Urgent! Some advice about commerce

[playsimme]

Hi all! I'll be going to the monash expo to ask around as well.. but I'm just wondering, what exactly does a commerce course entail? I'm average at maths (scraped through methods) and have always had a passion for psychology but also am trying to widen my options by choosing a double degree and including commerce (I've been told commerce is the broadest degree in terms of employment etc). Would a commerce/arts degree be worth my time in improving flexibility and employment prospects? The thing is - I have no idea about ANYTHING on commerce. Would I be able to cope with the commerce subjects (I only did legal this year) and what are there core subjects in commerce everyone has to take?

In your opinion - is it natural and perfectly normal for someone who has really little idea about his future (and commerce too) to somewhat feel inclined to choose commerce for the 'sake' of it together with arts (because I feel arts would limit my options)? Would I be able to cope? I really have no idea about anything commerce related having not done accounting etc. What subjects are the basics to take?

MUCH appreciated thanks for the help!

[TrueTears]

Hey playsimme, first of all, I was in a similar position to you when I finished VCE, I didn't know much about commerce and I've never done any commerce related subjects before, however I did know that the major I was gonna do had alot of maths so I knew I would enjoy it (and I certainly do atm). However not all commerce majors entails mathematics, you can always major in marketing/management which is all essay type subjects, although I'm not a big fan of those majors (can get pretty boring and you gotta write alot of essays). There are other majors including accounting, finance, economics, econometrics, actuarial studies etc. These are the common "high paying" majors; accounting doesn't contain much maths, just the simple addition, subtraction etc. Finance, economics, econometrics and actuarial studies are all very maths-heavy, if you do specialise in these majors, note that in latter years the uni does not teach you any required maths, it is not emphasized at all, you need to be very capable at mathematics to specialise in those areas at higher levels.

Having no clue about commerce at first is fine however I do suggest you pick something you enjoy, if you feel after a semester of doing commerce and you hate the units, then just drop that degree

[playsimme]

Thanks true tears. I'm average at maths - been passing through HS and averaging B+'s until I hit methods, which I flopped with C's and luckily my cohort saved my ass. (got a 27 ><). I hear horror stories about how accounting sucks the life out of people, but I'm only thinking about my future, really. Like is it that bad if I buckle down? Can I do well in such a major having not down accounting in vce? How does a double degree work? I'm interested in psych just as much as I want a stable 'safety net' job I suppose (hence, choosing commerce). Do you major in 2 subjects with a double degree? Is it a common thing for people to choose commerce as a safety net for a 'job' (because apparently psych is competitive as hell as a degree on its own which seems unstable) ? Thanks.. sorry for the shitty questions I'm clueless haha

[TrueTears]

haha nah it's fine, if you are planning to do accounting you don't need any prior knowledge alot of people i know are majoring in accounting now and some of them are international students (never done accounting before) and local students who didn't do accounting in vce. You'll see that they pretty much cover the entire vce course in about 5-6 weeks in your first semester! then when you decide to major in accounting you'll learn stuff way beyond vce. Accounting isn't maths intensive at all - you'll be fine trust me! I'm not sure of a bcomm/ba double degree but i know for mine you do 1 major per 1 degree, maybe it's the same for your double degree, so 1 major for arts (psych) and 1 for commerce (accounting), maybe you can do a double major in one of your degrees - this i'm not too sure of, you'll have to ask your double degree department about it. Yeah I know quite alot of people who picked commerce because it leads to good job opportunities - although if you really hate the degree and the major you're gonna do, you should drop it or consider doing another major, you'll come to like it/hate it after about a semester or two at uni

[Slumdawg]

Accounting is extremelyyyyyyyy boring for most people. Definitely look into it a LOT before choosing a course in it. I really would recommend avoiding it... You could do a double degree in law/arts (psych) at deakin or something? Seems to suit your talents better.

[Hodgeyhodgey]

Accounting is extremelyyyyyyyy boring for most people. Definitely look into it a LOT before choosing a course in it. I really would recommend avoiding it... You could do a double degree in law/arts (psych) at deakin or something? Seems to suit your talents better.

I resent this

[dc302]

Commerce seems to be seen as just a gateway into the corporate world, with the most employable majors in this regard being accounting and finance probably. Whether you find a job or not is largely up to you--your involvement in clubs/societies, work experience, personality etc. The degree itself, not so much.


edit: sorry forgot about actuarial studies, but this area is much more specialised and not for people who 'just want an office job'. In other words, you only do actuarial studies if you actually want to be an actuary

[Slumdawg]

Accounting is extremelyyyyyyyy boring for most people. Definitely look into it a LOT before choosing a course in it. I really would recommend avoiding it... You could do a double degree in law/arts (psych) at deakin or something? Seems to suit your talents better.

