Mathematical content in the Bachelor of Applied Finance (1 Viewer)

[Azure]

So guys as some you know, I'm currently completing the Bachelor of Commerce - Professional Accounting. Next year I'll be making the switch to a standard commerce degree so I can pickup a finance major.

My question is, to those who have first hand experience, how difficult is the mathematical content in the Bachelor of Applied Finance? Assumed knowledge is mathematics however I do note that there is a recommendation of extension maths (which I don't have).

I've been hearing mixed opinions, so it'd be nice to set the record straight

 

[Atlas]

So guys as some you know, I'm currently completing the Bachelor of Commerce - Professional Accounting. Next year I'll be making the switch to a standard commerce degree so I can pickup a finance major.

My question is, to those who have first hand experience, how difficult is the mathematical content in the Bachelor of Applied Finance? Assumed knowledge is mathematics however I do note that there is a recommendation of extension maths (which I don't have).

I've been hearing mixed opinions, so it'd be nice to set the record straight

Random comment, but you don't sound like an accounting student (apologies for the generalisation).

 

[Azure]

I've gotten this a few times actually. I don't know why lol

What sort of student do I seem like?

Also no need for apologies

 

[michaeljennings]

I've gotten this a few times actually. I don't know why lol

What sort of student do I seem like?

Also no need for apologies

I always thought you did law or something lol its interesting how you perceive people without knowing them haha

 

[Atlas]

I always thought you did law or something lol its interesting how you perceive people without knowing them haha

True true!!

 

[Atlas]

I've gotten this a few times actually. I don't know why lol

What sort of student do I seem like?

Also no need for apologies

I thought you were more a Law student or maybe something fun like marketing or media. And I just can't imagine an accounting student using that icon.

Since you aren't offended by my sweeping stereotype of accounting students... can I ask whether you hang around with other accounting students or do most of your friends do other degrees? I just can't imagine someone like you sitting in an accounting lecture, lol or maybe you hide your personality very well in real life

 

[Azure]

Hmmm good question. I hang around a lot of commerce students, many from finance/accounting/marketing backgrounds.

You'd be surprised with the types I come across in accounting. Lots of funny, interesting and fun people. I think this is in part due to the advancement of the profession. There are now so many fields to chose from (forensics, insolvency, advisory, etc).

 

[Atlas]

Hmmm good question. I hang around a lot of commerce students, many from finance/accounting/marketing backgrounds.

You'd be surprised with the types I come across in accounting. Lots of funny, interesting and fun people. I think this is in part due to the advancement of the profession. There are now so many fields to chose from (forensics, insolvency, advisory, etc).

Strange, I seem to keep missing the interesting types

Though, I do agree that there is a growing diversity of career options for accounting students, and I have met a few fun accounting people - though mainly from auditing for some reason.

 

[Blizane]

Aaand on to the topic at hand:

I might have a pretty warped sense of what is 'easy' and 'hard' maths so my opinion may be a little more biased towards the 'its not that hard' argument.

As for second year subjects, you'll have ACCG252 which when I did it (the first semester it was offered) was MAJORLY theory based, with the only maths being formulas that are slightly more complicated than ACST101, plus some graphs that you'll need to understand too. So overall, the maths is very doable but the theory is actually quite hard (it doesn't help that theres a shitload of content too). There's also ACST201 too, which I didn't do, but I hear that its not too hard but it will by no means be as easy as ACST101 (did you find ACST101 difficult?).

In third year the maths definitely kicks up a notch, where statistics begins to rear its ugly head again. Even though the maths can get quite involved (combining algebra, calculus, and stat) what I've found is that most of the time it really does make sense, so if you understand whats happening IN WORDS the numbers just sort themselves out. I've still got a few finance subjects to go and am expecting them to be pretty difficult, but hopefully they'll be interesting which certainly helps.

Can I ask why you're dropping down to the single commerce degree with a double major instead of just adding a B. Applied Finance to the B. Comm - Accg? (I assume that double major thing is what you're doing, unless I interpreted your first post wrong)

(Also, re-reading my post I just realised I might have understated the maths aspect since after all the maths I've done in high school/uni, that stuff is second nature to me. Ehh, so yeah, take what I just said with a grain of salt >_>)

 

[Azure]

Thanks a lot for that reply.

I've done a good chunk of the ACT101 unit, but had to decrease my study load for personal reasons and ending up dropping it. I'm planning on completing it next semester. I still have the textbooks for the subject and in all honesty I don't think it's *that* challenging. Just requires a little bit of effort and practical thinking. I think the point you made about understanding the theory and having the numbers sort themselves out is a good one and also highly relevant in this unit.

At the moment I'm considering doing the standard commerce degree (with double major) because it seems that the maths is a little less intense. The third year econometrics subject in the applied finance degree gets me a little nervous because I did pretty poorly in STAT170 (barely scraped a pass).

In the third year you're also required to choose 9CP worth of units from a small selection. I'm not sure if you've made any inroads in regards to this part of your degree, but what is your opinion about the difficulty of these subjects?

