STPM or Finance Foundation?PLEASE HELP!!!!!

[lovEunice]

i'm a spm candidate for 2008, and now i'm struggling to choose wheter to pursue my stpm ( form 6 ) OR to go straight away for finance foundation then proceed to finance degree.
i need some assistant to help me get out of these few frustration :

1) what do we learn in finance course? / what are finance about?

2) i'm currently studying form 6 science stream(pengajian am, physic, math, chemistry), would i be able to cope up when i go for a finance degree courses after my stpm? (i have
none background of account & economic )

3) i like maths, and i'm interested when people around are talking about finance especially during this crisis, but sometime i don't get to understand some new inside the star biz and i like dealing with money, am i suitable taking up finance courses?

the reason i'm in the science stream for form 6 is because i'm still not too sure wheter i'll be interested in finance or not,so eventually the counsellor told me to stay put in science stream.

additional info :
1) more precise and details replies will be much favourable
2) i have certainly no fear of form 6 though people are saying it is very very tough
3) anyone who feels i'm not suitable for form 6 nor finance courses please feel free to tell me what is the alternatif way.


indeed needing help, please and thank you very very much!!!

[DoomScythe]

Back after a short break. :)

I really hate to point out the obvious, but please read this before asking in the forums:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finance

Now, on to your questions:
1. Essentially, the basic courses in Finance will teach you about stock pricing, company finance structures, techniques used to price securities, options and all those. Further studies into Finance entails things that are more technical, such as Black-Scholes model and stock price movements modelled using Markov Chains. The Finanace world is very wide, and it is better to read up a bit and post more specific questions here.

2. I think you should be able to cope, as long as you have a strong grasp in Maths. Economics would certainly help, but not really a pre-requisite. Though keep in mind that if you are the type that's totally oblivous to the current economic happennings, you might have a tough time in finance.

3. It is perfectly normal for you to not understand the news in the business section of newspapers. Lots of jargon and perhaps bullshit are thrown into the business section actually. But once you have grasp the 'lingo' of finance, you will be able to cruise through that pretty easily.

As for your last question, it is not my policy to tell people what to do. I will only try to shed light into things that aren't clear to people. :) Hope this helps.

[nickvl]

Well, i have always been a form 6 supporter so my answer might be bias...

As you said yourself you are not a 100% sure u want to do finance so a foundation is a little risky as it closes all doors of options after you take it...form 6 leaves you a little time to think it through...if you realise you really wanna do finance it's still possible...

About not understanding finance jargon, i guess it's normal if u are not in the sector yet but you can always wiki it...

Like doomsycthe, i want to put a disclaimer that im not expert in this but just my humble opinion...

[lovEunice]

Back after a short break. :)

I really hate to point out the obvious, but please read this before asking in the forums:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finance

Now, on to your questions:
1. Essentially, the basic courses in Finance will teach you about stock pricing, company finance structures, techniques used to price securities, options and all those. Further studies into Finance entails things that are more technical, such as Black-Scholes model and stock price movements modelled using Markov Chains. The Finanace world is very wide, and it is better to read up a bit and post more specific questions here.

2. I think you should be able to cope, as long as you have a strong grasp in Maths. Economics would certainly help, but not really a pre-requisite. Though keep in mind that if you are the type that's totally oblivous to the current economic happennings, you might have a tough time in finance.

3. It is perfectly normal for you to not understand the news in the business section of newspapers. Lots of jargon and perhaps bullshit are thrown into the business section actually. But once you have grasp the 'lingo' of finance, you will be able to cruise through that pretty easily.

As for your last question, it is not my policy to tell people what to do. I will only try to shed light into things that aren't clear to people. :) Hope this helps.

first of all, thank you very much for your kind information^^

well, i did look up into the wiki and google everytime im doing research on something,but most of the time i couldn't understand what they're talking about.

1) regarding that i should post a more specific question in the forum, i have to apologize for that because due to my limited information as a spm leaver, what i know about finance is only seem to be the very surface of it.but i do understand that i wouldn't be able to know what is it until im really into the studies for it.so that's why im gathering up as much information i can before i made any decision.but still thank you for listing me the subjects though i don't really know in depth on any of those.

