Need help selecting university (1 Viewer)

[Acturial]

Hi, sorry if i am in the wrong section ...i am a year 12 student at sydney and would like to know which university is the best for doing actuarial science ...its out of australia national uni, macq uni, melb uni, unsw... And if its ANU.. Is the city enjoyable? As i will be living there alone ... And also which place or uni will be the best in helping to find the job after the course is completed?(more prestigious) please reply

 

[Cl324]

If you live in Sydney stay there! I assume you will live with your parents and you have friends and stuff here so its not worth spending an extra 15k a year to go to a different state when Sydney has arguably some of the best unis in the country.
If you stay in Sydney its going to be between UNSW and MACQ.
Since actuarial is such a specialised course, prestige is to a certain extent, irrelevant. These unis are both highly reputable for actuarial studies and you cant go wrong with either one but i think I'd recommend UNSW only because it offers more flexibility, especially if you decide you dont enjoy it and drop out. At Macq youd be changing degrees whilst at UNSW youd just be changing majors. Also at UNSW you can also do another major in languages/another commerce related area such as accounting or finance that will complement actuarial studies. Other things to consider would be location, atar cutoff, where your friends are going, the campus etc.

 

[garrry]

Im pretty sure it is 96.7 (Source: Undergraduate Program Guide 2012)

 

[Spiritual Being]

Don't go to another uni because of prestige. At the end of the day only one in a million employers look at you and say "hmm nice a ANU graduate I'll take him". Seriously, just look at how stupid that sounds. A degree is a degree. Also, don't move out, waste of money (leading on from what I said up there); you're young you want to save some money not put yourself in debt more than necessary.

 

[Georgehana]

Don't go to another UNI because of prestige. At the end of the day only one in a million employers look at you and say "hmm nice a ANU graduate I'll take him". Seriously, just look at how stupid that sounds. A degree is a degree. Also, don't move out, waste of money (leading on from what I said up there); you're young you want tosave some money not put yourself in debt more than necessary.

Wish I thought like this when I was your age.

 

[Omnipotence]

Don't go to another uni because of prestige. At the end of the day only one in a million employers look at you and say "hmm nice a ANU graduate I'll take him". Seriously, just look at how stupid that sounds. A degree is a degree. Also, don't move out, waste of money (leading on from what I said up there); you're young you want to save some money not put yourself in debt more than necessary.

I believe prestige is relevant to an extent and more reflective in some courses. To dismiss it - is absurd. For example, commerce at UNSW and UWS. The former has a cut-off of 96.30 whereas the latter is 65. Why not procrastinate all year and go to UWS, same job prospects, as you've stated?

Yes, there are degrees in which prestige means little like medicine, dentistry and what not.

 

[Spiritual Being]

I believe prestige is relevant to an extent and more reflective in some courses. To dismiss it - is absurd. For example, commerce at UNSW and UWS. The former has a cut-off of 96.30 whereas the latter is 65. Why not procrastinate all year and go to UWS, same job prospects, as you've stated?

Yes, there are degrees in which prestige means little like medicine, dentistry and what not.

Woah, don't get me wrong here, I'm not completely dismissing it I'm just saying it's not that big of a deal that people make it out to be. I know countless people who've graduated from UWS Commerce and even law too and found jobs fairly quickly. I think some of the imagery that one begins to form up on prestige is that, if you go to UWS and do commerce for example, you will fail at life and never find a job in your field. Though, if you go to UNSW, there is a job waiting for you even before you graduate. Now I'm not here as a magic god that wipes out this common thought out of everyone's brain; I'm just stating my opinion and as I said, prestige has extremely little importance in someone getting employed, even though there could be the odd employer who does value it. It depends on many other factors as well that outweigh the whole idea of prestige.

 

[Omnipotence]

Yes, I agree with the fact that there are other factors that outweigh the beneficiary of a prestigious university and no jobs are guaranteed if you attend one over the other.

 

[Cl324]

Woah, don't get me wrong here, I'm not completely dismissing it I'm just saying it's not that big of a deal that people make it out to be. I know countless people who've graduated from UWS Commerce and even law too and found jobs fairly quickly. I think some of the imagery that one begins to form up on prestige is that, if you go to UWS and do commerce for example, you will fail at life and never find a job in your field. Though, if you go to UNSW, there is a job waiting for you even before you graduate. Now I'm not here as a magic god that wipes out this common thought out of everyone's brain; I'm just stating my opinion and as I said, prestige has extremely little importance in someone getting employed, even though there could be the odd employer who does value it. It depends on many other factors as well that outweigh the whole idea of prestige.

I wouldnt necessarily say that. There are very specialist courses where prestige doesnt matter like medicine and actuarial studies. However for big law firms or investment banking where there are like 1000 or so students vying for that one spot, prestige can and often will be factored into the equation. It really depends on what jobs you are going for.