I resent this

And I resent accounting!

haha sorry for bagging it. But it's the truth for the majority! I think for people who have done accounting for a while (since year 11) they grow to love it. But if you start it at uni it's quite advanced and usually incredibly dry to learn compared to your other subjects. I think accounting is very esoteric, so choosing a double degree in it without ever trying it is pretty risky unless you're an extremely motivated student who doesn't mind doing dry work. Just do some research on it before committing playsimme

[TrueTears]

yeah accounting is quite a dry course lol some people love it, but personally i hate it, so boring haha

[Hodgeyhodgey]

Accounting is extremelyyyyyyyy boring for most people. Definitely look into it a LOT before choosing a course in it. I really would recommend avoiding it... You could do a double degree in law/arts (psych) at deakin or something? Seems to suit your talents better.

I resent this

And I resent accounting!

haha sorry for bagging it. But it's the truth for the majority! I think for people who have done accounting for a while (since year 11) they grow to love it. But if you start it at uni it's quite advanced and usually incredibly dry to learn compared to your other subjects. I think accounting is very esoteric, so choosing a double degree in it without ever trying it is pretty risky unless you're an extremely motivated student who doesn't mind doing dry work. Just do some research on it before committing playsimme

When I tell people I want to be an accountant they typically ask why I would want to do such a boring job, but I love it! It definitely varies person to person. You would be taking a big gamble to go into uni without prior knowledge, not because the work would be difficult, but because you may not enjoy it and end up regretting it.

[TrueTears]

Well since playsimme is planning to do commerce at monash, there's a compulsory first year unit called AFC1000 which everyone must do, you get a taste of vce accounting there and some more advanced stuff in that unit, so if you don't like it, you can always just pick another major, but you've wasted nothing or gambled away anything at uni - since it's a compulsory subject anyway.

[playsimme]

Wow thanks for the replies. Well I basically went to the change of preference thing, and I learnt about the core subject which everyone does to get a taste etc. I also understand that psych (honours) is an option for me. But my big fear is that I'm really immature at the moment - I know this sounds really odd but I have no passion in anything in particular really uni related. Like I feel as if I'm forcing myself to do psychology because it's the closest thing which I liked in VCE - and I do understand that psych is an EXTREMELY competitive major so if I stuff up or choose it without really being certain I might end up regretting it majorly. However, commerce also is something I'm confused about - I realise people choose it as a copout but I really can't find another all-rounder degree which would make my employment prospects broader WHILE suiting my limited interests. I'm in this really odd position where I have no direction in what I want to do so I'm kinda telling myself 'if I do commerce, I might find a job easier, and a psych degree alone might limit me if I end up disliking it'.

So given my situation is commerce/arts really a bad decision? I like psychology enough to want to major in it through arts with an option business subjects at the side, however I don't feel certain and mature and commited enough to really say I want to be a psychologist to therefore completely limit myself and pick Psychology (honours) at monash. Ugh.. now I realise how confused I am I definitely won't go to melbourne too because of it's location.. but I also fear as TT and slumdawg you've explained accounting is dry and boring.. which also is stressing me. Arts/science also isn't an option for me.. nor is melbourne uni as it's location is quite distant. And my parents want to send me to monash so I don't think deakin would be an option for me either

[TrueTears]

If you enjoy psych then definitely take it up through uni, you'll most likely grow to like it even more and will do good at it. If you really want a "back-up" degree, then commerce is a good choice, as you've found out yourself, you get to do 6 compulsory subjects (which will probably take you a year to finish) and after then you will definitely get a good idea of what you enjoyed and didn't enjoy, you might not even end up majoring in accounting! Eg, you might've found economics to be more interesting and you'd be much better of majoring in that. Again you won't know unless you actually go to uni and do the units, you will definitely find one that interests you after a year. The worst that can happen is if you absolutely detest commerce, you could always drop the degree.

[WhoTookMyUsername]

why do people say actuary is extremely boring while others say it's very interesting; what exactly does it entail (+ working hours + pay)?

ty

[aes_999]

Apparently when u start in the workforce, around the normal 40 hours. Once u get to management positions, around 50, 55 to 60 hours depending on ur specialization. And when insane monthly reporting comes around...have fun staying up late at night, people say it gets to 70 - 80 or so. Pay is around 60 k when u start, once u get exp (maybe around 7-8 to 10 years). and get really good...around 200 - 250 k / annum. I reckon some people say actuary is boring because they're not passsionate about advanced mathematics even though they're obviously good at it.