ATAR Notes: Forum
Uni Stuff => Commerce => Faculties => Actuarial Studies => Topic started by: tram on March 07, 2010, 11:13:25 am
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Hey, i was wondering if anyone can tell me a bit more about Actuarial stidies e.g. how hard it is, what type of subjects you do,if people have enjoyed it, ect. because i am concidering doing it next year. I do really enjoy maths, and this career has been suggested to me by a few people and i just wanted to find out a bit more about it.
Any and all info/advice would be greatly appreciated:)
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Firstly, you can major in Actuarial Studies through the Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne (UoM). Another option is that Monash University has recently introduced this new major through their undergraduate Commerce degree. The only thing is that it is currently under review and hasn't been fully accredited yet.
At UoM, the degree is 3 years and if you have high grades, then you can do an honours year which extends your degree by one year. You have to also remember that to work as an actuary in Australia, you need to be accredited with the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (IAAust). It usually takes around 8 years to gain full accreditation.
For more information, I would suggest you visit this page for more details. On that page, you can also download the Actuarial Studies brochure which will give you a lot more information.
Additionally, you can contact ILoveMathsMeth who is currently a first year Commerce student at UoM who intends to major in Actuarial Studies.
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I didn't do Specialist Maths in high school so I am taking a lower Maths pathway, Calc 1, Calc 2 and Linear Algebra respectively. So far I've done nothing for Actuarial Studies - I'll be doing subjects for that major in second year apparently. I love Calculus 1 so far though. It's pretty amazing. The first week was mainly revision and I can tell the course is going to be hard and challenging and I just think doing all the work as it falls due is the best way of doing well.
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what made you want to do acturial studies as a major? (apart from the fact that you "love MM")
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as in, you didn't do spech, you did ok i suppose in accounting;) like why did u choose acturial studies over accounting for instance
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lol, true, defs, but i'm pretty sure that the 30 or so that actually make it out of the acturial course in the end, have gotta reli, reli like acturial studies
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what made you want to do acturial studies as a major? (apart from the face that you "love MM")
Big money?
Not necessarily.
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what made you want to do acturial studies as a major? (apart from the face that you "love MM")
Big money?
Not necessarily.
Why enter the workforce then? For friends or something lol?
to a degree. These are many other ways to make much more money eg be a partner at a huge law firm. I am sure that the money dosen't hurt at all. But i'm pretty sure what ever career or job you pick is going to be motivated by money to a certian extent for at least 90% of people.
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And out of intrest TT, how related are Acturial studies and finance, especially when combined with a maths degree like ur doing?
I'm most likely going to do Bcomm Actuarial Studies or BActStud in uni, but I'm not sure whether to stay in Victoria and go to Melb Uni or go to Sydney to Macquarie or ANU. I've heard Macquarie's very good at commerce... Any tips?
lol, i'm just trying to decide whether to do acturial studies in the 1st place
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I didn't do Specialist Maths in high school so I am taking a lower Maths pathway, Calc 1, Calc 2 and Linear Algebra respectively. So far I've done nothing for Actuarial Studies - I'll be doing subjects for that major in second year apparently. I love Calculus 1 so far though. It's pretty amazing. The first week was mainly revision and I can tell the course is going to be hard and challenging and I just think doing all the work as it falls due is the best way of doing well.
How are you finding uni ILMM? You do intro to actuarial studies next semester - my friend who's doing actuarial studies enjoyed the subject.
As for being an actuary, the salary is HUGE!
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lol, true, defs, but i'm pretty sure that the 30 or so that actually make it out of the acturial course in the end, have gotta reli, reli like acturial studies
I can remember on either BoS or VN someone in second year of doing actuarial studies was saying how crazy the course became.
what made you want to do acturial studies as a major? (apart from the face that you "love MM")
Big money?
Not necessarily.
Why enter the workforce then? For friends or something lol?
to a degree. These are many other ways to make much more money eg be a partner at a huge law firm. I am sure that the money dosen't hurt at all. But i'm pretty sure what ever career or job you pick is going to be motivated by money to a certian extent for at least 90% of people.
People don't choose physics for the salary. But with commerce you would do it for the money - it seems like a very dull area. One of my friends who is 32 doing a maths major - after be a vet for a while and getting an engineering degree. He said as a rule the more dull the work, the more money and conversely the more fun, the less money.
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I was seriously considering actuarial studies too and spent alot of time thinking about it.
The main reasons I didn't do actuarial studies was because 1. You can't get a PhD, the highest degree you can get is a bachelor. 2. You have to consistently take exams for 8 years to reach the highest salary.
The reason I'm doing Finance/Maths is because finance requires maths and it has more job opportunities where as actuarial studies is too restricted. Plus you can get a PhD in finance and could become a uni lecturer/work at banks/CEO etc.
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He said as a rule the more dull the work, the more money and conversely the more fun, the less money.
That's a bit of a generalisation, no?
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He said as a rule the more dull the work, the more money and conversely the more fun, the less money.
That's a bit of a generalisation, no?
a big one too
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But with commerce you would do it for the money - it seems like a very dull area.
I think thats pretty unfair. Yes many people do commerce for money, but quite a few are generally interested. Some areas are quite dry but theres also some very interesting stuff. I mean, I could say people doing Law are only motivated by money because after doing a Law subject I found it somewhat boring - but I don't because I know people that enjoy it.
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I have never done commerce before and I'm already finding it interesting lol
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^ There you go.
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QuantumJG, Uni is really scary. Nobody knows who you are and it's harder to make friends - been to only two tutorials. The work is faster paced and generally there's a lack of motivation to do it :P How are you finding your (second?) year?
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tram, I took Actuarial over Accounting because I love Maths WAY more than I love Accounting (which I love a fair bit :P). Maths is very exciting, it's the only subject where I don't feel the work is a chore. The pay is also good, which appeals to me too (I love money too).
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He said as a rule the more dull the work, the more money and conversely the more fun, the less money.
That's a bit of a generalisation, no?
Yes it is a generalisation to say this, but I believed it to have truth in it. Obviously it isn't the case for everything. The dream job would be a fun-high paying job, but people do need to make some tradeoff.
But with commerce you would do it for the money - it seems like a very dull area.
I think thats pretty unfair. Yes many people do commerce for money, but quite a few are generally interested. Some areas are quite dry but theres also some very interesting stuff. I mean, I could say people doing Law are only motivated by money because after doing a Law subject I found it somewhat boring - but I don't because I know people that enjoy it.
I made a generalisation in an area that I don't really know a lot about. Re-reading this sounds like an attack (not intended).
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QuantumJG, Uni is really scary. Nobody knows who you are and it's harder to make friends - been to only two tutorials. The work is faster paced and generally there's a lack of motivation to do it :P How are you finding your (second?) year?
This is what I didn't like (some people probably love it), because I would get motivation from feeling as though I could discuss what we are doing with my teachers (especially in VCE), whereas with lecturers you ask a question (very specific to what is being taught) and they answer and you don't get that rapport you get in school.
As for friends I found it easier than starting high school and making friends. When you make friends you get some feeling of people knowing who you are and don't feel like you are tackling a maze by yourself.
Second year is faster paced than first year, but because I have already done 1 year of uni, that had compensated for the change in pace.
Anyway I hope you find the rest of the year not as scary.
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I was seriously considering actuarial studies too and spent alot of time thinking about it.
The main reasons I didn't do actuarial studies was because 1. You can't get a PhD, the highest degree you can get is a bachelor. 2. You have to consistently take exams for 8 years to reach the highest salary.
The reason I'm doing Finance/Maths is because finance requires maths and it has more job opportunities where as actuarial studies is too restricted. Plus you can get a PhD in finance and could become a uni lecturer/work at banks/CEO etc.
1)You can do a PhD in Acturial studies
2)Fair point abou the exams, but if you were to do another degree, you'd be doing exams anyway
3)yes it is restricted, but you are specialised
4)Becomming a CEO if much more about who you know and your daddy sending you to the right school(so you and me are fine;))
don't get me worng, this is not an attack, just my opinion and i would love to be told that i'm am wrong cos wile i love being right, i prefer to know the real situation;)
tram, I took Actuarial over Accounting because I love Maths WAY more than I love Accounting (which I love a fair bit :P). Maths is very exciting, it's the only subject where I don't feel the work is a chore. The pay is also good, which appeals to me too (I love money too).
Exactly the same. I'm loving spech and enjoy uni maths even more, granted i haven't done accounting but i'm at least enjoying it more than chem or english. And who dosen't love money;)
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Oh, and becoming a CEO doesn't require a finance degree. Two members of my family have worked as executives - both did science undergrads, one did a MBA and the other did a law degree.
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Oh, and becoming a CEO doesn't require a finance degree. Two members of my family have worked as executives - both did science undergrads, one did a MBA and the other did a law degree.
What was their science major?
We had an engineer give us a lecture on a career in engineering and he was saying how with engineers they start doing technical stuff and then become less technical and run the business (or are up there on the board).
I was seriously considering actuarial studies too and spent alot of time thinking about it.
The main reasons I didn't do actuarial studies was because 1. You can't get a PhD, the highest degree you can get is a bachelor. 2. You have to consistently take exams for 8 years to reach the highest salary.
The reason I'm doing Finance/Maths is because finance requires maths and it has more job opportunities where as actuarial studies is too restricted. Plus you can get a PhD in finance and could become a uni lecturer/work at banks/CEO etc.
1)You can do a PhD in Acturial studies
2)Fair point abou the exams, but if you were to do another degree, you'd be doing exams anyway
3)yes it is restricted, but you are specialised
4)Becomming a CEO if much more about who you know and your daddy sending you to the right school(so you and me are fine;))
don't get me worng, this is not an attack, just my opinion and i would love to be told that i'm am wrong cos wile i love being right, i prefer to know the real situation;)
tram, I took Actuarial over Accounting because I love Maths WAY more than I love Accounting (which I love a fair bit :P). Maths is very exciting, it's the only subject where I don't feel the work is a chore. The pay is also good, which appeals to me too (I love money too).
Exactly the same. I'm loving spech and enjoy uni maths even more, granted i haven't done accounting but i'm at least enjoying it more than chem or english. And who dosen't love money;)
There was a thread about becoming a CEO a while ago and that was emphasized.
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Yeah too restrictive, which is why I didn't pursue actuarial. Anyway actuarial is probability heaven not enough number theory in it for me. :P
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Three, more specfic question, probs for people that have actually done the subject:
1)If 1 was the difficulty of methods and 3 was the difficulty of specialist maths. what would the difficulty of Acturial studes be? (feel free to go over 10)
2)What types of maths are used in Acturial studies? Obviously A LOT of statistics, but wat else (if anything).
3)Do you have to be good with computers, as in like programming and using all sorts of random, obscure programs like C++ to create models? Cos as far as computers go i'm pretty useless.
Thanks a lot:)
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I'm most likely going to do Bcomm Actuarial Studies or BActStud in uni, but I'm not sure whether to stay in Victoria and go to Melb Uni or go to Sydney to Macquarie or ANU. I've heard Macquarie's very good at commerce... Any tips?
Seeing as you kinda got ignored i'll have a go at anwsering ur Q. From what i see i reackon you should wait it out and see how the situation is going in a coupple years. By that time Monash might have gotten a reli good acturial course up and running. Or mabey Melbourne is going stong and the other unis have gotten worse. So bottom line, wait it out. I mean next year u probs wont wanna think about it with ur 3 3/4s!
Lol, u've got exactly the same subjects as me, only ur also doing Biol in Yr 11. Seriously, strap in for one hell of a year, going into 3 3/4s will reli take it out of you and ur doing 7 subjects all up! But, gud luck with it all:)
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Three, more specfic question, probs for people that have actually done the subject:
1)If 1 was the difficulty of methods and 3 was the difficulty of specialist maths. what would the difficulty of Acturial studes be? (feel free to go over 10)
2)What types of maths are used in Acturial studies? Obviously A LOT of statistics, but wat else (if anything).
3)Do you have to be good with computers, as in like programming and using all sorts of random, obscure programs like C++ to create models? Cos as far as computers go i'm pretty useless.
Thanks a lot:)
during the holidays i have been reading actuarial studies books that prepare you for the different level exams, you start off with methods probability (very easy), then you progress to harder types, like i said, it is probability land.
