I finished VCE in 2019, commencing my studies at The University of Melbourne from 2020. I love Maths (which does not reflect in my VCE results), and I'm not that bad at computers, so due to being untalented in many other areas, I couldn't see how these two specialisations couldn't be a more perfect fit.
I wrote this post for several reasons - possibly helping like-minded individuals who don't know what to do, reviewing subjects for anyone who might be interested in them along with looking back on my journey 4 years later, whoo.
I had been interested in majoring in Actuarial Science for the longest time, all the way from Year 10, and thought that my career pathway had basically been decided. This picture-perfect dream I had however was shattered gradually over the course of Year 12 and had become something irreparably tragic, culminating in my current faint resentment of the major. However, this is absolutely just me being melodramatic, and anyone who signs up for the major - I have huge respect for. It isn't a bad major at all, and there is a HUGE chance that my entire impression of it is biased and off the mark. I'm not an Actuarial student, so anything I say, please take with a grain of salt.
Please refer to this thread for a former Actuarial student's thoughts on the Actuarial degree.
As someone who envisioned that Actuarial was the only pathway out for him - my hopes were utterly crushed over the year. I had lost my vision, and I did not know what to do, like at all. Very naturally (and with the advice of my Specialist teacher, along with Unimelb students), my thoughts floated to Data Science. It was not a bad degree at all, and it had the essence of what I wanted to do, which was Mathematics. However, after looking around even more, I was told to do Statistics + Computer Science. Like the indecisive and fickle kid I am, that's where my heart immediately went to, and I have been set on it for the past few months. Numerous people have said it is challenging (fun) and employable to a more drastic extent than anyone doing Actuarial or Data Science, as if I wanted to, I can choose to go into either industries, or I can also branch off to Computer Science, or so on.
It's Summer holidays now and I'm quite happy with the choice that I've made. However, I know that VCE is a busy time, and so many people (that I know of, at least) have no idea what they want to do. Hopefully with this journal, I can emulate the ones who have inspired me in the past, and guide anyone lost through the pitfalls of choosing what to study, perhaps.
I'll be reviewing all the subjects I do both here and in the Subject Reviews & Ratings megathread, and here's hoping that I'll be able to help, even at the most, one person on how Maths/Compsci is like, or how this degree is, etc.