Urgent Help (1 Viewer)

[jannny]

Ok I deleted the other thread coz I need to rephrase my question.

Im thinking of doing actuarial studies/applied finance @ macQ, since after getting the bonus 4 points from EAS. Now I wanna do this course to challenge myself as I love maths, but I'm not sure if I am good enough (only did 2unit maths, got 91).

Question is,

1) Say I do the course, and it is too hard.. can I quickly drop out of the degree and do another course? probably at first 3 weeks

2) What If i do 1 year of it, and get a GPA of say 4.. will that be good enough to do a UAI of 85 next year (Engineering).

3) I heard from a friend that the level of hardness compared to Engineering is be quite similar.. is this true?

4) Do you know anyone who did 2unit and did well?

5) Are there a lot of jobs from actuarial/applied finance?

6) What do most people who drop out do?

I am sorry if this is a very late question, damn Macquarie didnt send the letter earlier.. Actuarial studies just got into my mind halfway year 12 and with the bonus points.. I just had the urge to consider to do it.

Thanks guys!

 

[loser101]

firstly actuarial studies has Pre-req of 3u maths, 4unit is recommended. its there for a reason, i;m pretty sure they know from experience that anyone with a less than 4u maths would struggle.

so what you need to do if you do get in is to defer for 1 year, do 3u/4u maths or do a bridging course. not sure if the bridging course is acceptable at MQ

i tell you math 135 is not easy. i did 4u maths at HS and got DN in math1a math1b and found it hard but worked my ass off. 4 unit really helped.

3unit is minimum, 2unit you would struggle, u prob could pass though, but you really need more than just a Pass in 100 level maths to survive in 200 and 300 level subjext.

 

[watatank]

3) I heard from a friend that the level of hardness compared to Engineering is be quite similar.. is this true?

6) What do most people who drop out do?

3) probably is. actuarial studies is quite difficult. do you have any 3u background? you will find it extremely hard if you don't at least do a bridging course in 3u. the maths is quite intense because they assume you've done at least 3u if you're in actuarial (well if they don't then they should). that's not to say you can't go well but you will have to be working that much harder than everyone else.

6) another degree, lol. i would guess most would transfer to a straight commerce degree but that's just a guess.

 

[~kiki]

from what I've heard in terms of transferring ( I had my own queries -- although I'm thinking of doing something from faculty of the built environment) they said that even if you change your mind in the first few weeks, your only option is to either drop out of the course and re-apply next year for a different course through uac, or complete the year and at the end of the year-- transfer to a different course. Both pretty shit options I know :/... and this is within the same faculty D=... so yeah, I guess you've just got to get it right the first time

 

[jannny]

so what you need to do if you do get in is to defer for 1 year, do 3u/4u maths or do a bridging course. not sure if the bridging course is acceptable at MQ
.

Wat does this mean? defer? U mean when i get into actuarial I'll postpone the degree and start doing bridging course?

mm edit, yea I know now

 

[Steth0scope]

Deferring is just not going to uni and doing whatever else you want.

When someone defers for a year, they do whatever they want for a year and then return to uni the following year to begin their degree.

Most courses allow for deferral. Make sure your course allows for it before considering it.

 

[jannny]

Do Actuarial studies @ MQ often have late round offers? (from past students)

 

[loser101]

Wat does this mean? defer? U mean when i get into actuarial I'll postpone the degree and start doing bridging course?

mm edit, yea I know now

bridging course is only a 2 week crash course in 3unit maths in Januaray done at uTS, SydneyU or UNSW have them. you wont really learn much, its more of a refresher course.

Defer means you get entry to Actuarial studies, you lock in your position, but you say i will take the year off, they will hold the position for you for 1 year, without you having to compete for the position again in 09.

You can defer and for the year you take off you can go learn 3u maths and 4u maths at TAFE

remember you got UAI of only 94, the cut-off is 96? you may get in with your bonus points, but you are already at a disadvantage due to your UAI and your maths knowledge.

most of the students in actuarial studies done 4u maths because they planned on doing actuarial studies from the beginning not just an after thought after they got thier UAI, also most would of scored closer towards 100 than 96.

i suggest you go do b.commerce at UNSW

 

[chucknthem]

First year uni math isn't that hard, I found it much easier than 4unit since it was much more interesting(I did higher 1a/1b at unsw btw which has about 80% in common with first year actuarial math). The trick is that you have to attend all the lectures and do at least some amount of home work (unless you're a genius ). A lot of people slack of when they get to uni and their grades plummet.

I would definitely recommend that you do the bridging course if you really really want to do actuarial studies. Give it ago, and after the first couple weeks, if you can't handle it, drop to just commerce. if you just want to do actuarial studies because of the career prospects, then you're doing it for the wrong reason, it's a competitive industry, you really have to be into what you're doing to succeed. However, having been trained in a rigorous course like acturial studies should make you more employable than the average commerce student who majored in say...marketing

 

[jannny]

most of the students in actuarial studies done 4u maths because they planned on doing actuarial studies from the beginning not just an after thought after they got thier UAI, also most would of scored closer towards 100 than 96.

i suggest you go do b.commerce at UNSW

Yea, at year 11 I just slacked off did not care much about school and just took subjects that "I thought were easy". lol, I was even thinking of just dropping to general maths because I did not give a shit about school.. but anyway.

