I am taking my first Finance class next semester, Business Finance, for my minor. I am curious how it’s going to be, because I have never taken any business related classes before. Would there be a lot of math involved? I haven’t taken a math class in 3 years. What sort of content can I expect to see in an intro class like this? Am I supposed to know how to use Excel beforehand or are they going to teach me?
I’m taking 3 other Japanese classes, so they would suck up a lot of my time. I hope I can manage enough time for all classes.
for a first finance class just look at some time value of money equations. That and inflation, previous value, and future value of money. Finance isn’t too bad. What I cant stand is accounting
The first finance course is called business finance, managerial finance, intro corporate finance, financial management, or the like. This course usually requires an intro financial accounting as a prerequisite. If you do not have any accounting class before, you can be in trouble. If so, if I were you, I would get an inexpensive, thin (100-200 pages), used accounting book, with a title like “How to Use/Read Financial Statements,” and study it over this winter break.
You do not need fancy math for this course. As long as you are decent at or comfortable with HS algebra I, you will be fine.
This first 1/3 of the course is about time value of money. This then becomes the foundation for the remaining 2/3 of the course. Usually, capital budgeting (that is, deciding whether an investment project adds value to the firm) is the main theme of the course. To fully understand this body of knowledge, some applications of time value of money, portfolio theory, asset pricing, and some pro forma are likely to be introduced.
The second half of the course is usually substantially more abstract (portfolio theory and asset pricing) than the first half if the course is rigorous enough.
Depending on the instructor, Excel may or may not be used in the course. When it is used, your instructor is likely to assume that you know something about it because many business schools have a prior course teaching it. Your instructor may be able to find a tutor for you on Excel.
In general, the intro finance course is one of the most “unfriendly/difficult” courses in the business school due to its quantitative nature (although the level of math is actually not high at all). The average GPA for such a class can be as low as around 2.0 in many colleges if no curve is used to boost grades. Ask around in your school, and do not underestimate it.
Uh oh… I haven’t taking any accounting or economic classes before. My counselor didn’t say anything either, and I thought I can get by considering it’s a minor. I don’t know which book to buy, so I am going to hit up google “how to read financial statements” and see what I can get first. I just PM’ed the professor, hope he has an adequate response.
I’ll check out Excel tutorials, too, just in case. My gosh, I was more concerned about the math level that I didn’t think of anything else. I hope I will be able to handle things. I’m planning to, if I like Finance, I’ll go back for a Master.
This professor seems like hit or miss to me LOL. He simply replied with:
“Here is what we have in the syllabus:
Prerequisite
ACCT 201 or equivalent, STAT 108 or MATH 115 or equivalent. ECON 100 or ECON 101 or equivalent.”
Of course I did read. =.= I’ve had great teachers who don’t response to emails before, though. I’ve PM’ed another professor, just in case. If the first day turns out bad then I can jump to a different class.
@HRSMom Are you a Finance major or minor? Tell me more about your classes and what your learn, please.
I’m actually an old lady!! Well, comparatively speaking!! PM me and I can tell you about what I think of it all. I kind of do some of this for a living, and have had to pick up the other skills later in life, so I know where you can find certain “free” tutorials!
“Here is what we have in the syllabus:
Prerequisite
ACCT 201 or equivalent, STAT 108 or MATH 115 or equivalent. ECON 100 or ECON 101 or equivalent.”
These are typical prerequisites. I bet they are about financial accounting, business statistics, intro calculus, and intro Macroeconomics.
What your professor said was that you should not take his/her class next semester, and you are not ready. Initially, I thought you had already registered for the course. Even if you have already registered, your professor is likely able to drop you from the roster.
Hypothetically you could take finance and ignore the pre requisites if you’re really business inclined, but when I took finance, having a background and understanding debits/credits, P&Ls and balance sheets, interest equations, various types of ratios like debt to equity, inventory turnover, earnings per share, etc was definitely helpful.
If the class has prerequisites, you should absolutely have those classes completed before you take the class. Quite frankly it is irresponsible to do otherwise. You risk putting yourself in a very bad position at some point in the semester when all of the students in the class have a solid base of knowledge on a topic to be covered and you are the only one who does not.
@happy1 Yeah, I know I’m in a bad position right now. But I gotta to do this nonetheless. I can’t double major, and I can’t risk waiting after I graduate to come back for another degree. At least I have to know if I will like or can do well in finance or not.
@philbegas Well they do let me skip all that stuff, or anyone who takes it as a minor. I have been doing some reading and trying to understand those basic terms. I do kinda understand them, but not explain some of them very well. I thought they would be covered in this class…
@prof2dad I did registered already. Technically, those are low division classes, only required for students who major in any business fields. I don’t think he can just drop me like that, or if he will care. But I might drop it myself if things go wrong.
Tch. I am really worried now. Glad I made this thread.
Why don’t you go to the professor’s office hours during the first week of school and ask for his/her opinion on taking the course with no prior business coursework? See if the professor can suggest any areas you should study in advance and/or let you know what problems could crop up for you going in with no background.
I have a degree in Finance and taught Econ 101 long ago. I can’t imagine taking Finance without having taken the suggested accounting prerequisite. I think you can do OK without the specific math pre-reqs if your general math ability is good, and I am not sure you need the Econ (although it is a great class and something I think every educated person should be exposed to) but I think you will be suffering without the accounting prereq. Also, you need enough Excel to muddle through generating spreadsheets.
^^^That would depend on the material covered in the finance class. The first half of my Finance 101 class was basically advanced macroeconomics – anyone coming in without macro background would have been unable to follow the material taught in the finance class. I checked the description of the Finance 101 class at my alma mater and it was the same as when I took it. Understanding that every school’s curriculum is different, I once again recommend that the OP proceed with caution.
Since the OP said that she is at CSU Long Beach, the following is the course description on the school’s website:
"300. Business Finance (3)
Introductory course for all business majors. Integration of computer applications and management information systems in (1) Time Value of Money, Risk, Valuation, Cost of Capital; (2) Capital Budgeting; (3) Long-Term Financing Decisions; (4) Working Capital Policy and Management; (5) Financial Analysis and Planning; (6) International Finance; (7) Special topics including Mergers, Acquisition and Bankruptcy."
Given my experiences of teaching this course for close to 20 years at 4 different flagship state universities, my conjecture is that your professor is likely to teach only (1), (2), (3) and maybe one of (4)-(7). Most of (4)-(7) will be taught at a subsequent corporate finance course, often called intermediate financial management.
Given this course description, most likely very little macroeconomics will be needed. As I mentioned earlier, if you are comfortable with HS algebra I, you will be fine. The real deficit will be financial accounting and possibly Excel if your professor uses a lot of it.
By honest with you, if I were teaching at CSU, I will exercise my instructor withdraw right/option because unconditionally you have a good chance of struggling (>80% if you ask me).
I emailed the head of the department, and he replied briefly with "You can take finance courses with no requirements. or something else along that line. I think it’s their way of saying “Sink or swim, you’re on your own”. :
I didn’t know professors can drop me on their own. Maybe they can, but usually they wouldn’t care to do so.
Should I just focus on finishing my Japanese first, and forget about this minor? They said that I can’t have a second major. I can only go back for a master after I am done with Japanese. If I take too long, I am afraid they might cut my financial aid.
I would still go to class on the first day, and see how things go. I would also ask a counselor for advice soon. But so far, things are looking bad already…
I don’t know which book to buy, so I am going to hit up google “how to read financial statements” and see what I can get first. I just PM’ed the professor, hope he has an adequate response.
Glad I made this thread.