any one doing actuary in ucd or dcu

pierre

i need some advice on actuary in ucd and dcu........., considering doing it sept 03..., is it hard , hours each week...please help

damnyanks

Rewarding in what sense ? They are all pretty much in totally different fields of work. Dont do a course for the money / points do it because its what you enjoy.

Otherwise you will waste 4 years of your life

fizzy

i have to agree with damnyanks.

i did the actuarial course in ucd. while there is a bit of a crossover between that and economics and finance on the business side, i can't see that it has much in common with the medical courses - apart from the high points

even though i chose not to become an actuary, i wouldn't put people off doing it. however, it is a very challenging course and much of the material after the first year is highly specialised, so it is crucial to only do it if you are interested in it and are very comfortable with maths.

4 years is an eternity if you are studying something you dislike. take it from someone who knows!

sceptre

I'll back up what others have said about not going for a course just based on the points. The points system is just a rating based on the Leaving cert results of the last person to get into a course. It's not a rating of the first person with the highest results or even the person who gets into the course second-last. It's rated by the person with the lowest results who manages to get into the course. There's no such thing as a "waste of points" regardless of what some old biddy living down the road would have you believe. Given that there isn't too much crossover in the courses you've indicated you're interested in the only reaction anyone would have is that you're just looking at courses with historically high points requirements because you perceive them to be better. Which is an incorrect assessment. It's not the same as asking something like where the best place to do, say, engineering is.

Example: when I started college I picked a course that had the highest points requirement of any course in the college I chose. That wasn't why I picked it - it just so happened that it was so. Points have gone up dramatically for the course even since (you kids seem to be working so much harder these days:D). I hated the course with a vengeance. I finished it and swore that I'd never take a job that would have anything to do with the course. These days I'm doing something different - a completely different course. I've the advantage of knowing that it's something I'm definitely interested in because I've been working in that vague field since I left college. Points requirements? Well, let's say I've 200 to spare (which didn't matter anyway as I phoned the uni and asked if I could start the following Monday, which they were fine with). Points requirements didn't enter into the first course I did, it didn't enter into the second. I happened to get the first course choice wrong (though I do have an interest in the topics still) but you're limiting yourself to a small number of courses to choose from just because you think you should aim high. I'll say it again: the points for a particular course are no measure of the level of difficulty of doing well in the course or whether the course is actually any good. Theoretical maths in UCD (could have been TCD, can't remember) used have a relatively low points requirement. It's always been one of the hardest courses in the country to do especially well in.

If you've got a course with 20 places available and 19 people with 600 points put it down as their first preference; meanwhile the next highest applicant has 300 points, the entry requirement for that course will be 300 points. It's worth keeping in mind if you let points requirements have an influence on your choice.

Man U babe

to the original poster:
i be doing mathematical science(going into 2nd year). the stuff that actuaries are in with us for in 1st year is piss easy if youre good enough to get in.

I happened to get the first course choice wrong (though I do have an interest in the topics still

That happened to my best mate. She wound up repeating the lc at the age of 20 this year. She wants to get law...

sceptre

Originally posted by Man U babe
That happened to my best mate. She wound up repeating the lc at the age of 20 this year. She wants to get law...

Aye, see it's never really too late to decide you want to change. It's easier if you do it as early as you can though (family commitments and so on kick in as you get older). 20 isn't a bad age to go back. I'm 28:D. At least I had the advantage of moving into IT despite my degree and knew I wanted to switch properly to that after a few years working in it.

jd

Originally posted by sceptre
Theoretical maths in UCD (could have been TCD, can't remember) used have a relatively low points requirement.

Theoretical physics in tcd I think..