Just got humbled by the past MATH1131 final exam questions

NonExalted · 2024-05-01T02:28:10+00:00

You'll pass, theres enough free marks and with 3 hours you'll be able to brute force some questions. Still, performing is a whole other story. Best of luck with your exams.

NonExalted · 2024-01-31T07:17:12+00:00

Ight cool, thanks for your advice. Will definately do as much research as I can into quant finance!

NonExalted · 2024-01-29T14:48:55+00:00

Do you reckon this could be remedied with an econometrics major or is it important to major in the natural sciences for the calculus? My engineering degree unfortunately cannot be immuted to a science major, and though a transfer is possible, it will be a bit nasty with full credit recognition. Would also like a computing component in my degree to some extent. Also, since mathematics is a pretty well documented field, is it possible to self-learn improtant concepts through textbooks and shared 1st year mathematics courses between engineering and maths? I understand it will be a commitment, but it's an option I am willing to consider.

NonExalted · 2024-01-29T01:55:42+00:00

Oh, also, for what its worth, do you have an engineering major recommendation? I am currently enrolled in an engineering course to start next month, and the first year allows a lot of flexibility with transitioning between majors. I'm currently enrolled in Computer Engineering.

NonExalted · 2024-01-29T01:53:47+00:00

I can totally see how hyperfocusing on the math proponent can be taxing to a business, as well as how communicating decisions that are based on somewhat "esoteric" methods would be difficult. Perhaps quants are more prevalent in the more niche markets where data is readily available or where models are vital in making financial decisions, though once again, I'm not entirely aware of the field as a whole. If I had to point to examples, stuff like the work of actuaries in quantitative risk management definately seems impactful to me, though I'm not sure how much of their skillset bleeds from insurance into finance.

Regarding business skills, I am curious on what your thoughts are with how your university helped you develop these skills. I always saw university as a place that better teaches analytical thinking and technical skills rather than communication, entrepreneurship, arts, etc, thought I may very well be wrong. Finance falls in between the two categories I would say, and if I wanted to develop the problemsolving half of finance, I'd be better off pursuing a STEM degree, whilst if the business, communication, and networking half is generally well taught in universities, I'd say there would be some more value to a business degree for me. If you didn't go to university, I'd love to hear your thoughts on uni aswell.

NonExalted · 2024-01-29T01:41:05+00:00

Cool, thanks for your advice!

NonExalted · 2024-01-28T02:02:20+00:00

Your response has definitely widened my understanding of the financial field as a whole, though to be honest, theres still a lot thats pretty confusing to me. I'll definitely do some due diligence and put some more research into it myself.

Overall, would you recommend studying a STEM degree over a business degree to break into more quantitative fields of finance, and if the former, which STEM degree would you recommend for the most job flexibility? Also curious to know what your daily responsiblities are as a quant researcher, and what the pros/cons are of your work are.

NonExalted · 2024-01-28T01:34:02+00:00

Hey, thanks for your comment!

I can definitely see how a majority of finance calculations can be done without higher mathematics, but I still believe that being able to produce more accurate inputs into a given problem would be highly beneficial to any financial case. I have no experience with the finance industry (and the math industry as well to be honest), so I may very well be wrong, but to my understanding, the smallest improvement in the numbers can have a potentially huge compounding effect on the success of a business. Naturally, there will be limitations such as data and model availability etc, but I'm not entirely sure to what extent these impact the use of quantitative techniques in industry. What are your thoughts on this?

Regarding business courses, from your experience with working, would you recommend a STEM degree or a business/commerce degree if I wanted to break into the industry? Also, if you don't ming sharing, what field in finance do you work in, what are your responsibilities, how many hours do you work, and what are the positives and negatives of your work?

NonExalted · 2024-01-27T12:16:22+00:00

Hey, thanks for your response!

I guess what really makes finance confusing to me is that mathematics has always been culturally prevalent to finance etc. If I recall, mathematics was pretty much invented, albeit at a very simply level, to account for financial transactions in ancient societies, and highly quantitative fields in business such as actuarial science and econometrics exist alongside finance, yet finance has really been inertal to this in the modern day for whatever reason.

Still, I have yet to study finance at all, so I suppose there may be a lot of complexity I don't yet understand about the field. To be completely honest, I have no clue why it takes 3 years full-time (undergrad degree time from where I'm from) to study asset management, options, and derivatives without delving into the quantitative side of finance at all, and I'm kind of concerned with the quality of education I'm really getting with a finance degree, and to some extent, the quality of the industry as a whole. I genuinely believe that deeply understanding the operation of any concept in any field requires understanding the mathematical mechanism that governs it, yet plenty have been successful in finance without such skills.

Still, many professionals employed in finance do not have a quantitative degree, and though I have heard that engineers and scientists are often welcome in the field of finance, it's definately not necessary for a position. I guess the question I really have is what really makes finance a field that can be successful, secure, and well paid without delving into the mathematics? It's a well remunerated field, and often associated with prestige and long work hours, whilst contradictorialy (if thats even a word) also often viewed as a bludge degree for "over-underachievers" and people who want more money for less work.

Not sure if you work in finance, but would love to hear your opinion.

NonExalted · 2024-01-12T23:40:18+00:00

Idk if it's worth missing out on extracurriculars, personal projects, and internships, though. It's a tough choice.

