Some useful links

If you are interested in a career as an actuary, you may find more information from the web sites operated by the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and the The Society of Actuaries (SOA). In particular look at Life on the Job for profiles of actuaries.

Another place to get information is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Undergraduate Program Secretary also has some general-interest brochures describing the actuarial profession as well as literature on summer internship programs.

To achieve professional status in this profession, students have to pass a series of exams administered jointly by CAS and SOA. Exam I covers calculus, probability/statistics and linear algebra. Exam II covers economics, finance and interest theory. Further information about these exams, sample questions and exam dates are available from CAS/SOA.

UD Courses Recommended for Actuarial Careers

For all math majors at University of Delaware, they should have no trouble in passing Exam I after taking MATH243, MATH349, MATH350, MATH450, and some limited additional reading on actuarial terminology.

In terms of starting salary, graduates who have passed Exam II are usually offered another $1,000 than those who have passed exam II. Most firms do not require an intern to have passed any exam, but they should have a strong background in mathematics, computer science, economics and good communication skills. Obviously, passing one or more professional exams puts more muster on your vitae. More details about salaries can be found at http://www.actuaryjobs.com/salary.html

Exam II can be taken by our graduates majoring in Math/Economics or BA students who have taken the following optional courses, together with some reading on the theory of interest on their own.

1. ECON151, Introduction to Microeconomics: Prices and Markets, ECON152, Introduction to Macroeconomics: The National Economy, and ECON301, Quantitative Microeconomic Theory. These courses fulfill 9 of the 12 credits required for Group C.

   We also suggest ECON303, Intermediate Macroeconomics Theory, ECON415, Economic Forecasting, and ECON422, Econometric Methods and Models I, as other Economics courses related to actuary. Note that passing these 6 courses with a grade C- or better enables you to get a minor in Economics.

2. MATH518, Mathematical Models and Applications. This fulfills 3 of the 9 upper division credits required for the BA in Mathematics. Other upper division courses that should be of interest are: MATH426, Introduction to Numerical Analysis and Algorithmic Computation, MATH512, Contemporary Applications of Mathematics, MATH529, Linear Programming: Methods and Applications, and MATH530, Optimization and Game Theory.

3. CISC105, General Computer Science, and CISC220, Data Structures.

   Note that the sequence CISC181 and CISC220 also satisfies the computer science requirement of the BA degree. Some brochures in the actuarial profession also recommend that you know Visual Basic, another object-oriented language. You shouldn't have a problem with learning this language once you have a solid foundation from the three courses above.

4. FINC200, Fundamentals of Finance, and FINC201, Introduction to Investments.

   If you desire to go deeper into the business aspects, you may want to take ACCT207 and ACCT208, Accounting I and II, and FINC311, Principles of Finance, instead of FINC200 and FINC201.

Some study materials for the professional exams are available free once you have registered for the exams. Please look at the web-page sponsored by SOA.

Dr. Edwards ( edwards@math.udel.edu) has experience in taking some of the exams. Please contact him if you are interested in the actuarial profession.