I think completing the double degree would give me a little bit of an advantage plus offer a better understanding of finance in general. Just need to make sure my GPA isn't sacrificed.

 

[Blizane]

It's good to hear that you weren't too troubled by ACST101 - that really is the foundation of all financial maths with equating cash flows, present values, future values, etc.

And yeah after comparing recommended programs between the double degree or the double major, I can see the difference in requirements (especially in regards to maths). It looks like the degree has changed a bit compared to what program I'm following (the 2009 B. Comm - Accounting + B. Applied Finance) since I don't have to do any third year econometrics, although I did do a second year econometrics unit which I found to be no harder than STAT171 (which is meant to be a little more difficult than STAT170)

As for the 9CP for the finance major, it seems to be possible to avoid the maths intensive subjects out of that list (by picking the 3 ECONS). Out of those ones I've done ACCG329, which is perhaps the most maths intensive finance subject. Even though it was quite hard (probably the most difficult subject I've done so far) I actually found the content interesting and didn't mind putting in the hard yards to make sure I was on top of everything, and ultimately ended up being the highest mark I've ever achieved at uni. I've also done ECON350 (all theory) which generally slipped in and out of being interesting/boring. Nothing really hard to understand about this subject, just hard to remember it all. (Note that the requirement is a little different for the finance degree - its essentially making you choose 2 maths ones and 2 theory ones, as opposed to being able to choose 3 of whatever you want).

 

[Azure]

Hmm you make a good point. If I can get a healthy balance of quantitative and qualitative subjects I think I should be okay. If the second year econometrics is roughly similar in difficulty to STAT171 I can always go back and do some revision + put in those extra hours to make sure I get through it. I have heard that ECON350 is pretty decent and going through the topics it does appear to interest me. That leaves the third year econometrics subject (which I am hoping will be an extension of second year econometrics) and 9CP worth of units I need to take:

AFIN328 Financial Risk Management (3)
AFIN329 Security Pricing and Hedging (3)
AFIN352 Applied Portfolio Management (3)
AFIN353 Corporate Financial Design (3)
AFIN306 Quantitative Asset and Liability Modelling 1 (3)

AFIN353 seems to be a decent choice based on the unit outline. I've also heard that ACCG329 (now AFIN329) is pretty challenging. Does anyone have any experience with AFIN352 and AFIN328?

 

[Blizane]

What year are you btw?

 

[Azure]

Second year now.

 

[hungwell1337]

lol AZ, i dont think there will be much real maths in applied finance.

It should pretty much just be memorizing a formula and plugging in numbers with basic algebra

 

[Azure]

lol AZ, i dont think there will be much real maths in applied finance.

It should pretty much just be memorizing a formula and plugging in numbers with basic algebra

If that's going to be the case then I literally have nothing to worry about.

It's just I keep hearing that the Applied Finance degree is a GPA killer =/

 

[lm89]

Hmm you make a good point. If I can get a healthy balance of quantitative and qualitative subjects I think I should be okay. If the second year econometrics is roughly similar in difficulty to STAT171 I can always go back and do some revision + put in those extra hours to make sure I get through it. I have heard that ECON350 is pretty decent and going through the topics it does appear to interest me. That leaves the third year econometrics subject (which I am hoping will be an extension of second year econometrics) and 9CP worth of units I need to take:

AFIN328 Financial Risk Management (3)
AFIN329 Security Pricing and Hedging (3)
AFIN352 Applied Portfolio Management (3)
AFIN353 Corporate Financial Design (3)
AFIN306 Quantitative Asset and Liability Modelling 1 (3)

AFIN353 seems to be a decent choice based on the unit outline. I've also heard that ACCG329 (now AFIN329) is pretty challenging. Does anyone have any experience with AFIN352 and AFIN328?

FIN328 is really really challenging. Based on very difficult econometric models. If you want a finance/econometric challenge this is definitely the subject to take on.

 

[Azure]

Hmmm do you have any experience with the others?

 

[Blizane]

Not sure if it was obvious, but ACST306(/AFIN306?) is really only for the actuarial students, so they can satisfy the requirements for the finance degree while still learning actuarial stuff. So definitely steer clear of that one, I know I am.

And just to go back on what we were saying before - did you decide on whether you'll go for the finance major or degree, or are you still tossing up between the two?

 

[Azure]

Thanks for that guys.

I still have until December to make a choice but I'm leaning towards the degree. If you look at it in perspective, the subjects that were worrying me were Financial Econometrics and the ones I listed above. Out of the above listed subjects I need to choose 9CP/3 units. Considering that FIN329 is already a core unit in the Finance Major (and something I'll need to do either way since I'm not keen on FIN328 or AFIN306) and considering that AFIN353 (despite being described as challenging) is pretty theoretical, that just leaves one more subject which I need to choose.

So really it's not as bad as I had initially thought. I'm sure if I work hard enough and apply myself I should be able to get through those particular subjects and since I was working full time/studying part time at one stage, I'm already a semester behind. This kind of works in my favour since I can dedicate a whole semester to two or three subjects.