AI students and fintech students - please help me

I'm currently on a foundation year which means I need to choose my course for next year. I'm choosing between Artificial intelligence and fintech - I'm in the middle and I have no idea what to pick even though I've been thinking about this for months. I will put some of my pros and cons down but I will EXTREMELY appreciate it if anyone who is currently doing those courses, if they could write down their own experiences and advice as I haven't gotten the opportunity to talk to others on those courses.

AI:
Pros: I am more likely to find this course a little bit more interesting as I've always found myself somehow motivated to revise maths or programming concepts rather than things like financial markets and economics. I feel like AI is the future so it might be more enjoyable to apply this to daily life. The option courses sound very interesting as they can dive into more biological aspects like language, mind and brain - talking about neuron networks which I find interesting.
Cons:
Sometimes I do find myself struggling with programming. I do manage to finish tasks but I would say it takes me loads of motivation. I know that everyone will find programming hard at the beginning but I always struggle and can become quite slow. I know I can put the effort in but I'm scared of falling behind. I would say this is the only con.

Fintech:
Pros:
I did work experience with my dads company - he works in a finance company so I got to talk to many people and many of them recommended a degree like this one. Many of them said that they wished they had the option of doing a duel degree when they were younger because they feel like they would have benefitted from it more as you get to learn about finances and business whilst still learning about programming concepts. My dad is also pushing for this. I know I'm either going to work on computing or finance. I don't know if I will struggle with this.
Looking through the modules, they sound boring. I did business for A-level and I didn't find it hard but it was more boring which did affect my motivation but it wasn't hard for me to understand. I know it might be way harder in university which is why I desperately need someone else's experience. I put this as a pro because even though its boring, I feel like the finance side is just something you have to memorize and apply concepts too rather than problem solving like programming. If I'm wrong, please let me know.
Cons:
I did business for A-level and I felt so brain dead. It was so boring. My mum did something to do with business in university and she hated it, she said I would find it boring but then again - she didn't do fintech so how would she know? She keeps saying how boring business is and I keep telling her that its not purely about finance but she isn't budging and shes slowly making it sound bad and its seeping into my brain and painting a bad image on the course. I want a clear mind which is why I want someone elses input and first hand experience.

Reply 1

sregginontop

I need answers to this too

Reply 2

uniofleicSTEM

Official Rep

Hi @cherrycosmos

I really recommend you apply and attend some Open Days or Offer Holder Days for the universities you are interested in. There you’ll be able to chat to students currently studying on the courses you wish to do and get honest opinions on the worries you mentioned such as course structure, course difficulties and support on offer.

Both degrees have really good job prospects in terms of all the transferable skills you’ll gain. I personally think doing a degree in AI will give you an edge to your applications and will make you stand out. It will also be a challenging degree but you'll feel all the more proud of yourself for completing it and there's so much support available at university to help you succeed.

Good luck with your choices! 🍀

Emma
University of Leicester

Reply 3

FlyingSpaghetti

Lets say you do a harder course rather than an easier one and u dont like it. You can still do a masters in the easier course having done the harder one first. I am doing AI masters with no coding experience and whilst it can be hard it is interesting and the challenge makes it better. It also depends what kind of AI course you pick. It can be applied where you will do more programming or it can be more theoretical where you will do more maths. You did not specify the university but if you go to an open day you may get a chance to speak to students and lecturers. If you do the boring course you may find that you regret not taking a chance with a “harder” course and you still end up doing it later (like me). I think you have the capacity to do either :smile: