ATAR Notes: Forum
Uni Stuff => Commerce => Faculties => Actuarial Studies => Topic started by: Drunk on February 06, 2011, 01:29:52 pm
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Hey guys,
I've been thinking of trying to get into an actuarial studies course and I was wondering what you guys thought of it.
Is it mind-numbingly boring?
What do you guys think of the career itself? Is it pretty much just juggling numbers all day?
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do you really like maths? Is it what you are passionate about, i.e. is it your favorite subject?
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do you really like maths? Is it what you are passionate about, i.e. is it your favorite subject?
Yeah it is actually; so is that all that the job really involves? Making calculations?
This is a dead-end remark I'm making but actuary somehow make me think of trees and horticulture stuff.
Err... LOL
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Sorry to hijack, but what type of maths is involved? Is it like stats and stuff, or is it more like spesh (I'm considering this too)?
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stats & probabilty are the main culprits, for whihc calculus is defs needed
For more info check out http://vce.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,23875.0.html
I started that thread and got a lot of my questions anwsered there.
As for what working as an actuary is like, i would also know the anwser to that questions as i don't want to simply be sittting in a cubicle all day typing away at my keyboard entering data. I guess i'll soon find out more about the reality to being a actuary and just how true all the stereotypes are. There a quite a few sites that are metioned in that thread that are well worth a look at if you want to get a better idea of what being an actuary entails.
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This is a dead-end remark I'm making but actuary somehow make me think of trees and horticulture stuff.
It makes me think of birds.
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stats & probabilty are the main culprits, for whihc calculus is defs needed
For more info check out http://vce.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,23875.0.html
I started that thread and got a lot of my questions anwsered there.
As for what working as an actuary is like, i would also know the anwser to that questions as i don't want to simply be sittting in a cubicle all day typing away at my keyboard entering data. I guess i'll soon find out more about the reality to being a actuary and just how true all the stereotypes are. There a quite a few sites that are metioned in that thread that are well worth a look at if you want to get a better idea of what being an actuary entails.
Cheers for the info,
So would that essentially mean that I wouldn't be making any money at all after uni and that I'd be leeching off of my parents for another 8 years?
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO after three years you're out and working! (making a lot of money i might add) you then study while you work, most employers will for pay for you to study and take the exams needed to become fully qualified
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SERIOUS?
WUAHDSADHASD.
I thought you just study for ~8 years .. unemployed?
So after the 3 years, you work as an actuary... but you're not qualified?
I don't really understand..
Also, I heard the demand for actuaries is like.. really low 0.o.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO after three years you're out and working! (making a lot of money i might add) you then study while you work, most employers will for pay for you to study and take the exams needed to become fully qualified
REALLLY now? That's interesting - so as you go up each time, your salary gets larger?
Also, I heard the demand for actuaries is like.. really low 0.o.
Oh. Well that sucks. I hope that's not true :(
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There are three parts of exams. The first you pass at uni ^in the tree year bachelor course. The second you can choose to pass by doing a honors year at the end of your bachelor degree. The third part you have to do by yourself. If you come out of the bachelor degree you're already looking at a pretty decent salary that will increase the more senior you are, of course getin more qualified help increase your salary but it is not the only way to get an increase.
Hutchoo, where did you heard that the demand is low?? The demand for actuaries is actually extremely high, ^in the entire of Australia there Are only about 1000 actarys...
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Well, let me try and rephrase what I said..
The demand isn't low... but it isn't very stable?
Random friends have told me this.
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Well, let me try and rephrase what I said..
The demand isn't low... but it isn't very stable?
Random friends have told me this.
ummmmm well i don't profess to be the greatest authority on the job market but still am fairly sure that actuaries are in steady and strong demand, the constant the more uncertainty there is in the world the greater the need for actuaries to calculate and help manage the risk that exists. There are many financial jobs that are quite volatile but actuaries seem to be the exception due to the severe shortage of them.