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Oh, and becoming a CEO doesn't require a finance degree. Two members of my family have worked as executives - both did science undergrads, one did a MBA and the other did a law degree.
What was their science major?
We had an engineer give us a lecture on a career in engineering and he was saying how with engineers they start doing technical stuff and then become less technical and run the business (or are up there on the board).
One did physics, and I think the other did earth sciences/geology or something akin to that. One works in something related to earth sciences, the other does nothing to do with physics :)
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dude are u kidding me if anything i would be dropping a subject. You obviously love maths so dont drop uni maths, u'll have a seriously awesome time, If i were you i'd actually DROP biol or Chem. You only need one of them for pre-req, and chem is beta for pre-req than biol, ie it gets you into more.
I actually was down to do legal studies this year and dropped it not 2 weeks ago. BEST DECISION......EVER. so much better for my other subjects.
Bottom line, DO NOT PICK UP PHYSICS, unless you drop biol. and concider dropping a subject (biol) but 8 subjects is crazy and will kill you. Unless of couse ur an absolute freak.
PS: from a more unbised point of view, do physics 1/2 next year and see you you go. both on your 1/2 s and ur 3/4s. if you get 3 49s drop physics. but reli i think its a bad idea to kepp physics.
PPS:Wat school do you go to that is letting you do 3 3/4s in year 11??? (not against ur school or anything, just interested)
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Yeah too restrictive, which is why I didn't pursue actuarial. Anyway actuarial is probability heaven not enough number theory in it for me. :P
Well it's not like there's any number theory at all in finance either... :P
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Seeing as you kinda got ignored i'll have a go at anwsering ur Q. From what i see i reackon you should wait it out and see how the situation is going in a coupple years. By that time Monash might have gotten a reli good acturial course up and running. Or mabey Melbourne is going stong and the other unis have gotten worse. So bottom line, wait it out. I mean next year u probs wont wanna think about it with ur 3 3/4s!
Lol, u've got exactly the same subjects as me, only ur also doing Biol in Yr 11. Seriously, strap in for one hell of a year, going into 3 3/4s will reli take it out of you and ur doing 7 subjects all up! But, gud luck with it all:)
Alright, I'll go to VCE expo this year and see what Macq has to offer first. And another thing, should I do physics on top of all my VCE subjects, I want to, but that's 8 subjects...
physics is way better than biol, so u should drop biol and pick up physics(or just addd on physics without dropping anything) i dont think ittlll be too hard as biol is just memorizing stuff. physics is much more suitable for the mathematically minded person.
anyway, about actuarial studies: i know salary seems pretty good, but its just too boring- u sit in an office all day calculating probabilities all day....not a good way to spend your life
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I was seriously considering actuarial studies too and spent alot of time thinking about it.
The main reasons I didn't do actuarial studies was because:
... 2. You have to consistently take exams for 8 years to reach the highest salary.
The accreditation exams are for 3-4 years, depending on whether or not you did an honours year and applied for Exemption in Parts 1 & 2, isn't it?
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I was seriously considering actuarial studies too and spent alot of time thinking about it.
The main reasons I didn't do actuarial studies was because:
... 2. You have to consistently take exams for 8 years to reach the highest salary.
The accreditation exams are for 3-4 years, depending on whether or not you did an honours year and applied for Exemption in Parts 1 & 2, isn't it?
i'm pretty sure if you do well enough in bachelor with honours, it gains you expemtion from parts 1 and 2. You then undertake part three while working and can complete that in 2 year if you reli wanted to, but most ppl take 3-4. Youa re then full qualified as an actuary and can work in Australia and Britian as an actuary with no problem.
dude are u kidding me if anything i would be dropping a subject. You obviously love maths so dont drop uni maths, u'll have a seriously awesome time, If i were you i'd actually DROP biol or Chem. You only need one of them for pre-req, and chem is beta for pre-req than biol, ie it gets you into more.
I actually was down to do legal studies this year and dropped it not 2 weeks ago. BEST DECISION......EVER. so much better for my other subjects.
Bottom line, DO NOT PICK UP PHYSICS, unless you drop biol. and concider dropping a subject (biol) but 8 subjects is crazy and will kill you. Unless of couse ur an absolute freak.
PS: from a more unbised point of view, do physics 1/2 next year and see you you go. both on your 1/2 s and ur 3/4s. if you get 3 49s drop physics. but reli i think its a bad idea to kepp physics.
PPS:Wat school do you go to that is letting you do 3 3/4s in year 11??? (not against ur school or anything, just interested)
Lol apparently there was a guy who did 10 VCE subjects, the IMO, and an Lmus and still got 99.95 a few years ago :O
I really like biology, because I have an amazing teacher :) And I'm doing well in it, so I don't want to drop that...
That's a great idea - I'll do my chinese at Chinese School next year and do Physics 1/2 at school :)
I don't know if they'll let me do 3 but I'll try and negotiate (they definitely let you do two), after all I'm not going to get the university penalty because I'm doing commerce maj. actstud at Melbourne probably, so the clearly-in is like 95.20 which won't be a problem.
I'm just assuming ur azn and ur pretty smart seeing as ur taking a ridiclous amount of subjects one of which is chinese. Would your really be happy with just scraping into commerce at melbourne? If you want to do well (i'm talking high 99) you need to smart about what you do and when. I know that when i did two 3/4s in yr 11, my 1/2 marks took a massive hit. I can't image it would be like with 3, especially with one of them being chinese. Don't be fooled by the mentality that "more subjects=higher enter" again, i think it would be foolish to do 8, but you know you capabilities much beta than you do so thats a decision you'll have to make.
And we all know that guys that are as good as the one you described are: anz, have no life and occur about once every 30 years, again, if your one of them, go for it, but in the niciest possible way your probably not, so we can't compare ourselves to those superfreaks.
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Completely off topic, but why do people assume that anyone remotely smart/scholastically oriented much be asian?
None of the IPhO team last year was, and I know that one of the guys in it also got a 99.95.
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Yeah too restrictive, which is why I didn't pursue actuarial. Anyway actuarial is probability heaven not enough number theory in it for me. :P
Well it's not like there's any number theory at all in finance either... :P
which is why there is pure maths xD
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I don't think there is enough number theory in the world for you TT :P
I actually find acturial studies pretty interesting. Not that I take the subject. The topic just intrigues me.
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My parents are the type of people that want you to do well but they're not going to force you.
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Completely off topic, but why do people assume that anyone remotely smart/scholastically oriented much be asian?
None of the IPhO team last year was, and I know that one of the guys in it also got a 99.95.
the only reason i assumed AzureBlue was asian was because he/she is planning to do chinese in year 11 and does to chinese school. You would be foolhardy to do chinese in year 11 if you did not have a strong chinese background. And i don't know of any completely non asian people that go to chinese school (i am not refering to halfies)
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I don't think there is enough number theory in the world for you TT :P
Oh, you'd be surprised... He's only ever done the elementary stuff - once you get onto the analytic stuff it gets really interesting :) Plus algebraic number theory too, apparently, though my knowledge of that is pretty limited so far...
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Sorry to get us back on track :P But my questions for anybody that can anwser them are:
1)If 1 was the difficulty of methods and 3 was the difficulty of specialist maths. what would the difficulty of Actuarial studes be? (feel free to go over 10)
2)What types of maths are used in Actuarial studies? Obviously A LOT of statistics, but what else (if anything).
3)Do you have to be good with computers, as in like programming and using all sorts of random, obscure programs like C++ to create models? Cos as far as computers go i'm pretty useless.
thanks guys
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2) Statistics and probability but from what I know of probability you'd need to know calculus as well and maybe some financial maths.
1) and 3) I have no idea about.
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I don't think there is enough number theory in the world for you TT :P
Oh, you'd be surprised... He's only ever done the elementary stuff - once you get onto the analytic stuff it gets really interesting :) Plus algebraic number theory too, apparently, though my knowledge of that is pretty limited so far...
yup, just the elementary haha can't wait till i get learn more
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I dunno, I like Calculus related Maths, I thought it was in Actuarial :S
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If you like calculus, do applied mathematics in physics. Seriously, most of the maths needed for physics is calculus :)
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ilovemathmeth, what are the advantages of doing part 3 when you can get a job after just doing part 1 and 2 at uni?
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I'm not ilovemathmeth but completing part 3 makes you offically an actuary, the certification is recgonised in England and you probs can get a higher salary (not that you would need;))
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I dunno, I like Calculus related Maths, I thought it was in Actuarial :S
? God no, it's all statistics and a bit of probability. Tiny bit of calculus knowledge is needed, of course, but it's hardly the main point...
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Completely off topic, but why do people assume that anyone remotely smart/scholastically oriented much be asian?
None of the IPhO team last year was, and I know that one of the guys in it also got a 99.95.
Melbourne grammar had 7 99.95s last year. 6 of them were Aisan.
just sayin...
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I dunno, I like Calculus related Maths, I thought it was in Actuarial :S
? God no, it's all statistics and a bit of probability. Tiny bit of calculus knowledge is needed, of course, but it's hardly the main point...
My understanding of actuarial is that it's mainly continuous, multi-variate probability distributions, for which you'd need a *shite*load of calculus + computational mathematics skill...
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damn, so how good do you have to be with computers and programming cos i'm not exactly the best with computers:S
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By doing part 3, you've qualified as a full actuary and I think the pay is higher :)
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By doing part 3, you've qualified as a full actuary and I think the pay is higher :)
Yeah, that's true. The 4 IAA accredited universities in AUS are Macquarie, ANU, Melb Uni and UNSW (please correct me if I'm wrong).
Part I - BComm (Actuarial Studies)
Part II - Honours Year
Part III - You actually have to do the exams.
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dammmmm still dunno if i wanna go anu or UoM. hear Anu awesome act stud degree, but Melbs just so much easier. Don't have to move out or anything. It's convnient, ect.
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so what are job prospects like if you havent done part 3?
why does it take 3 years to complete after you have done honours year?
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dammmmm still dunno if i wanna go anu or UoM. hear Anu awesome act stud degree, but Melbs just so much easier. Don't have to move out or anything. It's convnient, ect.
Yeah, I'm deciding between Melbourne, Macquarie and ANU. Same with me, I'm definitely most likely going to Melbourne, much easier, don't have to board (as nice as residential colleges are, ~$600 p/w is like about $30,000 a year, so you'll have to pay double the money to go to uni).
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so what are job prospects like if you havent done part 3?
why does it take 3 years to complete after you have done honours year?
The thing is, if your've already done part 2, you might as well. You are able to completely part 3 within with a year, so the minimunm time it takes to officially qualify is 5 years. Having said that, most ppl take at least two years to complete pert 3 cos they're working. Job oppostinities are just easier. with part 3 under your belt. Like you probs would be reli reli reli disadvantaged seeing as actuaries are in such demand, however, if you want the truly huge salaries, do part three, i'm sure it will be worth it.
dammmmm still dunno if i wanna go anu or UoM. hear Anu awesome act stud degree, but Melbs just so much easier. Don't have to move out or anything. It's convnient, ect.
Yeah, I'm deciding between Melbourne, Macquarie and ANU. Same with me, I'm definitely most likely going to Melbourne, much easier, don't have to board (as nice as residential colleges are, ~$600 p/w is like about $30,000 a year, so you'll have to pay double the money to go to uni).
Exactly, however scolorships can be a great help........
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dammmmm still dunno if i wanna go anu or UoM. hear Anu awesome act stud degree, but Melbs just so much easier. Don't have to move out or anything. It's convnient, ect.
Yeah, I'm deciding between Melbourne, Macquarie and ANU. Same with me, I'm definitely most likely going to Melbourne, much easier, don't have to board (as nice as residential colleges are, ~$600 p/w is like about $30,000 a year, so you'll have to pay double the money to go to uni).
Exactly, however scolorships can be a great help........
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Do scholarships for residential colleges exist at Macq or ANU?
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hmmmmm no idea. u feel like doing some reasearch azure? cos i ceebes
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dammmmm still dunno if i wanna go anu or UoM. hear Anu awesome act stud degree, but Melbs just so much easier. Don't have to move out or anything. It's convnient, ect.
