BSc (Hons) Financial Mathematics

Laura

My Name is Laura Cook and I am about to go into my final year of the BSc Hons Financial Mathematics degree. Maths was always my strong point throughout my time at school but I never started taking it seriously until I began my GCSEs. After receiving A*’s in both my maths and statistics GCSEs I chose to study maths and further maths at A level. I gained a B in Maths and a D in Further Maths at A level. I then received an offer to study Financial Mathematics at the University of Greenwich. I was really excited to be a fresher at Uni and couldn't wait to see what it was all about. My best friend was also going to study Mathematics at the University of Greenwich too so we arrived for our first day together. We couldn't believe that one of the largest lecture theatres in the Greenwich campus was almost completely full with students.

Over the first week we were introduced to our lecturers, personal tutors and show around the campus. Our first Friday there we were put into group relating to our courses and given our first piece of coursework due in for the following Friday. It was nice to see who was taking my particular course as we had spent the first week as with all the new mathematics students. We had to build relationships quickly as we had to answers questions and put together a presentation ready for the following Friday. We were a lucky group as we got on rather well and managed to successfully present our findings. After the first initial week the real teaching began.

The first year was mostly dealing with the last year of A level Maths and A level Further Maths and if you had taken statistics modules as part of your A level, it was all of that too. As I had taken both I was really lucky and knew majority of the first year topics and had minimal new topics to learn. It was a great refresh for me as I was surprised how much can slip out of your head over the summer! After the first year I felt really comfortable at university and knew my way around (I still don’t know my way around dreadnought library though!)

My second year was a lot more independent learning and it took a little getting used to but learning in this style was a great way to test your knowledge and how much you can remember. Most of the lectures are structured where you are shown what to do and the explanation of it and then you can go and try it out for yourself and see if it works. This is where your tutorials kick in. You can give what you learnt a go in these and if you find yourself stuck or not quite grasping the concept of the topic, tutors are available for you to talk to and get some extra help. I found this extremely helpful as one of my topics included some computer programming and let’s just say it wasn’t my strong point!

The tutors were so helpful when it came to helping me a “beginner” in this particular topic. By the end of the year I can say I’ve definitely improved and it’s nowhere near as scary as I thought it was in the beginning! About two thirds of the way through our second year we were given a talk about our third year options. Your third year gives you the chance to pick areas of mathematics that you have enjoyed the most or found most interesting. Depending on your degree depends on how much freedom of choice you get. With a normal maths degree you get complete freedom of choice. With my degree I have to take two compulsory courses (one in each term), two courses in a particular area of mathematics and then I have free choice on another two courses. If you don’t want to be too restricted on choice you can change your course title to allow as much freedom as you want (providing the first two years of the courses are the same!). This was great help and the talk was really informative and gave me a good idea of what to expect this year…

…And here I am now! Waiting to begin my third year excited to get back, nervous that it’s all coming to an end (with a dissertation on the horizon!) but I couldn’t have got as far as I have without my tutors. They may seem scary but they are your friends! They have given me a lot of support over the two years and I will be sad to say goodbye at the end of it. I chose the University of Greenwich as I can tailor my degree to my individual needs. There were a number of courses or opportunities available to me to choose between. I could choose to take a year out after my second year and spend a year working within an industry that I would be interested in. If I didn't want to take a whole year out but still wanted to gain some experience, there is an opportunity in the final year to take a course known as the Mathematics in Industry course. This allows you to base your coursework on work experience gained by spending a minimum of 13 hours of work experience within an area of your interest. Also if you think that you would like to go into teaching, there is another course in your final year that allows you to spend time within a school (primary or secondary) assisting teachers and also teaching yourself. There are also great connections within the Mathematics and the Guidance and Employability Team that can help you with your CV's and help you get on the right track to find a graduate placement. The career options within a maths degree are endless. It can range from staying on for further study and gaining a Masters or a PhD, or going into the city, or taking a PGCE and training to become a teacher. With a degree in Mathematics, the opportunities really are endless.