Hi,
I've almost completed my commerce degree at UOW with a Finance major (only have 2 subjects to go).
Few things:
1) I would, at minimum, complete 2U maths. The finance major basically becomes a "watered down" applied maths major- it's just all formulae and lots of algebra. This is not necessarily hard, but it can get tedious and an appreciation as opposed to a strong ability in maths is at least needed to get through it. In my opinion you can run through the major without ever knowing any calculus, as the formulas are derived for you, however do keep in mind that you will only have a surface understanding- knowing how to derive most formulas help build on the question of "why" are you doing it this way, which deepens your learning.
A solid understanding of basic statistics is important (though you will learn that at uni) and I had to do an econometrics subject which was quite mathematical. A good understanding logs/exponentials/graphing is always useful.
2) Ask yourself why you want to complete a finance major. The major alone, unless you score very high marks and perhaps do honours will not provide a guarranteed entry into a high paying finance job- for these there are far better degrees in which you could study I think (BMathFin/Comm(Fin)/Law, BEng/Comm).
If your a written person you may find finance highly boring- I have. It is a very narrow specialisation, has little room for interaction and questioning, there is very little discussion of 'deeper' or philosophical aspects & you certainly do not learn any 'skills' such as trading etc.
It is good however if you enjoy learning about basic market theories, the basics of pricing models for securities, hedging strategies & diferent types of financial instruments. Beyond this (which gets highly repetitive) the major branches out very little. One major criticism is that none of the stuff you learn has any real use in reality- ie most of the financial models make wild theoretial assumptions and are rather useless in the real world.
3) On employability though, it is considered favourably by employers. Looking through the current grad guide, a finance major from a dedicated student can basically work in most organisations. This won't always be the massive paying, glamourous IB jobs but realistically it is very employable over many other majors, particularly when combined with something else.
4) Personally, I don't regret doing it, however I'm not looking for immediate emplyment in the industry. I've taken up an earth science degree & I'm looking at emplyoment in the "green" economy somewhere (first as a scientist, then some kind of management consulting role).
At the end of the day though, depressing as it is, the finance major just leaves you with a piece of paper that expresses interest to employers, shows you can think independly but also follow instructions, have a base level of dedication, strong numerical/excel skills & overall have a generally good grasp of the reality of funding projects/cash flows//risk management/accounting/global financial markets.
But hey that's most Australian degrees...
Don't listen to me, I'm just one of the few who is depressed by our drive towards vocational education and wish in some ways I had had the balls to enrol in a more "classical" education like a generalist Arts or Science degree from the beginning...but oh well at least I can go out and join my fellow capitalists in slavery........
If that sounds great, i would go for it.