Yeah, I'm deciding between Melbourne, Macquarie and ANU. Same with me, I'm definitely most likely going to Melbourne, much easier, don't have to board (as nice as residential colleges are, ~$600 p/w is like about $30,000 a year, so you'll have to pay double the money to go to uni).
Exactly, however scolorships can be a great help........
Do scholarships for residential colleges exist at Macq or ANU?
I think there's only a residential bursary for Fenner Hall at ANU. It's worth 50% of the fees.
By the way, $30,000 is a bit over the top.
If you go to a catered hall it's $12,000 a year, and if you go for uncatered it's $6,000 a year.
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dammmmm still dunno if i wanna go anu or UoM. hear Anu awesome act stud degree, but Melbs just so much easier. Don't have to move out or anything. It's convnient, ect.
Yeah, I'm deciding between Melbourne, Macquarie and ANU. Same with me, I'm definitely most likely going to Melbourne, much easier, don't have to board (as nice as residential colleges are, ~$600 p/w is like about $30,000 a year, so you'll have to pay double the money to go to uni).
Waaaaaaa? Colleges at ANU are max $300 a week. I pay about $210 :)
And yeah, there are some residential college scholarships, but they're few and far between. Generally they're just for people with low income families/independent students, but some are for particular subject areas.
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hmmmmm no idea. u feel like doing some reasearch azure? cos i ceebes
Went to a Melb Uni event - access all areas, and I toured St Mary's College, they're around $570/week.
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hmmmmm no idea. u feel like doing some reasearch azure? cos i ceebes
Went to a Melb Uni event - access all areas, and I toured St Mary's College, they're around $570/week.
UoM and USyd colleges are pretty much very old and very formal and in prime locations and hence ludicrously expensive. Everywhere else is much more affordable.
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hmmmmm no idea. u feel like doing some reasearch azure? cos i ceebes
Went to a Melb Uni event - access all areas, and I toured St Mary's College, they're around $570/week.
UoM and USyd colleges are pretty much very old and very formal and in prime locations and hence ludicrously expensive. Everywhere else is much more affordable.
Yeah, UoM colleges are sooooo good, I want to board even though it only takes me half an hour to get there. Even for just a week or two for fun :) Unfortunately, the minimum time you can board is a semester apparently though :(
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i know rite???? they're crazy... and very expensive. But the experince would be awesome
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Anway, bringing the thread back to actuarial studies,
Can anyone comment on the difficulity of Acturial studies from experience?
And
Do you have to be good with computers, as in like programming and using all sorts of random, obscure programs to create models? Cos as far as computers go i'm pretty useless.
Thx:)
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Anway, bringing the thread back to actuarial studies,
Can anyone comment on the difficulity of Acturial studies from experience?
And
Do you have to be good with computers, as in like programming and using all sorts of random, obscure programs to create models? Cos as far as computers go i'm pretty useless.
Thx:)
I'm not sure, but I've heard that it's considerably hard, but just mainly with the maths. My cousin (at UoM) screwed the maths part so she had to switch to finance after her first year. Only like one of her friends from first year made it into third year apparently.
I hope the computer part isn't that important too - I was going to learn C++ but never got to it...
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Anway, bringing the thread back to actuarial studies,
Can anyone comment on the difficulity of Acturial studies from experience?
And
Do you have to be good with computers, as in like programming and using all sorts of random, obscure programs to create models? Cos as far as computers go i'm pretty useless.
Thx:)
I'm not sure, but I've heard that it's considerably hard, but just mainly with the maths. My cousin (at UoM) screwed the maths part so she had to switch to finance after her first year. Only like one of her friends from first year made it into third year apparently.
I hope the computer part isn't that important too - I was going to learn C++ but never got to it...
Yes, maths at uni is pretty hard. It's not like high school where the teacher would teach you something and in that calss you would work through problems. At uni in addition to the very fast paced of subjects, the lecturer just goes through the notes and you have to do the work at home. In the tutes, you just work on some other problems that your tutor gives you in groups most of the time.
Just think about it this way. At UoM, there is a subject where you pretty much do the Spesh course in one semester. Personally, I know three people who wanted to major in actuarial studies. Two of them didn't get the marks needed in their maths subjects to continue on to second year and the third person who did go through to second year is starting to really struggle.
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Hmm ok it does sound rather difficult then so I think I'll just scrap my DipMSc or add a year for it after actuarial studies (if I make it!), because overloading/fast-tracking sounds like a bad idea. So do we have to be really good at computer stuff like C++ etc... to do actuarial studies too?
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Hmm ok it does sound rather difficult then so I think I'll just scrap my DipMSc or add a year for it after actuarial studies (if I make it!), because overloading/fast-tracking sounds like a bad idea. So do we have to be really good at computer stuff like C++ etc... to do actuarial studies too?
Overloading isn't too bad if you are a capable university student. My advice would be not to overload in your first semester of uni because you need the first semester of uni to adjust to uni life and work out what works for you. Also, if you do overload in your first semester and you screw up, it will definitely not look good on your academic transcript, not to mention the chances of jeopardising your chances of successfully getting the marks required to go onto second year actuarial studies.
With the computer stuff, I would imagine you would need to have some computer knowledge because the maths that actuarial students do in second year will require them to have one hour computer laboratory class per week, which obviously means that you will be working with a computer.
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Hmm ok it does sound rather difficult then so I think I'll just scrap my DipMSc or add a year for it after actuarial studies (if I make it!), because overloading/fast-tracking sounds like a bad idea. So do we have to be really good at computer stuff like C++ etc... to do actuarial studies too?
I doubt you'd have to know much about low level languages like C/C++, it'd just be proficiency with a computer (be able to learn programs quickly and maybe a high level language such as Python or Perl)
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Hmm ok it does sound rather difficult then so I think I'll just scrap my DipMSc or add a year for it after actuarial studies (if I make it!), because overloading/fast-tracking sounds like a bad idea. So do we have to be really good at computer stuff like C++ etc... to do actuarial studies too?
I doubt you'd have to know much about low level languages like C/C++, it'd just be proficiency with a computer (be able to learn programs quickly and maybe a high level language such as Python or Perl)
C/C++ is mainly for design isn't it?
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Hmm ok it does sound rather difficult then so I think I'll just scrap my DipMSc or add a year for it after actuarial studies (if I make it!), because overloading/fast-tracking sounds like a bad idea. So do we have to be really good at computer stuff like C++ etc... to do actuarial studies too?
I doubt you'd have to know much about low level languages like C/C++, it'd just be proficiency with a computer (be able to learn programs quickly and maybe a high level language such as Python or Perl)
C/C++ is mainly for design isn't it?
Yeah, probably. I don't know. I haven't done much programming at all ;) But if we need to use a program, we'll probably be taught it.
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Just think about it this way. At UoM, there is a subject where you pretty much do the Spesh course in one semester. Personally, I know three people who wanted to major in actuarial studies. Two of them didn't get the marks needed in their maths subjects to continue on to second year and the third person who did go through to second year is starting to really struggle.
Damn, How good at maths were these people? Like adverage or pretty bright?
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For actuarial studies you'd probably only need to learn MATLAB, R and Excel.
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For actuarial studies you'd probably only need to learn MATLAB, R and Excel.
Haven't heard of MATLAB or R, but I sure know Excel! What does R stand for, by the way?
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lol same azure;)
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Just think about it this way. At UoM, there is a subject where you pretty much do the Spesh course in one semester. Personally, I know three people who wanted to major in actuarial studies. Two of them didn't get the marks needed in their maths subjects to continue on to second year and the third person who did go through to second year is starting to really struggle.
Damn, How good at maths were these people? Like adverage or pretty bright?
I reckon they were pretty good. But none of them did UMEP Maths (2 did Spesh and 1 didn't do Spesh) so you're already ahead of them. You'll cope fine, don't worry. :)
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lol, thx for the encouragement :)
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lol, thx for the encouragement :)
Yeah, you'll be fine :) Congrats on the 47 last year! How hard is it to get 40+ SS in Chinese SL?
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lol, thx azure. Ummm 40 is Sl is not easy, but not impossible. TBH i hated chink, so spent very little time on it. If i had taken it as seriously as i did methods, i would've done much better. Just start your oral stuff earli esp general convo, cos it will also help you essays, not only with more vocab, but also sentence grammar/structure/syntax, ect.
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Hmm ok it does sound rather difficult then so I think I'll just scrap my DipMSc or add a year for it after actuarial studies (if I make it!), because overloading/fast-tracking sounds like a bad idea. So do we have to be really good at computer stuff like C++ etc... to do actuarial studies too?
I doubt you'd have to know much about low level languages like C/C++, it'd just be proficiency with a computer (be able to learn programs quickly and maybe a high level language such as Python or Perl)
C/C++ is mainly for design isn't it?
Not at all, it's for a lot of things. Things like XBTT and Eggdrop which are mostly CLI interface (nothing fancy) but it can go as fancy as you want (Photoshop was done in C++)
It's very adaptable :)
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Hmm ok it does sound rather difficult then so I think I'll just scrap my DipMSc or add a year for it after actuarial studies (if I make it!), because overloading/fast-tracking sounds like a bad idea. So do we have to be really good at computer stuff like C++ etc... to do actuarial studies too?
I doubt you'd have to know much about low level languages like C/C++, it'd just be proficiency with a computer (be able to learn programs quickly and maybe a high level language such as Python or Perl)
C/C++ is mainly for design isn't it?
Not at all, it's for a lot of things. Things like XBTT and Eggdrop which are mostly CLI interface (nothing fancy) but it can go as fancy as you want (Photoshop was done in C++)
It's very adaptable :)
Okay, my bad, I have no idea, though my Dad's a R&D Engineer or something so he's learnt both C and C++.
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Haven't heard of MATLAB or R, but I sure know Excel! What does R stand for, by the way?
R is GNU S - http://www.r-project.org/
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Does anyone know how approximately many people make it into first year, second, year and third year Bcomm Actuarial Studies in Melbourne Uni respectively (each year)?
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lol, no idea but lemme put it this way. I was talking to Dr He about acturial studies and this is what he said: If you get 42/43 or lower in spech(note spelling) you might have a bit of trouble finishing the course. If you get above 45, you'll be fine, esp if you do uni maths as that grants you an expemtion from accelerated maths 1. Dr He gets about 5-10 of his studnts enrolling into act stud each year that that was what he found in his experience.
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lol, no idea but lemme put it this way. I was talking to Dr He about acturial studies and this is what he said: If you get 42/43 or lower in spech(note spelling) you might have a bit of trouble finishing the course. If you get above 45, you'll be fine, esp if you do uni maths as that grants you an expemtion from accelerated maths 1. Dr He gets about 5-10 of his studnts enrolling into act stud each year that that was what he found in his experience.
Wow that's a lot of students just from DHMC... from my experience, no one from my school knows what actuarial studies is :P Not many people do, actually, in year 4, when I first heard about it, I thought it was something to do with acting.
But actuarial studies isn't just maths - there's economic modelling and stuff too so that's why I was considering doing economics, but then I have 9 subjects which is a little bit over the top. By my subjects, I'm more of a maths/science student than a commerce student, but oh well... ;)
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But actuarial studies isn't just maths - there's economic modelling and stuff too so that's why I was considering doing economics, but then I have 9 subjects which is a little bit over the top. By my subjects, I'm more of a maths/science student than a commerce student, but oh well... ;)
Actually, actuarial studies has a combination of economics, accounting, etc. So if you want to be well prepared for the major, you might as well do 10+ subjects for VCE. :P Jokes.
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But actuarial studies isn't just maths - there's economic modelling and stuff too so that's why I was considering doing economics, but then I have 9 subjects which is a little bit over the top. By my subjects, I'm more of a maths/science student than a commerce student, but oh well... ;)
Actually, actuarial studies has a combination of economics, accounting, etc. So if you want to be well prepared for the major, you might as well do 10+ subjects for VCE. :P Jokes.
Well I'm doing economics, accounting and spesh, would that give me a good basis for actuarial? Cos it's something (out of a long list) I've been considering but reading this discussion makes it seem fecking hard
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Biology
Methods
Chinese SL
English Language
Chemistry
Specialist Maths
UMEP Maths
Physics
Economics
Accounting
Business Management.
