Actuarial Studies (1 Viewer)

[paper cup]

This is for anyone interested in the Actuarial Studies degree at ANU, ppt from open day 2002. Note that the UAI required last year was 95, not 82, including for all combined degrees, but these are the min entries and could rise again in 2006). OR a score of 4 QP or 34 on the IB.

Maths Ext 1 is the only pre req for entry. Maths Ext 2 will give you better
background especially calculus but it is not specified as a pre req.
There is no specification of bands - get the UAI and have the pre req of Ext 1 .
There is no different pre req for the combined law/as degree- there used to be but it was changed last year. If you only have Ext 1 they prefer you to get a high mark but if you have Ext 2 any mark is ok. These are used for determining actual
first year classes and whether you will need to do an extra maths cours in year
1 - NOT ENTRY TO THE DEGREE.

- straight from the mouth of my careers adviser.

More info is available on the ANU website: http://cbe.anu.edu.au/futurestudents/ug/actuarial.asp

If anyone has any more info on the degree (what it's like, how heavy's the workload, tips for those aspiring to the degree etc) please post. It would be appreciated.
edit: oops I realised I was not special and that that ppt is on the anu website. oh well :/

 

[noneother]

The first semester is what really throws people off. Few ppl I know have already dropped out due to the notorious stat2001 course. This is the course to pay particular attention to. It's difficult and the workload is heavy, you must be very motivated and KEEP UP with the lectures. That means doing textbook questions and doing the tutorial questions before coming to class. I've made the mistake of falling behind and have 6 days to study 6 chapters...very screwed. The assignments are hard as well. Begin them as soon as they're available. You will usually see people sharing solutions 2-3 days before its due. People have approached me asking for answers etc. Everyone does it. Make friends in the course too because they're potential study buddies which is essential if u want to do well in assignments.

3 tips to surviving actuary (MOP):
1. MOTIVATION - make sure you're genuinely interested in what your doing
2. ORGANISATION - organise backward from test date
3. PRACTISE - practise by doing textbook questions, tutorials, past exams

If you practise MOPing then you'll find it a stress-free experience. BTW most ppl usually finish their assignments the night before in actuary and are many chapters behind prior to end of semester test. So if you find yourself in that situation know that you are not alone! Hope all goes well. Peace!

 

[loquasagacious]

Also some students take EMET1001 just for the 'easy' (for them) marks.

 

[mcs]

Can anyone confirm that is the case with Ext 1 maths ie the band is not a prerequisite cause on their Website and in the UAC guide it has it as an E3 Band required- just want to know cause Id like to do Acturial but I know my maths mark is going to be right on the brink- maybe if I didnt bomb the trial it might of helped Id be really peed off to find cause I miss E3 by a little bit I cant get in. I was planning to take the extra maths units if I get in anyway, cause I know Ill need to. I am much better at maths then my marks are going to reflect grrr its really going to piss me off. Unless I can cane the HSC Maths Ext 1 paper!

 

[paper cup]

Can anyone confirm that is the case with Ext 1 maths ie the band is not a prerequisite cause on their Website and in the UAC guide it has it as an E3 Band required- just want to know cause Id like to do Acturial but I know my maths mark is going to be right on the brink- maybe if I didnt bomb the trial it might of helped Id be really peed off to find cause I miss E3 by a little bit I cant get in. I was planning to take the extra maths units if I get in anyway, cause I know Ill need to. I am much better at maths then my marks are going to reflect grrr its really going to piss me off. Unless I can cane the HSC Maths Ext 1 paper!

yes it is. A lot of actuarial kids do ext 2 and do well
If you don't get in you could try commerce or finance...or eco...much less work.
edit: addy it is a prereq - e3 in ext 1

 

[loquasagacious]

They may not be pre-requisites but may be assumed knowledge. The recommendation is either do well at Ext 1 and pass ext 2 or do exceptionally well in just ext1.

