I have decided to study Actuarial Science in Aussie.
Can anyone introduce me some good school in Australia that offer Actuarial science?
and the reason why? (:

Thanks in advance for helping meeeee!! (:

Arigatou gozaimasu!

If I am not mistaken, there are only four institutions that offer Actuarial Science, namely Australian National University (ANU), Melbourne University, Macquarie and University of New South Wales (UNSW). Take note that they are not arranged in a particular way.

I am not doing Actuarial Science so I could not give you more information.

Thanks!

If I'm not mistaken, the Actuarial Science program at UMelb is only offered as a major to their BCommerce program. Therefore, it's not really a legitimate actuarial science program as you'll need to take non-core subjects.

The other three schools do offer full-fledged actuarial science programs and they're all pretty prestigious and have relatively high entry requirements... so take your pick; you can't really go too wrong with them.

Well, even though it's not called BSc Actuarial Science, it has enough to allow full exemption to the initial stages of the Actuarial exams, making it both legitimate and competent, and fully certified.

The part about non-core subjects, well, as long as they don't interfere with the Actuarial subjects they should be fine.

lol what do you mean i"it's not really a legitimate actuarial scieance program"
their syllabus fulfills the requirement for exemptions and if you look at the entry requirement for their BComm (Actuarial Studies) the entry requirement is sky high and since the ATAR requirement for entry is also based on the demand it quite shows how popular it is.
If you were to look at the syllabus of the other actuarial studies degree like those offered in ANU, they still need to take certain core subjects from the Division of Business as well.

i have few friends at Macquarie ....they say its the best in Actuarial science there..

Lol maybe 'legitimate' was a harsh choice of words. Let me be clear that I am in no way against UniMelb or their Actuarial Studies program in anyway, and I apologise in advance if I presented myself as such.

The point I was trying to make is that under the Melbourne Model, you HAVE to take a breadth subject in addition to core units that may not be fully relevant to the Actuarial program. While this may be a good thing if you want to widen your perspectives, it would be VERY annoying for someone bent on doing Actuarial Science to have to study dance, languages, philosophy or goodness knows what else my friends in Melbourne went through.

In terms of ATAR, the cut-off for BComm in Melb is 93, which is lower than Actuarial Science programs in Macquarie (95) and ANU or 96 in UNSW; not exactly sky high. Then again, since when was course quality determined by entry requirement? UniMelb does provide excellent and reputable courses and if you are aware of the course structure, then go ahead. I'm just saying it's not the best choice for those who have decided that they want to specialize.

thanks alot! these are helpful!

Does anyone know:

ANU Actuarial Studies is combined with Bachelor of Science? I'm sorry I haven't looked at their stuff in a while - internet's not very good atm either - so I didn't really get it. As far as I know it's a 4 year Bachelors degree but it has Science? Is it a maximum of 4 years or is it 5 years with Hons?

The other Actuarial Science degrees i.e. Melbourne, UNSW, Macquarie etc, are they 3 or 4 or 5 years?

All of Aussie's Bachelor Degree Actuarial Studies programmes are 3 years as far as I'm aware off.Without doing Honours of course.

ANU's Bachelor of Actuarial Studies is a 3 year Bachelor Degree programme not 4 years.I have a friend currently in the programme.4 years if you do an additional Honours year.
http://studyat.anu.edu.au/programs/3401XBACTS;overview.html

The 4 year Actuarial Studies combined with Bachelor of Science you are talking about is probably the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies/Bachelor of Science double degree programme.It's four years where you take a mix of Actuarial Studies and Science subjects from the range of majors available to you and at the end of 4 years you get two Degrees a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies and Bachelor of Science.
http://studyat.anu.edu.au/programs/4460XBACTS;overview.html

Ahh I see. Sorry but with crap Internet, it was really confusing. I couldn't find anything on the straight Actuarial degree if it exists. Their websites are not terribly helpful unfortunately.

It appears it is "Commerce" everywhere. LOL

Do you know if people can apply with trial results?

Can! I have applied to Trinity college with my Trial result! Fortunately, i got accepted. and i am still thking whether should i go or not.. hmph.. =/

well ANU's is named Bachelor of Actuarial Studies like the link I gave you ^^ the only one that falls under Bachelor of Commerce is Melbourne U's if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure other places but in Aussie the Actuarial Studies usually fall under the divisions of business.

Yes if you have trial results from your pre-u you can apply. Then the Unis will evaluate your results and decide whether it is likely or not that you might be able to meet their entry requirements and if they think you stand a chance they will most likely give you a conditional offer where they will outline certain conditions like the minimum ATAR,grades,points,GPA,average marks etc. that you must achieve in your finals in order to accept the offer.
There are rare cases where Unis give full offers based on trial results though I doubt they will do so for competitive courses like Actuarial Studies.