Totally. :)
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But actuarial studies isn't just maths - there's economic modelling and stuff too so that's why I was considering doing economics, but then I have 9 subjects which is a little bit over the top. By my subjects, I'm more of a maths/science student than a commerce student, but oh well... ;)
Actually, actuarial studies has a combination of economics, accounting, etc. So if you want to be well prepared for the major, you might as well do 10+ subjects for VCE. :P Jokes.
Well I'm doing economics, accounting and spesh, would that give me a good basis for actuarial? Cos it's something (out of a long list) I've been considering but reading this discussion makes it seem fecking hard
It is freakin' hard - only like a few people make it into third year apparently, but good subject choices :)
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But actuarial studies isn't just maths - there's economic modelling and stuff too so that's why I was considering doing economics, but then I have 9 subjects which is a little bit over the top. By my subjects, I'm more of a maths/science student than a commerce student, but oh well... ;)
Actually, actuarial studies has a combination of economics, accounting, etc. So if you want to be well prepared for the major, you might as well do 10+ subjects for VCE. :P Jokes.
Well I'm doing economics, accounting and spesh, would that give me a good basis for actuarial? Cos it's something (out of a long list) I've been considering but reading this discussion makes it seem fecking hard
It is freakin' hard - only like a few people make it into third year apparently, but good subject choices :)
lol yeh I haven't a clue what I want to do post-school but I'm interested in economics/commerce/finance sort of thing so it seemed like a good idea
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Yeah, I'm almost sure about actuarial studies, but if not, economics/finance is my second choice.
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Biology
Methods
Chinese SL
English Language
Chemistry
Specialist Maths
UMEP Maths
Physics
Economics
Accounting
Business Management.
Totally. :)
Yep. Totally prepared for a commerce and science degree. Anything a scientist or a businessperson wants to throw at you, you've got all the artillery you need. :)
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Biology
Methods
Chinese SL
English Language
Chemistry
Specialist Maths
UMEP Maths
Physics
Economics
Accounting
Business Management.
Totally. :)
yea azure, good luck with that(Y)
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lol, no idea but lemme put it this way. I was talking to Dr He about acturial studies and this is what he said: If you get 42/43 or lower in spech(note spelling) you might have a bit of trouble finishing the course. If you get above 45, you'll be fine, esp if you do uni maths as that grants you an expemtion from accelerated maths 1. Dr He gets about 5-10 of his studnts enrolling into act stud each year that that was what he found in his experience.
5-10 becoming Actuaries? Really? o_O Interesting.
Also, a bit late, but...
But i'm pretty sure what ever career or job you pick is going to be motivated by money to a certian extent for at least 90% of people.
The bane of my existence. Sigh @ Humanities-based jobs paying peanuts.
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lol, no idea but lemme put it this way. I was talking to Dr He about acturial studies and this is what he said: If you get 42/43 or lower in spech(note spelling) you might have a bit of trouble finishing the course. If you get above 45, you'll be fine, esp if you do uni maths as that grants you an expemtion from accelerated maths 1. Dr He gets about 5-10 of his studnts enrolling into act stud each year that that was what he found in his experience.
5-10 becoming Actuaries? Really? o_O Interesting.
Also, a bit late, but...
But i'm pretty sure what ever career or job you pick is going to be motivated by money to a certian extent for at least 90% of people.
The bane of my existence. Sigh @ Humanities-based jobs paying peanuts.
5-10 ppl ENROLLING into acturial studies, not all of them make it though the entire course. lol, BIG DIFFERENCE
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5-10 ppl ENROLLING into acturial studies, not all of them make it though the entire course. lol, BIG DIFFERENCE
How many people pass through third year each year in actuarial studies in UoM?
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I THINK and don't quote me but i hear that it is usually around thirty. I have just heard that figure before. May not be totally accurate
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I THINK and don't quote me but i hear that it is usually around thirty. I have just heard that figure before. May not be totally accurate
Fair enough :) That was more than I thought ;) How many people do they start off with in first year, normally?
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I THINK and don't quote me but i hear that it is usually around thirty. I have just heard that figure before. May not be totally accurate
Fair enough :) That was more than I thought ;) How many people do they start off with in first year, normally?
I would say they start with at least 100 ppl.
Btw, many ppl don't choose to take acturial studies further than the bachelor degree. Few do honours and even less then procced to part 3.
Btw, I'm now conciderinng going to maquarie to do act stud. Not only do they have aa good reputation and are accredited, but you are able to complete a double degree within 4 years. Not only does it allow you to gain expemtion from parts 1 and 2, however, you can get an extra degree in.
However, still comes back to: going to an interstate uni=$$$$$
However, on the plus side, they have quite a few scolarships so..........
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I THINK and don't quote me but i hear that it is usually around thirty. I have just heard that figure before. May not be totally accurate
Fair enough :) That was more than I thought ;) How many people do they start off with in first year, normally?
I would say they start with at least 100 ppl.
Btw, many ppl don't choose to take acturial studies further than the bachelor degree. Few do honours and even less then procced to part 3.
Actually, the coordinator for actuarial studies at UoM said that 99% of actuarial students do honours because that and along with all the other exemption subjects you've done prior to honours will get you exemption from parts 1 and 2.
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I THINK and don't quote me but i hear that it is usually around thirty. I have just heard that figure before. May not be totally accurate
Fair enough :) That was more than I thought ;) How many people do they start off with in first year, normally?
I would say they start with at least 100 ppl.
Btw, many ppl don't choose to take acturial studies further than the bachelor degree. Few do honours and even less then procced to part 3.
Actually, the coordinator for actuarial studies at UoM said that 99% of actuarial students do honours because that and along with all the other exemption subjects you've done prior to honours will get you exemption from parts 1 and 2.
Whoops, my bad :S
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I THINK and don't quote me but i hear that it is usually around thirty. I have just heard that figure before. May not be totally accurate
Fair enough :) That was more than I thought ;) How many people do they start off with in first year, normally?
I would say they start with at least 100 ppl.
Btw, many ppl don't choose to take acturial studies further than the bachelor degree. Few do honours and even less then procced to part 3.
Btw, I'm now conciderinng going to maquarie to do act stud. Not only do they have aa good reputation and are accredited, but you are able to complete a double degree within 4 years. Not only does it allow you to gain expemtion from parts 1 and 2, however, you can get an extra degree in.
However, still comes back to: going to an interstate uni=$$$$$
However, on the plus side, they have quite a few scolarships so..........
Yeah, I'm considering Macquarie too - visited their stand today and it turns out you can do Bachelor of Act Stud/BLaw or BEconomics. So double degree in 4 years sounds great. She also said they take care of their students very well - around 150 actuarial first-year students each year, and MOST of them finish third year because if you are struggling with one of the subjects, they get a third or fourth year student to tutor and help you. There's no doubt they have good commerce/business programs and even the residential colleges cost less than Melbourne Uni. Dunmore Lang costs around $350-500, which is around $100 cheaper than Melbourne. So now I'm just tossing up between UoM and Macq. I never really considered the other 2 which were accredited by the IAA (that is, ANU and UNSW).
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I THINK and don't quote me but i hear that it is usually around thirty. I have just heard that figure before. May not be totally accurate
Fair enough :) That was more than I thought ;) How many people do they start off with in first year, normally?
I would say they start with at least 100 ppl.
Btw, many ppl don't choose to take acturial studies further than the bachelor degree. Few do honours and even less then procced to part 3.
Actually, the coordinator for actuarial studies at UoM said that 99% of actuarial students do honours because that and along with all the other exemption subjects you've done prior to honours will get you exemption from parts 1 and 2.
So those 99% of students doing Actuarial studies at UoM are good enough to pass through third year into honours? Wow. That's a lot too. :)
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I THINK and don't quote me but i hear that it is usually around thirty. I have just heard that figure before. May not be totally accurate
Fair enough :) That was more than I thought ;) How many people do they start off with in first year, normally?
I would say they start with at least 100 ppl.
Btw, many ppl don't choose to take acturial studies further than the bachelor degree. Few do honours and even less then procced to part 3.
Btw, I'm now conciderinng going to maquarie to do act stud. Not only do they have aa good reputation and are accredited, but you are able to complete a double degree within 4 years. Not only does it allow you to gain expemtion from parts 1 and 2, however, you can get an extra degree in.
However, still comes back to: going to an interstate uni=$$$$$
However, on the plus side, they have quite a few scolarships so..........
Yeah, I'm considering Macquarie too - visited their stand today and it turns out you can do Bachelor of Act Stud/BLaw or BEconomics. So double degree in 4 years sounds great. She also said they take care of their students very well - around 150 actuarial first-year students each year, and MOST of them finish third year because if you are struggling with one of the subjects, they get a third or fourth year student to tutor and help you. There's no doubt they have good commerce/business programs and even the residential colleges cost less than Melbourne Uni. Dunmore Lang costs around $350-500, which is around $100 cheaper than Melbourne. So now I'm just tossing up between UoM and Macq. I never really considered the other 2 which were accredited by the IAA (that is, ANU and UNSW).
lol, i kno. The lady who was at the stand is VERY good at selling Macquarie. She had me totally convinced that i wanted to go there. like......i was soo pumped. She like told me about scolorships and eveything and how good the sct stud course was. But then at about 8 last night. I was back on the UoM train.
Melbs is just easier. It's here, i don't have to move out, it has an awesome diploma of music that dosen't take an extra year, it taked me 25 mins to get there by train and it's still accredited. Lol, basically the diploma is the big deciding factor. I would REALLY like to do it. I will be soooo heartbroken if i choose melbourne but then get rejected from the diploma of music when i audition:(
I wouldn't go to UNSW. you only can do a bachelor and it only get you exempt from part 1. Anu not too bad i don't think. But like with the colleges. Even a scolorships don't help a heap. Like none of the scolorships are THAT big that they'd cover the entire cost. And its A LOT of money. However the short double degree with exmeption from parts one and two is VERY tempting indeed
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lol, i kno. The lady who was at the stand is VERY good at selling Macquarie. She had me totally convinced that i wanted to go there. like......i was soo pumped. She like told me about scolorships and eveything and how good the sct stud course was. But then at about 8 last night. I was back on the UoM train.
Melbs is just easier. It's here, i don't have to move out, it has an awesome diploma of music that dosen't take an extra year, it taked me 25 mins to get there by train and it's still accredited. Lol, basically the diploma is the big deciding factor. I would REALLY like to do it. I will be soooo heartbroken if i choose melbourne but then get rejected from the diploma of music when i audition:(
I wouldn't go to UNSW. you only can do a bachelor and it only get you exempt from part 1. Anu not too bad i don't think. But like with the colleges. Even a scolorships don't help a heap. Like none of the scolorships are THAT big that they'd cover the entire cost. And its A LOT of money. However the short double degree with exmeption from parts one and two is VERY tempting indeed
Yeah, it's basically Melbourne or boarding at Dunmore Lang for Macquarie for me, though Melb is definitely easier, I would really like to do an actuarial studies double degree with law or economics in 4 years with those exemptions too (as opposed to 4 years at Melbourne with an honours year and single degree). I haven't really considered UNSW as an option.
In terms of courses: I reckon Macq > Melbourne = ANU > UNSW (Don't know all that much about ANU/UNSW to be honest)
Convenience: Melbourne > Macq = ANU = UNSW.
Yeah the lady at the stand also talked to me for a few mins about actuarial studies - I was thinking "This uni is even better than I thought it would be... I'm gonna go there!" If convenience/expense wasn't a factor, I'd choose Macquarie.
What instrument are you planning to do DipMusic in? I'm probably going to scrap the DipMSc cos it doesn't seem like it'll fit in - otherwise, I'll do an extra year for it, but with 4 years, you could get a DOUBLE degree at Macquarie (I don't know how they can fit it in, but I'm guessing because Macq doesn't force you to do so much breadth).
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@ AzureBlue, http://www.undergraduates.ms.unimelb.edu.au/new_generation/dip_math_sci/dip_math_sci.html. If you overload, you can finish Commerce and DipMSc in three years, I believe.
Also, you have to consider the practical applications of a double degree. Do you plan on becoming an Actuary? If so, will a Law degree on the side really help? Ditto to Economics. Think about these things through too. =)
@ Tram re:ANU Colleges, non-catered colleges aren't all THAT expensive ($6000 a year?). For catered, just pretend that you're paying an extra $6000 for 40 weeks of food, plus "assisted socialising"...