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According to what Professor Dickson (the guy that is in charge of actuarial studies at UoM), when I asked him about the Master of Actuarial Science, he said that that course only gives you exemption from Part 1 of the exam.
So if what he said is correct, you're better off doing a B.Com (Honours) in actuarial studies because then you've got exemption for Parts 1 & 2.
But I only asked him in person so my credibility is low. Remember, this is uni. Only the written mode can be used as official evidence.
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According to what Professor Dickson (the guy that is in charge of actuarial studies at UoM), when I asked him about the Master of Actuarial Science, he said that that course only gives you exemption from Part 1 of the exam.
So if what he said is correct, you're better off doing a B.Com (Honours) in actuarial studies because then you've got exemption for Parts 1 & 2.
But I only asked him in person so my credibility is low. Remember, this is uni. Only the written mode can be used as official evidence.
I disagree, getting an extra year ok work experience is wayyy more attractive to an employer than part two, they don;t have many ppl to choose from anyway.... (this is not just my opinion i've been told this by several graduates)
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According to what Professor Dickson (the guy that is in charge of actuarial studies at UoM), when I asked him about the Master of Actuarial Science, he said that that course only gives you exemption from Part 1 of the exam.
So if what he said is correct, you're better off doing a B.Com (Honours) in actuarial studies because then you've got exemption for Parts 1 & 2.
But I only asked him in person so my credibility is low. Remember, this is uni. Only the written mode can be used as official evidence.
I disagree, getting an extra year ok work experience is wayyy more attractive to an employer than part two, they don;t have many ppl to choose from anyway.... (this is not just my opinion i've been told this by several graduates)
That's what I don't get though.
Sure work experience is great but would employers want to invest a person with a postgrad degree in actuarial studies? Firstly, with a Master in Actuarial Science, if it's true that it doesn't give you exemption to part 2, then that means you'll need to part 2 and 3. But with a B.Com (Hons), you've already got exemption to part 1 and 2, you've only got the final run to go before you become "fully qualified" if you get what I mean.
But in your defence, you could argue that with an undegrad degree, you've already got what it takes to get into the workforce tog et work experience, that is depending on what that undergrad degree was.
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Mmmm, like yeah I see what you're saying and for a while I was super intent on dong honours, but I guess it does depend on a few factors, doing honors may be more shrinks for some people than others. I supOse that the point I wanted to make was that doing a honors year and getting the extra exemption does not guarantee a better job/better chance of getting a job, I had a family friend who came out with just the basic degree and she didn't even get total exemption from part one during the degree but still was able to get jobs over hours grads cos she had a better interview/general cv.
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So that's why it's a little bit of a headache. For those who go on to do Honours, if all is good, you're guaranteed to get exemption from Parts I and Parts II if I'm correct. But looking for a job is the thing.
But through the Masters program, you can only get exemption to Part I. So you're stuck at Part II and Part III. But the upside is that you already have an undergraduate degree.
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According to what Professor Dickson (the guy that is in charge of actuarial studies at UoM), when I asked him about the Master of Actuarial Science, he said that that course only gives you exemption from Part 1 of the exam.
So if what he said is correct, you're better off doing a B.Com (Honours) in actuarial studies because then you've got exemption for Parts 1 & 2.
But I only asked him in person so my credibility is low. Remember, this is uni. Only the written mode can be used as official evidence.
So assuming you have a BCom Actuary Part I accreditation already, is UoM Honors the only possible course to get Part II? Do any other unis offer Part II accreditation alone?
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Do any other unis offer Part II accreditation alone?
i don't think so.....
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According to what Professor Dickson (the guy that is in charge of actuarial studies at UoM), when I asked him about the Master of Actuarial Science, he said that that course only gives you exemption from Part 1 of the exam.
So if what he said is correct, you're better off doing a B.Com (Honours) in actuarial studies because then you've got exemption for Parts 1 & 2.
But I only asked him in person so my credibility is low. Remember, this is uni. Only the written mode can be used as official evidence.
