Actuary - Advice (5th year student)

jc2008

Not sure where this is supposed to be posted - I didn't think it was suitable in the UCD or DCU forum

Basically, I'm in 5th year, hoping to be an actuary after my LC. But I know little about what I have to do after. Do I go to college, what do I study? Do I do a degree etc?

The subjects I do are Maths, Applied Maths, Accounting, Physics, Geography, French, Irish, English (all HL)

I've heard from some people that DCU is the best place to go for studying to be an actuary, but I've heard from others that UCD is the best
I'm based in Dundalk, so DCU would certainly be the easiest to get to, but which is the better course?

Without sounding overconfident, I think I'll be able to achieve the entry requirements so UCD having higher point requirements than DCU isn't really a problem.

Thanks

timmywex

You toddle off to college and study for 4 years in either DCU or UCD, there are other courses aswell

Basically how it works is you do the degree and get some exemptions to professional exams, based on results, but you will still have to do more when you finnsih college

Do a search of these boards and there are plenty of threads in the dcu and ucd forums amoungst others. Search actuary or actuarial studies or the course names or whatever!

Next year go to the open days and see what they have to offer! I was betwen actuary and engineering but im heading for engineering now. When i was at the dcu open day, one of the lecturers, and also an actuary basically said that id be better off in engnieering because im a good problem solver, and said actuary is more inputing numbers and desk work!

carrieb

Not here to offer any help, sorry.
Just wondering what actuary is. Remeber being about 20 and very impressed by someone stuying it as you needed close to 600 points back then (im 28!) but didnt want to look stupid by asking what it was... Never met anyone to ask since!

Delta Kilo

Its kinda similar to financial mathematics. Its about making predictions and calculating risk and stuff for businesses and governments. It involves A LOT of maths and use of formulas. I think you need a minimum of an A2 in honours maths to do it! You need to be really good at maths and it is supposed to be a very difficult job but highly paid and in a similar "calibre" to being a doctor!

caroline1111

My brother qualified as an actuary about 6 months ago. Hes 26 and started the course straight after school, the exams certainly don't stop after the 4th year! He went to UCD and I think really liked the course, you have to be very into maths and economics I'd say... Hes had no trouble finding jobs or anything and its well paid.

Des23

In UCD you can get up to 8 exemptions from the actuarial exams, there are 14 in total. I think its 7 in DCU. If you do want to become an actuary you don't have to do the atuarial science degrees, you simply have to pass the 14 examination which are not affiliated with any educational institution.
That said learning all the necesarry skills in college for 4 years and getting exempted from over half the exams is obviously more advantageous if becoming an actuary is what you really want to do.

You can get the 8 in dcu

I didn't do it in uni, am doing them seperately now

MrsJohnMurphy

I work closely with alot of actuaries in my job.

The exams they do are very tough, but the co. supports them with study days etc, but if you are in any way lazy forget it, not for the faint hearded.

Its pay well when you are fully qualified but you could be slogging away for a few years before you get to pass all the exams on a good but not amazing salary.

Look at any of the life co's adds on the web looking for trainee actuaries, think they start mid 30's.

mjm

Mini_Moose

There was very little between the UCD and DCU courses but now UCD is certainly the one to go for. They have just been accredited by the faculty of actuaries meaning that you can get all 8 exemptions if you get a certain average in all your classes during the 4 years.

Previously you needed to get a certain grade in the individual classes relating to an exemption so if you messed up one exam you could miss out on that one but this has changed now.

Ace2007

Mini_Moose wrote: »

There was very little between the UCD and DCU courses but now UCD is certainly the one to go for. They have just been accredited by the faculty of actuaries meaning that you can get all 8 exemptions if you get a certain average in all your classes during the 4 years.

Previously you needed to get a certain grade in the individual classes relating to an exemption so if you messed up one exam you could miss out on that one but this has changed now.

This is the way DCU is going now as well - its based on your degree and not individual subjects.

Also in DCU you have the option of repeating for an exemption - not too sure you can do this in ucd, from speakin to past students -

Mini_Moose

You can repeat them if you want to. Has DCU got the accreditation yet or are they waiting to get it?

stp

If I were you I would pick UCD- if it comes down to you and someone else from the other "university" UCD will always be picked first as the standard there is much higher, although it may not be as obvious for such a specialised course.

Vyse

stp wrote: »

If I were you I would pick UCD- if it comes down to you and someone else from the other "university" UCD will always be picked first as the standard there is much higher, although it may not be as obvious for such a specialised course.

Sorry but this is total and utter crap. I've interviewd people from many different degree courses and the university they attended never comes into question. It might suprise you to know that you actually interview the person, not the university.

stp

I dont know what you were interviewing but its very idealistic of you if you think that its the way it actually is- you look at the education from the top positions in any career path you choose and you will begin to see patterns emerging. If employers recognise a name and a good course it will influence them. Im not saying that personal interview doesnt count but to imply the university choice doesnt matter is ludicrous.

Vyse

I would be doing interviews in the science field and have hired people from DCU, UCC, UCD, UL etc. I've never come across a bias for university preference.

You say that if everything else is equal (which it rarely ever is) then it will come down to where you went to university. In this case you say that the interviewer will inevitably pick the person who went to UCD as opposed to that other "university". What if the interviewer himself went to DCU? What then? Do you not think he might have a bias towards the DCU graduate?

Just one last note. Your educationally background counts for the first year or so of your working life. After that where you went to university or what type of degree you have count for very little. Employers will be interested predominantly in your experience and how you have performed to date in your working life.

stp

There is a clear overabundance of science courses in the country with little differentiation between them, but what about your ambition levels- there is a difference between a science graduate looking for a job somewhere down the country and an actuary graduate who may want to go to London and work for a large company or bank.

Of course you are going to be more marketable in this case and coming out of school it is better to keep as many options open as possible.

And all this time your assuming also that they get the interview. I do not disagree with you that if the interviewer is from DCU he will have more of a bias towards a candidate from there- in fact I think that happens quite often, but it is not the type of liklihood you can calulate for. The priority should be to study what you like, get the best degree you can in the best university.

Vyse

stp wrote: »

There is a clear overabundance of science courses in the country with little differentiation between them.

Can you please provide a link to back up your claim or is this just your opinion?

To the OP, I think you would be well to look and both the pros and cons of all acturay courses offered in the republic and even across the border. Contact some of the lecturers in the various schools (contact details will be easily available via their websites). Most lecturers are very approachable and will most likely even put you in contact with students in the school. You are best off getting first hand experience from people who teach/ study the course(s).