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@ AzureBlue, http://www.undergraduates.ms.unimelb.edu.au/new_generation/dip_math_sci/dip_math_sci.html. If you overload, you can finish Commerce and DipMSc in three years, I believe.
Also, you have to consider the practical applications of a double degree. Do you plan on becoming an Actuary? If so, will a Law degree on the side really help? Ditto to Economics. Think about these things through too. =)
@ Tram re:ANU Colleges, non-catered colleges aren't all THAT expensive ($6000 a year?). For catered, just pretend that you're paying an extra $6000 for 40 weeks of food, plus "assisted socialising"...
I don't think that's the case - check the link: http://www.undergraduates.ms.unimelb.edu.au/new_generation/dip_math_sci/plans/commerce/actl.html
It has to be at least 3.5 years - I don't know if doing UMEP maths shortens this or not though. I plan on being an actuarial analyst or something like that. But it's always helpful to know law and economics is well... interesting, I guess. I don't know really, I'm only in year 10, and I've got to do some more research.
Macquarie Colleges are around $450ish which is like $18,000 pa (if there are ~40 weeks in a school year). I never knew non-catered residential colleges existed. $12,000 pa isn't that bad though.
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@ AzureBlue, http://www.undergraduates.ms.unimelb.edu.au/new_generation/dip_math_sci/dip_math_sci.html. If you overload, you can finish Commerce and DipMSc in three years, I believe.
Also, you have to consider the practical applications of a double degree. Do you plan on becoming an Actuary? If so, will a Law degree on the side really help? Ditto to Economics. Think about these things through too. =)
@ Tram re:ANU Colleges, non-catered colleges aren't all THAT expensive ($6000 a year?). For catered, just pretend that you're paying an extra $6000 for 40 weeks of food, plus "assisted socialising"...
I don't think that's the case - check the link: http://www.undergraduates.ms.unimelb.edu.au/new_generation/dip_math_sci/plans/commerce/actl.html
It has to be at least 3.5 years - I don't know if doing UMEP maths shortens this or not though. I plan on being an actuarial analyst or something like that. But it's always helpful to know law and economics is well... interesting, I guess. I don't know really, I'm only in year 10, and I've got to do some more research.
Macquarie Colleges are around $450ish which is like $18,000 pa (if there are ~40 weeks in a school year). I never knew non-catered residential colleges existed. $12,000 pa isn't that bad though.
1) Umep gets you exempt from Accelerated maths 1. If you are doing Act. stud, they recommend you do Vector caculus instead (it's a second year subject) or you could do a subject that count towards ur diploma. look @ http://mercury.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/SITE/actwww/ActuarialStudentsGuide2010.pdf for more details.
2) Exactly, A law degree would help. Like you can probs get better jobs cos a understanding of the legal system esp like business law and such give you more of an undestanding adn perhas banks may be more incluned to hire you. Or vice versa, you could do a more lawy job where an ability to create the models to predict events and caculate risk could come in very useful.
@ Evangelion: Yea i kno, but still .....it's a lot
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@ AzureBlue, http://www.undergraduates.ms.unimelb.edu.au/new_generation/dip_math_sci/dip_math_sci.html. If you overload, you can finish Commerce and DipMSc in three years, I believe.
Also, you have to consider the practical applications of a double degree. Do you plan on becoming an Actuary? If so, will a Law degree on the side really help? Ditto to Economics. Think about these things through too. =)
@ Tram re:ANU Colleges, non-catered colleges aren't all THAT expensive ($6000 a year?). For catered, just pretend that you're paying an extra $6000 for 40 weeks of food, plus "assisted socialising"...
I don't think that's the case - check the link: http://www.undergraduates.ms.unimelb.edu.au/new_generation/dip_math_sci/plans/commerce/actl.html
It has to be at least 3.5 years - I don't know if doing UMEP maths shortens this or not though. I plan on being an actuarial analyst or something like that. But it's always helpful to know law and economics is well... interesting, I guess. I don't know really, I'm only in year 10, and I've got to do some more research.
Macquarie Colleges are around $450ish which is like $18,000 pa (if there are ~40 weeks in a school year). I never knew non-catered residential colleges existed. $12,000 pa isn't that bad though.
1. UMEP would definitely help - it should substitute for at least one (if not two) maths units.
2. Notice how the course examples only have four subjects a semester. If you overloaded one subject a semester (which is generally what they let you do), plus count your one year 12 UMEP credit, then you can finish the amount of subjects they list in three years.
3. @Law/Economics, you'd get to learn maths if you went to UoM, along with whatever random breadth you decide to put in (Chinese? Music? Another language? etc.). Which would YOU prefer to learn? :p
4. Holy crap @ Macquarie Colleges. That's 50% more than ANU. o_O http://accom.anu.edu.au/UAS/2340/version/1/part/4/data/ANU%20Hall%20and%20College%20Fee%20Summary%202010%20v5.pdf?branch=main&language=default
@ AzureBlue, http://www.undergraduates.ms.unimelb.edu.au/new_generation/dip_math_sci/dip_math_sci.html. If you overload, you can finish Commerce and DipMSc in three years, I believe.
Also, you have to consider the practical applications of a double degree. Do you plan on becoming an Actuary? If so, will a Law degree on the side really help? Ditto to Economics. Think about these things through too. =)
@ Tram re:ANU Colleges, non-catered colleges aren't all THAT expensive ($6000 a year?). For catered, just pretend that you're paying an extra $6000 for 40 weeks of food, plus "assisted socialising"...
I don't think that's the case - check the link: http://www.undergraduates.ms.unimelb.edu.au/new_generation/dip_math_sci/plans/commerce/actl.html
It has to be at least 3.5 years - I don't know if doing UMEP maths shortens this or not though. I plan on being an actuarial analyst or something like that. But it's always helpful to know law and economics is well... interesting, I guess. I don't know really, I'm only in year 10, and I've got to do some more research.
Macquarie Colleges are around $450ish which is like $18,000 pa (if there are ~40 weeks in a school year). I never knew non-catered residential colleges existed. $12,000 pa isn't that bad though.
1) Umep gets you exempt from Accelerated maths 1. If you are doing Act. stud, they recommend you do Vector caculus instead (it's a second year subject) or you could do a subject that count towards ur diploma. look @ http://mercury.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/SITE/actwww/ActuarialStudentsGuide2010.pdf for more details.
2) Exactly, A law degree would help. Like you can probs get better jobs cos a understanding of the legal system esp like business law and such give you more of an undestanding adn perhas banks may be more incluned to hire you. Or vice versa, you could do a more lawy job where an ability to create the models to predict events and caculate risk could come in very useful.
@ Evangelion: Yea i kno, but still .....it's a lot
Is Law actually relevant to being an actuary? I'm curious. o-o
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Is Law actually relevant to being an actuary? I'm curious. o-o
Well not strictly, but it can definitely help. Law is always a useful degree ,expecially if you don't want to be JUST an actuary. Like if you wanted to work in a bank as an analyst, a law degree would offer a lot more oportunities to expand and grow. Just a question, What is the rep of Macq law like? Is it considered very highly?
And yea, Macq colleges are ridiculously expensive:(
Yeah, it's basically Melbourne or boarding at Dunmore Lang for Macquarie for me, though Melb is definitely easier, I would really like to do an actuarial studies double degree with law or economics in 4 years with those exemptions too (as opposed to 4 years at Melbourne with an honours year and single degree). I haven't really considered UNSW as an option.
1)With eco as a degree it takes 4 year but law makes it 5, how ever if you wanted to do act stud then law at melb, with exemption from parts one and two, it's seven years which is two less years of work experience
In terms of courses: I reckon Macq > Melbourne = ANU > UNSW (Don't know all that much about ANU/UNSW to be honest)
Convenience: Melbourne > Macq = ANU = UNSW.
totally agreed, but as i said beofre, what is the rep like for the non acturial courses at Macq? cos thats also what we've gotta weigh up
Yeah the lady at the stand also talked to me for a few mins about actuarial studies - I was thinking "This uni is even better than I thought it would be... I'm gonna go there!" If convenience/expense wasn't a factor, I'd choose Macquarie.
Yup she had me convinced too, like when i finshed talking to her, i turned to my mate and was like....."i am soooooo going to macquarie"
What instrument are you planning to do DipMusic in? I'm probably going to scrap the DipMSc cos it doesn't seem like it'll fit in - otherwise, I'll do an extra year for it, but with 4 years, you could get a DOUBLE degree at Macquarie (I don't know how they can fit it in, but I'm guessing because Macq doesn't force you to do so much breadth).
Double Bass. Yea but i reli wanna do the diploma of music, and the extra curricular music looks good on the cv, but then again, so does an extra degree. Dammit, it's so frekin hard to weigh up. I wish i had started thinking about this in yr 10 like u azure. now i need to think about this and i don't have the time!
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Is Law actually relevant to being an actuary? I'm curious. o-o
Well not strictly, but it can definitely help. Law is always a useful degree ,expecially if you don't want to be JUST an actuary. Like if you wanted to work in a bank as an analyst, a law degree would offer a lot more oportunities to expand and grow. Just a question, What is the rep of Macq law like? Is it considered very highly?
And yea, Macq colleges are ridiculously expensive:(
Yeah, it's basically Melbourne or boarding at Dunmore Lang for Macquarie for me, though Melb is definitely easier, I would really like to do an actuarial studies double degree with law or economics in 4 years with those exemptions too (as opposed to 4 years at Melbourne with an honours year and single degree). I haven't really considered UNSW as an option.
1)With eco as a degree it takes 4 year but law makes it 5, how ever if you wanted to do act stud then law at melb, with exemption from parts one and two, it's seven years which is two less years of work experience
In terms of courses: I reckon Macq > Melbourne = ANU > UNSW (Don't know all that much about ANU/UNSW to be honest)
Convenience: Melbourne > Macq = ANU = UNSW.
totally agreed, but as i said beofre, what is the rep like for the non acturial courses at Macq? cos thats also what we've gotta weigh up
Yeah the lady at the stand also talked to me for a few mins about actuarial studies - I was thinking "This uni is even better than I thought it would be... I'm gonna go there!" If convenience/expense wasn't a factor, I'd choose Macquarie.
Yup she had me convinced too, like when i finshed talking to her, i turned to my mate and was like....."i am soooooo going to macquarie"
What instrument are you planning to do DipMusic in? I'm probably going to scrap the DipMSc cos it doesn't seem like it'll fit in - otherwise, I'll do an extra year for it, but with 4 years, you could get a DOUBLE degree at Macquarie (I don't know how they can fit it in, but I'm guessing because Macq doesn't force you to do so much breadth).
Double Bass. Yea but i reli wanna do the diploma of music, and the extra curricular music looks good on the cv, but then again, so does an extra degree. Dammit, it's so frekin hard to weigh up. I wish i had started thinking about this in yr 10 like u azure. now i need to think about this and i don't have the time!
http://www.australian-universities.com/ratings/law-school-rankings/
Also, you can make the Melbourne JD only take two years if you overload.
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hmmm
dammit that intersting........it's not very high not for the law ranking not teh general ranking..............but does it act stud program weight out?????
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I just asked my cousin who did actuarial studies (in Melbourne Uni) before switching to finance, and she said that approximately 50 out of the ~300 students (about >20%) that start actuarial studies pass third year. About 20 go on to do honours because you have to get 85+ on all your subjects or something, not really sure about that part.
I am doubting that "the vast majority" of Macquarie students, who, once starting actuarial studies carry through and pass the third year - that would be too good :) As well as the double degrees which give exemption to Part II without having to do an honours year. I'm leaning towards Macquarie... but does convenience/cost outweigh all these benefits? :(
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I just asked my cousin who did actuarial studies (in Melbourne Uni) before switching to finance, and she said that approximately 50 out of the ~300 students (about >20%) that start actuarial studies pass third year. About 20 go on to do honours because you have to get 85+ on all your subjects or something, not really sure about that part.
yea the numbers sound correct but wow, that's A LOT of ppl that drop out. I wonder what motivated them to do acturial studies in the first place (apart from money) and how much they actually liked maths and their reasons they dropped out of acturial studies apart from the maths being too hard
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Also, you can make the Melbourne JD only take two years if you overload.
yes but that's absolutely crazy, it is two years of non-stop work, no rest at all, you would probs be beta off doing it in three years and doing work experience during the hols if you were that hardcore about doing law
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I just asked my cousin who did actuarial studies (in Melbourne Uni) before switching to finance, and she said that approximately 50 out of the ~300 students (about >20%) that start actuarial studies pass third year. About 20 go on to do honours because you have to get 85+ on all your subjects or something, not really sure about that part.
yea the numbers sound correct but wow, that's A LOT of ppl that drop out. I wonder what motivated them to do acturial studies in the first place (apart from money) and how much they actually liked maths and their reasons they dropped out of acturial studies apart from the maths being too hard
I don't think most of them dropped out... they just failed a subject :D
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oh, ok, still wonder how much they liked maths tho...
