• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

How hard is Actuarial Studies (6 Viewers)

Constip8edSkunk

Joga Bonito
Joined
Apr 15, 2003
Messages
2,397
Location
Maroubra
Gender
Male
HSC
2003
yeh, interest should be your key factor, without interest you wont have the amount of motivation to do all the work... and there will be alot of consistent work if you wish to excel in actuarial studies.

about the hardness of actl1001, one of the tutors i had before basically said that they so try to fail quite a few people and generally set and mark assessments/tests harshly so that people drop out at the end of 1st year rather than at the end of 2nd year.

edit: also everything always looks easier in hindsight, your quiz this year looked alot easier than the one i did last year, but that could be because i learned alot more now...whereas last year it was more of a wtf moment.
 
Last edited:

santaslayer

Active Member
Joined
May 29, 2003
Messages
7,816
Location
La La Land
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
You should do it if you are interested in the money bit.
I mean, what else is gonna get you motivated then the sight of cold hard cash? :p
 

I Robot

Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
34
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
Let me guess...

Pauline Hanson? no, wait...Amanda Vanstone...

:eek:

Anyways, don't be scared of Actuarial Studies.

I only did 3U maths (like t-i-m-m-y) and it's good to give yourself a challenge in life.

Set yourself a goal and see if you can surpass it, otherwise, why bother going to university?
 
Last edited:

Constip8edSkunk

Joga Bonito
Joined
Apr 15, 2003
Messages
2,397
Location
Maroubra
Gender
Male
HSC
2003
as timmy said tho, the expected wage by choosing to do actuarial is actually not that high... if you want money, do acct/law instead.
 

paper cup

pamplemousse
Joined
Apr 24, 2004
Messages
2,590
Gender
Female
HSC
2005
I said:
Here is Quiz 1 from ACTL1001 (Average 40.24, minimum mark 2, maximum mark 84)

and as an added bonus, here's Assignment 1, which I haven't started on o_O
I, would just like to say one word

shit.

I'm taking macq out of my prefs tomorrow :(
 

BillyMak

Silent majority
Joined
Aug 20, 2004
Messages
443
Location
Randwick
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
I said:
Here is Quiz 1 from ACTL1001 (Average 40.24, minimum mark 2, maximum mark 84)
Apparently the person that got 84 was the guy that topped the state in 4-unit last year. Can anyone confirm this?
 

I Robot

Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
34
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
LOL...yeah, ngai topped the 1st Quiz...what do you expect?
 

§eraphim

Strategist
Joined
Jul 4, 2004
Messages
1,568
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
an actuary is professional recognised analyst. analysts don't make money, they cost money, and thus their pay doesnt include commissions or anything like that and is capped in some sense. moving beyond that you become more of a manager i guess rather than a pure analyst.
 

§eraphim

Strategist
Joined
Jul 4, 2004
Messages
1,568
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
on a Science scholarship for maths =p...i saw him at the ceremony.
 

RIZAL

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2002
Messages
531
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Actuaries are not restricted to being bean counters. They look at real world financial problems and create solutions that add value. They are spreading out into varying roles nowadays and they are by no means restricted to the typical life/general insurance roles.

as an example, look at data mining. Although not just performed by Actuaries, this involves looking at the vast volumes of data stored by businesses concerning their customers/clients and applying actuarial techniques to pick out hidden patterns and links to glean valuable information that was unknown before.
 

serge

Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2004
Messages
635
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
at the macquarie actuarial open day... the head lecturer said
if you wanna breeze through uni doing something easy
chose medicine or law...if you want it hard do actuarial
i think that sums up actuarial pretty well
 

jonathan__

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2005
Messages
98
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
okay now that statement is scary...I hope he sed it to scare off people who were contemplating and not sure of wat they wanted
 

jonathan__

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2005
Messages
98
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
btw..are most of the people doing actuarial from top selective schools (e.g. ruse, baulkham hills)? Or all? =p
 

Supra

secksy beast
Joined
Sep 27, 2003
Messages
2,399
Location
On Top.
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
they always try and scare you...i think law, med and actaurial are all pretty difficult, but in different ways...you cant compare them directly...
We've got a nice mix in actuarial i think (im at mq). Epping and Normanhurst boys (and a fair few nth syd/syd boys), me and another guy from Oakhill, id imagine a few ruse/baulko people but dont exactly know them (i assume theyre always in hte front of lectures :p)
 

lawforever

Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Messages
219
Gender
Male
HSC
2003
serge said:
at the macquarie actuarial open day... the head lecturer said
if you wanna breeze through uni doing something easy
chose medicine or law...if you want it hard do actuarial
i think that sums up actuarial pretty well
that z too exaggerated.

i can't see medicine or law be any easier than actuarial
 

Constip8edSkunk

Joga Bonito
Joined
Apr 15, 2003
Messages
2,397
Location
Maroubra
Gender
Male
HSC
2003
besides, the difficulty of a subject depends on the person as well, a more mathematically inclined person might find actl easier than law while it may be the other way around for an artsy person
 

nli86

New Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2004
Messages
1
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
For all you guys doing acturial studies who did well in 4u maths, did u ppl go to coaching or tutoring and did it help you in 4u?. What happens when in actuarial studies your only resource is the lectuer and from what some ppl have said they teach only enough for you to pass.
 

lawforever

Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Messages
219
Gender
Male
HSC
2003
nli86 said:
For all you guys doing acturial studies who did well in 4u maths, did u ppl go to coaching or tutoring and did it help you in 4u?. What happens when in actuarial studies your only resource is the lectuer and from what some ppl have said they teach only enough for you to pass.
do as many exercises as you can. Maths and actuarial are the courses which emphasize on "applying the theory" you learnt from lecture.

hence, tutoring is not that necessary for maths / actuarial
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 6)

Top