So assuming you have a BCom Actuary Part I accreditation already, is UoM Honors the only possible course to get Part II? Do any other unis offer Part II accreditation alone?
I asked Prof. Dickson about this and he was a bit shaky about it. He said you could do it through "correspondence", whatever that was supposed to mean.
I asked him last year Open Day in the morning at the Actuarial Studies stand.
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http://actuaries.asn.au/EducationandProfessional/Education/PartII.aspx
this should help.
also there are 1,755 actuaries in Australia (at may 2010)
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http://actuaries.asn.au/EducationandProfessional/Education/PartII.aspx
so we need to complete 3 parts for actuarial studies before getting a job?
And why do most of people say this course is difficult?
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http://actuaries.asn.au/EducationandProfessional/Education/PartII.aspx
so we need to complete 3 parts for actuarial studies before getting a job?
And why do most of people say this course is difficult?
I'm fairly sure you can (and most people try to) work while studying for the third exam (I'm not so sure on the first two).
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http://actuaries.asn.au/EducationandProfessional/Education/PartII.aspx
so we need to complete 3 parts for actuarial studies before getting a job?
And why do most of people say this course is difficult?
You might wanna change your sig if your considering actuary :P
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http://actuaries.asn.au/EducationandProfessional/Education/PartII.aspx
so we need to complete 3 parts for actuarial studies before getting a job?
And why do most of people say this course is difficult?
You might wanna change your sig if your considering actuary :P
I said good bye to conditional probability => didn't say good bye to other types of probability though :P
And actuarial studies is mainly calculus which is my fave branch of maths :)
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For the actuarial studies course at Melbourne, is there a certain score you have to achieve for Spesh to get in?
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For the actuarial studies course at Melbourne, is there a certain score you have to achieve for Spesh to get in?
actuarial is one major of commerce, hence I assume the prerequisites will be the same with what they list in commerce: at least 25 in methods or spesh (but they highly recommend spesh)
commerce prerequisites
and in actuarial page, they said if you commenced in sem 2, you must have completed VCE spesh (didn't mention what scores though)
Someone correct me if I'm wrong XD
actuarial major
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Hmmmph, I'm ure someone told me you needed 38. Or is this outdated?
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For the actuarial studies course at Melbourne, is there a certain score you have to achieve for Spesh to get in?
No.
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Hmmmph, I'm ure someone told me you needed 38. Or is this outdated?
At least 25, not 38
For the actuarial studies course at Melbourne, is there a certain score you have to achieve for Spesh to get in?
No.
Yes, either methods spesh but at least 25
actuarial prerequisites
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Although in all honesty, if you got below a 40 in methods, I wouldn't take the course.
(from what I've heard, ideally you want a 44+ raw in spesh. but of course people succeed without that high a score)
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Although in all honesty, if you got below a 40 in methods, I wouldn't take the course.
(from what I've heard, ideally you want a 44+ raw in spesh. but of course people succeed without that high a score)
I did methods last year and got 44 raw, but I don't think I'll get 40 raw for spesh. Maybe 35. :(
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Although in all honesty, if you got below a 40 in methods, I wouldn't take the course.
(from what I've heard, ideally you want a 44+ raw in spesh. but of course people succeed without that high a score)
LOL wrong personal pronoun
but seriously, if we can't get >44+ raw spesh, we shouldn't take actuarial?
Why didn't you tell me earlier?
*MORE THAN JUST MARKS* >:(
I'm gonna get 25 in spesh :'(
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Pronouns, meh, I've done VCE English :P
I didn't say you shouldn't do it, it's just that friends who went to Dr He said that they were told 44+ is recommended to cope. Of course there are plenty of exceptions haha.
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Pronouns, meh, I've done VCE English :P
I didn't say you shouldn't do it, it's just that friends who went to Dr He said that they were told 44+ is recommended to cope. Of course there are plenty of exceptions haha.