Okay. let me clear this up.

UNSW - Bachelor of Commerce ( Actuarial major)
* ATAR requirement high ( 90+)
*I would recommend this ahead of everything else if you want to work as an actuary easily in Australia.


ANU- Bachelor of Actuarial Studies Or * Bachelor of Statistics ( different degree but will still get exemption if u specialise actuarial statistics and use ur Elective on those Part I required Units, only consider this if you wanna be an actuary but fail to enrol in the Actuarial degree..yada yada)
* Selective enrolment ( not for BStats)
* Good for Research (Hons)


UMelb - Bachelor of Commerce ( Actuarial major)
* ATAR requirement high
*

Curtin - Bachelor of Science ( Actuarial Science) - Only Part I exmpted, part II exemption go somewhere else @@
*ATAR 92, need year 12 Addmath(i guess)

Monash Uni - newly establish, 2010 under provisional accreditation, can do it through Bachelor of Commerce or Bachelor of Economics( major Econometrics under Actuarial Statistics stream)
*Monash currently have 4 CT papers exempted, another 4 under provisional state through IA Aus
* Comparatively not so high entry requirement, cause it's managed under commerce and economics, following their entry requirement
* Advantage of being new, very updated sylabus with IA requirements (according to Prof. Forbes)
*** Can be done partly in Malaysia. Ask, and I will elaborate.


MacQ - The earliest Actuarial School in Aus.
*Highly academic.
*the Best place to do your Master in Actuarial Studies while working in Sydney.

In deciding not only Which you can enter, and which You want to enter. You may also want to consider the Exemption requirements for CT papers.
ANU & MacQ : 60+ average for CT units
Melb Uni : 75+
Curtin: HD
Monash and UNSW : 70+

*dont ask me why Melb's is higher than Monahs and UNSW, I dont know why. LoL




Feel free if you need help deciding or analysing.

Dear RyukA,

Say, hypothetically, one has completed one's Bachelor's Degree with/having obtained all the CT exemptions.

If one wants to proceed with an actuarial career, what is next? Is a Master's the best preparation for the CA and perhaps ST and SA exams (or equivalent)? Or does one proceed to find employment as a trainee?

What kind of study support is needed to do the further exams (past CT stage)? Is this available in Malaysia at all?

Thanks.

This is how the cycle goes.

After graduation:
1) you decide to do Honours, ( since its selective, not everyone get to do, yet lots of people dont wanna do hons lol)
*You enrol in a Uni that offer Part II exemptions
*You finish your degree(hon), and start job hunting in Syd/Melb (forget anywhere else)
*Most firm will have good study support for Actuarial freshies, with mentor and guidances,
you shouldn't have any problem finding a referee for Part III


2)You decide to do Masters(full time), probably u enjoyed staying in Uni
*You enrol in a Uni that offer Part II exemptions
*You finish your Master, and start job hunting in Syd/Melb (forget anywhere else)
*Most firm will have good study support for Actuarial freshies, with mentor and guidances,
there you will find your scoure for part III.

3)You want to work!
* Lets say you are a merit student, applying for jobs (Syd/melb)
* You got employed, Work fulltime study parttime (through MacQ for Syd, MelbUni for Melb)
* Firms will have study support for Actuarial Freshies,
for each paper u pass, u get salary bonuses. Move on till you reach part III.

4) You wanna get out of Uni even though you didn't get full exemptions!
* You have high averages, but unfortunately failed to get exemption for 1,2 CT
* if you are lucky/talented enough, you may still get employed
*Firm will sponsor you material and fee for you to sit for your CT exams.
After you fully get ur part I, you can work forever as a Junior or choose to climb further.
* Do a Master with MacQ (classes probably tuesday night) part-time
* Pass your exam, move to part III

5) You decide to be an Academician instead of being directly involved in Actuarial field
* Do a master/Hons in Actuarial ( or you can branch into Finance, Economics, Commerce, Statistics if you find you liek those more)
* get a Ph.D
* different story


!: If you want to be an actuary, the earlier you are exposed to the industry, the better you will do for your late year papers.
being involved in the working environment is very important to understand how the actuarial cycle works.
Not judging Pro's and Con's, but most employer would want to hire well-rounded high achievers, not only a D average or HD average, but
a specific skill you have that can make you different from other Actuarial freshies. ( Music, Drawing? Designing? Debate? Chess? games?)
I am not sure bout the market in Melb, But in Sydney:
Most employers dont mind high qualification, they look for bright minds. If they get you fresh, they dont mind spending money on your qualification to get
you qualified. This is mostly what the FIA's and AIA in the firm did it:
1) graduate with degree ( majority units exempted)
2)Work in Firm, study part time ( msot firm fund ur fees for your first and successful attempt)
3)Pass exams, and get rewarded

This phenomena, sort of render Hons degree less benefitial compared to enrolling to the industry the coming year. Of course, if a Hons studnet and Degree student have D averages,
they would prefer the Hons one.