2) somehow, part of my thinking that drive my to pursue finance is that i love math and other part is im interested when my dad brief my something about finance, but is it so?or actually you love math doesnt mean you suit finance.well, IF i were to choose form 6 in the end,i'll surely lending some account and economics books from the library so i'll at least get a brief image,but the thing is they are all in malays.but wheter to be able to cope with finance degree courses while being in science stream in form6 is still be the main obstacles for me.

3) okay i think i'm still consider as a normal one^^

and surely it really does helped me alot as im collecting ideas and information to finalize my decision.once again thank you very much^^

Well, i have always been a form 6 supporter so my answer might be bias...

As you said yourself you are not a 100% sure u want to do finance so a foundation is a little risky as it closes all doors of options after you take it...form 6 leaves you a little time to think it through...if you realise you really wanna do finance it's still possible...

About not understanding finance jargon, i guess it's normal if u are not in the sector yet but you can always wiki it...

Like doomsycthe, i want to put a disclaimer that im not expert in this but just my humble opinion...

yeah, that's why im still struggling between this two options due to my uncertainty with the finance part. well as you said that you are a stpm leaver, so may i know are you in the science or art stream?and do you think that if i as a science stream student in form 6, will i be able to cope up when im taking up finance degree next future?as this is still my main concern.

anyway,thank you very much for your suggestions and precious info^^

[nickvl]

lovEunice, sbout whether a science stream can go into finance I truly don't know...you'll be better off asking your counsellor or a someone who's studying finance (eg seniors) whether it's ok...

I guess the worst that can happen if after form 6 cannot, you'll need to do a foundation again in finance before the degree...which means that 1.5 years in form 6 is wasted...

Then again it really depends on the ipta/ipts whether they allow it in their criteria....

On whether you can cope, only yourself will know, but with perseverence and hard work, I'm sure you can do it...

[lovEunice]

lovEunice, sbout whether a science stream can go into finance I truly don't know...you'll be better off asking your counsellor or a someone who's studying finance (eg seniors) whether it's ok...

I guess the worst that can happen if after form 6 cannot, you'll need to do a foundation again in finance before the degree...which means that 1.5 years in form 6 is wasted...

Then again it really depends on the ipta/ipts whether they allow it in their criteria....

On whether you can cope, only yourself will know, but with perseverence and hard work, I'm sure you can do it...

yeah, i have been asking my counsellor which they told me that i can cope up but of course provided it will be harder compared to others which had a good foundation in finance and i have double up my hard work.
regarding about taking another foundation scare me the most because is just like what you have said, everything in the form 6 would be a total waste.yup,while enrol in the form 6 route, i have be prepared to be extra hardworking.anyway thanks so much^^

[DoomScythe]

Hmmmm, I didn't thought about the possibility of you not understanding the Wikipedia (I don't mean it in a bad way). My bad.

Alright, I will try to explain it again. Basically, the main thing that you learn in a basic finance course is how to calculate the so called 'fair' price for stocks (I'm sure you know what the stock market is). That is the basis of all the other more advance things in finance.

From there, there are different 'models' developed by different people throughout the history to try to calculate the 'fair' price for stocks. As people got smarter through time, different types of stocks were developed. Things such as 'securities, portfolios, bonds, commodities, equities, etc' are basically more fancy type of stocks. They are a little different, but all of them can essentially be considered stocks. These stocks are obviously more complicated, thus requires a more complicated model to (calculate the) price (of) them. Deeper finance courses study these models.

Now, I've said that you don't need any background in finance to go into the field. All you need is just a strong background in mathematics (more specifically, you should like applied mathematics if you want to do finance). This is true about going into finance field, but it might not neccessarily be true for certain universities. Perhaps some in Malaysia requires you to know some finance, I don't know. I'm not very in touch with the local education system.

If you are serious about taking finance, I suggest that you take up Maths, Further Maths and Economics / Accounting. Having some basis in Economics / Accounting would be a great help. Sorry if I'm a little blunt, but from your response, I think that you basically have zero knowledge in economics/accounting. So, I strongly suggest that you take one of these subjects in STPM, if you opt for Form 6.

As for Economics being thought in BM, I think that's not much of a problem, as long as you get the basic concepts.

If you were to take those subjects I listed, your Form 6 might not be a waste after all.

If you do have any other questions, just post.