If I were the examiner in 2011, I'd mark you fail due to this simple mistake :D
Hope this year, 25 spesh scales to 44 :P
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http://actuaries.asn.au/EducationandProfessional/Education/PartII.aspx
so we need to complete 3 parts for actuarial studies before getting a job?
And why do most of people say this course is difficult?
You might wanna change your sig if your considering actuary :P
I said good bye to conditional probability => didn't say good bye to other types of probability though :P
And actuarial studies is mainly calculus which is my fave branch of maths :)
Conditional probability is a very important concept lol you'd better start liking it if you want to do actuarial :P
and no it won't be as ambiguous and retarded like vce wannabe-conditional, it will take on a much more rigorous and likeable definition lol
don't worry too much about your vce marks though, seriously although they may be a okayish indicator to see if you're going to cope with actuarial it has quite a low correlation, as long as you're quite passionate about maths and financial/economical concepts you should be fine for actuarial.
just like in physics how maths is used in a physics environment and world, in actuarial studies, maths is applied to a financial world, so you also need to have quite a bit of interest in finance/economics
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What does the job mainly consist of doing? Is it an office job?
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I guess in the old days it actually was just a typical desk job + pen + paper + numbers + calculator and what not lol
nowadays it is much more diversified, you could use your actuary skills in alot of specific and related fields, financial adviser, financial analyst, risk management, investment banker etc all kinds of things lol
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What does the job mainly consist of doing? Is it an office job?
Banking and finance
Capital and risk management
Financial planning
Financial reporting and performance management
General insurance
Health insurance
Investments and asset management
Life insurance: product pricing, design and distribution
Superannuation
Valuation of insurance liabilities and financial instruments.
Conditional probability is a very important concept lol you'd better start liking it if you want to do actuarial :P
and no it won't be as ambiguous and retarded like vce wannabe-conditional, it will take on a much more rigorous and likeable definition lol
don't worry too much about your vce marks though, seriously although they may be a okayish indicator to see if you're going to cope with actuarial it has quite a low correlation, as long as you're quite passionate about maths and financial/economical concepts you should be fine for actuarial.
just like in physics how maths is used in a physics environment and world, in actuarial studies, maths is applied to a financial world, so you also need to have quite a bit of interest in finance/economics
change my sig to good bye VCE conditional pr then :P
But I didn't do business/economics in yr11/12, how can I know I like it or not? If I don't like finance/economics, can I do actuarial?
And in the list of career, there is banking. What does actuary do in banking field?
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haha yeah I didn't do any commerce related subjects in vce either, you will get a taste of them once you start uni, although it'd be pretty hard for you to enjoy actuarial if you don't like finance/economics lol as actuary and finance are very closely related
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I guess in the old days it actually was just a typical desk job + pen + paper + numbers + calculator and what not lol
nowadays it is much more diversified, you could use your actuary skills in alot of specific and related fields, financial adviser, financial analyst, risk management, investment banker etc all kinds of things lol
It's a Poisson process I tell you! :P
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haha yeah I didn't do any commerce related subjects in vce either, you will get a taste of them once you start uni, although it'd be pretty hard for you to enjoy actuarial if you don't like finance/economics lol as actuary and finance are very closely related
Okay, lets see next year, If I don't like finance/economics, I can transfer from double degree to single degree :P
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Wow it sounds like a fun subject. :O
i don't mind studying a lot if it is something i enjoy.
Is the course boring?
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definitely not, very fun indeed :D
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Do you have to really like maths?
I really like the commerce-side of it (I'm extremely passionate about economics), but when it comes to maths, it's just meh to me. I mean, I'm not the worse at maths - probably above average - but I don't particularly enjoy doing it (hence why I'm not that great at it). The only area that I do like about maths, however, is probability, which is what actuarial studies is all about, right?