Yea Commerce @ unsw is one of my preferences but I dont think I will make it. (hopefully they accept my EAS but anyway)
Fingers crossed

Btw, say I do Comm- Actuarial, If I cant handle it can I just drop to Commerce and take up something different e.g. Accounting in the first year? If thats the case then I think that's cool

 

[watatank]

if actuarial is a commerce major then all you would be doing is changing your major to accounting so yes you can do that.

 

[jannny]

Im wondering if I could do that in first sem tho so I dont waste any time. (Rather than waiting for a whole year just to transfer)

Say actuarial first 3 weeks, too hard --> drop out then do accounting instead.

 

[watatank]

You *should* be able to do that...that is to say quickly withdraw from the maths subjects etc and then enrol into the core commerce subjects and then change your commerce major to accounting later on (you wouldn't lose any time)...

But if you're bringing that attitude into uni that "oh well if I find it too hard I can always change" to a course like actuarial its just asking for trouble. You might as well go straight to accounting. How hard are you prepared to work?

 

[pLuvia]

Ok I deleted the other thread coz I need to rephrase my question.

Im thinking of doing actuarial studies/applied finance @ macQ, since after getting the bonus 4 points from EAS. Now I wanna do this course to challenge myself as I love maths, but I'm not sure if I am good enough (only did 2unit maths, got 91).

Question is,

1) Say I do the course, and it is too hard.. can I quickly drop out of the degree and do another course? probably at first 3 weeks

2) What If i do 1 year of it, and get a GPA of say 4.. will that be good enough to do a UAI of 85 next year (Engineering).

3) I heard from a friend that the level of hardness compared to Engineering is be quite similar.. is this true?

4) Do you know anyone who did 2unit and did well?

5) Are there a lot of jobs from actuarial/applied finance?

6) What do most people who drop out do?

I am sorry if this is a very late question, damn Macquarie didnt send the letter earlier.. Actuarial studies just got into my mind halfway year 12 and with the bonus points.. I just had the urge to consider to do it.

Thanks guys!

1. If you are going to follow the actuarial plan, then the only specific unit you would need to drop would be ACST151, the intro subject to the actuarial course. The other subjects you do are compulsory subjects for other commerce majors. But you aren't going to realise if it's hard or not in the first 3 weeks
Your first sem subjects will be adv maths, macroecon, intro to actuarial studies and stats and all are very easy in the beginning, but if you do decide to drop out, you can just drop the acst subject and pick up another subject eg for accounting probably accounting 1a (or whatever it's called)

2. A gpa of 4 in macquarie standards is a D/HD average which is quite good imo . If you are transferring they take into account your UAI and your gpa (so far), my best advice to you is go to UNSW if you considering an engineering degree, because the uni offers actuarial studies and engineering, and you start your first actuarial studies unit in the 2nd semester unlike macquarie where you start straight away. But to answer your question yes you should be able to transfer

4. I know someone who did 3u maths and is doing well, honestly you don't need 4u maths for the 1st year maths or the 1st year actuarial subjects, you learn it all in first few weeks but at a faster pace than the HSC

6. lol I might be one of those, I'm considering a bCom/bEco at UNSW doing finance and econometrics. But don't try and think of it that way

 

[jannny]

. How hard are you prepared to work?

I like being challenged hence knowing that the course is indeed challenging I will really work hard.. my only trouble is if I am not "good enough" to finish the course.

lol I might be one of those, I'm considering a bCom/bEco at UNSW doing finance and econometrics. But don't try and think of it that way

Why you dropping??

 

[loser101]

whether u can handle it or not is a moot point, coz PRE-requisite is 3Unit maths.

so untill you adress the pre-requisite then you wont be able to start your actuarial course.

i think best way for you do get in is to do b.comm (accounting) at MQ

1st semester year subject Math 130 (not 135)
Stat 171

2nd semester Math 135

Then if you get a good enough marks in them you then transfer to Actuarial studies. But you wont be able to use your bonus points, so you have to really get A's,B's in your first year to get into Acst.


Best u talk to the actuarial staff for a pathway for you.

 

[pLuvia]

I don't think there are any prerequisites, it's more of "assumed knowledge" is 4u, recommended is high marks in 3u to compensate if you haven't done 4u maths

@janny: didn't do too well in the 1st year, and gets very boring

 

[jannny]

@pluvia

Why does it get boring?

 

[pLuvia]

Some aspects of the course are boring, but the real factor is it gets harder at a fast rate and getting employment is quite competitive I've heard, which means you should be aiming to get really good grades, but that's only what I've heard.

Don't let my pitiful opinions put you off from doing it, just I recommend you do it at UNSW so you can easily transfer out to engineering. MQ is more for the people who have some confidence in being an actuary when they graduate hence the course is more specialised, whereas UNSW you can be more flexible with choosing what major you want specialise in

 

[loser101]

I don't think there are any prerequisites, it's more of "assumed knowledge" is 4u, recommended is high marks in 3u to compensate if you haven't done 4u maths

@janny: didn't do too well in the 1st year, and gets very boring

http://www.efs.mq.edu.au/undergraduate/degrees_by_name/bc_asdf

its in black and white


Requirements

Entry Requirements:


Advanced mathematics.