Actuary??? Pls help!

thed4king

Hey guys,... I was wondering if anyone here is taking the Actuarial & Financial Studies? Im in 5th yr and i am thinking of trying for this course, but im not sure what its like???? Could any1 help me out??? I want to try and get into investment banking or stockbroking in the future, is this the course for me??? Any help/advice will be gr8ly appreciated!

thed4king

i hope that ppl get to see this? I need 1st hand advice?

Pythia

You need to really like maths to be doing this course.
I don't think anyone who posts regularly here is doing actuary. I did a course similar to it called Economics and Finance.
It's a tough course, you want to be dedicated.
Investment banking and stockbroking is very hard to get into, you'd want high grades in your degree and probably a Masters too.

Oh, and don't talk in text speak, it annoys people.

Edit, I also see you're thinking of medicine, these two are vastly different. Don't just go for these courses beause they're high points and you're capable of getting them. There's alot more to picking a course than that.

thed4king

OK, no more text speak! ye, I really like maths and get good grades in it. Your course sounds interesting. I'm going to look into it now actually. Thanks for you help, oh, and how did you know i was interested in medicine???? tnx

Chakar

She was looking at your other posts in the Trinity forum. Anyway the best thing for you to do as Myth suggested is to attend the open days. Some of the open days are on at the weekend so you don't necessarily have to miss school for the day.

straight_As

thed4king wrote: »

Hey guys,... I was wondering if anyone here is taking the Actuarial & Financial Studies? Im in 5th yr and i am thinking of trying for this course, but im not sure what its like???? Could any1 help me out??? I want to try and get into investment banking or stockbroking in the future, is this the course for me??? Any help/advice will be gr8ly appreciated!

My God, you sound exactly like me. I'm only in fourth year but pretty confused on whether to push for actuarial and finacial studies or medicine. I know people are going to say, "oh, the only reason your going for these courses is the because of the prestige and high points associated with them", but I actually have a genuine interest in both.

It probably seems weird, but, maths, business and science were my favourite subjects a JC. With this in mind, A&F in ucd or medicine would be a natural progression.

To cram it into one sentence, thed4king, I know how you feel.

Pythia

straight_As wrote: »

It probably seems weird, but, maths, business and science were my favourite subjects a JC. With this in mind, A&F in ucd or medicine would be a natural progression.

Business has very, very little to do with BAFS.
The JC is too general, you need to wait til you're in 6th year to see if you like the more difficult stuff. I'd recommend Applied Maths, Physics, Maths.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

I started Actuary there this september, and I'm loving it so far. There's only 40 in the class which is cool, as everyone gets to know everyone pretty quickly.

As said above, you should do Ap Maths, Maths, Physics and you'd want to enjoy maths. Business really has no bearing. It's grand if you want the points, but as a subject, it's not realy that relevant.

The work load in first year has been great so far, its 21 hours a week and there really isn't much to do outside that. We've got 3 late mornings a week which is great for the late nights. Apparently the work steps up a notch in the later years though.

csm

hey, i did that degree but finished in 2003. if you really like statistics/maths then go for it. however if you are keen i would also consider not going to college and just signing up to an insurance company from school. you can do this with an A1 in honours maths from the LC. the advantage of this is that you don't have to be broke for 4 years to get the qualifications but the disadvantages are that you miss out on the college 'buzz' and if you decide actuary isn't for you then you don't have a degree under your belt.

also don't forget that there is a very similar degree to the high points UCD one in DCU. it is usually around 40ish points less. it used to be a year longer than UCD with a paid placement but i think UCD have now changed their degree structure to be more like DCU's one. for actuarial jobs both would be identical i'd imagine but UCD has a higher profile internationally and AFAIK UCD has less of a workload. that may have changed since i did it though.

best thing to do is talk to people at open days. they'll be happy to answer any and all questions you have cause otherwise they'll be bored silly sitting at their stand.

best of luck with your decision anyway

straight_As

Pythia wrote: »

Business has very, very little to do with BAFS.
The JC is too general, you need to wait til you're in 6th year to see if you like the more difficult stuff. I'd recommend Applied Maths, Physics, Maths.

Thanks for the advice. I was definitely hoping to do Applied Maths for the LC but not so much physics (unfortunately I can't do everything).
Anyhow, I heard that Applied Maths and physics are pretty similar. If they help with college I suppose they'd be good.
Also, I read somewhere that applied maths was good for pre-med in also.
Prepare for two courses (hopefully) at the same time? Sounds good!!!
Once again, thanks for the advice.

Mini_Moose

I'm currently a third year in the UCD degree. If you are interested in banking it is probably the best course for you to be doing. As mentioned before Economics & Finance would also be a good one to go for.
If you have any more questions about the course feel free to ask.

thed4king

To cram it into one sentence, thed4king, I know how you feel.[/QUOTE]

hey thanks, its nice to that someone else thinks the same! people say that its silly to have two career choices that are so different, but thats what im doin. Finding out more about each one.

rainbow kirby

When I was in 4th/5th year I considered both of these. I ended up doing Computer Science

straight_As

rainbow kirby wrote: »

When I was in 4th/5th year I considered both of these. I ended up doing Computer Science

Just wondering, what brought about the drastic change of mind, work experience or wavering interest?