Actuarial Maths in DCU or UCD ?

Fince

its that time of yr again, CAO time.
i'm fairly set on actuary, but dunno whether to do the course in ucd, or one of the two courses in dcu (actuarial studies or the common entry into actuary, finance and maths sci)

any1 have any suggestions?

Grudaire

To be honest don't think there's a whole lot of difference between the two courses in DCU, I'd say pick DCU though

There's been a few topics about this, maybe try searching boards to find more:

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055308614&highlight=actuary

I'm in second year Actuary here, we didn't have the two courses though! If you have any specific questions ask away!

carlowboy

Fince wrote: »

its that time of yr again, CAO time.
i'm fairly set on actuary, but dunno whether to do the course in ucd, or one of the two courses in dcu (actuarial studies or the common entry into actuary, finance and maths sci)

any1 have any suggestions?

If you're going to DCU and your heart is set on Actuary, I'd recommend doing actuarial studies instead of the common entry as it may be harder to get into the actuarial part of the common entry when you're going into second year as there may not be as many places available. However, the common entry and the aforementioned are the same in first year and nearly exactly the same in second year at least.

If you're not from Dublin and want to live on campus, it's easier to get campus accommodation in DCU than UCD too.

Fince

Cheers, those boards were v insightful.

i no a guy in ur course, LM from the cork area

Fince

carlowboy wrote: »

If you're going to DCU and your heart is set on Actuary, I'd recommend doing actuarial studies instead of the common entry as it may be harder to get into the actuarial part of the common entry when you're going into second year as there may not be as many places available. However, the common entry and the aforementioned are the same in first year and nearly exactly the same in second year at least.

If you're not from Dublin and want to live on campus, it's easier to get campus accommodation in DCU than UCD too.

thanks for the advice.
reason for common entry would be the cover the possibility of hating actuary intricities once i get up close and personal with them.

as we're on the subject, larkfield or hampstead for acc in 1st yr?

Grudaire

Fince wrote: »

thanks for the advice.
reason for common entry would be the cover the possibility of hating actuary intricities once i get up close and personal with them.

as we're on the subject, larkfield or hampstead for acc in 1st yr?

hampstead!

If by 'from the cork area' you mean has a big Cork accent I know who ya mean!

Fince

Cliste wrote: »

hampstead!

If by 'from the cork area' you mean has a big Cork accent I know who ya mean!

the accomodation thing seems to boil down to larkfield with all first yrs, or hampstead with room to swing a cat?

i wouldn't consider it a "big Cork accent" but it being my colloquial dialect, i probably wouldn't pick it up.

he's feeding me biased inside information which is clouding my judgement, is it true that the DCU course is very mathsy? i heard the UCD one is a lot more finance/business based, which appeals more to my frontal cortex (dunno wat it is but Dr. 'Brain Training' keeps on going on about it)

Tell LM i said hello

ilovecheeses

Ive been to both UCD and DCU. Facilities are wildly and vastly superior in UCD. Theres way more to do on campus and the UCD course (imo) is looked on better by employers.

ETA: In UCD you have the option to do your work experience in the USA. In DCU you dont have this option. Really, Id go with UCD first and DCU second. DCU is good craic but it has the facilities of a secondary school not a real university.

AlkalineAcid

ilovecheeses wrote: »

The UCD course (imo) is looked on better by employers.

Are you such an employer?

Grudaire

ilovecheeses wrote: »

ETA: In UCD you have the option to do your work experience in the USA. In DCU you dont have this option. Really, Id go with UCD first and DCU second. DCU is good craic but it has the facilities of a secondary school not a real university.

huh? firstly it's maths we're talking about, and DCU has damn good computers and pencils and paper, and that's really all you need for the course.

As far as I know you can do INTRA abroad, you just have to organise the job yourself

Infinitizer

I totally agree with you carlow boy....`i think your outlook on numbers is really hot.... kinda makes me think about doing maths in bed....`i might become an actuary with all this sexy talk goin on.... `long live the actuaries!

tinkerbell

ilovecheeses wrote: »

Ive been to both UCD and DCU. Facilities are wildly and vastly superior in UCD. Theres way more to do on campus and the UCD course (imo) is looked on better by employers.

ETA: In UCD you have the option to do your work experience in the USA. In DCU you dont have this option. Really, Id go with UCD first and DCU second. DCU is good craic but it has the facilities of a secondary school not a real university.

I don't agree that UCD is looked on better by employers at all. There is quite a difference between the UCD course and the DCU course. DCU is much more mathematical (and as a result - some would say harder) than the UCD course - the UCD course shares quite a few classes with the Economics courses so it is more finance and economics based.

DCU also offered the actuarial course long before UCD did.

As regards work experience, you can work wherever you like - be it in Ireland, abroad or whatever. If you can organise a job abroad then you don't have to do work experience in Ireland.

To the OP-
At the end of the day, both courses offer the same exemptions - you can obtain eight out of the nine CTs if your marks are high enough. So I guess it just depends on what you would rather your other subjects be.

I chose DCU because when I went to the open day I saw it was a very small college, small classes (granted, UCD has small classes too for actuarial) and the lecturers were very helpful. It was personal preference to go to a smaller, more cosy college than the big sprawling mass that is UCD! I also had plenty to do around campus and I don't think it's fair to say that it has the facilities of a secondary school.

Anyway, if you plan on doing actuarial maths you're probably not gonna have that much free time - it's a hard course, not too many hours in college but lots of study and the like.

One last thing - if you are set on doing actuarial maths, then don't do common entry in DCU. The last thing you want is for second year to come around and there aren't enough places in the actuarial course. They will then probably pick the people with the highest marks out of those who want to get into second year actuarial maths. Do keep in mind that first year is quite difficult and a shock to the system (leaving cert maths are in no way like the stuff you do in the DCU course) so you are better off getting into actuarial on day one.

This might look a bit negative, I'm sorry - I don't mean it to be. Just saying it as it is. It's a fantastic course and I've a great job now thanks to it - finished college 3.5 years ago and almost qualified. I defo think that a career as an actuary is a really good decision to make. Yes the course is hard and at times I thought AAAAAARGH!!!! WHY!!!! But now I see that the long hard slog was so very worth it and I'm glad I stuck with it.

If you need any more info on the DCU course give me a shout. I've already written lots about it on boards so just do a search, actually I've just done that:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055308614&highlight=financial+actuarial+mathematics