If you can, always apply for placement during vacations (intern) to learn the industry before you even graduated.

Your last question:
I am not quite sure. But last month I have friends asking the Institute in a meeting, they said: yes, you can do Distant examination with any of the board
no matter where you are. But do take note, each country may have different practise depends on which board is dominance:
e.g. Singapore (SoA)
HongKong ( UK IA)
New Zealand ( IAAus)
Malaysia ( malaysian board, but mostly based on SoA)

You still can sit for a IAAus exam in Malaysia ( contact the boards for more detail on how)

Ah I see, thanks, that is very informative.

Studying and working at the same time has got to be The hardest thing to do.

hi MUFY grad,

I'm from Malaysia, graduated in BSc of Actuarial Science. I do not have any exempted paper since it is not offered here.
I'm looking for a place to pursue my master in Australia and to look for exempted papers too while studying.
I read that you suggest Macquarie as a best place to pursue master. May i know why? And do it offer exemption in Part I since i do not have any exempted paper before.

Thanks.

First, my statement is only true: ASSUMING you want to do a Masters in Actuarial-related fields.
Even so, Macquarie is the best Commerce school for postgrad studies in Australia, as ANU put greater emphasis on Science researches.

I believe you did Stochastics, credibility theories, risk studies and a number of statistical modelling in your degree, or most of it.
So, if you are confident, you can still choose to take all Part I professional papers externally with the Institute of Actuaries Australia.


The purpose I would suggest MacQ, is
1) MacQ is the primary actuarial course provider in Aus, which is the one
having closest relation to the Institute of Actuaries Australia (IAA)

2) MacQ is in Sydney, which is also a place where most actuarial firms in Aus set foot in. While studying ther, it gives better opportunity to find nearby firms, go for interviews, apply interns.

3) If u want to start working, MacQ is the only school offering Part-time Actuarial Control cycle course, which is usually held in the evening of a week, somewhere in the city. Or u can do Distant learning. Which MacQ is the only certified DISTANT EDUCATION PROVIDER for Actuarial studies.

4) MacQ was the earliest actuarial school in Aus, and is the best business research school in Aus, with high volume of postgrads. A very good path even for those wanting to pursue Commerce-related Ph.Ds.



Do note that, If you were to register urself with IAA. there are 3 components to go through:

Part I : with 8 CT papers ( which can be exempted unit by unit basis from an actuarial degree in a accreddited university by the IAA )

Part II: consist of Actuarial Control Cycle I and II
(can be done externally, or through a Masters/GradCert/Honours from an accreditted university in Actuarial Studies)

PartIII : professional courses & ethics, which can only be done via institute, and 3yrs of relevant work experience supervised by a mentor


In my understading, you would need atleast 4/8 CT papers passed, to take the Part II courses. this can be done by taking a
Masters in Actuarial Studies/Practise (typically 1-2yrs) which require you to take some
Part I CT units before leading to Part II courses. Depending whether you have relevant background, you may get exempted from certain units.
But will still be irrelevant, as IAA requires a mark of 60% to gain exemption from the professional part I CTs. If the university grants you exemption based on units u previously studied, IAA will still treat those exempted units as 50% (Pass), which wont allow you any exemption from the CTs. So it is still best, to take the units again, or just sit for the professional exam depending on which u prefer.

Here's a few links, you might find them useful:

Master of Actuarial Studies ANU
http://studyat.anu.edu.au/programs/7410XMACTS;overview.html

Master of Actuarial Statistics ANU
http://studyat.anu.edu.au/programs/7409XMACST;overview.html

Master of Actuarial Practise MacQ
http://www.businessandeconomics.mq.edu.au/...uarial_practice

* Note some programs are capable for Non-actuarial students as well. Which might be what you are looking for as well, to get CT exemptions via University course


Info on Exemptions


ANU's description:
Part I
http://cbe.anu.edu.au/schools/fas/discipli...T/exemption.asp

Part II
Actuarial control cycle I and II



MacQ's descriptions:
http://www.businessandeconomics.mq.edu.au/...al_examinations

http://www.businessandeconomics.mq.edu.au/...ditation_part_1

http://www.businessandeconomics.mq.edu.au/...ditation_part_2



IAA on exemptions:

http://www.actuaries.asn.au/EducationandPr...Exemptions.aspx


feel free to ask if there's anything else.

cheers

PS: same copy replied to you via PM.