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(sorry for the necromancy, but this thread seems like the right place to continue discussion)
So, for those doing acturial studies this year (tram, TT?, others?), how are you coping? Just went through the whole thread, and I got the following:
- It's bloody hard
- The maths is mainly probability
- Not many people pass
- There are three parts, but not many do part III
- High demand, ~1700 only
- Handy pay at the end
I am seriously considering this for next year. I love maths (mainly the calculus/trig/algebra side), but disliked yr11 probably and have never really done any stats work. I can't use C++ or any other programming very well (other than BASIC, to an extent). (I also like $$$ ;) )
Main question is: what do actuaries do that is different from accountants and general financiers? (including, does anyone have any real-life examples of scenarios that an actuary would work in) What companies do they work for? I've heard things about working in 'risk management', but can't find much decent info on what they ACTUALLY do and WHERE they work.
Also, could someone please explain the 'exemption' of parts I and II that I read in this thread? Something about an Honours exempting these exams? Any links/clarifications/more-info/advice for these 'parts' would be very helpful and much appreciated.
(I was thinking the UoM BComm pathway btw, if that helps)
Thanks! :)
EDIT: TT, are u doing actuary now? In the thread you said u weren't, but in your sig u are...
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yo, yeh i am, i wasn't planning to, since finance is a more flexible major and some areas of finance overlap with actuarial studies, but then i found out i could overload and do 2 commerce majors (the more the better .. lol).
anyways, actuarial studies involves managing risk, using mathematical models to predict risk, to actually get into the details is quite hard, you'd need to understand some mathematics behind it first, but a basic example would be something like: Say you go get insurance for your car, after insurance, the individual will most likely exhibit moral hazard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_hazard#In_insurance), an actuary would gather data on this individual (his credit worthiness, past data etc etc) and then run models which will come up with a probability of him causing an accident or whatever other variable you want to find. This is the basic jist. They mainly work in insurance companies such as life insurance, health insurance, superannuation funds etc they could also work in financial institutions, ie, modelling different areas of risk for certain loan portfolios etc. Accountants, eh..., well i have nothing against them but it's so boring lol, accounting is, well... just accounting, not much variation there, no mathematics (well if you dig adding/subtraction/multiplication, then by all means do accounting :P), and definitely earns less than actuaries and financial analysts in general. Finance, like i said, is much more flexible, you have the knowledge to do lots of investments (futures, options markets etc), once you build enough capital and climb the ranks of an investment bank, or major company, you will be able to do better investments, and if you're smart, you can make millions in seconds, or lose billions in seconds. So it's a risky area, but the returns are very high. My uncle is a CFO of the CCB shanghai branch, he has made so much profitable investments, earning 20-30 million RMB in a matter of seconds with good investments, however he has also lost quite a lot too, but as long as you make a net gain then it's all good :D. Note that not everyone who does finance has to go do something related to the investment area, it's very broad, there's much more areas like risk management (similar to actuarial studies), working as an analyst at banks etc. However investments is something i've decided to specialize in :)
The maths (for a.s) is mostly applied mathematics, with algebra, probability, calculus, linear algebra, some stats and so on.
i still like finance more though, covers a wider range of areas :D more employment opportunities, more arbitrage opportunities and earns much more than actuarial studies if you're smart ;P
have a read of http://ifile.it/ocbv8r/ebooksclub.org__Calculus__One_Variable___10th_Edition.l_72x2j2n5nx4tx41.pdf
it's pretty good for some basic actuarial studies mathematics
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Thanks TT :) Extremely helpful as always :)
Will post back if I need more info :)
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(sorry for the necromancy, but this thread seems like the right place to continue discussion)
So, for those doing acturial studies this year (tram, TT?, others?), how are you coping? Just went through the whole thread, and I got the following:
- It's bloody hard
- The maths is mainly probability
- Not many people pass
- There are three parts, but not many do part III
- High demand, ~1700 only
- Handy pay at the end
I am seriously considering this for next year. I love maths (mainly the calculus/trig/algebra side), but disliked yr11 probably and have never really done any stats work. I can't use C++ or any other programming very well (other than BASIC, to an extent). (I also like $$$ ;) )
Main question is: what do actuaries do that is different from accountants and general financiers? (including, does anyone have any real-life examples of scenarios that an actuary would work in) What companies do they work for? I've heard things about working in 'risk management', but can't find much decent info on what they ACTUALLY do and WHERE they work.
Also, could someone please explain the 'exemption' of parts I and II that I read in this thread? Something about an Honours exempting these exams? Any links/clarifications/more-info/advice for these 'parts' would be very helpful and much appreciated.
(I was thinking the UoM BComm pathway btw, if that helps)
Thanks! :)
EDIT: TT, are u doing actuary now? In the thread you said u weren't, but in your sig u are...
Aaah Rohit you are a man after my own heart :P hahaa
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Just one question. My dad used to teach eco to masters students (before a career change a couple of years ago), will this help in any way with a.s.? With basic theory maybe?
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I don't see it being a big help but does it really matter for pursuing that pathway? Incidentally, if you have any specific questions about Melbourne, my mate runs the actuarial society and I could probably give him a call
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Just one question. My dad used to teach eco to masters students (before a career change a couple of years ago), will this help in any way with a.s.? With basic theory maybe?
Some areas of economics kinda overlaps, hardly though, basic theory (although only a tangent) would overlap b/w eco and a.s.
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I don't see it being a big help but does it really matter for pursuing that pathway?
True, it doesn't matter, but I thought it might help seeing as though I don't have any commerce background. I suppose not though.
Melb uni visits my school in a few days, I'll try and get more info then :)
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have a read of http://ifile.it/ocbv8r/ebooksclub.org__Calculus__One_Variable___10th_Edition.l_72x2j2n5nx4tx41.pdf
it's pretty good for some basic actuarial studies mathematics
Hey, I understand a fair bit of this :)
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have a read of http://ifile.it/ocbv8r/ebooksclub.org__Calculus__One_Variable___10th_Edition.l_72x2j2n5nx4tx41.pdf
it's pretty good for some basic actuarial studies mathematics
Hey, I understand a fair bit of this :)
Yup it's the fundamentals, after this elementary text, you should read the other book by him, called Calculus for two variables, which is a bit more advanced :) Unfortunately, i don't have that book in my ebooks library, only in hardcopy, so can't upload :[
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have a read of http://ifile.it/ocbv8r/ebooksclub.org__Calculus__One_Variable___10th_Edition.l_72x2j2n5nx4tx41.pdf
it's pretty good for some basic actuarial studies mathematics
Hey, I get most of that :)
(shit, that's only the basic stuff)
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However investments is something i've decided to specialize in :)
Why do you like investments? Like the monies?
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However investments is something i've decided to specialize in :)
Why do you like investments? Like the monies?
yah the $$$$$$$$$$
and wdf i had a post in this thread before, where did it go?
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and wdf i had a post in this thread before, where did it go?
A couple of mine also vanished, same post-count though ???
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two things
1) in terms of exemptions as you know there are three sets of exams. Three Quarters of the Part One exemption subjects (that is 6/8 of the CTs (core technical skills)) is covered in the three year bachelor of commerce course when you major in actuarial studies and compelte all the recommened subjects. HOWEVER only abour half of these count DIRECTELY to the exemptions subjects. The subjects that count towards your part one exams are listed on page 22 on the link below. in THESE subjects you MUST obtain an adverage of 73% for EACH pair of exemptions subjects, NOT just an overall adverage of 73% in all the exemption subjects and NOT just an adverage of 73% over the entire course. Again, i would have a good read of the link, it sets out the entire acuarial course (including honors years) quite clearly and is very informative.
http://www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/actwww/StudentsGuide2011NewGen_1.pdf
If you do the honors year you will finish off the remaining two CTs and also complete the exams necessary for part two exams (of course, you again must perform sufficiently well in the subjects)
2) in terms of being a programming noob, don't worry, i also have NO programming experience at all and have been told that the necessary skills will be taught but i will of course need to put more time to pick up the basics, but am at no major disadvantage.
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two things
1) in terms of exemptions as you know there are three sets of exams. Three Quarters of the Part One exemption subjects (that is 6/8 of the CTs (core technical skills)) is covered in the three year bachelor of commerce course when you major in actuarial studies and compelte all the recommened subjects. HOWEVER only abour half of these count DIRECTELY to the exemptions subjects. The subjects that count towards your part one exams are listed on page 22 on the link below. in THESE subjects you MUST obtain an adverage of 73% for EACH pair of exemptions subjects, NOT just an overall adverage of 73% in all the exemption subjects and NOT just an adverage of 73% over the entire course. Again, i would have a good read of the link, it sets out the entire acuarial course (including honors years) quite clearly and is very informative.
http://www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/actwww/StudentsGuide2011NewGen_1.pdf
If you do the honors year you will finish off the remaining two CTs and also complete the exams necessary for part two exams (of course, you again must perform sufficiently well in the subjects)
2) in terms of being a programming noob, don't worry, i also have NO programming experience at all and have been told that the necessary skills will be taught but i will of course need to put more time to pick up the basics, but am at no major disadvantage.
Cheers for the link!
In terms of 2), when you eventually get a job is it mostly just using computer programs, or do you actually apply what you've learnt as opposed to plugging in figures :P
Also, I can't remember whether I heard this right, but can you get a job after your honours year while concurrently studying for Part 3, and if so, what are the advantages in doing Part 3 -- apart from being fully qualified of course :P
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how come the dropping out rate is so high?
surely the job prospects would compel someone to persevere if they fail? do you not get a second chance if you fail or something? :/
and is it THAT hard? :S like compared to VCE level i.e. spesh and methods
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how come the dropping out rate is so high?
surely the job prospects would compel someone to persevere if they fail? do you not get a second chance if you fail or something? :/
and is it THAT hard? :S like compared to VCE level i.e. spesh and methods
I don't think it's "dropping out", it's moreso "failing to pass" or "keep the high average" haha
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how come the dropping out rate is so high?
surely the job prospects would compel someone to persevere if they fail? do you not get a second chance if you fail or something? :/
and is it THAT hard? :S like compared to VCE level i.e. spesh and methods
It fails even some of the best students, but then again, there is so much $$$$$$$$ :D
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how come the dropping out rate is so high?
surely the job prospects would compel someone to persevere if they fail? do you not get a second chance if you fail or something? :/
and is it THAT hard? :S like compared to VCE level i.e. spesh and methods
vce level maths is not maths.
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2) in terms of being a programming noob, don't worry, i also have NO programming experience at all and have been told that the necessary skills will be taught but i will of course need to put more time to pick up the basics, but am at no major disadvantage.
The university told us this about biology and biomedicine, so be careful and prepare to work hard on learning the language
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2) in terms of being a programming noob, don't worry, i also have NO programming experience at all and have been told that the necessary skills will be taught but i will of course need to put more time to pick up the basics, but am at no major disadvantage.
The university told us this about biology and biomedicine, so be careful and prepare to work hard on learning the language
And I would like to expand on this by saying that as an actuarial student at UoM (and I know you already know this) but a core subject is MAST20004 Probability which does have emphasis on MATLAB.
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MATLAB?
(googling now)
omg, it can do some pretty cool stuff, looks much more complex than BASIC though :(
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MATLAB?
(googling now)
omg, it can do some pretty cool stuff, looks much more complex than BASIC though :(
It's the program that is used by the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at UoM. Used in Linear Algebra, Real Analysis & Probability. Those are the 3 subjects that I've done and have come across it. and I believe Dynamical Systems & Chaos would use it as well but not sure.