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Yeah you do, if you don't you'll find a lot of it a bore. But I've only done the first year intro to actuarial unit so far. Give it a go in first year and see if you like it or not, then decide what you want to do afterwards that's what I'm doing :)
I found a lot of the insurance stuff a bit boring, 'calculate the premiums for a person aged 50, with a sum of $200,000 payable in 15 years'. I found the first half of the unit more interesting, it had more financial security calculations. I did finance 1 so I was familiar with a lot of the securities we talked about and we used formulas in finance where you plug in numbers, whereas in actuarial we derive formulas to calculate payments, interest rates etc I found this part pretty interesting - being able to turn a series of payments into a single formula then apply probabilities and what not to it. Overall, it's pretty interesting and gives you a taste of what actuarial studies is like - also you would have to put in a fair bit of work to do well in the unit, probably do more than the tute work and any extra questions he provides.
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I don't really understand how transfers or switching courses work. Do you have to start all over everything again if you decide to switch courses? Like if I choose to study actuarial studies at Melbourne and I don't like it, is it easy to switch to ecofinance later on?
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Well, the thing with the Melbourne model is that they only offer general degrees: Science, Biomed, Commerce, Arts etc then you do postgraduate courses like honours/masters/MD/JD etc
If you want to do actuarial studies then you do Commerce and take the actuarial studies major. If at the end of first year you you decide to change majors, then you can easily transfer to Finance/Eco. You don't miss out on any prerequisite units if you want to take this pathway, although the only thing is you would now be doing the math stream for the quantitative requirements for the commerce course. That is, instead of doing QM1 and another quantitative unit in 2nd year, you would be doing 2 math units in 1st year and another 2 in 2nd year - you do these as breadth units too. It would only be a problem if you plan to do Accounting/Finance with accreditation since the pathway for that is pretty restricted, you would have to do extra units to satisfy the accreditation prerequisites I think.
Transferring is when you want to change from a Commerce degree to say Science. If you choose to do this then you can transfer internally at Melbourne or transfer out of Melbourne into another course at another university. It depends on the course, you can get some or all of your units credited so you wouldn't have to start from scratch.
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In all honesty if you think you are going to get a 25 in specialist, unless you are willing to work extremely hard in university, I would not take up actuarial studies. It's incredibly difficult, and I've seen some of the brightest students get crushed by it and get to the point where they want to drop out.
Be careful of what TrueTears says, he is on a different level to us :P
I think you've really got to like your maths and be able to maintain a very good study ethic throughout university, particularly for your actuarial subjects.
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Yeah you do, if you don't you'll find a lot of it a bore. But I've only done the first year intro to actuarial unit so far. Give it a go in first year and see if you like it or not, then decide what you want to do afterwards that's what I'm doing :)
I found a lot of the insurance stuff a bit boring, 'calculate the premiums for a person aged 50, with a sum of $200,000 payable in 15 years'. I found the first half of the unit more interesting, it had more financial security calculations. I did finance 1 so I was familiar with a lot of the securities we talked about and we used formulas in finance where you plug in numbers, whereas in actuarial we derive formulas to calculate payments, interest rates etc I found this part pretty interesting - being able to turn a series of payments into a single formula then apply probabilities and what not to it. Overall, it's pretty interesting and gives you a taste of what actuarial studies is like - also you would have to put in a fair bit of work to do well in the unit, probably do more than the tute work and any extra questions he provides.
I dunno about this course but reading your comment, all I understand is "interesting" :P
In all honesty if you think you are going to get a 25 in specialist, unless you are willing to work extremely hard in university, I would not take up actuarial studies. It's incredibly difficult, and I've seen some of the brightest students get crushed by it and get to the point where they want to drop out.
Be careful of what TrueTears says, he is on a different level to us :P
I think you've really got to like your maths and be able to maintain a very good study ethic throughout university, particularly for your actuarial subjects.
Yeah, thats why I decide to do double degree, in case its too hard for me, I just change to single degree BScience in 2nd yr
About SS in spesh for coping with actuarial studies, I asked my friend studying this course at UoM as well and she also advised to choose if spesh at least 45
Anyway, I just wanna give it a try first
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Do you have to really like maths?
