Actuarial Studies or Accounting/Finance

[ps]

So I'm interested in the Bachelor of Commerce at UoM and I just had a few queries. I've done online research and read through the relevant parts of the handbook, but I'd still like to hear from others who are actually in the course and could hopefully give me some advice.

At the moment, I'm thinking of either majoring in Accounting and Finance or majoring in Actuarial Studies.

I've heard that Accounting and Finance is probably the go-to major for most Commerce students and that it has a fair amount of both theory and quantitative stuff. In terms of difficulty, I've heard that it's reasonably difficult, but nothing that is extreme. I've also heard that Finance honours is hard to get into and requires a high 80s WAM. Apart from that, I like the subjects offered in Accounting/Finance and will probably do a Maths Diploma, considering if I take the MAST20006 + MAST20005 pathway, then I would only have to add another 4 subjects after cross-crediting.

In terms of work, what kind of work does Accounting and Finance lead to? I know that Accounting is stereotyped as 'boring', but what I'm generally after is a stable, decent-paying job that has good job security. I'm not after the highest pay around, nor am I really interested in working extremely long hours. So I've pretty much considered that Investment Banking is not quite for me. What other areas does Finance lead to?

In terms of Actuarial Studies, I've heard that it's hard. However, I've also heard that it pays off in terms of working conditions and salary, with actuaries being consistently ranked as one of the most desirable professions in some studies. However, is this actually all true?

P.S. I do like Maths, so 'hard maths' is OK with me, just wanting more perspective on sort of the careers side of things rather than the subjects/uni side of things.

[spectroscopy]

those three majors can lead to so many jobs, what sort of things do you think you'll want career wise in 4-5 years

[TrueTears]

So I'm interested in the Bachelor of Commerce at UoM and I just had a few queries. I've done online research and read through the relevant parts of the handbook, but I'd still like to hear from others who are actually in the course and could hopefully give me some advice.

At the moment, I'm thinking of either majoring in Accounting and Finance or majoring in Actuarial Studies.

I've heard that Accounting and Finance is probably the go-to major for most Commerce students and that it has a fair amount of both theory and quantitative stuff. In terms of difficulty, I've heard that it's reasonably difficult, but nothing that is extreme. I've also heard that Finance honours is hard to get into and requires a high 80s WAM. Apart from that, I like the subjects offered in Accounting/Finance and will probably do a Maths Diploma, considering if I take the MAST20006 + MAST20005 pathway, then I would only have to add another 4 subjects after cross-crediting.

In terms of work, what kind of work does Accounting and Finance lead to? I know that Accounting is stereotyped as 'boring', but what I'm generally after is a stable, decent-paying job that has good job security. I'm not after the highest pay around, nor am I really interested in working extremely long hours. So I've pretty much considered that Investment Banking is not quite for me. What other areas does Finance lead to?

In terms of Actuarial Studies, I've heard that it's hard. However, I've also heard that it pays off in terms of working conditions and salary, with actuaries being consistently ranked as one of the most desirable professions in some studies. However, is this actually all true?

P.S. I do like Maths, so 'hard maths' is OK with me, just wanting more perspective on sort of the careers side of things rather than the subjects/uni side of things.

do you want to work in industry or academia?

accounting is generally quite a stable profession... although very tedious and boring i must say. If you like maths then you won't like accounting, those 2 do not go hand in hand.

finance leads to a broader range of areas than accounting simply because it's a much broader area of study than accounting. A finance degree will open many pathways: fund managers, financial analyst, investment banking, risk analyst, mergers and acquisition manager and the list goes on, you won't know what you like until you actually go into the industry and get some hands on experience.

i won't bother expanding on the academic careers but it's worth to keep in the mind that top academic careers often pay more than some of the top industry finance jobs.

melb finance honours is indeed extremely competitive to get in, however if you wish to work in the industry I suggest you do NOT do honours and get into the workforce straight after bachelors as work experience (in financial firms) means everything (esp in australia). If you wish to pursue academics, then definitely do honours (esp finance), uom boasts one of the best mathematical/theoretical finance honours course in australia.

[FlorianK]

what do you consuder an academia career?

[TrueTears]

^ research, research and more research

[FlorianK]

thx, but how do you research in finance?

[TrueTears]

same as any other science pretty much.

there are 2 main streams: empirical/theoretical.

empirical finance isn't that interesting, I personally don't do this type of research.

theoretical finance is extremely quantitative, infact, it is so rigorous that it doesn't classify as a social science anymore but rather as a pure science just like mathematics/physics.

[ps]

do you want to work in industry or academia?

accounting is generally quite a stable profession... although very tedious and boring i must say. If you like maths then you won't like accounting, those 2 do not go hand in hand.

finance leads to a broader range of areas than accounting simply because it's a much broader area of study than accounting. A finance degree will open many pathways: fund managers, financial analyst, investment banking, risk analyst, mergers and acquisition manager and the list goes on, you won't know what you like until you actually go into the industry and get some hands on experience.

i won't bother expanding on the academic careers but it's worth to keep in the mind that top academic careers often pay more than some of the top industry finance jobs.

melb finance honours is indeed extremely competitive to get in, however if you wish to work in the industry I suggest you do NOT do honours and get into the workforce straight after bachelors as work experience (in financial firms) means everything (esp in australia). If you wish to pursue academics, then definitely do honours (esp finance), uom boasts one of the best mathematical/theoretical finance honours course in australia.

Yeah, I think at the moment, I'll probably stick with Accounting and Finance, as there's really no reason to do Finance only, as I'd have to fill up the rest of the blocks anyway, so might as well credit another major.

Well at the moment, I'm hoping to work in industry, but research is something that I might be interested in later on. I do want to spend time out of uni before going back there for further education and research.

Ah, I'll keep that in mind, but I have till the end of the course to think about honours anyway.

I'm interested in Actuarial Studies though, I know that it's hard and it's difficult to actually become an accredited actuary, but apparently it's a very stable, decent-paying, attractive job, though it seems very specialised compared to something like Finance. Any thoughts on actuarial studies?

[spectroscopy]

actuarial (from what i hear) is very hard but there are a few actuaries in my family and it seems they can do a whole lot of things, banking, actuarial work (obviously), management consulting, investment consulting, could probably go into algo or prop trading with the good maths background, basically a lot of things