That's why it's not something you can learn in a night.
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MATLAB?
(googling now)
omg, it can do some pretty cool stuff, looks much more complex than BASIC though :(
There's Octave (http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/) and Sage (http://www.sagemath.org/) which are supposedly decent open source MATLAB alternatives. Octave is meant to be pretty close to actual MATLAB syntax, but I can't really vouch for that.
You might be interested in just having a mess around with one of those programs (you probably don't have much free time but programming is pretty awesome).
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It's the program that is used by the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at UoM. Used in Linear Algebra, Real Analysis & Probability. Those are the 3 subjects that I've done and have come across it. and I believe Dynamical Systems & Chaos would use it as well but not sure.
That's why it's not something you can learn in a night.
You might be interested in just having a mess around with one of those programs (you probably don't have much free time but programming is pretty awesome).
Cheers guys! :)
Might have a go at it if I don't my UMAT performance :( But, I'll see after exams are done :)
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MATLAB?
(googling now)
omg, it can do some pretty cool stuff, looks much more complex than BASIC though :(
MATLAB is pretty cool, although I personally use Mathematica, they're both good programs though :)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsMRsR8ABc
So much hard work.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTsMRsR8ABc
So much hard work.
LMAO
"I hate maths"
"I am sorry!"
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC7pQb6ipfw&feature=related
LOLOLWTF.
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A few more qs:
1. Is there a high demand for actuaries in Australia? I am getting conflicting info, and the Melb Uni rep today was not sure.
2. How many international students do this (in either Monash or Melbourne)?
Thanks :)
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A few more qs:
2. How many international students do this (in either Monash or Melbourne)?
Thanks :)
2. At UoM, a lot. :) I remember in Probability lectures, so many.
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A few more qs:
2. How many international students do this (in either Monash or Melbourne)?
Thanks :)
2. At UoM, a lot. :) I remember in Probability lectures, so many.
Would you think that would be a disadvantage (to us), as their standard of maths is so much higher in secondary school? Or wouldn't it really matter?
btw, why did you drop actuary? (don't answer if you want to though)
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A few more qs:
2. How many international students do this (in either Monash or Melbourne)?
Thanks :)
2. At UoM, a lot. :) I remember in Probability lectures, so many.
Would you think that would be a disadvantage (to us), as their standard of maths is so much higher in secondary school? Or wouldn't it really matter?
btw, why did you drop actuary? (don't answer if you want to though)
definitely not a disadvantage, more like an advantage man! i swear, in my finance tutes and actuarial studies tutes, me and like 1 other person were the only local students, the rest were all international students and they cant understand english for shit, they're so fob, they have trouble understanding theory and the tutor's explanations bahahaa
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definitely not a disadvantage, more like an advantage man! i swear, in my finance tutes and actuarial studies tutes, me and like 1 other person were the only local students, the rest were all international students and they cant understand english for shit, they're so fob, they have trouble understanding theory and the tutor's explanations bahahaa
Awesome :)
Thanks guys :)
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Currently tossing up between Actuarial Studies at UoM, Science Scholars Program at Monash and Medicine at Monash.
I considered Medicine like most people of my academic and ethnic background (excuse me for my generalisation) because our parents want us to become doctors. Also it seems so hard to get in so there must be benefits at the end of the road. Most of my friends are doing it as well so I might as well hop on the wagon. As you can see, Medicine doesn't really suit me. I am also not the blood and guts kind of person but people told me I will get use to it. Another turn off is the lack of maths involved in the profession. So I decided to considered other options but involve maths, something I am passionate about.
The Science Scholars Program appealed to me at first because it seemed quite hard to get in initially as it required a high ATAR but I believe I could achieve it. It also allows me to major in something I enjoy: Physics and Maths. Honestly Maths is the only subject that I enjoy doing and don't find boring. The Science Scholars Program also allowed the possiblity of completing the degree in 2 years and given the huge variety of options after graduation, such as Engineering, Optometry, Doctor, Dentistry, PhD and Actuary, it seemed like a good choice. However after much research, I discovered that getting a PhD and pursuing a career in academia was not as amazing as I thought - (A career in academia? the pay didn't look that great and job oppportunites was also a turn off.
So now I wanted to do something that involved maths but also paid quite well. As of today, I am reconsidering Actuarial Studies at Monash. I remember when I first did some research on what I wanted to do after high school, I didn't like Actuary because I didn't like probability as much as the other fields in Maths and also because I wasn't sure if Commerce was my thing since I have never touched any Commerce/Economic subjects. But lately I am seriously reconsidering. I don't really know why, maybe because I also found out about the scholarships offered for the Bachelor of Commerce and also because I wanted to go to Melbourne University instead of Monash since it takes less than half the time to travel. Maybe I like the money. I also don't mind breadth as much anymore because since I am doing Bachelor of Commerce, I can do breadths from the Science areas. However the biggest concern I have is the challenge of the subject. I don't do UniMaths at Year 12 so I may be a bit behind compared to others. Also I'm a bit worried about how much time you have to spend studying for those Actuary exams.
So I have two questions:
1. Medicine, Science Scholars Program or Actuarial Studies?
2. Compared to other careers, does becoming an Actuary require the most amount of work?
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In term of your first question rohitpi, demand for actuaries is pretty strong, while admittedly there are not as many places avalible as say accounting, you have much less competition, really you should have no real problem getting a job if you have decent marks.
Acinod: I'm biased of course but I would advocate going for actuary. You seem
To have already convinced yourself out of med, and while admitedly the science scholars program does offer more options, it seems to waste two years before you can do anything specific that will get you one of the jobs you listed. In terms of your apprehensions regarding commerce subjects, both TT and I had never done commerce subjects in much depth at all and are Defs finding commerce interesting, so don't worry there. In terms of work to be an actuary, you really can quite easily find a job after your three year degree, extra qualification on top are just a bonus, admittedly, not the easiest tests and exams to pass, but hey, comparedto med or getting another professional degree you're way ahead, plus ur working and making money at the same time.
One more miscellaneous point, you mentioned commerce scholarships, as a Copland scholar at Melbourne, let men tell you Melbourne have awesome awesome scholarships, as an example, in the next 5 years Melbourne plan to raise 5million dollars JUST for commerce scholarship, but it's more than the mere money and mote about the opportunities and contacts that are useful
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One more thing, Dw about not doing uninmaths, you're in the same
Boat as 90% of the actuarial kids haha, you don particualry
Need uninmaths at all for actuarial
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In term of your first question rohitpi, demand for actuaries is pretty strong, while admittedly there are not as many places avalible as say accounting, you have much less competition, really you should have no real problem getting a job if you have decent marks.
Acinod: I'm biased of course but I would advocate going for actuary. You seem
To have already convinced yourself out of med, and while admitedly the science scholars program does offer more options, it seems to waste two years before you can do anything specific that will get you one of the jobs you listed. In terms of your apprehensions regarding commerce subjects, both TT and I had never done commerce subjects in much depth at all and are Defs finding commerce interesting, so don't worry there. In terms of work to be an actuary, you really can quite easily find a job after your three year degree, extra qualification on top are just a bonus, admittedly, not the easiest tests and exams to pass, but hey, comparedto med or getting another professional degree you're way ahead, plus ur working and making money at the same time.
One more miscellaneous point, you mentioned commerce scholarships, as a Copland scholar at Melbourne, let men tell you Melbourne have awesome awesome scholarships, as an example, in the next 5 years Melbourne plan to raise 5million dollars JUST for commerce scholarship, but it's more than the mere money and mote about the opportunities and contacts that are useful
Wow thanks a lot! Also would a mathematically minded person like me be able to cope with rote-learning commerce/economic subjects that require you to memorize terms and definitions? I think I'm similar to you and TT in terms of interests since it looks like we basically did the same subjects. I feel much more confident after seeing the enthusiam in you guys. Oh wow so you mean becoming an actuary isn't the hardest career path? I thought a lot of study was required for the exams, or does Medicine, Law and Post-Grad require even more work? Also what else can you do with your degree if you don't want to be an actuary. And what happens to the students that don't end up becoming an actuary? (i.e. don't pass the exams)
EDIT: Apparently Actuarial Studies isn't as hard as we all take it to be. 12 hour week at Uni seems quite relaxing and compared to Medicine/Law there is a lot less rote-learning involved. Is this true?
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If you're not terribly interested in medicine then the path to being an actuary is probably a better one - it's a lot shorter and there's a lot more money on it!
I thought a lot of study was required for the exams
No more so than your certification exams for medicine, for law etc. I haven't seen the actuarial exams so I can't speak for them, but given you're exempted from some of the steps due to coursework, it seems easier than the other disciplines.
Apparently Actuarial Studies isn't as hard as we all take it to be. 12 hour week at Uni seems quite relaxing
It's okay, we all thought this once! Contact hours at uni are a terrible indicator of difficulty. Sure you've got 12 hours at uni, but you're expected to do 2.5 hours extra study at home for every one of those. Now it's 42 hours a week. Still seem easy :P
The hardest part about adjusting to uni is learning to do the work you're not told to do.
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I know 2 people who have finished a degree in actuarial studies :P
A friend of mine said you need 45+ spesh to even cope keke ~_~
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I know 2 people who have finished a degree in actuarial studies :P
A friend of mine said you need 45+ spesh to even cope keke ~_~
:o - raw?
OK, need to work MUCH harder now!
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Anybody here currently doing it first year? I NEED BUDDIES
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I know 2 people who have finished a degree in actuarial studies :P
A friend of mine said you need 45+ spesh to even cope keke ~_~
:o - raw?
OK, need to work MUCH harder now!
nah as long as you're quite proficient in mathematics with a reasonable level of passion then you should do okay :)
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I know 2 people who have finished a degree in actuarial studies :P
A friend of mine said you need 45+ spesh to even cope keke ~_~
:o - raw?
OK, need to work MUCH harder now!
I talked to Dr He last year about actuarial studies and he thought that you would need about a 43 in spech to be able to cope with the workload. Do be aware that this is just a rough guide, if you do nothing but maths and just get a 43 in spech it's not a get out of jail free pass that means you will DEFINITELY get though actuarial studies, it is jut a rough estimate...
Anybody here currently doing it first year? I NEED BUDDIES
right here mate, you doing intro to actuarial?
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Just gonna try dispel some fear mongering :P Your high school performance doesn't necessarily indicate your ability to excel in a certain course at uni. You'll find that in some cases you'll have kids scoring in the 90s in mathematics subjects whilst having got sub 40 scores in high school, or at least that was the case in my classes.
I think the cutoff for actuarial entry is 38 (?) in spec, and if you're able to get that you shouldn't find any first year maths overly difficult. It's probably more about being consistent and dedicated in your following years.
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A side question from myself - Does having an Actuarial Science major in Commerce without any Professional Accreditation serve any purpose? As in, are there still open jobs for it?
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A side question from myself - Does having an Actuarial Science major in Commerce without any Professional Accreditation serve any purpose? As in, are there still open jobs for it?
I heard that because you cover Part 1 and 2, you can get a job as a "junior" actuary (you will never be senior/promoted) - but I'd also be interested to hear the answer to this for sure.
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Just wondering what breadth are you taking tram? Also what breadth is recommended if I'm majoring actuarial studies at UniMelb?
Since my path is specifically wanting to be an actuary, should I do subjects that are bludgy allowing me to focus more on my actuarial studies, or should I do subjects that will help me in the future as an actuary? Or just subjects that I enjoy?
Also I might consider engineering just in case I don't like actuarial studies. So is it possible to do an engineering breadth sequence along an actuarial studies major? Because apparently I have to take 112.5 points of breadth if I'm doing an Engineering breadth sequence but if I'm pursuing accreditation in Actuarial Studies I will take 75 to 87.5 points of breadth. So how does that work? Or can I just do this: https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/2011/!065XX-BRDS%2B1105#overviewbut Accelerated Maths 1 and 2 instead of the two maths subjects and would have met the prerequisites for M.Eng?
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I know 2 people who have finished a degree in actuarial studies :P
A friend of mine said you need 45+ spesh to even cope keke ~_~
:o - raw?
OK, need to work MUCH harder now!