I really like the commerce-side of it (I'm extremely passionate about economics), but when it comes to maths, it's just meh to me. I mean, I'm not the worse at maths - probably above average - but I don't particularly enjoy doing it (hence why I'm not that great at it). The only area that I do like about maths, however, is probability, which is what actuarial studies is all about, right?
The maths can get pretty tedious and hard, you've got to be motivated to get through it. If you're passionate about eco, do eco, you'll get your fair share of maths though eco.
I don't really understand how transfers or switching courses work. Do you have to start all over everything again if you decide to switch courses? Like if I choose to study actuarial studies at Melbourne and I don't like it, is it easy to switch to ecofinance later on?
Yes, if you plan your degree carefully you can switch to eco finance in third year if it's not for you (many people do this- i'm seriously considering it)
In all honesty if you think you are going to get a 25 in specialist, unless you are willing to work extremely hard in university, I would not take up actuarial studies. It's incredibly difficult, and I've seen some of the brightest students get crushed by it and get to the point where they want to drop out.
Be careful of what TrueTears says, he is on a different level to us :P
I think you've really got to like your maths and be able to maintain a very good study ethic throughout university, particularly for your actuarial subjects.
The actuarial course is pretty challenging, and you do have to work hard, without being arrogant i consider myself a strong maths student in high school (47 methods, 46 spech) and know that i'm struggling with the course, i.e. i am legitimately scarred i failed my exam two days ago (granted i didn't work as hard during semester as i should have been). Having said that, i know many people i outscored in VCE doing much better than me now, it's a very different study environment in uni, but you do have to enjoy maths and have the discipline to get through the stuff you don't like.
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What if i am a student that had potential in achieving 45+ in both but because of silly mistakes under exam conditions i don't?
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Anyone know if you have to do accounting subjects like reports and analysis for first year? It was just on the sample course on the melbourne uni site
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What if i am a student that had potential in achieving 45+ in both but because of silly mistakes under exam conditions i don't?
Who cares. I won't even scrape a 40 in spesh due to silly errors but that's not gonna stop me from considering actuary. As long as your confident in your mathematical ability and have passion for maths, then by what I've heard from people on this forum, you can handle it.
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BTW, I'd recommend all actuarial-wannabees to have a look at BORED already? Want to learn a bit of maths? :P just to keep you mathematical throughout the holidays :)
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Anyone know if you have to do accounting subjects like reports and analysis for first year? It was just on the sample course on the melbourne uni site
Yep, Accounting Reports and Analysis and Accounting Transactions and Analysis are both prerequisite units! Whatever the sample course plan is, will pretty much be the route you will take no ifs, no buts. The only difference is which breadth units you take, but if you fail a unit and you can't do it during summer then your course may be extended another semester or two since a lot of units are prerequisites for following units - also, there are a couple of units that require a certain score in the previous unit to continue or an average across 2 prerequisite units so you have to keep that in mind! Also for accreditation purposes you will need to average a 73 or 75 across certain subjects as well. First year is alright to get done if you do the work required, however I imagine the workload and stress would increase by a lot in 2nd year - as that is where most of the accreditation and prerequisite units start.
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I'm just going to throw in a few comments here..
My brother studied actuary at UoM and said that more than half the class dropped out after first year; more again after second year. I'm not saying that dropping out of the course is a bad decision, but please consider whether or not you'll be able to cope with the workload. From what I've heard, its on a totally different level to VCE.
My brothers working now at an insurance company whilst taking his exams and yes, the pass rate is quite low... But depending on which company you work at, they give you study leave and increased wages if you pass a paper.
All that said, even if you really are good at what you do, its a tough job, because everyone starts relying on you and your workload doesnt decrease. My bro complains all the time about how he has loads of study leave but cant take them because he has a responsibility to finish his projects at work whilst studying at the same time.
