• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

statistics major or actuarial (1 Viewer)

Tazzz

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
38
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
hey i just finished my first year at unsw and am not sure what to major in stats or actuarial, my other major is finance and i would like to work in the finance industry once i graduate can u guys give me any help on which to pick and y
 

Mature Lamb

wats goin on
Joined
May 14, 2009
Messages
1,117
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Uni Grad
2015
are you talking about commerce/science? if your commerce major is finance, you can't major in actuarial studies for science, only statistics. unless you meant a double major for commerce, and then a statistics major for science which would give you a triple major? :S
 

Tazzz

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
38
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
no im doing commerce&economics and have gotten permission from the econ department that i can do stats from the maths and stats facualty as a major if i want to. my third/compulsory econ major will be financial econ.
 

Tazzz

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
38
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
will subjects such as actl 3001 actuarial stats ACTL3002 Life Ins.& Superann. Models ACTL3003 Insurance Risk Models be relevant to a career in finance,
 

Shadowdude

Cult of Personality
Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Messages
12,145
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
will subjects such as actl 3001 actuarial stats ACTL3002 Life Ins.& Superann. Models ACTL3003 Insurance Risk Models be relevant to a career in finance,
Umm... no, Finance subjects are good for careers in Finance.
 

runnable

Active Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
1,412
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Don't do Actuarial unless you want to be an actuary. You'll want the highest WAM possible to seek a job and ACTL subjects will kill your WAM. They aren't even that helpful for Finance jobs.
 

Tazzz

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
38
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
i hear alot of people saying actl has alot of finance related stuff in it and that alot of the insurance/actuarial topics can be applied to finance.
 

Tazzz

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
38
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
i want to do stats or actl which are equal as hard or so i have heard so they will probably hurt my wam none the less.
 

kaz1

et tu
Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
6,960
Location
Vespucci Beach
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2009
Uni Grad
2018
you can work in finance from actuary but if you're planning to work in finance do finance
 

Tazzz

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
38
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
you can work in finance from actuary but if you're planning to work in finance do finance
as i said in my original post i am doing finance + one other major either (actl or stats), and i am not sure which one, i understand finance is the best major but which major would best compliment a finance major to give me maximum opportunities in getting a job in the finance industry, looking at sales&trading in particular
 

kaz1

et tu
Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
6,960
Location
Vespucci Beach
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2009
Uni Grad
2018
isnt stats equally as hard as actl, btw kaz how did u go in actl 1001
I don't really know which is harder I just assumed actl was.
I think I went alright, the test wasn't as hard as I expected it to be.
 

runnable

Active Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
1,412
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
as i said in my original post i am doing finance + one other major either (actl or stats), and i am not sure which one, i understand finance is the best major but which major would best compliment a finance major to give me maximum opportunities in getting a job in the finance industry, looking at sales&trading in particular
Forget ACTL for Sales and Trading. If anything maybe Stats but even that's limited. Do Economics or something for S&T.
 

Tazzz

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
38
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
other then difficulty is there any reason to do stats over actuarial or vice versa or is it just a matter of preference
 

Tazzz

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
38
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Forget ACTL for Sales and Trading. If anything maybe Stats but even that's limited. Do Economics or something for S&T.
can u give me specific reason y not to do actl and to do econ and stats, sorry to be a pain
 

runnable

Active Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
1,412
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
can u give me specific reason y not to do actl and to do econ and stats, sorry to be a pain
You will use very little to none of ACTL for Sales and Trading. Stats perhaps if you incorporate it into your trading strategy but you will always need economics to analyse the market. This is of course specific to S&T. As I said, unless you want to become an Actuary, don't do ACTL.
 

jaychouf4n

Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
213
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
I would go statistics, simply because the actuarial course at unsw is a bit of a joke ATM. In any case, a lot of the stuff you learn in actuarial overlaps with statistics, I would dare say that you would learn far more with a statistics degree.

No idea what you need to go into finance, but from talking to various finance co ops and actuarial co ops, they all say finance and statistics is the best degree to go into trading. (take from that what you will) Though if you want to go into trading, I would start now with your own capital. (put $500 in and leverage it) In an interview with a fund manager, they asked me whether I traded and what I would trade in if I had the cash. (I failed horribly if you're wondering, I don't trade as a past time and don't really keep up with the news)
 

Tazzz

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
38
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
yeah i hear that actl is outdated in unsw is there any truth to that
 

lyounamu

Reborn
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
9,998
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
^Well alot of people comment on ACTL course saying that it's not very relevant and useless. But then again, alot of courses that we learn at UNI are not that relevant to work.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top