I talked to Dr He last year about actuarial studies and he thought that you would need about a 43 in spech to be able to cope with the workload. Do be aware that this is just a rough guide, if you do nothing but maths and just get a 43 in spech it's not a get out of jail free pass that means you will DEFINITELY get though actuarial studies, it is jut a rough estimate...
Anybody here currently doing it first year? I NEED BUDDIES
right here mate, you doing intro to actuarial?
Yes I am. I'm the dark skinned asian guy you'll see in lectures. How you finding it?
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Back to my question, what breadth do actuarial students take?
I might consider Master of Engineering (Mechanical) just in case I give up on actuarial studies after my degree. However the website says: Commerce students pursuing professional accreditation in accounting or actuarial studies cannot complete the approved engineering subject sequence due to the subject requirements of their chosen discipline.
But is it still possible to get into Master of Engineering after my degree with the appropriate breadth? Can't I simply complete: Science: 25 points of first year Physics (or equivalent)
Mathematics: 25 points of first-year mathematics, specifically Calculus 2 and Linear Algebra (or equivalent)
Or should I just do easy, fun breadth subjects so I can focus on my major or subjects to help me in the future if I do become an actuary?
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Understanding Society.
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Just wondering what breadth are you taking tram? Also what breadth is recommended if I'm majoring actuarial studies at UniMelb?
Since my path is specifically wanting to be an actuary, should I do subjects that are bludgy allowing me to focus more on my actuarial studies, or should I do subjects that will help me in the future as an actuary? Or just subjects that I enjoy?
Also I might consider engineering just in case I don't like actuarial studies. So is it possible to do an engineering breadth sequence along an actuarial studies major? Because apparently I have to take 112.5 points of breadth if I'm doing an Engineering breadth sequence but if I'm pursuing accreditation in Actuarial Studies I will take 75 to 87.5 points of breadth. So how does that work? Or can I just do this: https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/view/2011/!065XX-BRDS%2B1105#overviewbut Accelerated Maths 1 and 2 instead of the two maths subjects and would have met the prerequisites for M.Eng?
You only get three subjects that you have any control over, and they are your three breath subjects, one each year, all the other subjects are locked in for accreditation purposes. So no, i don't think you would have the space for a breath sequence, as for what to choose otherwise, just choose something you are interested in, have a look at the uni breath subjects, in particular a subject that i'm looking to do next semester is the logic subjects, seems quite interesting and not too taxing, have a browse of the handbook and you're sure to find something that interests you...
A side question from myself - Does having an Actuarial Science major in Commerce without any Professional Accreditation serve any purpose? As in, are there still open jobs for it?
I heard that because you cover Part 1 and 2, you can get a job as a "junior" actuary (you will never be senior/promoted) - but I'd also be interested to hear the answer to this for sure.
To anwser your questions tagia, yes, most defintiely. If fact i would argue you have a greater scope for jobs than someone who has just got their accounting major. Granted the NUMBER of jobs for accountants are greater but given your qualifications you do have the scope to move into jobs that require quantitative analysis and/or strategic bents, in all the consulting departments of any of the big four you will definitely find an actuarial department, even in forensic jobs (think something like the melbourne storm scandal or enron (if you don't know what it is google enron, one of the biggest cases of corporate fraud and corruption, something you should know if you intend on being a commerce student)) when they go back to try and rebuild accounting records, they have someone with a actuarial background there as well. I know someone who is working now at the Victorian Fund Management (kinda like an investment bank for the government) who did actuarial at melbourne that then decided to use his skills in a non-traditional role (i.e. not insurance). Granted there is a limited number of jobs and all the work do involve basically the same thing more or less, but that can really be said about ANY profession
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A side question from myself - Does having an Actuarial Science major in Commerce without any Professional Accreditation serve any purpose? As in, are there still open jobs for it?
I heard that because you cover Part 1 and 2, you can get a job as a "junior" actuary (you will never be senior/promoted) - but I'd also be interested to hear the answer to this for sure.
Just as a Monash student, I think taiga means completing a major in Actuarial but not complete sufficient units for entire part I accreditation (as apposed to completing parts I & II and not going further), but I guess trams answer reflects this
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is there any difference between doing the melbourne course thats been mentioned above
and
majoring in Acturial Studies whilst doing an Eng/Comm Degree at Monash?
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About breadth, there was an old thread a few years ago listed recommended breadths for actuarial studies: Evading breadth (sorta..) for Actuarial students of UoM
Basically its just doing 'Business Law', 'Corporate Law' and 'Banking and Finance Law'. However Banking and Finance Law is no longer available for breadth so what would the new recommendation be? Or is it best to just do fun breadth you are interested in rather than these law breadths that I assume are suppose to prepare you for your future career...?
Anyways had a talk with Dr He about actuarial studies last week.
He told us that it is harder than a double degree and that it requires a lot of work compared to other degrees. Sounds like postgrad in disguise... As stated before by tram, he does not recommend anyone that gets below 42 in Specialist Maths to do actuarial studies. Told us a few experiences of his past students that enrolled to actuarial studies (all these kids get like 90+ for spesh and methods combined). One kid was really smart but he was lazy so he changed to finance. Another kid wanted to be a businessman, because his family owned some company overseas or something, so he changed to business. There was also good stories, this kid that got full marks in Uni Maths, Spesh and Methods is in his 2nd year or something and he's finding it fine (obviously...). But dr he said I should be ok so I think I have my mind set on actuarial studies at Melbourne.
BUTTTTTT!!! Apparently the Copland's Scholar Program (which originally required ATAR of 99.0+) merged with the new Chancellor's Scholars Program (which requires an ATAR of 99.9+). So now is there any difference between getting an ATAR of 94.5 and 99.5? They both just give you a CSP with no opportunity for the Copland's Scholarship, right?
Then again, I might need a high ATAR for First In The Family Scholarship... :P
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is there any difference between doing the melbourne course thats been mentioned above
and
majoring in Acturial Studies whilst doing an Eng/Comm Degree at Monash?
acturial has no real link to eng.... probably woulnd't recommend it.... it probs help with your quantitative skills but mortality modeal aren't really going to help with eng as far as i can see....
About breadth, there was an old thread a few years ago listed recommended breadths for actuarial studies: Evading breadth (sorta..) for Actuarial students of UoM
Basically its just doing 'Business Law', 'Corporate Law' and 'Banking and Finance Law'. However Banking and Finance Law is no longer available for breadth so what would the new recommendation be? Or is it best to just do fun breadth you are interested in rather than these law breadths that I assume are suppose to prepare you for your future career...?
Anyways had a talk with Dr He about actuarial studies last week.
He told us that it is harder than a double degree and that it requires a lot of work compared to other degrees. Sounds like postgrad in disguise... As stated before by tram, he does not recommend anyone that gets below 42 in Specialist Maths to do actuarial studies. Told us a few experiences of his past students that enrolled to actuarial studies (all these kids get like 90+ for spesh and methods combined). One kid was really smart but he was lazy so he changed to finance. Another kid wanted to be a businessman, because his family owned some company overseas or something, so he changed to business. There was also good stories, this kid that got full marks in Uni Maths, Spesh and Methods is in his 2nd year or something and he's finding it fine (obviously...). But dr he said I should be ok so I think I have my mind set on actuarial studies at Melbourne.
BUTTTTTT!!! Apparently the Copland's Scholar Program (which originally required ATAR of 99.0+) merged with the new Chancellor's Scholars Program (which requires an ATAR of 99.9+). So now is there any difference between getting an ATAR of 94.5 and 99.5? They both just give you a CSP with no opportunity for the Copland's Scholarship, right?
Then again, I might need a high ATAR for First In The Family Scholarship... :P
OMG i know brendan.... is that is the brendan who i think it is.... that's interesting.... didn't know he was ex-vn....
As for breath, i did PBL and it was ok... will defintiely be choosing a very non-commerce breath next year... will need the circuit breaker.... Defs pick something you are interested in, you don't want your breath to be taxing in the sense you have to force yourself to do something because it is meant to purely be something you enjoy...
haha, yeah, Dr He and his actuarial stories, you know the first time he told us them i was like...psht a bunch of idiots that put themselves throught that... (that was in year 10) yet now i'm doing it haha.
As for a high enter, there are plenty of reason to still aim for a high enter
1) Do remember that you get a guranteed full fee place in any postgrad (more or less) if you want it if you get 99+, granted it cos t a fair bit but with fee-help it's a decent backup...
2) It will help in getting interships/into programs in 1/2nd year which are very useful and good to do
3) Pride/self-fufilment/all those other intangible things
4) You never know, tbh i knew about the copland program and wanted to get in it so bad but didn't think i'd be able to get in, you never know, stuff happens...
5) Depending on demand they '99.9' rule is flexible, e.g. i got in (and so did at least 3 other coplanders) with 99.80, so don't count yourself out just yet..
Also the copland scholar was never for ALL people who got 99+, it was/is for the top 15 students (which i'm positive was stated in the commerce brochure), but just one of the requirements that made you ELIGIBLE was you had to get 99+ (i.e. in case of like no-one applying i guess)
Having said that i struggled for ages with this concept and i know at times it feel infuriating that all this work could be for nothing, at least in the sense you could have done much much less and still be in effectively the same position as others who scraped in and it demotivated me several times throughout the year. But hey, that's life, there will always be people who are the same if not a lot better off than you, though not a whole lot of effort on their part (think contacts......)....
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As for breath, i did PBL and it was ok... will defintiely be choosing a very non-commerce breath next year... will need the circuit breaker.... Defs pick something you are interested in, you don't want your breath to be taxing in the sense you have to force yourself to do something because it is meant to purely be something you enjoy...
haha, yeah, Dr He and his actuarial stories, you know the first time he told us them i was like...psht a bunch of idiots that put themselves throught that... (that was in year 10) yet now i'm doing it haha.
As for a high enter, there are plenty of reason to still aim for a high enter
1) Do remember that you get a guranteed full fee place in any postgrad (more or less) if you want it if you get 99+, granted it cos t a fair bit but with fee-help it's a decent backup...
2) It will help in getting interships/into programs in 1/2nd year which are very useful and good to do
3) Pride/self-fufilment/all those other intangible things
4) You never know, tbh i knew about the copland program and wanted to get in it so bad but didn't think i'd be able to get in, you never know, stuff happens...
5) Depending on demand they '99.9' rule is flexible, e.g. i got in (and so did at least 3 other coplanders) with 99.80, so don't count yourself out just yet..
Also the copland scholar was never for ALL people who got 99+, it was/is for the top 15 students (which i'm positive was stated in the commerce brochure), but just one of the requirements that made you ELIGIBLE was you had to get 99+ (i.e. in case of like no-one applying i guess)
Having said that i struggled for ages with this concept and i know at times it feel infuriating that all this work could be for nothing, at least in the sense you could have done much much less and still be in effectively the same position as others who scraped in and it demotivated me several times throughout the year. But hey, that's life, there will always be people who are the same if not a lot better off than you, though not a whole lot of effort on their part (think contacts......)....
Thanks a lot tram for the helpful info! I guess I'll just pick some fun breadth to maybe take the stress away from actuarial studies haha
And thanks for clearing up the info about the Copland scholarship, I've always thought of the 99+ as a clearly-in or something but I guess most important is that they take 15 students. Seems quite hard now considering such a low number of places. But for this year tram, do you know the lowest ATAR that made it into the Copland Scholar? Or was 99.8 the lowest... :(
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Thanks a lot tram for the helpful info! I guess I'll just pick some fun breadth to maybe take the stress away from actuarial studies haha
And thanks for clearing up the info about the Copland scholarship, I've always thought of the 99+ as a clearly-in or something but I guess most important is that they take 15 students. Seems quite hard now considering such a low number of places. But for this year tram, do you know the lowest ATAR that made it into the Copland Scholar? Or was 99.8 the lowest... :(
haha, no problem, yeah, go to open day and find out about what else is on offer this sunday-the weather will be good thank god, but just saying, don't expect to get any indication the lowest atar you'll need to get a scholarship, they're very careful about giving advice about the atar required because they don't want to 'gurantee' you something that turns out to be different because of demand, but yeah 99.80 was the lowest anyone got in on and i don't think that will change much, if anything it might go up cos people are likely to be attracted by the new chancellors scholars program...
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http://melbuniblog.com/2012/09/30/bcom-majors-v-actuarial-studies/
:P