All the people who studied Economics/Accounting and Quantitative Techniques

LegacyUser

Hiho!

I am very interested in studying either Business Studies/Marketing/HRM at third level. However in every business course around basically, you can not escape Economics/Accounting or Quantitative techniques which I assume is Statistics.

I am crap at Maths. I got a D3 in pass maths in the leaving whereas in Business I got an A1. So Business does interest me greatly. I am just concerned I will encounter the dreaded maths in the subjects I mentioned. Trust me, I suck at maths! Is this the case? I do not want to be struggling with maths all through third level so can any of the Accountants/Economists or people who have studied these subjects at third level advise me.

Is there a lot of Maths in these subjects?

Thanks!

sceptre

Thre is and there isn't. These days all accounting courses contain at least one Maths module (it's required for stage 2 of the accounting qualifications if I remember rightly so you don't get an exemption without it). Despite the fact that you probably aren't interested in joining the grey profession I'd be surprised if you can find a business course without it. It's mostly statistics, which some people find rather difficult. Obviosly there's an element of maths in any accounting, economics or general business modules you'd be doing as part of the course but the maths itself isn't the most difficult aspect of any of these modules (and to be honest most of it is addition and subtraction so you won't have a problem with that). Besides, most colleges that give a damn have a dedicated maths facility to help students through any mathematical difficulties - they know people have problems with it.

Getting into a university business course might be difficult for you with your D3 in ordniary level maths (for example a BBS in UL requires at least a B3 if I remember rightly). I'm not too sure what the requirements for marketing and HRM are but I'd imagine they're less stringent. Any college that has major/minor options will allow you to (mostly) drop economics or accounting and perhaps do management instead (which might be something you're interested in).

I wouldn't let your lack of mathematical prowess put you off applying for a course that interests you. If you're over 23 and can apply as a mature student the requirements are less important. Even if you're not, you might be better off in marketing/HRM/something with less accounting in any case if you really don't like maths in general. You're not the only one in this boat.

Get some prospectuses from colleges, check out their requirements and contact the college directly if you've any questions about the amount of maths in particular modules. Or ask here - there's a good chance someone has done a course you're interested in or knows someone who has.

Oh and there's a good chance that Monty or the Fanj will move this to the Education boards so don't be surprised if it moves.

LegacyUser

Thanks a lot for the reply. Just so you know, Im 20 and dropped out of comp science in UCD and want to go back and do something else but it appears the only Marketing degree out there is in DIT and it takes 4 years and is a Bsc. This bugs me a lot since Im about 30 points short of commerce so my only other option would be a private college like DBS or Portobello.

Hmmm.

Thanks a lot for the reply. Ill go to the proper board to ask about portobello and DBS then.

sceptre

Heh, funny, I went the other way. Four years of law and accounting in UL, went back after a few years and now doing computer systems. I suppose I've been lucky in that maths has never really been any problem to me.

How many points do you have to play around with? Some of the out of Dublin colleges can sometimes have lower points levels (if out of Dublin is an option). And it still might be checking out soms of the BBS courses - if there's a marketing option as a major it's just as good (most would say "better") though you're still talking four years for any of those (the Eurocrats are insisting on that).

Cork

It really depends on the business course. They a more maths in some than others.

I did a National Certificate in Business and Diploma in business with no quantative analysis but transfered into a BBS course with quantative analysis.

I had a little difficulty with the subject but passed.

My advice is check out the courses subjects. The Institutes of technology are great for Business Studies. But basically - basic maths gets you thru many subjects such as financial management, costing & accounting.

But check out the subject list regarding maths.

Victor

I'm wondering how far you expect to get in business if your maths aren't up to scratch (and your leaving cert result isn't necessarily relevant in this case). If you are afraid (as opposed to cautious) of numbers, you will only get on in principals (business law, business procedures, HRM). If you can't manage the numbers (i.e. money) it's difficult to get into management.

LegacyUser

Here lets not get it twisted. I can count. I am just crap at Maths. Like algebra and all the formula crap maths entails.

subway_ie

Not quite on topic... but I'm thinking about doing Financial Mathematics and Economics (GY309) in NUIG - is anybody else doing this? It looks like a fairly maths-intensive course (which is OK with me, should be getting between a B2 and an A2 in leaving cert higher maths), but I haven't done probability or statistics for leaving cert, which is supposed to be a big disadvantage. Any advice?