Honours in Actuary

[vcestudent94]

Can someone please explain this

To be eligible for admission to honours in actuarial studies students must have satisfied the requirements for the pass degree and completed a major in Actuarial Studies with a grade of H2B (70%) or better in any four level-3 actuarial subjects.

Is it saying that to get into honours you need a 70% average over your subjects? how hard is it to maintain 70% average?

Edit: I just noticed it says "in any four level 3". So you only need 70% in your 3rd year subjects?

[Greatness]

You would need at least a 70 average across 4 3rd year actuarial units, however there is 1 3rd year unit worth 25 credit points so if you get a 70+ in that unit then it counts as 2 units for that requirement i.e. you only need to get another 3rd year unit with a 70.
From what I've heard, it is difficult to maintain a 70 average in actuarial. You really need to put the effort and work into your units to do well and have an aptitude in math. Also, I think that you still need a fairly solid average to get accepted into honours, although I don't know what the figure would be - probably at least a 75? As that shows you've been able to achieve the average for the units required for accreditation and being eligible for honours.
If you're set on this path be prepared for a lot of work!

[Jenny_2108]

Just curious, what do you do in actuarial honour year? Research?!?

[vcestudent94]

Thanks for the info. when you say its 'hard' to get 70%, how hard is it actually? Compared to getting 70% in engineering or medicine?

[pi]

Thanks for the info. when you say its 'hard' to get 70%, how hard is it actually? Compared to getting 70% in engineering or medicine?

To answer that, you'd had to have done all three degrees Even then they'd still be a bias


(but if it helps, IMO, getting 70% in Med for the year is harder than getting a 99.35 ATAR)

[Greatness]

Thanks for the info. when you say its 'hard' to get 70%, how hard is it actually? Compared to getting 70% in engineering or medicine?

I wouldn't know as I've only done first year lol but to get a 70 ave in first year, it's pretty much do tute work and cram/study for exams as most of it is commerce/math electives - which aren't overly difficult, although accounting can be tough if you haven't studied it before. If you study and do extra work throughout semester an 80+ ave is very much doable. However, I've heard that the workload increases a lot from 1st to 2nd year. To get a 70 average across the entire degree is 'hard' for sure, you have to be committed to the task and willing to put in the hard yards. I can definitively say that it won't be a walk in the park! We can't really compare getting a 70 average across these different degrees, but they're the ones which would be harder to attain a high average in. If you do some google searches you'll come across some different forums and whatnot with peoples' opinions on actuarial studies, the general consensus will be that it is hard and probably one of the hardest degrees to complete if you achieve all accreditation requirements.

[tram]

1) getting the 70 av. is just a necessary, not a sufficient condition to be able to do honours. There is a quota on the number of spots avalivel, os realistically you would need a 75+ if not 80 av. to be confident of getting a spot.

2) What you do in honours is essentially more advanced subjects. What is different is that there is a 'project' or 'thesis' component where you have to do some independent research and reporting.