 

[husky_c]

in reply to: "If anyone has any more info on the degree (what it's like, how heavy's the workload, tips for those aspiring to the degree etc) please post. It would be appreciated. "

Those are a lot of questions. The degree is very interesting. you are required to study and be more than capable at economics/accounting/statistics/finance. That is one of the nice aspects of the degree, being able to do so many areas of study.

The maths background is definately maths 3u (ext 1) and up. How heavy is the workload. It is hard work. The stat2001 question, it is a hard course. I think around half the students there on the first day, don't sit the exam. stat2001 is hard even for ext 2 students. Macroeconomics 1 is another course people have trouble with.

The band requirement of E3 used to be there. if you did maths 3u (ext 1), you had to score band E3 or higher. maths 3u (ext 1) will have a not-very-good time.

tips for those aspiring to the course.. enjoy your first year. stay on top of the notes especially with the more difficult courses. that is very important for doing well

I'd be fine to answer more specific questions by PM.

 

[paper cup]

in reply to: "If anyone has any more info on the degree (what it's like, how heavy's the workload, tips for those aspiring to the degree etc) please post. It would be appreciated. "

Those are a lot of questions. The degree is very interesting. you are required to study and be more than capable at economics/accounting/statistics/finance. That is one of the nice aspects of the degree, being able to do so many areas of study.

The maths background is definately maths 3u (ext 1) and up. How heavy is the workload. It is hard work. The stat2001 question, it is a hard course. I think around half the students there on the first day, don't sit the exam. stat2001 is hard even for ext 2 students. Macroeconomics 1 is another course people have trouble with.

The band requirement of E3 used to be there. if you did maths 3u (ext 1), you had to score band E3 or higher. maths 3u (ext 1) will have a not-very-good time.

tips for those aspiring to the course.. enjoy your first year. stay on top of the notes especially with the more difficult courses. that is very important for doing well

I'd be fine to answer more specific questions by PM.

So is the program comparable to say, Macq's? As far as I know the Act course is only offered by Macq ANU and within the commerce degrees at Usyd and UNSW, I've got no idea about interstate unis but I know that UQ is weird and makes you do arts and science and pure maths if you want to be an actuary....

Does it offer the support that students need for such a demanding course, in terms of adequate lecturers, notes etc?

 

[husky_c]

So is the program comparable to say, Macq's? As far as I know the Act course is only offered by Macq ANU and within the commerce degrees at Usyd and UNSW, I've got no idea about interstate unis but I know that UQ is weird and makes you do arts and science and pure maths if you want to be an actuary....

Does it offer the support that students need for such a demanding course, in terms of adequate lecturers, notes etc?

The general concensus is that the ANU program is at the same level as NSW universities. reputation varies greatly between workplaces, depending on their experience with graduates from different universities.

Macquarie was the first university to offer Actuarial Studies in Australia. That is why it has such a reputation. The reputation of particular universities isn't a great concern. The exams for any courses which give exemption status to students are vetted by the UK institute of actuaries. In the workforce, the above few you mentioned are roughly equivalent. Employers more closely assess individual capabilities.

The unsw co-op program is the largest problem non-UNSW actuaries will come across. The firms have to pay to join the program, and obtain "a return from that investment" by (sometimes only) hiring graduates from the program.

The system in Queensland is very different, since college finishes a year earlier than the rest of Australia. The requirements for pure maths in first year, is just that Queensland doesn't have the equivalent of HSC ext2 maths or AST double major maths.

Does it offer the support that students need for such a demanding course, in terms of adequate lecturers, notes etc?

I would agree, there was a lot of support. The courses were well taught. The lecturers were capable, the notes were good. In general, the course is just difficult. You'll find in university that more capable lecturers increase the content of courses and make them harder, not easier. One of the weird benefits of the ANU over other universities is having lower travel times.

I found time constraints affected my grades the most. Especially if you become ill for any amount of time during the year. Also, social lives and actuarial studies don't exist at the same time, which is a bit sad. (but we're all maths geeks anyway)

 

[velox]

Ahhhhh... Learn to spell! It's actuarial studies, not acturial!

