What's Actuarial Like? (1 Viewer)

[triviajeon]

Hi!

In light of HSC beginning then probably ending before we know it, I was just wanting to know about how Actuarial was as a degree? My mum keeps peer pressuring me (lol) to apply for it as I'm pretty alright and have a genuine passion for Maths. Also, that it gives a good income as a career.

So, what do you do in it? Is it just sitting around all day, playing with statistics?

I have considered to maybe take up Pure Maths or major in Maths in a Bachelor of Science, so is that on par with Actuary as well? Or completely different?

 

[icycledough]

Hey, I think I'd be able to help you out here. So at UNSW, there are 6 double degree options for actuarial (if you plan to go there):

Commerce (4 years)
Comp Sci (4 years)
Economics (4 years)
Inf Sys (4 years)
Science (4 years)
Science - Advanced Math (5 years)

So first year Actuary is all common subjects for everyone, so out of the 8 subjects you will do, there are 3 commerce subjects, 2 economics subjects, 2 maths subjects and 1 specific actuary subject. Personally, I love how diverse the course is, especially as you delve into a lot of different areas and have a variety of assessment tasks (for e.g financial report on business, coding assignment, video presentation, essays, etc). There is also group work as well (I'm not sure how you feel about it), which personally for me, was much better than in high school, where you would have a few guys not do anything for the assessment. Obviously because of the current pandemic and overall situation we are in, meeting new people will be much harder, but hopefully things ease up when you start uni and you'll have the luxury to be able to attend face-to-face

Macquarie University also offers Actuarial, and in fact, I think Macquarie is more renowned for its actuarial program. You'll have to do your own research on it as I don't have a clue how their program is structured, to be honest. Regardless, both will have amazing programs and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

In terms of job prospects outside university, there's a whole list. Some jobs include

• Accountant/Auditor
• Actuarial Analyst
• Asset Management Trainee
• Business Analyst
• Business Consultant
• Credit Analyst
• Cyber Security Analyst
• Customer Experience Officer
• Data Analyst
• Digital Innovation Officer
• Economist
• Financial Adviser
• Human Resource Consultant
• Insurance Analyst
• Investment Banker
• Marketing/Brand Manager
• Risk Assessment Officer
• Superannuation Adviser
• Strategist
• Tax Adviser
• Wealth Management Analyst

I think if you chose to major in Maths in a Bachelor of Science, it'd be a lot more maths oriented than actuarial (seems crazy considering actuarial is a lot of maths), but what I enjoy is that there's definitely a variety of subjects you get to experience.

 

[triviajeon]

Hey, I think I'd be able to help you out here. So at UNSW, there are 6 double degree options for actuarial (if you plan to go there):

Commerce (4 years)
Comp Sci (4 years)
Economics (4 years)
Inf Sys (4 years)
Science (4 years)
Science - Advanced Math (5 years)

So first year Actuary is all common subjects for everyone, so out of the 8 subjects you will do, there are 3 commerce subjects, 2 economics subjects, 2 maths subjects and 1 specific actuary subject. Personally, I love how diverse the course is, especially as you delve into a lot of different areas and have a variety of assessment tasks (for e.g financial report on business, coding assignment, video presentation, essays, etc). There is also group work as well (I'm not sure how you feel about it), which personally for me, was much better than in high school, where you would have a few guys not do anything for the assessment. Obviously because of the current pandemic and overall situation we are in, meeting new people will be much harder, but hopefully things ease up when you start uni and you'll have the luxury to be able to attend face-to-face

Macquarie University also offers Actuarial, and in fact, I think Macquarie is more renowned for its actuarial program. You'll have to do your own research on it as I don't have a clue how their program is structured, to be honest. Regardless, both will have amazing programs and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

In terms of job prospects outside university, there's a whole list. Some jobs include

• Accountant/Auditor
• Actuarial Analyst
• Asset Management Trainee
• Business Analyst
• Business Consultant
• Credit Analyst
• Cyber Security Analyst
• Customer Experience Officer
• Data Analyst
• Digital Innovation Officer
• Economist
• Financial Adviser
• Human Resource Consultant
• Insurance Analyst
• Investment Banker
• Marketing/Brand Manager
• Risk Assessment Officer
• Superannuation Adviser
• Strategist
• Tax Adviser
• Wealth Management Analyst

I think if you chose to major in Maths in a Bachelor of Science, it'd be a lot more maths oriented than actuarial (seems crazy considering actuarial is a lot of maths), but what I enjoy is that there's definitely a variety of subjects you get to experience.

Wow! Thank you for your insight! This sounds pretty interesting tbh and I'm so down for a different kind of angle to Maths - like, with teamwork activities and the different areas offered. Within the commerce and economic subjects, what specifically do you kind of delve into?

 

[icycledough]

Wow! Thank you for your insight! This sounds pretty interesting tbh and I'm so down for a different kind of angle to Maths - like, with teamwork activities and the different areas offered. Within the commerce and economic subjects, what specifically do you kind of delve into?

No worries!

So with economics so far, we've done both micro and macro (there should be more information online about what they go into, because honestly, I've always been a maths/science person, so economics and commerce were really new to me). But it's essentially concepts like GDP, supply and demand, tax, RBA, etc. In terms of the different assignments, I had to do a few video presentations and a few essays on these different concepts.

For commerce, the main focus was on balance sheets and income statements (so concepts like revenue, expenses, profit, assets, liabilities, equity, etc). There was also a project I had to do where I had to analyse a company's financial performance and create a report on it as well as a presentation (in a group, I should mention; no way they would expect you to do something like that on your own).

 

[uniqueusername1]

No worries!

So with economics so far, we've done both micro and macro (there should be more information online about what they go into, because honestly, I've always been a maths/science person, so economics and commerce were really new to me). But it's essentially concepts like GDP, supply and demand, tax, RBA, etc. In terms of the different assignments, I had to do a few video presentations and a few essays on these different concepts.

For commerce, the main focus was on balance sheets and income statements (so concepts like revenue, expenses, profit, assets, liabilities, equity, etc). There was also a project I had to do where I had to analyse a company's financial performance and create a report on it as well as a presentation (in a group, I should mention; no way they would expect you to do something like that on your own).

Damn thats pretty cool ngl. Learning about commerce and economics as well.

 

[uniqueusername1]

Do you just do commerce and economics 1st year? Or after the first year do you delve into the more actuarial side as all common units are finished?

 

[icycledough]

Do you just do commerce and economics 1st year? Or after the first year do you delve into the more actuarial side as all common units are finished?

I should have mentioned actually that depending on which double degree you do actuarial with (if you choose to double degree), you will also have that as a subject. For example, if you choose Information Systems as a double degree, you will have that as a subject. But yes, you're right in that after first year, there's more of a focus on the actuarial component of the degree

 

[uniqueusername1]

I should have mentioned actually that depending on which double degree you do actuarial with (if you choose to double degree), you will also have that as a subject. For example, if you choose Information Systems as a double degree, you will have that as a subject. But yes, you're right in that after first year, there's more of a focus on the actuarial component of the degree

So if you just do actuarial then you would get to do the economics and commerce units? What about finance and actuarial? Is it similarly structured?

Sorry for the many questions lol. Your probs the only one I know who is studying the subject haha.

 

[notme123]

in actuarial or any maths uni degree are essays still a thing??

 

[icycledough]

Finance isn't one of the double degree options offered at UNSW, so I can't answer your question. What I can say though is that regardless of which double degree you choose, there will be select compulsory first year subjects which everyone has to do throughout the year.