Actuarial Science

Kadiv

Hi everyone I'm hoping to get into doin actuarial science at ucd and have little idea on what to expect. So if anyone one does know would the work load be excessive?.Also I was places at 3080 on the accommodations waiting list do I still have a chance of getting placement on campus because I saw on another thread that last year that most of the places were fully booked in 5 mins!?

misslt

Kadiv wrote: »

Hi everyone I'm hoping to get into doin actuarial science at ucd and have little idea on what to expect. So if anyone one does know would the work load be excessive?.Also I was places at 3080 on the accommodations waiting list do I still have a chance of getting placement on campus because I saw on another thread that last year that most of the places were fully booked in 5 mins!?

Hello

I finished the BAFS degree last year. The workload is tough, I won't lie - an actuary is a demanding career path and so the degree is involved. First year isn't too bad but it does ramp up. Nothing impossible to handle, but it can be tough.

You do a 6 month work placement in your third year, which is a great opportunity to get a feel for the job when you graduate. Its also a lot of fun.

UCD offers exemptions from up to 9 of the Institute and Faculty's 15 professional exams, which is an absolute godsend.

Sorry I can't help with the accommodation question, I never lived on campus. But if you've any more questions about the degree, let me know.

mynamewasgone!

Best of luck with it. I just finished UCC's equivalent and it is a tough course.

Kadiv

once you finish is it hard to find work without masters or would it be best to finish the 15 exams or how does it work?

mynamewasgone!

Kadiv wrote: »

once you finish is it hard to find work without masters or would it be best to finish the 15 exams or how does it work?

Of the people in my course who decided to go for actuary jobs, they all seemed to walk into one no problem. That being said, a lot decided that actuary was not for them. There are quite a few now starting one year masters courses to try and do something different.

Kadiv

so I guess there is quite good opportunities after we finish right the accomadation is still worrying though.. but is the course for someone who does really well in maths because I really like maths , ap math and physics but I heard the course has a lot more to do with economics?

ciaraofcourse

I am 3rd year. I would say the course is more maths than economics. But it's not really maths as you know it in school - it's mostly statistics & financial maths which is another thing entirely. Calculus is important too. If you're good at computer stuff that's helpful too. There's a bit of computer programming and there's also modules which require you to learn a bit about statistical software packages.
If you do reasonably well in the course you'll have no problem finding a job. Regarding the professional exams, you get as many exemptions as you can while you're in UCD and then (if you still want to be an actuary) you do the rest of them on the job. Your employer sponsors you to do them. So you might work 4 days a week & get the fifth day off as a paid study day & the employer also pays the exam fees and all that stuff. It takes at least 3 years to do these exams ( I think on average 4 years).
Workload isn't too bad in terms of hours - maybe 20 hours of lectures and tutorials a week (depending on what electives you choose). But you have to study a fair bit - because its hard to catch up if you fall behind.

defrule

You could always do a proper maths degree then do the postgrad in actuarial science and get what the BAFS do in 1 year. Except CA1 of course.

misslt

defrule wrote: »

You could always do a proper maths degree then do the postgrad in actuarial science and get what the BAFS do in 1 year. Except CA1 of course.

To do all 8 CT subjects in one year would be VERY tough.

ciaraofcourse

misslt wrote: »

To do all 8 CT subjects in one year would be VERY tough.

Tough, but it's possible. Seems like a good route actually since you'd be keeping your options open until the end of your degree. But I imagine that it's too late for OP if you're in CAO for 2014!

defrule

misslt wrote: »

To do all 8 CT subjects in one year would be VERY tough.

It's fine if you go into the postgrad with a good numeric degree. Myself and many of my class this year in the masters got the block. There is quite a few hours in it but wouldn't say the material is hard.

The only really benefit is that if you are on the BAFS course you can rely on the block to get you CA1.

Kadiv

that is interesting doing a post grad to do the 8 exams in 1 year.... thanks for the information everyone....

misslt

ciaraofcourse wrote: »

Tough, but it's possible. Seems like a good route actually since you'd be keeping your options open until the end of your degree. But I imagine that it's too late for OP if you're in CAO for 2014!

True I guess, I'm just :eek: at the thought of most of my 4 years crammed into one

Yuugib

Don't forget about electives and options. You can always spice up your BAFS degree with more maths modules if you're up for a challenge.

CA1 is the true godsend of all exemptions for sure. There were talks last year of getting CA3 exemptions at some stage too, as well as talks of putting BAFS under general entry in Quinn (terrible idea)...