 

[haque]

i just wanted to ask-say i didn't do economics at school but did alright in 4U maths willl i be alright or should i try and finish the whole hsc syllabus for economics? do they go through the economics stuff through the lectures and is that sufficient?

 

[loquasagacious]

In the lectures they start with the basics, having done econ in high school will help but it isn't neccessary.

 

[haque]

thanx, and for the maths-what textbooks do you guys use?

 

[bikapika]

Just a quick question, how much time do u have to put into study per week for actuarial studies?

 

[UchihaVegeta]

I have a question here:

I did fulfill the year 12 maths pre-requisites. However, during year 11, my maths teachers were so bent on rushing us through to year 12 topics, that they skipped the following chapters of the textbook and did not teach us:

Matrices
Sequences and Series
Simulation
Variation
Linear Programming
Algebra and Logic


Will any of this be assumed knowledge in first year actuarial maths?
If so, are there bridging courses (without delaying the initiation of my first year maths subject) I can take in conjunction with my first year subjects?
Will tutors be able to cover those in a short amount of time before I need to apply these knowledge into my course?

Thanks

 

[Foxodi]

I swear those topics are not apart of yr 11 maths

 

[Krieg]

I have a question here:

I did fulfill the year 12 maths pre-requisites. However, during year 11, my maths teachers were so bent on rushing us through to year 12 topics, that they skipped the following chapters of the textbook and did not teach us:

Matrices
Sequences and Series
Simulation
Variation
Linear Programming
Algebra and Logic


Will any of this be assumed knowledge in first year actuarial maths?
If so, are there bridging courses (without delaying the initiation of my first year maths subject) I can take in conjunction with my first year subjects?
Will tutors be able to cover those in a short amount of time before I need to apply these knowledge into my course?

Thanks

You must have done those topics under different names to do yr 12 maths.

 

[humphdogg]

I have a question here:

I did fulfill the year 12 maths pre-requisites. However, during year 11, my maths teachers were so bent on rushing us through to year 12 topics, that they skipped the following chapters of the textbook and did not teach us:

Matrices
Sequences and Series
Simulation
Variation
Linear Programming
Algebra and Logic


Will any of this be assumed knowledge in first year actuarial maths?
If so, are there bridging courses (without delaying the initiation of my first year maths subject) I can take in conjunction with my first year subjects?
Will tutors be able to cover those in a short amount of time before I need to apply these knowledge into my course?

Thanks

for actuarial students, you take the course MATH1115 in first semester. out of the topics you skipped, the important one will most definitely be matrices - many students come to this course having never seen a matrix, and subsequently fail all the linear algebra content of the course, which basically revolves completely around matrices.

that being said, if you're a good maths student then you'll probably be able to catch on pretty quickly. but MATH1115 does has a reasonably high fail rate, especially among actuarial students...

and i don't think there really are any bridging courses. however, the lecturers will probably run extra lectures during the first few weeks to help students who have a lot to catch up on.

 

[jas0nt]

for actuarial studies the killer course (of many to come) will be stat2001, which is done in the second semester. my friend kept up to every single lecture, did all the problems, and managed to scrape just a 72.

 

[UchihaVegeta]

for actuarial students, you take the course MATH1115 in first semester. out of the topics you skipped, the important one will most definitely be matrices - many students come to this course having never seen a matrix, and subsequently fail all the linear algebra content of the course, which basically revolves completely around matrices.

that being said, if you're a good maths student then you'll probably be able to catch on pretty quickly. but MATH1115 does has a reasonably high fail rate, especially among actuarial students...

and i don't think there really are any bridging courses. however, the lecturers will probably run extra lectures during the first few weeks to help students who have a lot to catch up on.

Ok thanks, I take it MATH1115 is similar to the UMEP maths done in highschool, except carried out in only 1 semester?