So like what everyone else has said, you have to be passionate for maths and have a definite goal if you want to do actuary, imo.
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does anyone know what sort of hours actuaries work and what they get paid? ive heard its a hard slog for decentish pay but you guys would know better than me
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does anyone know what sort of hours actuaries work and what they get paid? ive heard its a hard slog for decentish pay but you guys would know better than me
Not 100% sure, but it's not as hectic as other professions. From what I've read it's probably around 40-50 hours. If you're still studying to become fully qualified you will have to juggle study with work, so the workload will be fairly high. They get paid A LOT. Fully qualified actuaries can earn 150k+ a year, not including bonuses - I've seen charts where they show salaries hitting 400k+ but these guys have 20 years+ experience and are the big boys in the firms/companies. In the end, it depends on your qualifications, your role/job and where you work.
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I'm considering becoming an actuary, just a few things that are holding me back:
1) What sort of maths is it? I love pure maths, but I hate statistics. If it's maths like calculus, differential equations and linear algebra, then I would love the course, but if it's all statistics and financial maths (like calculating interest), then I will probably lose interest very quickly.
2) How much money can I make whilst I'm at university? And how long does the university course go for? I don't want to be stuck at my parent's house for the next 10 years. I intend to move out before I turn 21 (possibly even next year), so I'll need to be able to support myself whilst studying.
3) What is job security like? If I get the job, am I likely to keep it? Will the salary still be high in a few decades? Will actuaries still be highly sought after in the future?
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1) From the course structures and what I've seen so far, it's a bit of everything in that you need to have knowledge in other areas of math. It's a lot of probability, statistics and calculus, but TT can probably go into more detail.
2) At Melbourne, 3 years Undergrad (Comm) and 1 year Honours which gives you parts 1 and 2 qualification out of 3 parts. Then you can work while studying for part 3 independently. I'm not sure what kind of jobs will be available for you while you're at uni, most probably some office job, filing, data entry or something but there would be very limited jobs I'd imagine, you're probably better off sticking with some other part time job. If you're serious about getting parts 1 and 2 qualification during uni then you'd have to study pretty hard, it's not easy considering the scores you need to get in certain units to pass and certain scores in exams.
3) Very secure. There were 2094 qualified actuaries in Australia in Jan 2012 http://www.actuaries.asn.au/Sitefunctions/faq.aspx so you'd be in pretty high demand at that stage. I'd say the salary would remain relatively high unless there is a huge influx of qualified actuaries, even then you'd have a very nice salary.
Have a read here: http://beanactuary.org/ and http://www.actuaries.asn.au/
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1) What sort of maths is it? I love pure maths, but I hate statistics. If it's maths like calculus, differential equations and linear algebra, then I would love the course, but if it's all statistics and financial maths (like calculating interest), then I will probably lose interest very quickly.
It's a combinations of statistics and probability and using that in a financial context. If you don't want to work with interest (in both senses of the word, ba doom tsh, actuary jokes!), then doing actuarial would be a pretty bad idea. There is definitely scope for utilising pure maths, models for insurance and finance (despite the name) is virtually all pure maths and you can do a diploma of maths on the side if that's your thing.
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financial maths (like calculating interest), then I will probably lose interest very quickly.
since when was financial mathematics "like calculating interest" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_finance - google is your friend
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financial maths (like calculating interest), then I will probably lose interest very quickly.
since when was financial mathematics "like calculating interest" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_finance - google is your friend
To add on what Paul said, even IF it's just "calculating interest" there is certainly much more to finance than just calculating simple interest and compound interest, it is not that easy to just "calculating interest", sometimes various mathematical tools are needed.
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In Special At Specialist's defence, the early years of actuarial is pretty heavy on just using interest in it's many shapes and forms (which granted, as TT says, can still include some interesting maths). Heck, our second year text book is called "compound interest and it's applications".
In the first two years of coursework we've been pretty much restricted to the calculations of cash flows of different financial instruments. It definitely is a far cry from pure maths number theory.