Also they dont go 'HI5 a UNSW student. Ill jizz in my pants and hire you straight away.' Its more like 'So i have 1000 kids applying for this one spot and I dont have time to go through 1000 resumes. Ill just focus on the USYD, UNSW, ANU, UMELB grads with a Distinction. That now leaves me with 150 people and if I still cant find the right applicant, Ill go back into the others.' Its very unlikely that the high achievers within the top unis wont produce a suitable candidate if not many.

 

[Drongoski]

OP's name is spelt incorrectly

I think he wants his name that way - not intended to be 'actuarial' - but then again I'm just speculating.

 

[MetalTheory]

Generally, the progression in terms of academic quality for actuarial sciences is (Melbourne > ANU >) UNSW > Macquarie, but if you don't want to go interstate then looks past the brackets. Staying home would save you a lot of money and, like another person here has mentioned before, would mean staying where your friends, family, etc are. It's your call, though.

 

[Cl324]

Generally, the progression in terms of academic quality for actuarial sciences is (Melbourne > ANU >) UNSW > Macquarie, but if you don't want to go interstate then looks past the brackets.

I don't think so. Macquarie was the first program to offer actuarial studies like 50 years ago and was the first to get accredited in all the actuarial/financial institutions. All the actuarial degrees at other unis are relatively new (<20yrs) and also correct me if im wrong but i heard the person who formulated the UNSW program was a Macq grad. So unless it has severely decreased in standards, I dont think the academic quality comes last. If OP was 100% sure about actuarial, Macquarie would probably the best uni in the country for the degree.

 

[DavDav]

I wouldnt necessarily say that. There are very specialist courses where prestige doesnt matter like medicine and actuarial studies. However for big law firms or investment banking where there are like 1000 or so students vying for that one spot, prestige can and often will be factored into the equation. It really depends on what jobs you are going for.

Also they dont go 'HI5 a UNSW student. Ill jizz in my pants and hire you straight away.' Its more like 'So i have 1000 kids applying for this one spot and I dont have time to go through 1000 resumes. Ill just focus on the USYD, UNSW, ANU, UMELB grads with a Distinction. That now leaves me with 150 people and if I still cant find the right applicant, Ill go back into the others.' Its very unlikely that the high achievers within the top unis wont produce a suitable candidate if not many.

I see you haven't included UTS or MQ into that mix. Nice one (Y)

A cousin of mine that works for Michael Page International - one of the world's leading recruitment companies (holds the position of regional director) constantly states that GPA is considered FIRST, experience NEXT and FINALLY qualifications (only to check to see if an applicant has the bare minimum of an undergrad. degree). Where the first two can easily be interchangeable.

Wouldn't you choose an applicant with a High Distinction, worked as an intern for 2-3 years and attended UWS than an applicant with a credit score average that attended UNSW?

I'm sure I would.

 

[skoolboy]

The critical thing is to work hard when you arrive, and graduate with a distinction. That will get you noticed more than a pass degree from a reputable institution.

 

[Cl324]

I see you haven't included UTS or MQ into that mix. Nice one (Y)

A cousin of mine that works for Michael Page International - one of the world's leading recruitment companies (holds the position of regional director) constantly states that GPA is considered FIRST, experience NEXT and FINALLY qualifications (only to check to see if an applicant has the bare minimum of an undergrad. degree). Where the first two can easily be interchangeable.

Wouldn't you choose an applicant with a High Distinction, worked as an intern for 2-3 years and attended UWS than an applicant with a credit score average that attended UNSW?

I'm sure I would.

Yes I also havent included 4 other GO8 unis. So what? I was just making a point.
Its all very well that Michael Page or whatever goes for grade first. I know a lot of other firms that dont so it varies. We cannot all be recruited by your cousin so personally Id just be safe and choose UNSW>UWS. Im pretty sure PWC, an accounting firm does not accept UWS grads so its a highly subjective process.

Also your q is highly flawed. I did not say credit average I said distinction. If and only IF I received 2 applications that have those exact credentials then Id consider the UWS grad but since we are talking about the real world, for every stellar UWS applicant, Im sure there are about 5 unsw/usyd ETC. candidates that are more qualified.

 

[Spiritual Being]

I see you haven't included UTS or MQ into that mix. Nice one (Y)

A cousin of mine that works for Michael Page International - one of the world's leading recruitment companies (holds the position of regional director) constantly states that GPA is considered FIRST, experience NEXT and FINALLY qualifications (only to check to see if an applicant has the bare minimum of an undergrad. degree). Where the first two can easily be interchangeable.

Wouldn't you choose an applicant with a High Distinction, worked as an intern for 2-3 years and attended UWS than an applicant with a credit score average that attended UNSW?

I'm sure I would.

I'm behind this guy 100%; but dude seriously there will always be people who think otherwise and just not change their mind. Some people have the mindset that UWS students will always be a minority compared to UNSW; After I read his response and saw that it's just rambling on crap that doesn't matter, I didn't bother. You know what you're going to do. It's your future. Move on. Off to school take care people