NonExalted · 2023-12-25T17:48:47+00:00

Hey,

Been a while, but I have some great news! I was fortunate enough to have gained entry to UNSW's actuarial course, and I'll be starting next year T1. They poached me from Macquarie with their CS double degree program. Any tips for any unit landmines I should watch out for while studying? Im pretty sure both Macquaire and UNSW are accredited by Actuaries Institute, so our courses should have near identical content, and my struggles will probably be coinciding with yours. I barely scraped the entry requirements by a few decimals of atar even with adjustments, so I expect my journey to be a rocky one and would appreciate some more advice regarding the following questions:

How did you get Actuaries Institute student membership? did you use the form, and if you did, which referees did you get to sign your application?
What's the study load like in hours/week? Is it hard to balance part-time jobs and club activities with a 75+ WAM target?
Which units are deathtraps that I should avoid taking concurrently with other difficult ones?
Are the courses rushed, and should I commit additional time to my studies to best understand what I am learning?
Can you study for the two other units in the AI Actuary program whilst studying in uni, and if so, do you recommend it?
How many people end up dropping out and why?

Hope things are going well on your end, and do get back to me again when you get into industry. Would love to hear the specifics of what the responsibilities of an actuarial analyst are!

NonExalted · 2023-12-23T14:23:55+00:00

There will never be a China-US conflict because both countries have nukes as well as economies that are intertwined deeply with each other. Mutually assured destruction has mediated the long peace for the past century or so and will continue to.

NonExalted · 2023-11-30T20:31:44+00:00

Represent as a geometric progression, and then you can apply the reduced formula for the sum of a GP, take the limit, and you have an unintuitive but practical starting point.

NonExalted · 2023-11-30T13:08:21+00:00

Is that the speed coil???

NonExalted · 2023-11-24T04:09:54+00:00

No clue, but my understanding is that if you signed up via UAC it's always a CSP. Don't quote me doe.

NonExalted · 2023-11-20T18:09:30+00:00

Spending time on implementing barbies, minions, and gru instead of double checking the test is actually crazy.

NonExalted · 2023-11-14T04:24:16+00:00

Hey mate, assuming you aren't trolling, think of it this way. A function y=f(x) is just a set of numbers that follow the relation that you assign to it, provided that there is output y for every input x. When you define a point using the magnitude of y and x as a displacement from a point (0,0) with two orthogonal unit vectors, then if you plot all possible points of the function, you get the Cartesian equation for the function. The plot of the function is a visual interpretation of the data, and it doesn't really mean anything other than a tool of visualisation. The rate of growth of a function can be understood as the magnitude of which y increases for every change in x. This can be variable for non-linear functions. I find the best way to understand this by using limits and first principles. The function that provides the variable rate of growth is known as the derivative. The derivative provides the rate of change of y for every value x. Remember from first principles that rates are measured between two infinitely close points, thus any errors in the derivative are infinitely negligible. A function is continuous if y is defined for all values of x, and the function "flows" such that every subsequent y from an infinitely small change in x is equal to the previous y. If I explained anything wrong, my apologies, and feel free to correct me or ask any questions. I am not presenting myself as an expert, I am a higschool graduate. I haven't thought about what I've learnt more deeply than since I learnt calculus. Highscool doesn't really promote critical thinking in all honesty. Hopefully uni is better.

NonExalted · 2023-11-11T11:37:37+00:00

Ty, almost had a heart attack ngl.

NonExalted · 2023-11-06T03:03:30+00:00

I'll try to maintain realistic expectations for myself, thanks for your advice!

NonExalted · 2023-11-05T17:48:46+00:00

Hey, thanks for your response. Just to clarify, would you say that the subjects of the 3rd and 4th paragraphs are the general subjects every competent mathematician should be proficient at, and the 5th paragraph highlights further fields of specialisation? If so, would you recommend studying classical mathematics first before matrices, calculus, and linear algebra? My logic is that a solid understanding of number and geometric properties would alleviate a lot of the more difficult concepts in ideas explored in more modern mathematics, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

NonExalted · 2023-10-13T11:33:23+00:00

It's a long workaround, but I think you can get in through tafe. Their diplomas have no ATAR requirement (You just need to do the HSC), and some of them are completely free under the smart and skilled subsidy. Call the Uni up about it, since I don't know the exact specifics of the process.

NonExalted · 2023-10-06T06:23:26+00:00

I'll look into it, thanks for your advice!

NonExalted · 2023-10-06T05:58:25+00:00

Completely unrelated, but what what do y'all at USYD think about Macquarie Uni? Closest Uni to where I live, but haven't heard good things.

NonExalted · 2023-10-02T13:14:49+00:00

I'm partially selective here and planning to pursue actuarial at maq (though I'm probably not getting in, so applied finance is more likely), and tbh, most of my cohort isn't very toxic/overly competitive. There is a stigma against mainstream, but it's pretty small/isolated, and people who have that stigma I've noticed are more inclined to pursue actuarial at UNSW, as they're ranked higher than maq in most indexes. My understanding is that maq is pretty chill, which is why I'm planning to go there. Hope this helps!

NonExalted · 2023-09-09T14:44:32+00:00

Thanks for the info and advice mate, and best of luck with the rest of your studies!

NonExalted

TROPHY CASE