Why does everyone care about VCE so much?

[kenhung123]

I want to be an Actuary because I love Maths and also because it's well rewarded.

I consider it a privilege, to have found a career pathway that is what I'm interested in and holds great rewards.

I think it's wrong to dismiss everyone as 'in it for money' because most people are often in something because they enjoy it. Imagine how you'd feel waking up every day if you had to do a job you didn't like. You'd feel so depressed, even if it paid heaps.

I agree

[/0]

It's less maths than it sounds like :/

[Ilovemathsmeth]

Really???

Just out of interest, which career does involve the most Maths?

*changes career path immediately*

[/0]

It's just what I heard on an actuary forum. Apparently you have to do a lot of business theory and learn all these regulations. There are certain exams you do to become qualified, and the more exams you do the less math-y and more theory based they become.
But I guess it would still involve mathematics, just a lot of other stuff too.

If you want a career that involves the most maths, become a math professor ;p

[Ilovemathsmeth]

How do you do that - phD in Maths?

[kenhung123]

Are you changing courses ILMM?

[/0]

How do you do that - phD in Maths?

I guess so... I'm not saying actuarial isn't a good career, it's got great hours and pay (after you've finished the exams), but maybe not if you want to solely focus on maths

[TrueTears]

Get a PhD in Pure Maths if you want to concentrate entirely on Maths.

The pay is still alright for Maths Professor but not as much as commerce-related mathematics.

But I would seriously doubt it if you can do a commerce-related maths major and not learn any business theory. It's commerce afterall, you need to know some commerce background heh

[crappy]

I remember a teacher I had last year told us his son was studying to become an actuary. It took him 7 years overall to finally pass his exams as he kept on failing them. Mind you, he was a 99+ student, and this was at Melb Uni. But don't let this deter you

[kendraaaaa]

But don't let this deter you

hahaha, the equivalent to

"Tomorrow is doomsday, but don't get scared"

[crappy]

But don't let this deter you

hahaha, the equivalent to

"Tomorrow is doomsday, but don't get scared"

haha, but you shouldn't let one opinion stop you from following your dream

[kendraaaaa]

But don't let this deter you

hahaha, the equivalent to

"Tomorrow is doomsday, but don't get scared"

haha, but you shouldn't let one opinion stop you from following your dream

True true, I'm just poking fun haha.

[Souljette_93]

How do you do that - phD in Maths?

That doesn't sound to bad. You can teach Uni  level or write text books or maybe even write the VCAA exams eventually lol. =P

TC,
Souljette<3

[QuantumJG]

Get a PhD in Pure Maths if you want to concentrate entirely on Maths.

The pay is still alright for Maths Professor but not as much as commerce-related mathematics.

But I would seriously doubt it if you can do a commerce-related maths major and not learn any business theory. It's commerce afterall, you need to know some commerce background heh

You can't be anymore focussed on maths than as a maths professor.

Pure maths is a geat area of maths! It is where you focus on the theory and do very little application. I have always believed that it is a privilege to have knowledge on the really interesting areas of physics and maths, so I have always been drawn to looking at those subjects, hence, why I am doing a mathematical physics major.

You do get questioned about what careers your degree will offer you and that I sort of don't know. I want to become an academic (but it seems so esoteric), I guess it would be good to have some form of good paying job to fall back onto if you can't enter that world.

My friend is doing actuarial studies (first year so mind you he has only done one subject of it - also a 99+ achiever at melbourne) and he so far is loving it. Mind you he is very competitively driven, he mainly focussed on his VCE studies for that reason. I also know a friend of his who was also a 99+ achiever doing a maths major (I think he is considering actuarial studies, a lot of high achieving students planning on a maths major do consider actuarial studies). Apparently its not until the second year of your actuarial degree that you find out if you are cut for the career.

[Collin Li]

I deeply regretted not pursuing Actuarial Studies a little bit after deciding I loved Commerce in late 2nd year / early 3rd year. Now I'm over it -- and happy with going ahead to finishing my degree (the Engineering part), and found other fields (entrepreneurship, marketing and communication, user experience and design) that I love that have distracted me from the attractive career path of Actuarial Studies.

Although even that anecdote about learning market regulation scares me from Actuarial, and makes me feel a bit better about not learning it. I stick with a pretty theoretical subset of Commerce (Economics and Finance). Accounting is more practical, and will delve into the yucky regulatory details.

(BTW, I heard with becoming an actuary that once you pass the exams -- I made that sound way easier than it is -- you're set! The hours aren't standard, not extreme, and you are paid a lot, but that's an aside)