (e.g. in England or the US). Plus we're getting a Mathsoc up and running!
[UNSW was also recently named the 14th best uni in the world in terms of quality of research produced - better than Oxford and Yale, IIRC. We were the only uni outside North America and Europe to make the list!]
Question for Wacky :: Which open day was the topology/Konigsberg bridges discussion?
(and the UNSW comp v. the MBMC is not really relevant. they're looking at different things and are done by different sets of students - the MBMC is more widespread due to its web-based nature, for a start, whereas the UNSW comp is interested also in your mathematical reasoning ability, rather than applying answers and eventually writing a little bit at the end.)
- Maths at uni differs to high school in that you aren't spoonfed as much, yes, but there's also a greater emphasis on rigor, and you'll get more into the basics and the nitty-gritty of things.
- "If you look carefully at the qualifications of the Actuarial staff at UNSW you'll note that many of them don't even have an Actuarial degree. Those that do, are usually from MQ and even the head (Prof) is from MQ."
This isn't actually true - most of them have actuarial degrees, but they're not necessarily from Australia, which is the difference. The Australian ones would have to be from MQ, since there wasn't another uni offering actuarial until recently. And yes, our esteemed head is from MQ - he was lecturer in charge of several subjects there before he founded our program here. What's your point?
- redslert, you can major in Actuarial as part of the straight B Commerce, yes. Da Monstar meant that if you wanted to do the combined Actuarial/Maths program then you'd have to pick said course code.
- flyin' might be right. I find the courses at unsw seem straightforward, however this could just be me, since a lot of other people are having trouble. But I like the atmosphere at UNSW and the Maths side of my degree rocks! I can't comment on the teaching at Macquarie without having been there, but at UNSW, the better lecturers aren't always the best qualified ones (e.g. in maths some of the professors are boring as hell - includes one or two who're well-known internationally - whilst others who don't have PhDs are brilliant!).
- I actually do find the maths complements the actuarial, because relationships such as the Optimal (or Optional) Stopping Theorem for martingales were noted without proof in our actuarial lectures. We then spent a lecture or two proving it in maths. The net result is basically that I understand why some of the maths works, where straight commerce students don't. (another example is Ito's Lemma, which can be derived easily using several variable calculus techniques). Flyin', you'll encounter these next year (Da Monstar, in ACTL2003) most likely.
- Wacky, come to UNSW. If you're aspiring to a PhD then whilst you could probably go through MQ and be able to do a PhD, UNSW has a larger School of Mathematics and can give you more variety in terms of what you want to do a PhD in. In addition, the staff at UNSW will often have enough international contacts to be able to make recommendations on where you might want to go to do a PhD in the future (e.g. in England or the US). Plus we're getting a Mathsoc up and running!
[UNSW was also recently named the 14th best uni in the world in terms of quality of research produced - better than Oxford and Yale, IIRC. We were the only uni outside North America and Europe to make the list!]
Question for Wacky :: Which open day was the topology/Konigsberg bridges discussion?
(and the UNSW comp v. the MBMC is not really relevant. they're looking at different things and are done by different sets of students - the MBMC is more widespread due to its web-based nature, for a start, whereas the UNSW comp is interested also in your mathematical reasoning ability, rather than applying answers and eventually writing a little bit at the end.)
- Maths at uni differs to high school in that you aren't spoonfed as much, yes, but there's also a greater emphasis on rigor, and you'll get more into the basics and the nitty-gritty of things.
- "If you look carefully at the qualifications of the Actuarial staff at UNSW you'll note that many of them don't even have an Actuarial degree. Those that do, are usually from MQ and even the head (Prof) is from MQ."
This isn't actually true - most of them have actuarial degrees, but they're not necessarily from Australia, which is the difference. The Australian ones would have to be from MQ, since there wasn't another uni offering actuarial until recently. And yes, our esteemed head is from MQ - he was lecturer in charge of several subjects there before he founded our program here. What's your point?
- redslert, you can major in Actuarial as part of the straight B Commerce, yes. Da Monstar meant that if you wanted to do the combined Actuarial/Maths program then you'd have to pick said course code.
Yes, as I said early (most likely in another thread), Mathematics does help with Actuarial... however, if you are doin' Actuarial or if you're keen, you're main focus should be on Actuarial (and while Mathematics provides a fine basis, the Actuarial course at MQ is a proven course...)
On another note, MQ provides Advanced Mathematics units, as well and in small groups which means you there is a closer atmosphere ... instead of a large general feel...
It depends again on his focus, if it's Mathematics then go to UNSW of course. But Wacky is plannin' to become an Actuary or utilise his Acturial education, MQ provides a better course (as well as postgraduate courses on Actuarial studies).
Too bad it isn't internationally recognised for it's Actuarial course.
My point is that even your head is from MQ... learn from the source of Actuarial studies at MQ.
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SoFTuaRiaL
Active Member
u are soooo annoyingOriginally posted by flyin'
Too bad it isn't internationally recognised for it's Actuarial course.
My point is that even your head is from MQ... learn from the source of Actuarial studies at MQ.
ricenoodles
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these macquarie students...just love bragging about how good their actuarial course is.
SoFTuaRiaL
Active Member
well, i dont blame them in a way ... they got nothing else to brag abt anywaysOriginally posted by ricenoodles
these macquarie students...just love bragging about how good their actuarial course is.